Disinterested sales staff & poor service

anybody recommend a good LBS in the north east London/essex area? I live in Woodford. My Scott CR1 is in need of its first service prior to the Etape in July.
(actually bought it in Evans cos I knew what I wanted and it was close to where I work)

Similar service from Evans (Manchester) - even if I'm desperate for a spare part I'll walk past.

If you're in south London (Sigma = Wimbledon ???) try Pearsons in Sutton.

Super LBS - support clubs, employ young riders part time - and if you're in the 'Pro' shop out the back you've a good chance of being served by the owners.

I've just walked away from Sigma Sport, who seem to have gone out of their way over the last 2 months to stop me spending a serious wedge of cash (for me anyway) on a bike.

Bad service isn't limited to the big chains, if I could find someone competent and reliable I would happily send all my business that way, even if I had to pay a little extra.

Out of interest, which cycle surgery did you go to?

If you want a good shoe fitting in London, as opposed to someone plonking what might be your size in front of you, go to Condor. They will make sure you buy something that actually fits you.

If you want to spend serious money on shoes get some Bonts from Mosquito Bikes in Islington.

Nice people, lovely shop, fantastic shoes.

And Wiggle won't heat mold them for you !

I know this makes me sound like a knob, but I can't let it lie! You're not complaining about disinterested (ie unbiased, impartial) staff. Your beef is with uninterested (ie couldn't give a monkey's) staff.

There. I've said it. Now I can relax again....[and breathe...] Sorry about that.

I agree with the point though. I guess it's inevitable when you get beyond a certain size that you'll start having people working for you who don't really care very much and might not even know very much. Before Evans went supernova they were a brilliant bike shop - quite similar to the Condor shop today. I used to go there all the time when I lived nearby. Now I often feel like I know more than the people I'm talking to in my local Evans, which is all wrong. Proper LBS FTW!

had some poor and indifferent service from the local Evans but they've got a couple of good staff recently who know their stuff. I prefer the local independent though (M Steels) it still feels like a proper bike shop rather than a cycle retail outlet

I understand your sentiment but try and give some independant bike shops a go - they, most likely, would be very happy with the custom, most likely live cycling and its also common for the owner to be in the shop so you will be dealt with by someone who really cares how you are treated as opposed to a major company who, despite best effort, will end up employing numpties simply because of the rate of staff turnover,

Hmm, had some bad experience of snotty pups at Evans in the past, but last time I went into the big one at Waterloo I saw someone I know from BMXing who works there and he sorted us out. He took us thru the various helmets my wife was interested in, the various saddles she could get to replace her old and knackered one and a new skate lid for younger son as well. I'll definitely be going back. And I go to the marvellous Brixton Cycles for this and that on a regular basis too. Nope, you don't get service like that on the Internet. Yes, you can buy stuff cheap on the Internet but there is no come-back and that can be a big problem in the long run. In a shop if something doesn't fit or doesn't work there's a lot more you can do, or you can be helped with fitting and so on. Buying off the Internet, you deal with it yourself and if you can't make it work, tough. If you don't use shops, don't complain when they're out of business and you're stuck with a load of cheap parts you can't get to work.