[MotherHucker]

...Yeah I took mine there for a simple task (putting on a chainguide). The only reason I didnt was I dont have the tools to do it. So they got the old chainguide off, and TRIED to put the new one on. It didnt fit because its a whopping 44tooth ring. So they call me but my phones off, so they leave me a message telling me it doesnt work, so I go in and pick it up...and its $60 for the whole like 10 minutes they it SHOULD HAVE taken to figure out that it wouldnt fit. AND they didnt even put the thing back together. :madmax:
So I wasted $60 to figure out that it wouldnt fit...and thats ********.

 

[toiletsnake]

you could have...

bought the tools for about 15 bucks...

You should complain ALOT.

 

[garnetspur]

did you actually pay?

60 bucks:skep:

for an incomplete job.

you should have grabbed your bike and refused to pay that much.

i'm assuming we know the entire story. well, at least we have your side of it.

oh yeah. get a quote or estimate first next time too.

 

[BoiseBoy]

Bad experiences

I am sure that when you bike long enough and frequent the LBS's enough, you are bound to have bad stories about each and every shop.
I normally would not speak out about any shop, but I was very unhappy with IMT the last time I had service for my bike. Due to this, I have never been back for bike service.

Just over a year ago, I got a bit squirrely coming down some down hill and broke the brake lever blade to the front brake.
I needed it to ride and nobody had one on hand in town. I spoke to IMT, and to my amazement, they were putting in an order that day and could have my part in a matter of a short couple of days. Everything was going great, I called them the day the order was supposed to be in, "yep, we got our deliveries today, come on in". Boy, was I disappointed when I made the trip down only to find out that they had forgotten to order my part. I was told that they could put in an express order if I wanted to pay the extra shipping.
Needless to say, I did not order it through IMT, I ordered it on-line for significantly less than the LBS. The major reason for me having them order the part is that it would save time and get me back on my bike quicker. At that point, paying 20% more at IMT was worth the price to have it sooner. I have had other smaller service issues with IMT before, but this one was the example that still sticks out to me. Small things like these are exactly why the LBS's lose more ground to on-line venders each day. We visit the shops for their service and expertise, and when that slips away, there is no reason for me to visit them over the last year and a half.

 

[Dingle]

I once got an ounce in the mail

b/c my local vendor did not have what I wanted that day.

maybe I should have planned betta

 

[CBro]

...Yeah I took mine there for a simple task (putting on a chainguide). The only reason I didnt was I dont have the tools to do it. So they got the old chainguide off, and TRIED to put the new one on. It didnt fit because its a whopping 44tooth ring. So they call me but my phones off, so they leave me a message telling me it doesnt work, so I go in and pick it up...and its $60 for the whole like 10 minutes they it SHOULD HAVE taken to figure out that it wouldnt fit. AND they didnt even put the thing back together. :madmax:
So I wasted $60 to figure out that it wouldnt fit...and thats ********.

I don't believe we have the whole story. They're not my favorite shop, (nothing against them, I just don't know anybody since Pete left) but I can't believe they'd charge you $60 to tell you a part won't fit.

CDB

 

[rocknrollbarbie]

Im sorry that your experience with IMT was so crappy. That sucks. Fortunately my experiences with them have been MUCH better. About a month ago my headset on my SS decinigrated (sp?) IMT had my bike in and out in a day with the headset replaced and it didnt cost me an arm and a leg. When Doug called me to let me know my bike was fixed and ready to be picked up, he also let me know that he had fixed my brakes (free bonus). I had been having trouble with my brakes and had actually had him set some new ones aside to pick up with my bike but Doug fixed mine instead, saving me a chunk of change. So thats why I will keep taking my bikes to IMT.

 

[toiletsnake]

This one time at band camp...

I bought some schwag off the internet...That sh!t didn't fit either.

 

[Visicypher]

Should I tip NTSB employee after he/she feels me up at the airport? I feel so grateful after they do it that I wonder if I should...

 

[TwistedCrank]

I think bike shops should should be like dry cleaners.

You just drop your bike off, take a ticket, tell them you want it done but don't really say exactly what you want done, come back at the end of the day to pick it up, pay for it without really thinking about it and it's good as new, doesn't stink anymore and isn't all covered in lint.

 

[lonbalz]

Imt=joke

IMT sure has gone downhill in the last couple of years. A friend of mine was a loyal customer for about 7-8 yrs until the shop changed management a couple years back. On one ocassion, his rear hub or wheel went bad, but was still under warranty. They replaced it for him and we went to Stanley for the weekend right after that. On either the second ride up there, I notice he had a horrible sound coming from that wheel that they rebuilt. Upon further inspection, I notice that most every spoke is loose and some are rubbing against eachother causing this noise. I was able to get them tight enought to finish the ride and he took it in as soon as we got back from the trip that very monday. Keep in mind that it was only the second ride the bike had been on since the they had replaced that hub or wheel.
I was shopping for a new bike this spring and went in there to look. I had been comparing a couple different bikes, one that they didn't carry and one that they did. The kid who started helping me asked what bikes I was looking at and I told him. He immediately started badmouthing the bike(cannondale) that they didn't carry and telling me it wasn't a very good bike, even though it was the one I prefferred for various reasons. He knew about as much as as a 6 yr. old about bikes.IMO He couldn't justify or back up anything that he was telling me either. He waspretty much just spouting off.
I had another friend who was also in the market for a new bike this spring. He was in the process of purchasing a new bike from them and wanted some upgrades done to it as well. He wanted to switch forks on it. They deal they were willing to give him was this; they would give him cost for the fork on the bike towards whatever he wanted to get, BUT they were gonna give him that fork for retail!!!! BS The bike hadn't even left the shop yet, was still brand new and never ridden. That was on an 05 model. He got a full refund and went to one of the other LBS(Georges) and got the same model, but an 06 with upgrades and some small stuff thrown in for free for the same price IMT was selling him just the 05 for. Sorry for the long post, but I don't care for IMT by any means. Too many not so good experiences there in recent years. Have been a few more, but these really stood out in my mind.

