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£32.49 for an inner tube!

by farnook
Mon, Apr 16, 2012 16:39
9

14
Stupidly forgot to re-pack my repair kit after the panniers were needed for shopping this weekend and then hit some glass on the way into work this morning.

Pushed my bike to the nearest Evans in Victoria who grudgingly agreed to fix it on the spot. Whilst I know how they're capable of charging like an angry bull, I was amazed to be quoted £27.50 labour plus £5 for the tube.

Sure it's a Charge Mixer with hub gears which maybe considered marginally more complicated than normal. However, I've done the change before myself on the road and it's a doddle - 20 minutes in the dark on the first attempt. So I'm assuming it would take them 10 minutes in a workshop at the very most.

So is Evans' labour rate £165 hr or have I been stitched-up like a kipper?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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9 comments

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giff77 | 12 years ago
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Ripped off mate. If you had a car the local tyre depot would have charged no more than a tenner for a puncture repair and that includes balancing. They wouldn't even have charged labour if you bought a replacement tyre.

My lbs will fit my tyres for me foc if I want them to. Evans and their ilk have captured a market of punters prepared to shell out money for jobs that could be done at the roadside/own garage.

It does amaze me the number of folk traipsing into the Evans round the corner from where I work for puncture repairs. Mind you, £27.50 for 5 mins work. Nice wee earner for when I'm out on the road 19

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farnook replied to giff77 | 12 years ago
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Actually what I’m most interested about is that nobody from Evans pops up to defend their space or at least offer to talk offline. I work for a consumer electronics Co and we keep tabs on all the relevant forums to follow-up with unhappy punters. Actually we don’t get that many vociferous ones but when we do, we want to sort out the concern before it escalates.

And in case anyone thinks I’m being offhand, I have contacted Evans via their own feedback mechanism to no avail so I can only assume they either don't give a toss or they're still working on a suitable argument.

You're absolutely right, I got 4 car tyres rebalanced for £20 and that was 30 mins graft. I also had a scooter tyre done recently for £35 which involved removing the exhaust, suspension and wheel. And yes, it was on-the-spot, in Central London. Imagine that, having a puncture without an appointment and not being stitched up.

Anyway, I’m all ears Evans & Co – or should I say Active LLP http://www.apeq.co.uk/ if any of you venture capitalist chaps aren’t still ensconced in the board room.

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trikeman | 12 years ago
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Orrrrrrrr get a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus's. One of my old gals hasn't had the tyres off for puncture repair since they were fitted oh so long ago.
Hope it helps.
Regards

Trikeman. 3

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farnook replied to trikeman | 12 years ago
0 likes

Thanks for the tip. That's on my to-do list.

It's shocking just how much glass there is on the roads around London. About time they outlawed the sale of cheap lager, WKD, and Magners in glass bottles. Or at least the people that drink the stuff and smash their bottles on the ground. It drives me wild… 3

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crazy-legs | 12 years ago
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It may take them 10 minutes but to do that on the spot, they may have to take another bike off the stand, a bike belonging to someone who booked it in weeks ago for a specific job. They have tight space in their workshops and full job sheet every day.

Most well-managed workshops will keep some space available for on the spot repairs but you should expect to pay a premium for them, especially where it's something out of the ordinary like hub gears. You may have been the 10th person in that morning demanding an on the spot fix (certainly when I worked in a central London shop, rainy days in particular would bring in queues of people with punctures).

I think the shop is well within it's rights - you needed a job doing, they did it, you paid. Complaining now just looks a bit petty really. Next time you'll pack your puncture repair kit.

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
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I suspect some incompetence involved here, consisting of a workshop lad who didn't really know how to work with the hub gears. Call it an hour of faffing about, yeah, £27.50.

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alecangus | 12 years ago
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I suspect they saw you wheel in a Charge Mixer and applied a hefty dose of Punter Tax... It's hilarious they're able to charge that but you paying it shows there's a market there. They're hardly holding you to ransom - I dare say for that price you could have bought the repair kit you forgot.

Complaining would only advertise the fact you paid £30 for someone else to fix your puncture twice.

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thereandbackagain | 12 years ago
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You've been absolutely stitched. Go back and complain. And if that doesn't work, get noisy on Twitter. They pay attention to that.

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Some Fella | 12 years ago
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Would have been cheaper to buy the new tube and the tools required and done it yourself. Not give them the satisfaction.

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