I have purchased a pile of accessories from them for 2 bikes I purchased privately, also have had service there. They are buys but everything in the shop was done perfectly and the staff in the parts department know their stuff and treat me well. I just scored a great deal on a helmet there....thanks Sandy for the right advice!
Snow city cycle :( Two wheels motorsports :)
- Thread starter boooya
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Parts department = thumbs up
Sales department = useless.
Walked in twice with intention to buy something and was pretty much turned off by their lack of interest to sell.
I guess my money is no good there
contact148
Well-known member
I bought 2 brand new bikes there in 2012 and 2013 but that was from Rocky who is no longer there I had no troubles. I have NEVER tried the service there as I work on my own stuff
I've been to Snow City twice now. Once for parts and once for service (tires). Most of the employees seem generally friendly and I walked in there today in a good mood due to the nice weather and all. However, I walked out a little ****** off because of the way they handled my tire install transaction. At least ****** enough that I'll never go there again for service or recommend it to any of my friends. Too bad, cause I was hoping it could be my home-base for bike service.
TorontoBoy
Well-known member
You'll need to tell us more details of your transaction. With a dearth of details there's not much for us to advise?
Do you work at Snow City? I'm not looking for any advice or to tell a long-winded story about what happened because it's not huge a problem in the grand scheme. Suffice it to say, there were a number of things that irked me from a customer service standpoint but I patiently let them go. The last straw was being invoiced way more than I was originally told for a simple tire mount which just made me feel like I wasn't valued at all as a customer. And that's what it was really about, not the money.
Maybe he's just an impossible customer. We'll never know!
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I agree, specially when one of the guys from the company is trying to get more detail so they know what went wrong.
I used to be a dissatisfied SC customer but after my last interaction with them, I think they are making an effort to improve even on the Service Department front. I gave them a chance and they came through so my opinion has changed.
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I was working in the area in 2013, bought alot of oem and aftermarket parts from them, they were always pleasant and easy to deal with.....no b.s.
When it came time to buy a new bike, went there, the deal wasn't the best out there, but the salesman did give me the spiel about how they have a fantastic service department. "All I had to do was phone him and he would get me in and out right away".
Bought the bike from them, less than 2 weeks later it needs the first service, called him.....he acted like he didn't know who I was, said it would be 3 more weeks before any any service appointments are available......never went back.
When it came time to buy a new bike, went there, the deal wasn't the best out there, but the salesman did give me the spiel about how they have a fantastic service department. "All I had to do was phone him and he would get me in and out right away".
Bought the bike from them, less than 2 weeks later it needs the first service, called him.....he acted like he didn't know who I was, said it would be 3 more weeks before any any service appointments are available......never went back.
TorontoBoy
Well-known member
I do not work for Snow City. I've had 2 tire changes done there and have been satisfied with their service. When you say "there were a number of things that irked me from a customer service standpoint" that's just vague, and tells me virtually nothing about your case. Are you just anal about small things, like the service lady had grease on her hands, or they did not treat your credit card with the respect you believe it should warrant. Or was it something like the tire valve was not aligned with the tire dot, the tire was too old, your rim was scratched up badly, you had to wait a long time at the counter, the counter lady did not give you her cell number? Frankly from your post I cannot tell if you just had sour milk in your coffee that day.
Why wouldn't you just go to them?
Sparkcycle
Well-known member
I bought my bike from SC and got a great deal (Ninja 300). They price matched another dealership who had listed on AutoTrader. A couple of weeks ago, I went in for my first service and inspection and had them change the rear sprocket at the same time (I bought the sprocket from another company). They've been great so far.
Ha you guys will try to turn anything into drama 
. I guess this is what we have to look forward to over the winter.
TorontoBoy doesn't work for Snow City and I'm not looking for any advice so... yea. If I really wanted to try to cost them business I would've started my own thread instead of basically +1-ing someone else's. I don't see how that's "bashing" but if you want to sensationalize go right ahead.
Since you guys want to know so badly, I ordered tires from Pete's because I noticed that my old tires were starting to tear down the center. So I had Pete deliver directly to Snow City in the interests of making this quick and hassle free. I called ahead and Snow City told me 'no problem, we'll call you when your tires arrive'.
About a week later I called to give them a heads up that FedEx would be delivering the tires that day. I wanted to schedule an appointment asap so I could hopefully make it out for what might've been the last warm weekend of the year.
48 hours later I hadn't heard from them. I checked with FedEx and the package was confirmed as delivered 2 days ago. So I give them another ring and they confirmed they had it. I said ok great, can I come in? They said 'no, we can't take you until next week now'. I was disappointed but I said fine, no problem. They said it would take 1 - 1.5 hrs at most so I scheduled the appointment for noon.
So yesterday, I go in for my appointment during my lunch break. I rode the bike in slowly on local roads. This was a one way trip on the old tires. When I arrived I had a friendly chat with the service lady and then she handed me an invoice for $180. I was surprised because it was much higher than I expected. I don't remember exactly what the original quote they gave me was (which is my fault, I should've wrote it down) but I know I didn't agree to anything close to $180. They told me 'oh, because you didn't buy the tires from us it's going to cost you more. Normally it's $110 [or something] but for you it's $180'. To which I responded, 'this is news to me!'
So the girl at the service desk speaks to the manager who refused to budge on it. Of course I refused to pay the $180 too. I tried to make them understand that this was their error and that I shouldn't have to pay for that. If I had brought the truck I could take the tires with me but that wasn't an option either and I'd rather not ride back home on my old tires. After some argument, the manager agreed to lower it to $135. I had no choice but to accept it at that point even though I was still paying more than I should have. Two hours later my tires were mounted and I left.
