Umm... Velorution?

Ha, Mary consistantly lowers the customers bikes tyre pressures to 20psi below minimum so the shop can earn more money through puncture repair.

I say burn the witch!

@skully - I'm not. His rant, which was ill informed at best, on his blog a couple of years back makes him fair game in my book.

DaveH is right, TSK. Retailers don't have to honour mistakely marked stock, though most do for good customer relations - I know I would for £3. There are always things that get marked wrong online and in store.

The misleading pricing clause is to stop shops stating that a product has been reduced from a price it was never previously sold at. (hmm - crap sentence there).

@skully - I'm not. His rant, which was ill informed at best, on his blog a couple of years back makes him fair game in my book.

I dont give a fuck about the racist rant... this £3 profiteering fiasco with the gloves however is an absolute abomination.

Fair enough.

I'm still not convinced by Skully's VR is fuckin' aces because it's an indy though. Independant or not, it still doesn't excuse asshattery. That also applies to being Southern European and rudeness. I wouldn't expect smiling obsequious behaviour, just some basic politeness. Andrea would appear to have failed on this point. I was a long time customer of Edwardes in Camberwell and you could often find the staff grumpy and stubborn, but they were always polite, hence my customer loyalty.

I was a long time customer of Edwardes in Camberwell and you could often find the staff grumpy and stubborn, but they were always polite, hence my customer loyalty.

This

I'm still at a loss as to why I ALWAYS get a discount and/or things for free from them! :-)

thief

This

I'm still at a loss as to why I ALWAYS get a discount and/or things for free from them! :-)

Ha ha, I stopped showing my LCC card, it didn't get me nearly as much discount. I think Edwardes make a point of fostering business from anyone who appears to show more than a passing interest in cycling. Ultimately if there's a chance that you'll buy a big ticket item then they want to at least be considered as a supplier. It makes good business sense.

My point exactly. What's wrong with a bit of basic courtesy - you never know, as a shop owner what they will buy next? I had been thinking of a Brooks from VR but not now. As someone involved in a service industry a little give and take never hurt business and £3 should have been neither here nor there for VR but would have engendered customer loyalty.

Oh for fucks sake,
I'm sick of everyone dissing that shop.

Skully, PM me.
Velorution is closing down and moving to a new place in EC1; not sure if the name is staying the same. The cargo bike business is being sold off.

i just cant quite understand why, for the sake of £3, this was bought to the internet.
Andrea is a really nice guy. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes puts things across in a slightly weird way. But deep down, he really does care about cycling and the bikes and products he sells.
Obviously things have to be seen from both sides. What this sounds like is two strong minded individuals not wanting to step down from an argument.

What if this exact scenario had happened elsewhere? not even in another bike shop. Maybe somewhere completely different. Imagine if this happened in Topshop.. would it escalate into a fight? Would the customer get the item cheaper? Probably not.
Would it still be right to post it all over the internet?

Those who think that bike shops make a load of money are mistaken.
Most are 50-100k in the red at any one time.

x

(Is Mary the fitty red head?)

Get your Mink coat...

Agreed it maybe time to stop dissing Velorution. Yes I was pissed like everyone else when the racist thing kicked off as I had just brought a bike from him at the time, however he has now apologised and said he had made a mistake so lets accept it, and move on and stop using this forum for personal attacks to him and his business - Its just not cool, and just not nice. I wouldn't choose to have a drink with the guy, but Andrea has mostly been friendly, courteous, and at times, been less so - but we all have bad days, so maybe he just has more than most. I've always received great service from the staff, especially the mechanic (Daniel I think) who once fixed my bike on the spot for free, whereas Evans would have made me book it in, wait a week, and charge £30 for the pleasure... so i really don't think £3 is worth getting your knickers in a twist

The point is one of customer service. The amount is immaterial. If any business wants to keep its customers then it must look after them. If a business is failing then perhaps they need to look at why. A business only survives because of its customers and this is especially true of smaller businesses. Ignore the customer and they will ignore you.

Agreed, let's give Andrea(s) a break. I know of other small LBS' that totally rip off their customers, and feel no shame about it. I have a lot of time for people that can say sorry. It's a decidedly unBritish behaviour and I see great merit in it.

I did check with Westminster Council a while back, and discovered that shops are not compelled to sell an item at what is a disputed price offer. But companies like Marks & Spencer and Tesco have an image to protect, so if challenged, they nearly always kowtow to the customer.

Yep, I have had only good experiences there, Andrea gave me a discount once because I pointed out the price was incorrectly too low on something. Daniel is also well sound.

The point is one of customer service. The amount is immaterial. If any business wants to keep its customers then it must look after them. If a business is failing then perhaps they need to look at why. A business only survives because of its customers and this is especially true of smaller businesses. Ignore the customer and they will ignore you.

You have a point, and I fully agree. What ever happened to 'the customer is always right' ? We therefore have the right to complain and to shop elsewhere. I would have bought at least another 2 more bikes from him (for the wife and kid) were it not for the racist rant (i'm originally from essex, not white, and have blacked out windows on my car, so he actually managed to offend me with a triple whammy). However customer service, especially from the mechanics downstairs is always excellent, and I do actually enjoy to pop in to see the bikes as the place does provide a unique bike shop niche for central London. It will be a shame if they move to EC1, but I guess the high fitrovia rents, Cycle Surgery, the imminent Evans Superstore, and me not purchasing those extra two bikes have taken it's toll.

skully, i <3 you.

tim, you asshole, that was a secret. i'm never telling you anything private again, and now i'm going to let all our brompton customers know what you do to the bikes before they get sent out. jerk.

smallbrownbike, you need to stop objectifying women on bicycles (or in bike shops). i bet you look at that awful website chicks on bikes.

huge16, although i was not involved in the exchange which took place between your girlfriend and andrea, i'm sorry to hear that it turned out to be an unpleasant experience. i'm sending you a pm.

If you don't want what they're selling, don't go there, if you do, do.

Ha! You said "doo doo". Sort of...

Waves goodbye to Velorution

http://www.velorution.biz/2012/03/everything-discounted-until-5th-may/

Awww, thats so sad. Really awful.

Oh well, now thats over..............more business for other London shops.

"Velorution will be closing its doors on 5th May. You have five weeks to catch a bargain.
We are discounting ALL stock items up to 50%."

Wonder if they'll have half price Bromptons...

There's some decent people work there. And then there is the owner.

Was in there just yesterday. Have an old frame receiving some special attention. Shame.

If you're in the store for five weeks, they might just get round to serving you.

Don't understand how a business providing high end product in one of the only growing markets can go.