West End used to be a great bike shop and in many ...

West End used to be a great bike shop and in many ways still is. I always knew that I was paying more than going to a big box store or chain, but it was worth it to support a good local bike store. Unfortunately, a few recent interactions have stopped me from returning. In particular, one employee appeared to be under the influence of something when I placed an order for new tires and dropped my bike off for some maintenance. It turns out that the employee never actually ordered the tires or created a work order. When I called in after one week the same employee said that the service I requested was too time consuming and that they should be charging more than what I was quoted (I ended up bringing it to another shop for 1/4 of the price). On the 14th day I called and the very same employee said that he could not tell if the part had actually been ordered and that the person responsible for ordering it (himself) was not available to ask. My wife had come in with me on that original visit and the employee couldn t be bothered to help her look at bikes. I would have been happy to buy my wife a bike that day but this employee wouldn t even engage in a conversation with her, so we went elsewhere.

There are a bunch of great employees at the shop who I always had fun interacting with, but I can t spend good money at a place that allows their customers to be treated that way.