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It's true. At the Cycle Surgery, although it's also a big chain company too, I had better reaction by the staff and the girl who repaired my bike at the King's Cross store once did a good job. (I honestly doubt if they even touched my bike at the Evans at Chalk Farm when the story above happened..). You can feel it when a bike is greased and cleaned properly and rolling smooth like butter..
Anyway. Yes, ditto, local bike shops are the best option for bike services, they may take longer to get components as they don't have as much stock as the big corporate shops have, bit it's worth the wait. ;)
The plan is to eventually repair as much as I can on my own and send it over only for the hard bits (bottom bracket replacement, it's pressed, not threaded on my roadie, headset checks etc). Some of the rest I can do on my own and planning to book myself in for some classes at LBK (wheel truing and building, hub rearing, gear indexing, etc).
Hoping to not need to send my steeds out ever again eventually...
😉
Anthi-
local bike shops are the best option for bike services
I feel like this is a bit final and don't necessarily agree with it. I've done my stint in Locals and they can be just as bad or simply antiquated. As @edscoble said as well, it's down to the individuals, and if people have nothing to lose, your health could be put at risk by unsafe working methods at worst. At best, you just lose money innit.
Locals are also getting pushed out by extortionate costs that bike shops simply can't afford; who's gonna afford rent to run a shop in zone 1? No one. Which means people don't have a tangible feel when buying a bike, or when most people need a repair as a bike is just a mode of transport for them.
It's why I'm quite sad to see things are sliding down hill. A bike shop is always a good thing, and this seems like a hint towards worse times.
Big up on fixing your own stuff, it's always the best way.
Chak
Evans employees aren't a collective hive mind, so no need to apologise as no one will try to defend the company to their last breath.
Your story echoes one of the fundamental issues each store had. Staff retention. Shit, I think I went through 4 store managers in my time.
Staff not appreciated = Staff that don't have much to lose = staff that don't really give a shit about the customer.
This isn't an Evans thing only, it's endemic to most of the Retail/Service Industry.