I know that this entry is overdue, but my bicycle biz hasn’t
been going very smoothly lately, and I had just put off writing until my
attitude improved a bit.
Months ago I had ordered a
Cinelli Alter stem from an eBay seller in Poland, and despite some issues with
delivery of bicycles (most of which were eventually straightened out), I have
seldom had problems with the shipping of parts. In this case the item seemed to
have been lost, and I was eventually issued a refund. It turns out that the
package was supposed to be delivered,
but at the time we had put a hold on our mail during a week-long stay at the
shore earlier this summer.
The post office
neglected to put the “signature required upon delivery” notice for that package in with our stack of mail given to us when we returned. After I received a similar notice in the stack of mail held during our
trip to the Finger Lakes and went to pick up a package at the post office, the
clerk emerged from the mysterious back room where packages are stored and said,
“Here are two more for you – oh, we’ve had this one a while.” Ta-da, the Alter stem!
Because I would
want someone to treat me the same way, I contacted the seller to see if he had
received any compensation for the lost package, since he had a shipping receipt and
tracking info (however “reliable” international tracking is). He had been given nothing and was very happy to hear from me, using the words “respect” and
“honesty” over and over in his appreciative messages.
David even gave me
a discount when he found out the stem he had sent was slightly different
from the photos of the new, old-stock version that had been incorrectly included in his
original listing. It made me feel good to “do the right thing”, and one can’t
help thinking some type of good fortune should come back in return.
Yeah, whatever…
I had two people
looking to buy bicycles from me recently, we negotiated a little, and I was very
sure to be moving two projects out of my shop. Unfortunately, I received
messages that both prospective buyers had found bicycles elsewhere. I
actually had a third person as a "backup customer", only to have him nervously change his
mind about how he wanted to spend his money.
Circumstances did briefly
turn positive, with a sale (I’ll get back to that later) and several eBay parts purchases where the
sellers accepted my lower price in a “Make Me an Offer” transaction, but not for
long. An online shop in Portland sold me a beautiful vintage Campagnolo headset
a very good price. I thought I had filled one of my needs for the red Pinarello
Treviso project, but unbelievably, the owners were in the process of relocating
and somehow managed to lose the part!
And finally, the
one that really blew my top! A gentleman who lived nearby called me about
finding a commuter bicycle for him, and I found exactly what he wanted at a
very reasonable price, freshly posted one morning on craigslist. The seller was
moving and expressed some desperation to reduce inventory, so after a couple
exchanged emails, I had scheduled a pickup that evening. I had a physical
therapy appointment, after which I withdrew the required cash from the bank nearby, then drove
home for a bite to eat before heading to pick up the bicycle.
I did a quick check
of my email before leaving and found a message explaining that the seller was “sorry for the
inconvenience” and had sold the bicycle because of his “tight schedule”. In the
first-come, first-served world of craigslist, I thought that I had done everything
necessary, but I suppose without any real consequences to poor customer service, people can do whatever
they want. The stupid thing was that I had provided my phone number in one of
the messages – a quick call, and someone from my family could have picked it up
immediately. Ridiculous!
Moving on to
current business, it’s not quite Cinquebicicambio, but involving three
bikes in a parts exchange project isn’t exactly simple, either! Someone had
seen the green Colnago Sprint on craigslist and really wanted the frame as the base for a commuter bike with modern parts. I was a bit reluctant, but he offered a nice
amount of money, and since this wasn’t one of my builds, only a bike on which I
had done a bit of cleaning, polish and touch-up, I agreed to sell the frame.
Since I was left
with a complete Campagnolo Athena groupset, I decided that I will swap it out with the
Shimano 105 group on the Colnago 1988 XL. This bike had a black Selle Italia
Flite saddle, but I like the look of the white saddle and handlebars on the red
frame, so I’m going to switch in those parts from the Sprint as well.
I’ve had a Campagnolo wheelset sitting around in my shop, and now a few parts that
won't be needed for the 1988 XL. I came across a beautiful cobalt blue Pinarello
Vuelta frame from ’97 that looked like the perfect candidate for the remainder
of my leftovers, plus the few necessary fill-ins. The great thing about
this deal was that the seller lived within driving distance and was smart
enough to realize that he could save some money by ending the eBay listing and
making a cash transaction. He actually dropped the price $10 for me and still
made $15 more than he would have, if he had to pay the eBay fees!
I love all the engraved logos (or pantographia, as the Italians say), but again, the dang
faulty Pinarello decals! I’m doing some research into better methods to remove
them without damaging the paint. It seems as though my airbrush connection has
gone AWOL, so I don’t want to have to rely on him for help, should I damage the
blue finish. I’m already searching for a pro to take care of the paint touch-ups for my other two projects.
More soon…
No comments :
Post a Comment