With all due respects to Garfield's disdain for the first day of the week (although, to my confusion, Sunday is supposed to be the ACTUAL first day of the week?) for us, it's usually a good one. Folks, having dedicated the weekend to their Veloist lifestyle, come in first of the week to fix everything that when wrong with their rides, or to pick up new ones. We sent home the Schwinn Ranger conversion with a VERY nice gentleman who has visited us twice before, pledging on his honor, that he would ONLY buy a bike from us! He kept his word! And I love the style with which he did it! Came in, happy to find something to his liking, asked to take it for a test drive, left his key as collateral and took her for a test drive. Five minuets later he came back in, sans bike, and stated "I took the liberty of just loading it on my car" and slapped the money down!
Another real sign of dedication and desire was a young man who came down from New Port Richey. Now by dedication I mean he had a friend peg him all the way on his BMX just so he could purchase a bike from us! WOW! That's 19.4 miles! (the real kicker being, they traveled down Alt 19 to Main, passing FIVE other bike shops on their way to us!!) Standing on the back pegs of a 20" BMX! For almost 20 MILES!!! He has been following us on Craigslist and by extension this blog and stated he wouldn't buy a bike anywhere else!! He'd been saving his money and when he felt he had enough he solicited the assistance of his friend and planned a day to come visit us, leaving very happily with the modified Roadmaster MTB we had! I mean color me HONORED!!!
And that was not the end of the blessings we had yesterday! Had a mother bring in her young daughter with her 24" cruiser. Seems a friend of her sisters maliciously punctured her rear tire and they needed a replacement. Single Mom, limited income, they had been to two other local bike shops (all the while walking the bike) attempting to get the bike repaired. The two quotes she had received were, respectfully, $39.00 and $45.00 (plus this place said she should just get rid of the old Walmart cruiser and buy a new one from them). When I informed her that a new tube and decent used tire would only cost her $19.00 plus tax, she was taken aback, and a wee bit teary eyed to boot. Even doubly so when I informed her it would only take five minutes to perform the repair (another of the shops said they would have to leave it for the day?!) Once done, she was very thankful and left a promised future repeat customer!
Now all that wonderful grace is only magnified by the surprise that awaited me in the morning when I went to get my cup of coffee at the Wren's Nest.
My routine in the AM is to meander in, open up, turn the lights on (prop open the doors now that fall is here!) take out the sign and clown bike, sweep up, turn on the 'puter then go and get my COFFEE!! When ordered up at the counter, the regular waitress came back inside and informed the owner that the day before (Sunday) a gentleman had come in and informed her that I had really helped him out recently on his bike, and that HE would be paying my coffee tab for this week!
WOW! I am very humbled, and in no uncertain terms perplexed. How did he KNOW I got my coffee there?
(insert Twilight Zone theme here)
I send all my gratitude to my mysterious benefactor!
Well, that's about all I have time for today! But check out the new goodies we put out yesterday, including a gorgeous pink three wheeler (of who's origins are a wee but of a humorous story I can share with those of interest) and ANOTHER recumbent!!! WA-HOO!
See y'all soon!
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| FOR ALL THOSE FOLKS OOGLING MY RECUMBENT, HERE'S HER TWIN!! ONLY $420.00!!! |
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| FULLY REFURBED SINGLE SPEED THREE WHEELER!! ONLY $160.00!!! |
Well actually I didn't come from new port richey I came from palm harbor and the trip is 5 mi there and the friend was actually my brother.In regards to leaving happily with the bike yes I did at the time BUT after having it for two days I discovered that the rear brakes hardly work at all, the front tire has a major air leak ( I filled the tire before I came there today and it was half deflated by the time I got it home.), and the rear wheel is loose and wiggles back and forth like nothing you could believe. To top it all off I went back today to pick up the bike rack that I was generously offered ten bucks instead of fifteen for after they said to come back in a couple days for and of course they had not a single bike rack in stock. Then I asked about a bike seat as the one currently on it was equivalent to sitting on a cinder block the person working said 15 for one I apologized and said I only had 13 on me at the time I was met with an indifferent sorry about the entire ordeal. So I rode 10 miles on a bike literately falling apart with a cinder block for a seat you can color me RED! It will cost me about as much to fix the bike as it cost to buy. I certainly will be taking all my further business elsewhere. I would demand a refund but I am lead to believe I would be answered with just another "sorry". I would not recommend this shop to anyone I am very disappointed as I these to be honest people guess those don't exist in this day in age anymore!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do feel bad for your experience. And sorry about the misunderstanding of distance, thought you said New Port Richey, my mistake. Your comments touch on the one downside of dealing in refurbished bikes, and I thank you for giving me the platform on which to comment. Our process is to purchase a bike, tear it down to frame, test the parts and reassemble, replacing any damaged part. Once assembled it is road tested, then once complete goes out for sale. Considering that we are dealing in used/refurbished parts we know there is the slight possibility that one or more of those parts, while working at the time of build, may not stand up to the test of time. That is why we offer the one year warranty, so folks don't get the idea that they bought a lemon, we'll stand behind it and make it right! Unfortunately, you came on a Sunday. See, we used to be closed on Sunday, but at the request of many folks who can only do their shopping on Sundays, for reasons of work or convenience, we opted to open for a half day, but hey, I need a day of rest, so our older son volunteered to play latch key, and mind the store. But he is not a mechanic, nor is he authorized to make any kind of deals without permission. Had I known the seat sale was for a preexisting customer, it would have been no problem. As far as the rack? When you purchased the bike and I asked you to check with me in a few days, that was my mistake. Knowing as I do, that expectation of a used part coming in is speculative and I should have made it clear it would be best if you called in advance to ensure that we in fact had one available, before you rode all the way hear. As far as the brake and tube issue? The brakes are covered by warranty, and will be repaired at no cost to you, and the tube, while not covered by warranty, if it was a problem from day one it's possible it had a slow leak that didn't show in the water test (it happens sometimes) and we'll take care of that as well, no-charge. All you have to do is call (I'm here Mon-Sat) (727) 831-9742, let me know the problem and we will GLADLY take care of it. I look forward to your call.
DeleteI revoke my prior statements I was just a bit upset at the time at the entire ordeal I see now that you are really honest folks I just had a bit of bad luck I was not aware that the bike was covered under warranty and am ecstatic that you are offering to fix these inconveniences at no cost to me ( as I kinda spent all my money buying this bike). I will most certainly be doing further business with you guys and spread the word of your kindness I apologize if my words offended anyone as already stated was just a bit upset at the time I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU GUYS ASAP!!!! and thanks for the reply!
DeleteI will try to make it to the store tomorrow after school looking forward to seeing you guys.
Deleteoh...thank you, thank you, thank you, thank YOU! NOW I can sleep tonight!! Bless you sir!
ReplyDeleteTruly, you are a gentleman! We look forward to taking care of all the problems! See ya soon
ReplyDelete