Caps Bike Store - seriously????

This is what you get for being a Telemarker.

If you skied AT instead of tele they would have lent it to you. :)

Maybe I'll head over to safeway and see if they'll give me some bread for free, to "foster good will". Give me a fucking break.

Pretty sure he was planning on returning the tool after he was done with it. Gimme' a break. A small amount of customer service goes a long way, something a lot of bike shops seem to have forgotten.

I get the no lending tools policy, I bent the pin on my fist chain tool while learning to use it. I think it would be hard to tell the old tool-masher me from the new skilled me (well somewhat improved me) at one glance so I wouldn't expect someone at a shop to try.

However, it is a 30 sec - 1 min fix, do it, get a new customer (or extract a promise of beer prior to doing it - maybe you get your beer maybe you don't but like the lotto, its fun to think you might win). It works the otherway too, "hey I don't have cash now but I will be back with beer if you can help me out" might assist.

I have a somewhat strict no tools lent policy on the trail as well. It annoys the p** out of me when someone who is too hip to stuff a pump in their skinny jeans wants to borrow something out of my pack. Walking can be an important life lesson.

I totally expected this discussion to go this way, with some not being too supportive of my rant, but I needed to vent.

Lady Gravity… Yes, we all know that we should carry tools all the time. But when you've got a 5 year old and 7 year old all geared up, got their CamelBak's on, got their helmets and gloves on, finally got your bike out, got their bikes out of the garage… some things just don't fall into place for a ride over to the local DQ.

I 'sort of' get the policy thing. I think there's a personal and moral assessment of each situation that's not too hard to process. And it's Caps, so it's not like they were busy or anything.

I worked at 2 shops over 9 years, and we never hesitated to lend out tools that cost us less than $10. It bought way more than $10 in long-term good will. Even if a buddy came in (rim brake days) with a rim so blown, he could not spin it home on a commute. No, we wouldn't tweak it to perfectly true, but damn, we'd straighten him out so he could get home. Needless to say, you can guess where he returned for the new wheel.

I think there is such thing as trail karma and worth the risk of a tube or a pump. How many times have you not run across some kid with no tools on the trail with a flat? What kind of dumbass would pass him up? They might not get my tube, but I've always got a patch kit, and 10 minutes, some glue, my pump, and he's stoked. On one occassion, I did leave a tube behind. Buddy had no money, took my address. I expected nothing. A few days later, 2 tubes lying outside my door. Another day, met a guy on CBC that had gored his leg open pretty bad. I had a medi-kit. We left him tape, antiseptic, suture strips, gauze. Again, he asked for my address. The next week, full replacement kit in the mail.

I think kindness should win over policy. Maybe I'm a lame old man now. Or maybe we've just given up. Now that'll open me up for some good flaming. Bring it.

word, great post. What goes around comes around, and a shop should know better than to refuse to help someone who obviously just had a bit of bad luck. Fixing a chain quick isn't the end of the world.

Maybe I'll head over to safeway and see if they'll give me some bread for free, to "foster good will". Give me a fucking break.

Actually, most major supermarkets price staples like bread and milk at less than their cost. It's called "loss leader" strategy. Bring the customer into the store for cheap stuff that everybody needs. Stock it at the back of the store, furthest from the entry/exit doors so that the customer has to pass by every display in the store to get to the target item. They get tempted by buy other, high-margin items on their way through the store.

So yah, in a way, Safeway has such a policy.

Kn.

Caps can suck my tubeless tire.

I think there is such thing as trail karma and worth the risk of a tube or a pump. How many times have you not run across some kid with no tools on the trail with a flat? What kind of dumbass would pass him up? They might not get my tube, but I've always got a patch kit, and 10 minutes, some glue, my pump, and he's stoked. On one occassion, I did leave a tube behind. Buddy had no money, took my address. I expected nothing. A few days later, 2 tubes lying outside my door. Another day, met a guy on CBC that had gored his leg open pretty bad. I had a medi-kit. We left him tape, antiseptic, suture strips, gauze. Again, he asked for my address. The next week, full replacement kit in the mail.