 

[Earthpig]

OK, time to chime in here. I've had good and bad experiences with nearly every bike shop in the valley, but the good far outweigh the bad, especially at IMT. Mechanics have good and bad days, like everyone else. There are also good mechanics and not so good mechanics and sometimes sh!t doesn't work or it breaks on the first or second ride and it isn't the fault of the mechanic. Live with it.

Also, if you're going to buy a part online, make [email protected] sure it fits before you take it to a shop to have them install it. I'm of the opinion that we clearly don't have the full story on this chainguide issue (WTF is a chainguide anyway?), because I have to believe that no mechanic would leave a bike in worse shape than it came in AND charge the customer for it.

 

[BelaySlave]

It'd be nice to hear their side of the story cuz that just seems odd for ANY shop to do something like that.

I've never had my bikes into IMT, but I have talked to Pete early last year before I decided to take the plunge into SS'ing and he was a great joy to talk with. Very knowledgeable. Other folks there I've never had a problem with.

 

[BelaySlave]

Oh Geoff --- a chainguide is something you'll see more on FR and DH bikes.

 

[GreenGoat]

I am sure that when you bike long enough and frequent the LBS's enough, you are bound to have bad stories about each and every shop.

I totally agree, especially this time of year. Lots of folks are riding and the shops are always full in the summer. I've had really horrible and really good experiences at most of the shops around town over the last 8 years or so. Allot of the shops just want to get the bikes done as quickly as possible. You get your bike back quickly, they make more money since they can get more bikes in the door. Unfortunately, If you do not tell them EXACTLY what you want fixed, inspected ect ect, other problems will most likely be overlooked.

Last week, I went to one of the more popular Boise shops for a full tune as I usually get great service there. The mechanic quickly looked over the bike, pointed out two or three obvious things that I was aware of and informed me it would be $$ and be at least a week to fix. I decided to give custom cycles a try. I'm sold, this is where I will be bringing my bike for now on. Not only did they spend 30 minutes point checking everything on my bike while I was there, they found and showed me several things that were wrong. The bike was repaired in 2 days and has been working wonderfully.

 

[lonbalz]

I agree with Earthpig on the issue that shops aren't going to always get things perfect. That's just not possible and things ARE going to happen. They have bad and good days. It just seems like myself and some people I know have had more bad experiences than good at IMT in recent years, and some of them have been long time customers as well. Back to the rebuilt wheel for a moment. That thing should have never left the shop. There were half a dozen spokes, that on the second ride, had loosened up so much you could spin the wheel and they would just bang around almost like they were just dangling there. I don't know if they just missed tensioning those up with the rest or what happened. We didn't get a chance to check it either as it was picked up on the way out of town. I would hope that IMT would get back to the way they used to be a few years back. I used to enjoy going in there, but don't now unless it's an absolute must.

 

[MotherHucker]

I agree with Earthpig on the issue that shops aren't going to always get things perfect. That's just not possible and things ARE going to happen. They have bad and good days. It just seems like myself and some people I know have had more bad experiences than good at IMT in recent years, and some of them have been long time customers as well. Back to the rebuilt wheel for a moment. That thing should have never left the shop. There were half a dozen spokes, that on the second ride, had loosened up so much you could spin the wheel and they would just bang around almost like they were just dangling there. I don't know if they just missed tensioning those up with the rest or what happened. We didn't get a chance to check it either as it was picked up on the way out of town. I would hope that IMT would get back to the way they used to be a few years back. I used to enjoy going in there, but don't now unless it's an absolute must.

Yeah I totally agree with that...shops do have bad days.But when they do they dont charge you $60 for it...
And today I took it to Custom Cycles and they said they could get it to fit...but the fact that its a 44 tooth, it would mess up my gearing. So if I was going to ride up (insert trail name here), it would be pretty much impossible. So they are going to trade me for the same thing just a smaller size (no charge).

But to answer the question on how it was returned...it looked like this....

Sorry about the picture quality...I took it with a flash drive.

 

[TwistedCrank]

Yep. That is way to much metal for one bike. Good thing they took all that extra stuff off for you.

 

[lonbalz]

I've never had my bikes into IMT, but I have talked to Pete early last year before I decided to take the plunge into SS'ing and he was a great joy to talk with. Very knowledgeable. Other folks there I've never had a problem with.

I second that. We talked with Pete about 4 weeks ago. Seen him on the trail. He was stil recovering from an elbow injury I think. Very good guy. Too bad he's still not there.

MotherHucker: They by no means should charge you for what they didn't do. Sounds like IMT is losing or going to start losing alot of customers.

 

[BelaySlave]

Is Pete back in Boise now? Didn't he return to Wisconsin(?) and didn't he and his wife have a baby last year?

For all my SS needs I just go to flipnidaho!!