Santa Monica Mountain Cyclery Performed work without consent, over-charged Woodland Hills California
I brought 2 bikes in for a tune-up, they quoted me $5 for new cables and showed me one small part that needed replacement. Later, they called on the phone to say the brakes were shot and that parts for the brakes were no longer available, he quoted me $100 but did not indicate if it was the front or rear wheel or which of the two bikes.
A tune-up is about $85 so I was expecting a bill for roughly $200 but was shocked when I came in to find the bill was over $1,100 Making matters worse, one of the employees placed the 2nd bike on my bike rack and when I arrived home, the bike was missing! The manager told me the parts list looked fine and that my beef was with the manufacturer of the bike rack.....he blew me off.
The owner was less receptive, he told me that his guy never put my bike on the rack and when I threatened to sue him, he told me to do so. Eventually he capitulated to paying me $850 for the lost bike but nothing was done about the over-charge: without my prior consent they should not have done any work!
I was going to let the whole thing go and was fine until I went to use the one bike that made it home, only to find it wouldn't hold gears and the rear de-railer was never adjusted. Realizing they didn't even do a proper tune-up I was faced with having to pay another shop to do what I paid these guys to do. Instead, I watched a video on did the work myself. Feeling truly ripped-off, I'm now looking to let others know of their unprofessional and commission-driven sales tactics.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,United States
Wait a minute
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, August 03, 2020
Seems like you are leaving a few things out.
You say that they quoted you $5 for cables and pointed out "one small part" that needed to be replaced. So did you approve that part? Did you ask the cost? What was the part that needed to be replaced? What are the details on the receipt that make up the $1,100?
You say that they quoted you $100 for brake replacement. It appears you approved this repair based on your narrative. But if you were so concerned about the details why didn't YOU ask what bike it was for? Why didn't YOU ask if it was the Front or Rear?
But then we get to the real interesting part. If you are saying that the bike fell off, when he placed it on the rack did you verify it was secured? If it did fall off, how exactly did you miss seeing that happen? If it didn't fall off, then it must have been stolen. If it was stolen, how would they be responsible? Did you file a Police Report? Was the bike licensed so it could be tracked back to you if found?
Figuring that $850 was about the value of the bike, that is actually a pretty fair offer considering you have left nothing that shows they were negligent. If the bike is worth more, then why did you not take them to court for the full value?