We are in the market for a new road bike for my husband; he is a marathon runner, but wants to start cycling once or twice a week for cross training during the hotter summer months. We were passed off to a sales person (I don't know his name, neither one of us can remember if he ever introduced himself). After a brief explanation of what we were looking for, he surmised that we wanted an "endurance bike", and began to show us two models. He then asked my husband "what type of gears he was looking for". Not understanding the question, we asked what he meant, at which point he rattled off a few brand names, never once explaining why we might want to take this information into consideration. When it was clear we still did not know what he meant, and didn't care either way, he then asked us how much we were wanting to spend. My husband began to answer while looking in my direction - simply because we didn't really have a set limit, we had a number that we would like to spend but nothing set in stone. The sales person saw this look and made a joke about "how much money was my husband allowed to spend"....I didn't realize Bike Barn was set in the 1950's and "ole ball and chain" jokes were still in fashion, but sure, I only allowed him to spend X amount of dollars. It wouldn't have mattered, because as soon as the sales person heard that amount, he insisted that we would not find a bike at that price. Well, we could find a bike at that price (I know were could, we were surrounded by price tags that stated as much), but it would not be a carbon frame, and therefore, in this salesperson's mind, would be worthless. After looking on our own for a bit, my husband found a Specialized that he liked and was only a bit more than what we said we wanted to spend (and a carbon frame to boot), but when he asked the salesperson about it, he shook his head and said no, because that bike is "cheap". Oh, and some people find it uncomfortable. He wasn't able to really explain why, but it was and that was that. I could never imagine being a sales person and calling anything in my own inventory cheap, but he obviously has a different strategy. That strategy included never asking my husband how far he wanted to ride, how often he wanted to ride, not even what type of bike he might actually want. He never offered to take a bike down from the rack or show us options that closer fit our budget. He had two bikes in the entire store to sell us, and even though they were $1500+ more than what we said we wanted to spend, only those bikes would do.
Here's the thing: we are not the most novice bike shoppers. My husband has been a mountain biker for about 20 years, I'm a lightweight but still enjoy the sport as well. We've lived in at least 4 different states, and over seas, so we've been to a lot of bike shops. Four years ago I purchased my own road bike while living in Iowa, and I remember the experience fondly. We had an even tighter budget at the time, but the sales people made sure to only suggest bikes that we could afford. They took at least three bikes down for me to look at closely, set one up for me to ride on, the entire experience was handled with consideration and we were devoted costumers until we moved away. And to be clear, we would absolutely afford to spend what the Bike Barn salesperson was suggesting on a bike, but you know what, we didn't want to. And that's fine. We certainly don't deserve to be treated with any less respect because of that. And we could have easily purchased the Specialized, but why would we when it was very clear that Bike Barn did not want to sell it to us.
We will go somewhere else and find a bike (and two new pairs of clip shoes, and two new helmets, since we were in the market for those as well), but there needs to be some serious attitude adjustments at this location. I have no doubt that business is not going to decline any time soon; this branch is well established and is a massive part of the Clear Lake cycling community. My concern is that too many potential customers have come into that store, possibly buying a bike for the first time. Maybe they need to get in shape and even though they are on a tight budget and only have a few hundred to spend, they want to buy a brand new bike and they want someone to help them get the perfect one so they can cycle on the weekends. And they will walk into the Bay Area Bike Barn, face the same snobbish attitude we faced, have someone tell them that their money is no good there, and they will turn around and walk out and never walk into another bike store again. And that would shameful. read more