On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 08:26:11 -0700, "Rico X. Partay" <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:"RonSonic" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Maybe he used to say "I'll give it a try" but
it cost him money every time, so he stopped.
So every time he tried to do some work that took a little
dexterity he messed it up. And therefore every subsequent customer
must pay more as a result. Great.
No, every time he tried to do a half-ass job on the cheap, it cost him money and
time. He has a reputation to protect - it usually is better to be known as the
guy who ain't cheap but delivers great work.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Do it your way and he
fusses with a bunch of used and dirty parts;
goes and hunts up some exact-match
spokes and nipples for whatever was on your
wheels. Maybe he's got em all, maybe
not. THEN, he gets to play phone tag with you
to get an approval on every spoke,
nipple and rim. When he's done he's got shiny
spokes and dull ones, maybe he
trusts the rims and maybe you'll sue his ass
off after you crash. This is a
difference between a couple hours of reasonably
profitable honest work and an
unrewarding PITA job.
What nonsense. Your assuming the wheel has non-standard parts
(or that it's too much trouble to match parts to bikes), and that
he needs approval for "every spoke, nipple and rim," neither of
which are the case. Nobody's going to sue anyone; that's also
ridiculous.
Not ridiculous at all. If he said "I'll give it a try" and you came back for the
wheel and found the bill included all the things he said it needed up front
you'd go ballistic. He'd have to call and explain what worked and didn't work
and he'd have to reach you (leaving a message with a secretary wouldn't cut it)
so you're adding phone time to his life, if not the bill. At the least he would
have to inspect every spoke and nipple rather than just run them out and start
fresh.
Now maybe I'm being pessimistic here. I'll give you that. But the guy's probably
very busy and needs to get things DONE, not fuss with parts the customer mangled
or play phone tag.
Maybe your wheel was built with perfectly ordinary parts, I don't know, do I?
Maybe it's an aftermarket wheel built with the same spokes and nipples everyone
has on the shelf. Maybe you know that. Maybe not. "Standard parts" covers a
pretty broad range. What level of a match are you looking for - will you be
disappointed if the anodize on the new nipples doesn't match the old? If they're
a fraction longer or shorter? If the new stainless spokes are a slightly
different color or polish? Should he guess? Should he call you and waste more
time he probably doesn't have?
Now maybe you really don't care - I believe you. But maybe he's had to stand
there at the counter the last several times that happened and justify his new
spokes to a client - wasting far more time than simply replacing all of them.
As for lawsuits being ridiculous - like hell they are. Someone eats asphalt on a
recently fixed wheel this is no joke. Hell, even if the thing just goes out of
true, you're going to run your mouth just like you already are and he doesn't
want that either.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:And just to point it out, when you say it's
an undamaged rim, you're asking us
to take the word of someone who obviously
hasn't got the skill to true, much
less build a wheel. At this point, I believe him.
Now you're just making things up. I trued that wheel many
times just fine over a couple of years. I just needed some spokes
replaced, for chissakes. Your defending an obnoxious guy out of
some weird kind of knee-jerk assumption that the customer is
always wrong. FYI: Many bike shops "mechanics" are often wrong.
They may be often wrong. I'm sure the smart ones make it a point to err on the
side of delivering a safe, reliable product. I'm not trying to defend him, but
point out what the guy on the other side of the counter is looking at. You are
accusing him of being dishonest - I'm pointing out that he may just be sensible.
Besides, if it's such a piece of cake job needing only readily available parts,
why haven't you already laced in some fresh spokes?
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:All he wants is a chance to do good work
for profit. At this point you're
disagreeing with him on both points.
Gosh you're full of it. FYI: A guy at the second shop said,
I'll try to do the fix-up, but if the rim gets damaged in the
process I'll have to replace it and rebuild the wheel. I said,
Fine.
Or you found a guy with a lot more time on his hands.
Quoted message said:See how easy it is to be honest and reasonable?
Or just willing to tell the customer what he wants to hear. Let us know how the
wheel comes back.
I'm playing devil's advocate a bit - you are accusing someone of dishonesty
without laying out the reasons we should believe you. That deserves to be
challenged. Sorry, you munged the wheel - that means I don't necessarily trust
your judgment on the subject. By the same token, I'm JAFAWAM and you don't have
to believe me, either. But I think all of this deserves consideration before you
call someone a crook.
Ron
