do people begrudge other people earning a living these days?

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Mattr, are you dreaming again?

Do Halfords/Evans/Cycle Surgery even have that?

There is one very nice bike shop near me, always pleasent, well equipped and just taken over another established long time shop. They are not cheap and very much roadie biased with plenty of cloths and bikes very few aftermarket parts! Compared to other shops, To me cloths if not Aldi are the one thing people will go and get from shops as well as full road bikes etc. Not super expensive bikes, but the 500 to grand sort of thing.

They have a particular client base and there are plenty of them around here. They are doing well. The ikd shops that try to cater for all are not. MTB shops are not. The cheaper end but still a bit higher than Argos are.
The make it up on the day are not.

I don't know what any charge for repairs but I guess their clients do not mind.

 

[greencat]

Re: Re:

that said it's sometimes just such a fight, a customer today asked if he got discount for working at the local petrol refinery, so i asked if i could have discount on my fuel at the local petrol station, and he said (quite seriously) that he "didn't even get discount" there! he didn't get my point so i explained it. these are people who's wage is (as a process operator) 75 -95 grand a year, he asked for discount on an £88 bill after working on his daily commuter which had a chain/cassette/cables and service, so not a hefty bill for the work really, but as someone that gets 4 to 6 times my wage to push for discount is actually quite rude when you think about it, especially (from a bartering point of view) when they have nothing to offer in return, arguably his custom in the first place, but as a paying customer who was given a quote initially prior to work and gave the go ahead if he then wants discount then he should form a bartering point of view offer something else in part for the drop in funds given.

i suppose the point is, what do they think entitles them to discount? and why is someones knowledge and skill which is a commodity not valued and be considered to be something that is given away for free?

Ha ha - that's a funny example. It's not a matter of entitlement - it's just how some people/cultures are wired. It's not a question of not valuing you and your skills - it's simply negotiation. Try not to take it personally.

If you don't haggle in many countries/cultures, you'll simply get ripped off - because the expectation is simply built in. No doubt an oil industry worker encounters that quite a lot in their line of work.

Many people in this country have simply lost the ability/expectation. For example, lets say you go to a shop to buy a washing machine. You can either buy it in cash or on 0% interest free credit for 6 months. That suggests that the cash payer is either subsidising those buying it on credit and/or that the shop is willing to lose a tiny amount of profit in the form of interest on that loan.

A friend of mine's wife will always ask for that difference as a discount. In theory, it costs the shop nothing to give her it.

The oil industry worker is simply trying it on - and using the "because gambit" in negotiation. Researchers found that simply including the word because when making a request was more likely to have it granted - regardless of the reason. Some people have taken this to extremes eg "Will you give me a discount because I'm a really nice guy?"

I actually think your response was a neat way to handle it - especially if you kept it light, said it with a smile and didn't get pissed off. "Sure, I'll give you a discount - if you can get me 5p per litre off at the local petrol station."

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Johnnyboy, I honestly do sympathise and understand - I worked in retail for a few years too (not bikes).

However, I posted this a few years back;

"I thought I'd give my (new, I've just moved house) LBS a visit .

I needed 2 disk brake adapters, and long story short, the guy was dismissive, told me I was wrong when I asked for a certain size adapter, and was generally unhelpful. The other staff in the shop practically ignored me.

To prove I was right about the adapter size, I returned later with frame, fork and brake in hand. Carbon frame, hope wheels, formula brakes.

They were suddenly climbing over themselves to help, with 3 guys crowding round, offering advice. I was ushered to their glass cabinet, where they proudly showed me the XTR groupset that they had for sale!

When they thought I had money, they couldn't help enough - shame they weren't a little better when I was looking for the basic parts.

Made me laugh, anyhow. (And I was right about the adapter too!)"

For the record I DID buy the adapters through choice, and have returned to that shop for further work, as I beleive in supporting local businesses. Unfortunately, the attitude that I got during my first visit stunk. It's reasons like this that customers can get weird sometimes, as I left the shop feeling stupid and undermined. There was no real support, no apology on my return, and I certainly didn't get value for money - I had to make a second trip to the shop, despite being supplied with the wrong items. Should I have asked for a discount?

Anyways, I digress. My point is I suspect that my experience and your current employment are actually the same shop (I know it wasn't you that served me, you wern't working there then!!). So whilst some customers can be arses, so can some workers.

If you can continue to keep a cool head, explain things rationally, and serve the customers best interest, you are doing a good job. the customer is always right, but sometimes they need to be re-educated too.

I might pop down on one of my Retros to say hi if you're not too busy?

 

[The History Man]

Make sure you buy something!

 

[Mike Muz]

Make sure you buy something!

Just not an Orange !

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

Mattr, are you dreaming again?

No, its a well established (pre war), successful, well positioned family run shop which shifts a *hell* of a lot of kit. For all price points.
The current director/owner has been running the place since his dad retired in the early 90's. And TBH, he's made some stellar decisions with things like brands to carry and people to employ. He's also made smart business/financial decisions, like opening a second and third shop (then closing one when it didn't make the grade). TBH, outside of the big chains i wouldn't be surprised if it counts as one of the big (biggest?) hitters in the UK.

I even got a christmas box one year, as their highest spending customer

Do Halfords/Evans/Cycle Surgery even have that?

I would suspect they have some of it, as they employ enough people to come under "proper" employment legislation.
Whether they skirt round it by only having zero hour contracts, or making certain roles self employed, or having each store as a stand alone business or franchise.......... who knows.

 

[dbmtb]

Re:

Loan companies offer stores commission to sell stuff on finance so by that logic, you should pay MORE if you don't take the loan to make up the lost commission GreenCat. Interest-free loans tend to be financed by the people who get behind on instalments, not the retailer.

 

[greencat]

Re: Re:

Loan companies offer stores commission to sell stuff on finance so by that logic, you should pay MORE if you don't take the loan to make up the lost commission GreenCat. Interest-free loans tend to be financed by the people who get behind on instalments, not the retailer.

Or those taking up a loan ask for some of the commission by way of a discount

 

[Rampage]

Only had it a couple of times and not from anyone on here, but I've found that people who argue about the price (even if you are the only person in the country who can do something) also want it done almost immediately and will moan about the slightest imperfection.

Used to own a takeaway and get people telling me to do their order first even though there was a shop full of people who were already waiting (and listening!)

 

[KDM]

do people begrudge other people earning a living these days? Yes