I took my bike into Bicycle Discovery for a loose stem post on Thurs. I spoke to the guy with the ponytail at the service area. I explained that there was a little play in the stem post which makes my front wheel shimmy and somewhat dangerous to ride. He pushed down on my handlebars and turned the wheel side to side and he tried to tell me to just push forward on the handlebars and I should be able to ride the bike. He didn't see a problem so I held the front wheel with my feet and twisted the handlebars side to side to show him the play in the stem post as I explained how its ok for the most part when riding straight, but could be dangerous if I need to turn to avoid something. I asked if it could be tighted or replaced. He said he would have his mechanic look at it and call me, but that I wouldn't have my bike back until Mon. He said they were authorized Dahon dealers and would see what they could do to fix my bike, including contacting Dahon if necessary.
Its Monday and I received a voicemail earlier stating that my bike was ready to be picked up. I go to Bicycle Discovery during my lunch break to pick up my bike and the guy with the ponytail says he needs to talk to me about that. BUT, he kindly waits while the cashier rings me up first. $6....that was the bill....hmmm...must not be good. So after they have my money, he tells me that the mechanic tried to tighten up the stem by trying to turn the locknut that holds the stem, but wasn't able to fix the problem. His next line was ""unfortunately this Dahon is no precision machine"". So I say ok, thanks anyways and put the bike in my truck and head back to work. No info provided as to whether I could get a replacement or fit something else on there. I didn't bother asking if they contacted Dahon for any advice.
So I get to work and my coworker sees the bike and asks if he can try it out. I pull the bike out and the first thing he says is I'm NOT going to break my neck on this bike! He says my stem is going to fall off. I tell him yeah, there's a little play in it. He thought I was kidding and was going to put my bike back in my truck...so I reassured him that it would be ok to pedal around the parking lot. Thats when he showed me how loose the stem post now was and I was P*ssed off. There's 3-4 times as much play now. I can use my pinky on the tip of my handlebars and make the play in the stem post very visible now without even having to hold the front wheel.
So now I can't ride my bike at all. What started as some side-to-side play in my stem post has now been made into an up-and-down AND 3-4x worse side-to-side play.
I called Bicycle Discovery and asked to speak to the shop manager and was told he wasn't in today and would possibly be in tomorrow. I will go there tomorrow to see what can be done to at least get my bike back to rideable. I can understand not being able to fix my bike, but making it completely useless is very aggravating.
So far, going to Bicycle Discovery has cost me $6 for labor to hold my bike for 4 days and make it unrideable.
I will email Dahon for help and tell him that I already tried an ""authorized dealer"" who ruined my bike. If you own a Dahon, please do not take your bike here. I am extremely disappointed in the poor service.
Pros: right next door to Performance Bike shop
Cons: Poor service, didn't bother to warn that I could break neck
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