Like I said, not the end of the world but enough to turn me off from that place. It's not the money, I just don't feel valued as a customer by their service dept. Perhaps it was an isolated incident but I don't feel any need to test that theory. Happy?
. I guess this is what we have to look forward to over the winter.TorontoBoy doesn't work for Snow City and I'm not looking for any advice so... yea. If I really wanted to try to cost them business I would've started my own thread instead of basically +1-ing someone else's. I don't see how that's "bashing" but if you want to sensationalize go right ahead.
Since you guys want to know so badly, I ordered tires from Pete's because I noticed that my old tires were starting to tear down the center. So I had Pete deliver directly to Snow City in the interests of making this quick and hassle free. I called ahead and Snow City told me 'no problem, we'll call you when your tires arrive'.
About a week later I called to give them a heads up that FedEx would be delivering the tires that day. I wanted to schedule an appointment asap so I could hopefully make it out for what might've been the last warm weekend of the year.
48 hours later I hadn't heard from them. I checked with FedEx and the package was confirmed as delivered 2 days ago. So I give them another ring and they confirmed they had it. I said ok great, can I come in? They said 'no, we can't take you until next week now'. I was disappointed but I said fine, no problem. They said it would take 1 - 1.5 hrs at most so I scheduled the appointment for noon.
So yesterday, I go in for my appointment during my lunch break. I rode the bike in slowly on local roads. This was a one way trip on the old tires. When I arrived I had a friendly chat with the service lady and then she handed me an invoice for $180. I was surprised because it was much higher than I expected. I don't remember exactly what the original quote they gave me was (which is my fault, I should've wrote it down) but I know I didn't agree to anything close to $180. They told me 'oh, because you didn't buy the tires from us it's going to cost you more. Normally it's $110 [or something] but for you it's $180'. To which I responded, 'this is news to me!'
So the girl at the service desk speaks to the manager who refused to budge on it. Of course I refused to pay the $180 too. I tried to make them understand that this was their error and that I shouldn't have to pay for that. If I had brought the truck I could take the tires with me but that wasn't an option either and I'd rather not ride back home on my old tires. After some argument, the manager agreed to lower it to $135. I had no choice but to accept it at that point even though I was still paying more than I should have. Two hours later my tires were mounted and I left.
Like I said, not the end of the world but enough to turn me off from that place. It's not the money, I just don't feel valued as a customer by their service dept. Perhaps it was an isolated incident but I don't feel any need to test that theory. Happy?
nyx
Well-known member
I find Snow City to be average bike shop. They are the second closest to me so I check in with them first. I think they charged me $90 to change one tire too.
Having said that my biggest problem with bike shops in general is the length of time for service. I commute on my bike to work 8 months a year and don't have a car yet. The shops telling me it will take them a week to change a chain/tire they have in stock is not good for me. However, I understand they want everyone happy. So I've been jumping between shops.
Having said that my biggest problem with bike shops in general is the length of time for service. I commute on my bike to work 8 months a year and don't have a car yet. The shops telling me it will take them a week to change a chain/tire they have in stock is not good for me. However, I understand they want everyone happy. So I've been jumping between shops.
I work at a bike shop as well (none of the above) and it is common practice to charge more to install tires that were purchased elsewhere. They make money off the tire sale so they can eat into the labour cost to make it better for the customer. If you want to by your tires online for cheap, go for it, but they now have no incentive to give you the labour at a cheap rate as they'll make nothing off of you. It is a business after all.
It's a very bad business model which is why many bike shops fail. What's average flat rate time to install two tires on a regular bike, 1hr? You can't tell me that charging $180 for 1 flat rate hour makes any logical sense. This old world thinking of giving the customer a middle finger for daring to shop elsewhere makes customers want to take their complete business elsewhere. Bike shops need to realize that customers have options, they do not hold a monopoly.
Yes Pete's sells tires for dirt cheap, probably below cost of many shops. If you can't compete, then do what you can to take care of the customer in other ways, like putting on tires for a reasonable price. Doing things like that reinforces the relationship with the customer and makes them want to return for future transactions. Pete's #1 product is tires, chances are your customer isn't going to go to him for their other needs. Shops need to have the mentality that the customer owes them no loyalty, it is the their responsibility to gain the customer's business.
Related example, I work service in a car dealer. Costco sells winter tires for dirt cheap, so cheap that often times their retail price is below our cost. What do we do? Try our best to price match, even if it means selling tires at almost no profit margin. If that is just not possible, it's not the end of the world. We do everything else we can to take care of the customer to try and retain the rest of their business. The biggest fear is that the customer will take all of their business elsewhere, find it better for whatever reason and never come back.
Ironically enough, I buy all of my Yamaha OEM parts from Snow City. I could buy online and save a few bucks, but Snow City's parts department has never let me down. They get the part when they say they will, they always call me when the parts come in, and the parts dept has always been a pleasure to deal with. Do I buy my tires there? Nope. Whenever I've inquired about pricing, it's through the roof. I would love to buy my tires there, but they're just not competitive in that area. For my other parts, I have no reason to look elsewhere.
Another example of bike shops operating in a very old school mentality. They need to modernize their processes or risk going the way of all the other closed up shops.
martin900cc
Well-known member
I bought mine from the same dealer,
Terrible costumer service,sucks..The sales man bold head guy he is ok..
ཨོ་མ་ནི་པདྨེ་ཧ྄ཱུཾ།།
Terrible costumer service,sucks..The sales man bold head guy he is ok..
ཨོ་མ་ནི་པདྨེ་ཧ྄ཱུཾ།།
