Hello folks across the pond!
Recently, our friends at the London Bike Kitchen had their first conflict with a customer. He came into the workshop with a fancy Cannondale CAAD10 with a press fit BB20 bottom bracket, and he verbally agreed to their Terms & Conditions. However, the student turned out to be quite difficult - not listening to instructions, questioning instructions, consulting the internet, etc. During the BB installation process, the instructor forgot to put in the shims before the bearings were pressed in, so they had to get knocked out. Somewhere along the line, the inside of the BB shell was damaged, and there is disagreement between the instructor and the student about what happened/whose fault it is, etc.
Now the student is asking for £800 to replace his frame, which could be deadly for a small bike shop.
Following this, we’re having a lot of discussion in the UK bike community about how to approach these difficult situations. Has anyone dealt with a problem like this before? Does anyone have an effective liability waiver that covers both the customer and the shop?
Many thanks to all! -Cassiope
-- Cassiope Sydoriak Co-Founder and Executive Director Broken Spoke Bike Co-op www.bsbcoop.org m: +44 (0)7551 711746 --