A customer walks into our tiny bike shop jam-packed full of bikes. Bikes are hanging in the window, off the ceiling on the walls, and all over the floor. There is not a square foot of space in the shop that is not occupied by a bike or various parts of one.
Customer: “This is the bike shop, right?”
Me: “Yes.”
Customer: “Do you guys sell bikes or fix them?”
Me: “Both.”
Customer: “If I brought my canoe in could you fix it?”
Me: “Depends, is canoe the name of your bike?”
He got the hint.
While working in a bicycle shop, a customer walks in and says:
Customer: “Something came loose on my bike.”
I find a wire wrapped around the frame and rear wheel.
Me: “This is a phone charger. You must have picked it up accidentally while riding.”
Customer: “Well what does it do?”
Me: “It’s a phone charger… It charges phones.”
Customer: “Well what does it do for my bike?”
Me: “Nothing. You probably picked it up while riding on the road…”
Customer: *Getting angry now.* “No I didn’t! I want to know what this thing does!”
A guy in his twenties came into the bicycle shop I manage to buy a bike. He paid in cash. It wasn’t a very expensive bike, and we still get a ton of people who pay in cash, so it didn’t raise any red flags.
The next day, a young woman around the same age came in with the bike and started chewing us out because we’d let her boyfriend use their rent money to buy a bike. We explained that we couldn’t possibly have known that was the situation. She wanted to return it, which was fine, but we deposit our cash every night and didn’t have enough on hand to return that much in cash. Our policy is that any cash returns over $50 are done on a gift card, or we have to get our main office to cut and mail a refund check.
The woman started freaking out that their rent was due before she’d get the check. So, I called the office manager and got approval to use one of the few checks I keep on hand for contractors or other service providers. The woman was still livid and insisted on cash. I explained again that even if I went outside our policy, I didn’t have enough cash on hand to do the return in cash.
She finally took the check and left.
A couple of hours later, I got alerted to a one-star Google review from the woman with a completely fabricated story about our terrible service. It was one of the few times the owners let me respond to a review with a less-than-apologetic tone while describing the actual event.
I work at a coffee shop inside of a bike shop. I have a sign that says, “I AM ON MY LUNCH,” on one side and, “I AM TAKING TEN MINUTES TO RESTOCK AND CATCH UP,” on the other. The number of people who just stand and stare at me is astounding.
Sometimes, I’ll even tell folks, “Sorry, I’m on my lunch,” and point out the sign, and they’ll go, “Oh, that’s fine. I just need a coffee.”
Facepalm.
I work in a store that sells bicycles. I get a call from a customer.
Customer: “Can you tell me about your bikes?”
Me: “What would you like to know?”
Customer: “What brands, sizes, and colors do you have? And what quality are they?”
Me: “Sir, we have over twenty different kinds of bikes in our store. If you go to our website, you can find all of those details.”
Man: “Why can’t you just tell me whether the bikes are any good? Why is it so difficult for you to tell me that?!”
Mind you, he was looking for a tricycle for his son… and failed to mention that until twenty minutes into the conversation.
He made his poor wife come in and return the trike four different times for something different. He also wanted me to magically know which customer that came in was his wife after she left the first two times.
