Hot take: Last Tuesday at the co-op was the worst shift I've ever worked.

I was fixing a 2008 Trek 1.2 and the bottom bracket threads just stripped out mid-rebuild. Then a guy walked in demanding a free tube swap on a tire he'd clearly run flat for miles. Between that and three people asking me to diagnose squeaks they caused by never lubing their chains, I almost walked out. Anyone else have a day where you just question why you bother with walk-in repairs?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant1309d agoProlific Poster

Heard this from my buddy Dave last week. He runs a small shop out of his garage. Dude had a guy come in with a kids bike, brakes completely seized, rust everywhere. Wanted it fixed in ten minutes for free. Dave spent twenty minutes just trying to get the cable unstuck. The guy stood there tapping his watch the whole time. Then complained the rim was out of true after Dave fixed the brake. Some people just don't get it. Makes you wonder why we even offer walk-ins.

abbyl498d ago

@grant130 yeah, I feel that. I had a guy last fall with a 90s hybrid bike that looked like it had been parked in a lake. He wanted me to "just tighten the brakes" in under five minutes while he complained about the price. I told him flat out I'd need to replace the cables and housings, and he got all huffy and left. After that I started charging a flat minimum labor fee for walk-ins, like 15 bucks just to look at it. It actually cut down on the worst customers and made the ones who stayed way more respectful of my time.