The biggest point we want to make at Our Community Bikes is inclusivety (?), that is to say, a space that anyone at any skill or preference will be respected for their personal choices.
The 'super rich' roadie is welcome to come in and we'll show them how to set up their Di2 or the student can come in and we'll show them how to extract and press a cotter pin, with equal measure and service, attention, etc.
We don't suffer individuals who express entitlement because of their class or social or bike status. And we certainly have discovered that entitlement is an attitude carried by individuals regardless of class or income or bike type.
We had a history and reputation of hating 'hipsters and their fixies', then we had a reputation of being 'hipsters', then we had a reputation of being full of attitude, then a reputation of being the 'organizers of critical mass', hence smug and self-righteous cyclists, and so on... So depending on who you talk to, it's become more obvious that there are a multitude and almost infinite amount of experiences customers are having in our space, from negative to positive.
The idea is to consistently provide positive experiences for all folks in our space. That's not impossible, but damn hard to do. There are always characters who expect the service industry to be their personal boot lickers. We politely and diplomatically inform them that we aren't suited to their needs and cannot respectfully provide.
I guess there's so much more to this. It's an ongoing challenge for all of us.
On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 9:24 AM, christopher@holisticcycles.com wrote:
Which customers should not be treated as well as a roady in race shop?
A car sales person told me once about a man who was dresses shabby because it was his day off and he was gardening. He walked into the car shop, most of the sales peoples heads went up when the door opened, and then went back down when they saw how he was dressed. This sales person treated this dirty man like he would any customer, walking up, saying hi, shaking his hand and asking how he could help today. His wife was out when their very old car had a shock tower rust out and killed the car at a parking lot speed bump. His daughter was going off to college in two weeks and he thought it might be time to buy two cars. He was a high corporate salaried person, at the end of the day wrote a check for the two cars. Came back over the next five years and bought a car for different people in the family because of his experience being treated well when he walked into the shop a dirty old man.
We are not hired as judges, we are sales and service, and it should be damn fine service for all. If it is less then stellar service then it is not service to the bicycle community at all. Everyone should feel like they are cherished for being a cyclist and for putting their money into your hands. After all you do not sell bikes anything, nor to bike pay for repairs, You are taking care of the transportation needs of a person. Treat that person very well.
Christopher Wallace Holistic Cycles/ Bicycle Guild 140 Harrison St Oak Park, IL. 60304
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Vancouver bike mechanics try to change industry bad attitudes From: james bledsoe jamesbleds0e@yahoo.com Date: Tue, August 20, 2013 11:07 pm To: The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
i admit to being guilty here but not in the way sighted in the article my offence is in telling customers that if they walk away from their bicycle dressed like they will be risking arrest yes these are fully kitted roadies who are used to being fawned over. but it still is not the type of thing that we need to be doing. The Bicycle Kitchen was founded in part as a direct response to the types of attitudes sighted in the article and not the shop of my admission.
*From:* director director@communitycycles.org *To:* The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org *Sent:* Tuesday, August 20, 2013 9:10 PM *Subject:* Re: [TheThinkTank] Vancouver bike mechanics try to change industry bad attitudes
Sounds good!
On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 10:08 PM, Dax Burgos draxula@gmail.com wrote:
do you mind if i post this in the shop? D
On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 7:31 AM, director director@communitycycles.orgwrote:
Interesting article about customer service in bike shops.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/08/08/bc-bike-mech...
-- Ride On!
Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019
Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles
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-- "When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." -H.G. Wells
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-- Ride On!
Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019
Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles
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Jesse Cooper