Put deposit down then price reduction

[rooftiler1]

Hi,

I recently put a deposit down on a new eMTB and LBS said it would take one week to prep before I could have it. The bike is now available for collection but upon searching the web I noticed the bike is now being discounted by a couple of online retailers. Since I've not got the bike yet or fully purchased it, do you think I am being unreasonable to further negotiate with the LBS to try and give me some extra discount?

 

[Paulquattro]

You could always give it a go they can only say no

 

[irie]

Negotiate.

 

[Winford]

Happened when I bought my Canyon. They sent me the wrong 1500 bucks back in a few days.

Each store is different only one way to find out.

 

[Renton_Yorkshire]

100% negotiate, nothing ventured nothing gained.

If no joy the question is - is the saving elsewhere, bigger than the deposit you put down (and might not get back).

In other words as an example, if you're losing a 100 deposit to save 500 buying from another retailer, you're saving 400 in reality - and what you want is still cheaper than you originally planned for.

Depends on your outlook, and the numbers obvs

Just make sure your LBS (or another one), will support you if you feel you might need them, with what you might potentially buy online.

 

[Joecrow]

You might also want to consider the value of having support from a local retail dealer, you won't get much help to fix small warranty problems from an online retailer.

 

[TimC7]

Hi,

I recently put a deposit down on a new eMTB and LBS said it would take one week to prep before I could have it. The bike is now available for collection but upon searching the web I noticed the bike is now being discounted by a couple of online retailers. Since I've not got the bike yet or fully purchased it, do you think I am being unreasonable to further negotiate with the LBS to try and give me some extra discount?

Is your deposit more or less than the discount? If it's less then you can walk away.

 

[Plummet]

Yeah, it depends on how financial you are and if you have NEED that cash.

I often times just buy stuff from the lbs knowing its more expensive, but im supporting a local business.

It has to be a fair chunk cheaper fir me to consider the online purchase.

 

[Winford]

online retailer

Yes and no. Canyon is such a retailer, but your local shop can usually handle most of the problems that come up because they use name brand parts like Shimano or Sram. When those parts fail your local Shimano authorized service center does all the warranty work.

 

[Gavalar]

So why didn't you do more research before wasting your time and the retailers time, your LBS gives face face service, and in turn you receive free advice and the chance to build a rapport with the business and the people that work within it all of which cannot be measured financially, but, if all you're bothered about is a deal you have found elsewhere that saves you a few quid then go for it but don't expect the business who's time you wasted to sort any issues or warranty problems you have further down the line.

 

[steve_sordy]

If you renege on the deal with the bike shop (that you were perfectly happy with) don't expect him to be too keen to fix the bike you get from the on-line retailer. The on-line people are cheaper because they don't have a bike shop to maintain and they don't expect to be doing any maintenance either. They are different propositions; both come with a bike, but only one comes with extras that have a value. What that value is depends upon you. if this is your first emtb, I absolutely would not buy on-line.

Even if he is prepared to deal with warranty claims on your behalf, expect him to make a minimum charge for each claim (£35-£50). After all, he has not received any money from the bike manufacturer to provide such a service, so he has to get it from you.

 

[Polar]

I'm all in for supporting LBS even though it might cost me a couple of quid extra but he doesn't mention if the discount was available while he did his research and with todays prices moving like a jojo it could also be a bit more than a couple of quid like up to a couple of thousand quid but I don't know since he mentioned nothing about time of research and how many quid he could save.

 

[Renton_Yorkshire]

So why didn't you do more research before wasting your time and the retailers time, your LBS gives face face service, and in turn you receive free advice and the chance to build a rapport with the business and the people that work within it all of which cannot be measured financially, but, if all you're bothered about is a deal you have found elsewhere that saves you a few quid then go for it but don't expect the business who's time you wasted to sort any issues or warranty problems you have further down the line.

Well someone got out the wrong side of the bed this morning

OP is just asking for some advice - let's remember we were all new to this forum once upon a time. Yes, possibly could have looked around a bit more before committing, but theres ways of saying things.

