Working on bike tours?

[ridebikeme]

I have a question that I hope some of you can give your opinion(s)on.

For the past 15 years, I have worked a couple of weeks each season for a bike touring company as their mechanic. I'll be honest and say, that I have loved every minute. The orginal owners sold the business, and I have for the past 5-6 years worked with the new owners. I've met some wonderful people, and had lots of fun on the bike.

Today I received a message that they are wondering whether I am interested in working again this summer. One of the tours is in the area that my shop is in, so I know the area well and luckily have the shop/parts as a backup should I need them. The ironic part to this whole situation is that they mentioned that they are having clients ship their bikes to another shop. Obvioulsy I was a bit upset that they didn't ask me if I wanted to provide this service, and quite frankly feel like it's a slap in the face. I have replied to their email and mentioned that I was upset by this. So, here's my question: am I overreacting? Should I even be upset over this?

Thanks for listening and I'd love your imput!

[tangentgirl]

On one hand, it definitely would have been nice of them to at least consider your shop for this.

On the other hand, maybe they have other connections to the other bike shop. Perhaps they know the owners better, have worked with them in other capacities. Maybe someone's sister-in-law works there. Maybe the other shop approached them with the whole idea of having a tour in your area, or with the idea of shipping the bikes to their shop - do they usually have bikes shipped to a shop, or is this a new thing for them?

A good approach might be to remind them that your shop could provide this service as a backup, and simply ask them to think about you for next year and let them know that you could provide competitive pricing - or whatever might make your shop a better place.

It's probably not so much a "slap in the face" as it is a not-quite-thought-out business decision.

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for your reply! Actually the truth is that the other shop is less than a year old, and the touring company is actually out of state, so they wouldn't know them at all. This tour did not run last year, so the tour owners would not have even been in this area last year. As for reminding them of my services, I have mentioned this to them several times over the years... but in the end I guess it's their choice.

[ridebikeme]

OOPS! I guess I didn't answer all of your questions. These tours have been using this same route for 15 years, and the new shop is less than a year old. So, it definitely is not something that the shop had anything to do with. Like many tours, people ride from all over the country and do quite often ship their bikes to a shop. Whether they forgot to ask or didn't ask is rather odd to me. They actually have a shower trailer that they haul for these tours, one tour is in June the other in August. A couple of years ago, I offered to let them store it at the shop so they could save money from storage fees or the gas to haul it back home and then back to Maine again in August... so they definitely know I'm here. Perhaps it was something they simply didn't think about though...

[shootingstar]

At least they know now about your bike shop.
Is there any other service you could offer from your bike store while you also work for them as bike tour guide? After all, if the bike tour will pass near /stay near your shop, is there anything to tempt people to know your shop?

By the way, do you have a blog/web site for your biz?

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for your reply. To answer your question, "no" there isn't anything else that I can offer. Other than mechanicals, I do offer bike detailing, sales of tires, tubes, stuff like that. The route skirts just outside of both towns, so working the tour and assembling/shipping bikes on the return flite are truly the only avenues.

[Trek420]

Are you closer to any of the following; local sights, food, the b&b? Would it be easier for touring cyclists to pick up their bike near you?

[tulip]

Even though the other shop is new, the personnel might be known to the tour operators (so are you, so that argument probably doesn't hold up).

If you enjoy the work, then work with them and market yourself in a positive way to be the bike shop of choice in the future.

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone! To answer your question Trek, my shop is about the same distance from the bike tour route as the other. So no real advantage there either way.

I'll take some time to ponder all of this, and go from there. It will be a decision based on what is the best for the shop and that's it..Thanks again for all of your suggestions!:p

[SheFly]

I just did a Google search, and found a website for the "other shop". They market themselves as "Western Maine's only full service bicycle shop". If the tour operators were working based on what their customers might find doing their own search, I can see why they would recommend this particular shop over yours.

Someone earlier asked if you had a web presence. I couldn't find a webpage, but that doesn't mean you don't have one!

I wouldn't consider it a slap in the face - if I were a customer on this tour, I would look online for a shop, and that's likely how they made their decision - rightly or wrongly.

SheFly

[ridebikeme]

thanks for the imput Shefly... I can assure you that the tour operators did NOT get their info via the web. AS I mentioned earlier, I have worked for this company for many years... and worked for the previous owners as well. The reality is that they truly know who I am , where I am, and I have been more than a "shop" to their tour. AS I mentioned earlier, they even parked their shower trailer here for a month and a half in between tours.

After speaking with friends that have rode their tours( on my suggestion) and knew about the relationship that I have with the owners, as always there is a lot of skeptism. There are many more details... professionally I don't want to get into those games. But I appreciate all of the imput, and will make a decision here within the next few weeks.

[tulip]

Forget the email--call them and talk to them. Misunderstandings come from not talking, and hopefully talking it through can result in a satisfactory plan for the future for everybody.

[ridebikeme]

You are so right Tulip!:D