What is he going on about ?

Writer misses the mom/pop feel of motorcycle shops of yester-years?

Since motorcycles are "niche" markets, business owners should display same cultural attitude? Will the writer expect the same attitude from honda/yamaha/suzuki powersports?

No different than any other business. As the owner, i wouldnt want to resell anything thats obviously used. I see that at home depot (common to see pre-opened packaging re-wrapped)
 
TK4 said:
I'm having a tough time following this ...

canadamotoguide.com

Opinion: New gloves | Canada Moto Guide

I bought a new pair of riding gloves last month. Normally, I wait for the motorcycle show to come to town and then choose a pair there from the billions and billions spread out on tables…
canadamotoguide.com canadamotoguide.com
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Bigsix beat me too it.

Mark hopes that the shop will share the enthusiasm for his/our pass time, or adhere to a maxim of make the customer happy at all costs.

I'm of 3 minds on this. First, I too recall the days of the discount table where defective or slightly used returns were sold off at a discount. It does seem like a good idea but in this time of Point-of-sale software relying on barcodes it might be a pain. Workable for a small shop but a giant pain for a large dealer.

On the other hand, maybe it's customer fatigue. I was in GP this week and they've been extremely busy, and continue to be. While waiting for a little while to get my oil filter and order tires I listened to 3 or 4 interactions between customers and staff. Discounts, whining (for lack of a better word) about lack of size or color selection, more discounts on already discounted items and the cost vs. Amazon were the topics. That stuff wears on you after a while and does have an effect even for a short time. I'm not excusing it, I spent my entire working life in a customer facing role and am the first to admit that sometimes you get worn down and are not at your best. To alleviate it you need to take a break, but when the shop is busy it's hard to do.

Finally the industry probably looks at it less as corporatization and more as professionalization. Get rid of the greasy, creaky, old family run bike shops (in particular the ones filled with characters, knowledge, familiarity, and fun) and replace them with clean, new big temples of cross promotion and add on sales which are operated on financial metrics and rigid policies.
 
Dude wants special treatment despite admitting he both wore them for several hours plus was past the return policy deadline.

Solution: Put on big boy pants, put them up on Kijiji for 25-35% less than he paid for them, cut ones losses, and move on. And stop expecting retail shop already working on slim margins to take that loss on his behalf. Face it, anyone going in looking at gloves isn't going to buy those at full retail if they see them hanging on the wall knowing that they're used. Even at a discount it's kinda an "Eww, someones sweaty hands were in those" type thing for many people.
 
Evoex said:
Do tell
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Given that he's written numerous articulate OPINION pieces and road tests for CMG, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and a couple of books I'd say that places him as far from moron as possible. I've never met him, but he's articulate and from what I've heard a decent guy.
 
xrljoel said:
Given that he's written numerous articulate OPINION pieces and road tests for CMG, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and a couple of books I'd say that places him as far from moron as possible. I've never met him, but he's articulate and from what I've heard a decent guy.
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Is being a decent person who writes articles the bar we set for moron? We can agree to disagree on that.

That’s exactly what I would label someone who tries to return a product that is; outside the return window, used, not in original packaging and then complains about it. If you don’t want to end up in this situation, you do your due diligence.

I’ve bought many products before, some online and I’ve tried them on before taking the tags off. If I suspected a fitment issue I’d either return or order a size up/down then make a decision.

The terms of the sale were clear and he still griped. Why is the business responsible for his inability to do the SMART thing? They are not.

Moron.

p.s. yes I understand the context of the content the way it was written. My opinion stands.
 
"I think of motorcycle shops like being family" holy wishful thinking Batman. Literally the only person in the industry that's treated me this way ever is Ted Rose. Maybe that one mechanic at CWW that traded a couple of valve shims.

I didn't notice the byline the first time around - I am flabbergasted to see that it's Mark Richardson. He's been around the block, he's probably set foot in even more shops than I have.
 
The article may be well written, but the sense of self importance is overwhelming.

"The receipt was very clear that the gloves had to be returned within 15 days of purchase. It was also very clear that “items that have been washed, worn, have pet hair on them, smell of smoke, perfume or any other odours will not be accepted for return or exchange.”

Fair enough. But this was a motorcycle shop"

"this was a motorcycle shop. I think of motorcycle shops like being family, staffed by people with the same values and the same mindset as me."

I would assume that the value and mindset of ANY business is to offer a service, create profit and stay in business by not selling used equipment as new.
I wonder what he would have written if he was the one that paid full price for a pair of obviously used gloves?
 
I have the same type of hand issues he does. I have a dozen pairs of gloves in a box, some of which are painful to wear, but I've never tried to return any of them after sweating in them for 200 k.m. If they were the ones you get at the show two for twenty dollars, and the guy's doing huge volumes, I could maybe see it, but not a pair of two hundred dollar gloves. Next time try them on a bike in the showroom.

Evoex said:
What a moron
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Don't insult morons.

Maniac said:
Haven't finished the article yet, but I'm more concerned about the ad on that page at the moment:

View attachment 50088

Reported it to Google.
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What the heck do you browse in your spare time?
 
Baggsy said:
What the heck do you browse in your spare time?
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It bothers me that GoogleAds still knows my location even though I'm masking my IP with a VPN and flushing my cookies regularly. Also not logged into Google. I'm still getting ads for local businesses regardless of if my VPN address is Vancouver or Toronto or whatever.

Some kind of chicanery going on underneath the covers.
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