No numbers have been mentioned yet, we've no idea whether "a few quid" is indeed that, or several hundreds, or more. People all value different things in their lives, and amounts of money are uniquely relative to themselves.

It would be interesting to eventually here the outcome of this story - snipes like this are hardly likely to curry favour with OP

 

[Joecrow]

The on-line people are cheaper because they don't have a bike ship to maintain

Yep those bike ships can be expensive.

 

[RustyIron]

I recently put a deposit down on a new eMTB

Stores take deposits for a reason. They don't want to waste their time building products for wishy-washy people who change their minds or want to "negotiate" for a lower price after the work has begun. You made a deal.

 

[RJUK]

Sounds from what the Op is saying that the discounts elsewhere have occurred since placing his order with the lbs. I see nothing wrong with asking them to match this new saving that other retailers have begun offering.

As others have said, they could say no. At which point you need to weigh up your deposit Vs the new saving and any other factors such as delivery lead times.

If it's a small amount of difference then perhaps don't bother as you'll get the bike quicker and with support from the shop. But if it's a good chunk of change then I wouldn't feel bad walking away if they won't match.

If the bike is £500 cheaper at other retailers now and they refuse to match, then they'd need very good justification as to why it's worth paying them £500 extra for the same bike.

Good luck!

 

[Maxi]

The consideration of getting support from LBS in the future is quite important and does need to be weighed up against the difference in price.

UK consumer law states: "If you paid a deposit in a physical shop, your rights are more limited. UK consumer law does not automatically entitle you to a refund just because you found the item cheaper elsewhere. The shop is generally allowed to keep your deposit if you cancel, unless the terms of the agreement say otherwise. If you signed or agreed to terms that specify the deposit is non-refundable, the shop may be entitled to keep it. However, non-refundable deposits must be fair and reflect actual losses the business incurs due to your cancellation. If the shop can easily resell the bike, they may not be entitled to keep the full deposit."

 

[RJUK]

I guess it depends what the shop has actually done to the bike as well. If you've ordered a full custom build and they have started assembling it with new parts that's one thing, but if you've stuck down a £100 deposit for them to take a bike out of a box from their storage and put the bars and wheels on it, then that's a bit different as they would need to assemble that bike for whoever they sold it to, and bars and wheels (plus checking bolt torques, assuming they bother) isn't really a £100 job.

At this point we're just speculating though. Go ask them ASAP. If they gave you a week's lead time, chances are they might not have even started it, as long as you've only just ordered it. Better to cancel sooner before they do anything than once they've started working on it. If you just ordered it a day or two ago that's just like changing your mind during a "cooling off" period.

People have a change of heart, don't feel too bad about it.

 

[Planemo]

I paid in full for my bike at £4500 during Covid. The shop (politely) refused to budge on the price saying they were struggling to get enough bikes as it was. Fair enough I thought. I bought the last one they had as I was told they had no idea when new stock was coming in from Haibike (I prob would have gone for a different colour otherwise). It sat in my shed for 2 days after collection and when I went for a spin up the road the handlebars suddenly rotated 90 deg under braking. I sent a polite email to them stating that the bars were loose, mainly just to make them aware to avoid a potential customer injury and to tighten up any possible PDI issues. I happened to add that I was a bit miffed that their website had been updated to say that all new Haibike stock was imminent and that my model was now £4295, in the colour I wanted. I didn't ask for anything, I just wanted to air my thoughts. Again, maybe the salesperson had duff info and things could be tightened up somewhere in the supply chain info.

They replied straight away, thanking me for the loose bolts heads-up. They added that it was indeed unfortunate re the new stock, but that they genuinely didn't know that new stock was due when I made my purchase. They stated cycle supply was so irregular they had no idea when anything (or how much of it) was getting shipped until it was pretty much on their doorstep. Which I totally understood given the shit-show of Covid disruption. Within the email, as a gesture of goodwill, they said they would refund me £205 straight back to my card.

I guess my point being is that it's always worth airing your thoughts. But go in easy, don't demand anything and you may be surprised at how you get treated.