Bigger than Jesus
Not really, I was in Melbourne and wanted to buy, he wouldn't take what I offered so I waited and bought the same bike from my LBS when I got back to NSW.
I suppose you pay full price everything because your not special?
There is a SPech dealer in this city that has the most defunct CS l have ever seen. If it was one occasion l could accept it but every single time......... holy crapper. Now l actually like many of Specialised products but l would never purchase one of their frames again. CS is absolutely vital especially when you are throwing down big cash.
Joel - with all due respect - if someone asks for a discount in todays economic climate when purchasing a 6 grand bike then l wouldn't consider it insecure. Specialised are renowned for not budging on price until they have a sale / garage sale / clearance / warehouse sale or end of season sale - and then suddenly there is heaps of room to move on price. Now please dont tell me that they have no room on the bike or couldn't at least offer a discount on spares, tyres, accessories even a hug would be nice. Is it because Specialised believe they have a monopoly, price fixing, all in it together - biggest company in the world - $50 bucks off - should l drop to my knees.
Customer service is paramount for a sustainable and successful business. Yes if a customer walks into a bike shop - they are special and the employees of that bike shop are there to serve the needs of the customer on behalf of the owner. Bike store employees are there to sell bikes, give advice based on experience and knowledge, and to offer exceptional CS. If l walk into a cafe and the service is bad - l will leave. It is a service industry (not sub-servant) and the best CS wins out every time for me.
One store gets all my funds not because they give me a discount but because their CS is great and they generally give a damn about me and my bikes - they want the best for me.
There's fun in the chase of a good deal, but it seems that riders are making huge compromises and becoming very blinkered in how they approach the purchase of a bike product.
It's frustrating to watch riders buying stuff with a shrewdness as though they were buying their weekly groceries, when they're really buying toys for themselves - which should surely be a gleeful experience.
- Joel
Hell l encourage shrewdness Joel - it is a truck load of bicycle/$$$. Anyone that doesnt sweat a purchase like that is either filthy rich or knows exactly what they want and have researched the options - focused. It is often not a gleeful experience because it is so much money and fear creaps in - have l made the right choose, would a four grand bike have served me just as well, what is the CS like with this brand, can l afford it? All normal thought processes for individuals. The OP who didn't get the discount was probably more pissed off by the poor CS than the lack of discount.
Sometimes l see CS that make me feel like l am an imposition (bigger than Jesus)to the employee, that my questions are dismissed and that we are wasting their precious time. It is so easy to make someone feel special and to offer great CS -skills that are often lacking.
Just my thoughts
JD
