I've been a customer for various small bike issues/service at all of the previous Bicycle Space locations (broken wheels, brakes, BBs, etc.). Unfortunately I will no longer be a customer after my terrible customer experience with Rob. I haven't been back to the shop in about 1.5 years, but after another friend recently purchased a bike from the shop and shared a story of an extremely angry and unprofessional employee, I dusted off my previous draft email and decided to share. I had previously decided to not post a negative review in light of the bike shops that had closed in the area around that time. However, the terrible customer experience and verbal phone aggression has never left my mind. Hearing that it's still going on is unacceptable and I would recommend that you take your business to another local bike shop.
I've commuted daily all year long for over 12 years, so I am not a beginner by any means and typically only head to a shop if an unfortunate issue happens en-route of commuting or something beyond my repair skill set.
I brought in my bike due to what was seemingly a BB type issue. The bike which I had been riding for a year developed a flex that was something reminiscent a warn out BB. You could feel the give and the bike had an extra rock in it (similar to when I've had broken axels and loose headtubes, where the bike just has an extra give to it). As this suddenly appeared in my daily commuter, I wanted to get to the root of the issue. I described this to the service employee and finding the bike model and online part numbers for him, I left the store understanding that there was an issue and that they'd look at it.
I did not receive any type of update until 33 days later. After a week, I just wanted to see what would happen as I was riding another commuter and was not in a hurry to get that one back. I took the call that i received 33 days later at the end of the day at the office and was angerly and aggressively talked down to with the hinting of that I didn't know what I was talking about and that he had no idea why my bike was in the shop and was clearly frustrated. The tone was so bad that a coworker in another aisle, asked what all that was about (was not on speakerphone). It says a lot about how that message was delivered, as it was simply the store telling me that they couldn't fix the bike and to come pick it up.
I picked up the bike 5 days later (38 days) after dropping it off and was charged $42 for "service: install bottom bracket". However, as described very clearly in the work order, they did not install the bottom bracket but still charged for that work. Below are the service notes to give some insight on how Rob treats a customer issue. There was no "talk with the customer" but rather just the berating I got, telling me to come get the bike. I didn't have the energy to dispute after such a ridiculous phone call and just decided I'd rather get my bike out of there. FWIW, the bike did not and does not have any other issues as noted in the service notes. I took it to another shop, had the bearings replaced within a week and have not done any other work on the bike other than routine maintenance and care since.
If you're looking at shops, you could consider supporting the business for it's solid support of city biking, stock parts/bikes, and other employee encounters I've had, but I'd steer clear of Rob Lynn (Bike fitting tab of website) if possible and would also not expect the "Master Mechanics - No Attitude" that is proudly displayed online (Service tab of webiste)
"THIS BIKE HAS MORE ISSUES THAN JUST BEARINGS. I DON'T THINK THAT THEY WILL FIX THE PROBLEM. DO NO WORK UNTIL ROB CAN TALK WITH THE CUSTOMER. RL"
"DAVE TIGHTENED THE BB AND IT FELT FINE TO HIM. WE ARE AT A LOSS FOR WHY THIS BIKE IS ACTUALLY HERE. RL" read more