Ahhhh, the bike biz... One of the wisest quotes ever came from a Vermont collegue: "The customer is always the customer." Just leave it at that. Stephen --- Tom Boldway <jboldway@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote: > Hi everybody. Let’s end the vendor thread. I was a > vendor in bicycles – and > finally realized I had to leave retail when I > started referring to my > customers as “the vermin customers.” > Sadly, most people have NO idea how hard it is to > run a business or even a > clue at all about retail, business or capitalism. > Markups? You mean you sell > it for more than you paid for it? > The customer is NOT always right. I told one fellow > to never come back and > if he had any friends to tell them not to come > either. You’d be amazed at > what people want “warrantied” – just thinking about > retail and dealing with > vermin . . . err . . . I mean customers makes me > apoplectic. A lot of it has > to do with your customer base – I was dealing with > customers in the “Happy > Valley” (Amherst, MA area). Lots of ex hippies, > hippie wannabees and general > malcontents. An example would be one baked > trustafarian who droned on for > about an hour and half while I worked and he was > asking about different > derailleurs for his bike. When he finally wore > himself and everybody else in > earshot out he said “well I can get that for 20% > less from Bike Nashbar” and > left. Imagine my surprise when he showed up a month > or so later with the > same derailleur we were talking about – now in his > hand and a mangled piece > of fecality. Why was he coming to my shop? To have > it warrantied by us, or > so he thought . . . (that sizzling sound you now > hear is my brain > overheating again). > Bicycle business on Cape Cod was a different story – > loads of happy > customers, friendly people (which you would NOT > expect in a tourist trap > area). > So, folks, let's cut the vendors some slack. >
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