I have at times purposely not offered help to some one with a flat. They were not far from the trailhead and would simply have a crappy day, but hopefully had learned to bring tubes and tools next time. One time I did offer a tube..which turned into do have a 5mm wrench…which became gimme your bike I'll take the wheel off.. which became do you have a pump…

I almost always ask some one fiddling beside the trail if they have the tools they need. Stopped last night to offer moral support to someone trying to thread a pedal back into a stripped crank arm.

Actually, most major supermarkets price staples like bread and milk at less than their cost. It's called "loss leader" strategy. Bring the customer into the store for cheap stuff that everybody needs. Stock it at the back of the store, furthest from the entry/exit doors so that the customer has to pass by every display in the store to get to the target item. They get tempted by buy other, high-margin items on their way through the store.

So yah, in a way, Safeway has such a policy.

Kn.

the bread is right next to the door in my local safeway, ok i need to pass the donuts and cookies but thats about it!

I have stopped many times to lend a tool or a tube to riders on the side of the trails.
never expecting anything in return. I'm a firm believer in Trail karma.

the bread is right next to the door in my local safeway, ok i need to pass the donuts and cookies but thats about it!

Don't forget … you also have to stand right next to a stack of candy bars, mints, batteries and lowbrow magazines just to make your payment!

Kn.

Hey guys interesting subject we've got on our hands.

I honestly feel that's a major dick move on the shop's part, a tool 2 minutes, in front of them? Why not?

One thing is perhaps how you asked, did you come across as humble? Where I've worked in the past it depends on how you ask the person.

However the fact is a shop that prides itself on a community image, failed a member of the community.

Many people have an opinion of this franchise but when it boils down to it the outcome depends on who you're asking and how.

That's totally the difference between great and terrible customer service. I recently was switching forks between bikes and instead of my usual 'gently tap the crown race with a screwdriver and hope I don't scratch anything' method, I decided just to head down to my local shop and get them to remove it for me since they have the proper tool for the job. They were pretty busy at the time but they dropped everything to help me and then wouldn't accept any payment! Keep in mind that I just moved to a new city so this is a shop that I had stepped into about 3 times previously so it wasn't a matter of being familiar with the staff. I went in a couple days later for another minor repair and they let me borrow their tools and again wouldn't take payment, but I slipped a few bucks onto the counter as I left since I thought it was only fair. They pretty much guaranteed themselves a customer for life by those simple gestures…

Do they have to help you? Of course not. But anyone who comes in with 2 kids that young - give the dad a fucking break. It's not like he's a 16 year old who's got nothing to do on a Saturday - he's looking after 2 kids and it can be stressful as hell. Don't compare this to a loaf of bread at Safeway. That's moronic and makes you look like an ass. If you want to go down that road, howabout go into Safeway with a 2 year old who's about to piss her pants and ask to use the bathroom. Is it their POLICY to not allow the public to use their bathrooms? Probably. But chances are, they see someone in a bind and it's easy to help out.

I've seen a lot of bad internet press these days on that Cap's location. I can see why.

Do they have to help you? Of course not. But anyone who comes in with 2 kids that young - give the dad a fucking break. It's not like he's a 16 year old who's got nothing to do on a Saturday - he's looking after 2 kids and it can be stressful as hell. Don't compare this to a loaf of bread at Safeway. That's moronic and makes you look like an ass. If you want to go down that road, howabout go into Safeway with a 2 year old who's about to piss her pants and ask to use the bathroom. Is it their POLICY to not allow the public to use their bathrooms? Probably. But chances are, they see someone in a bind and it's easy to help out.

I've seen a lot of bad internet press these days on that Cap's location. I can see why.

He didn't go in with the 2 kids…they went to dq with mom.

I totally agree with the people who say if the store had lent him the tool or fixed it for free it would go a long way as far as customer service. However to go into a business and expect free use of a tool or free service then blast said business on the Internet for not doing that is wrong IMO.