Tina H.
Yelp
Hidden fees. It's reasonable to charge for labor but I would've liked if they told me beforehand since it turned a $60 bike rack into an $80 one. I could've installed it myself or gotten it installed for free at the bike shop near me where I bought my bike. Literally 4 screws. Lucas should've known since I specifically asked about pricing for all items I purchased. I also dropped $250 on panniers so that hidden $20 fee was just plain disrespectful.
Previously I had a great experience getting help from Tom which is one of the reasons I came back to this store. Very disappointed with the experience with Lucas. Lucas didn't tell me about the installation fee and I only discovered it after he did the work and I've already paid. It's a slimy way to do business, you should be honest up front about all charges, not surprise your customers with hidden charges. Not impressed with Lucas and will likely avoid this spot in the future unless they make it right because I feel cheated.
Lucas also didn't return the plugs that were in the screw holes in my bike after mounting the rack. It's common practice to give everything back to the customer that you take off their bikes. But it's also common practice to disclose labor fees, but they don't do that here either..
I would probably avoid this place for work on my bike. I'd rather do business with a place that I didn't feel ripped me off.
Update in response to Josh's reply (2 Sep 2020):
As I mentioned above, I'll clarify again since it wasn't clear: my issue is not that I think that $20 is an unfair value for the service of installing a bike rack, it's that this fee wasn't disclosed before the work was done and I didn't know I was paying it. The bike shop I went to the day before (Comor) offered to install accessories for free, and I hadn't bought a bike in 10 years so I was riding off of that energy. I didn't want to buy an $80 rack with free installation since I knew you could get racks for about $50. Well, I ended up buying a $60 rack for $80 without knowing it, so yeah, I feel ripped off. I was obviously mistaken for assuming that all shops would do it for free.
I think it's reasonable for bike shops to set whatever prices they want as fees--$20 or $2,000 for a bike rack installation, whatever they want, as long as the price is clear and the customer doesn't get a surprise at the till after the work is done.
To clarify, I do not think that Lucas intentionally or maliciously hid the fee, I think it was an accidental oversight, but when I brought it up with him he didn't attempt to make it right so the end result was me feeling ripped off and that he didn't care. That reaction, combined with lack of disclosure, seemed slimy to me.
If I knew the cost was $20 I would've still grabbed the rack but installed it myself. I used to volunteer at community bike mechanic workshops and can patch my own flats, change a bike chain, and other things, so yeah, installing a bike rack with 4 screws is a simple job, relatively speaking, and not something I would've willingly paid $20 for.