First a little back story. I’ve been eyeing a certain bicycle saddle (The B66) and after looking on-line and local for it, I found locally the only place to sell it was Bayou Bicycles and the best place on-line was Persons-Majestic. The difference? Bayou Bicycles doesn’t carry the B66 in stock so it would take “at least three days” to get it in. They’re closed on Sunday so on Tueday, that was looking like it would be Monday since I wouldn’t be able to get in there to place the order until Wednesday. Oh, and Bayou Bicycle wanted $85 for it. Persons-Majestic was asking $58 for the same saddle. Plus $8 shipping. That’s still a $20 difference. No brainer for me. I e-mailed BB and told them of PM’s price and asked if I can get a deal since I’d rather go with a local bike shop rather than a mail-order place. They sent me back a sorta-kinda snobby letter about how they would never devalue a Brooks saddle by selling it cheaper.
So anyway.. after placing my order on PM’s website tuesday afternoon I called to ask how long shipping would take, because I was wondering if it would make it here by Saturday cause I wanted to go riding. After an amusing conversation with the rep he said he’d up my shipping to help it get here on time.
It arrived today. Not even 48 hours later. How’s that for prompt delivery?? I LOVE the seat BTW. It’s a work of art. Gorgeous and I can tell it’s going to be comfortable tomorrow for my first ride on it. :)
The way your local bike shop treated you the same way you treated them. It does not sound like you created a relationship with your shop before trying to low ball them on a saddle. To them, you are some mail order or internet shopper trying to “get something for nothing.” I am all about finding a “good deal”, but with local shops you get more than just product. These guys are there to provide services. They should be a good source of knowledge and help. People are always complaining about the lack of personal service or the “human touch”. In this instance, you ignored the chance of getting that personal touch from your local shop who you may return to for future assistance. If you would have had them special order that saddle, they most likely would have remembered you the next time you went back. But you missed that chance. Your local bike shop does need to make a profit in order to stay in buisness, so they will be able to do what they love in order to pass their passion to others.
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