The Air In There
These days we are confronted by all kinds of charges in our life, including having to pay for air at a gas station. But now it seems that some bike shops have stepped up to the plate to also charge for air. Will some shops soon ask for cash for using the rest room?
My friend Sebastian Moll who lives in NYC recently posted a picture on his facebook page that showed a $0.50 charge for air in a bike shop and that sounded quite interesting. When I inquired further about the shop in question, Moll said, “Most of the big shops in NY don’t do that, but many of the smaller shops charge for air indeed.”
Hopefully that isn’t the slippery slope more bike shops will be getting on before too long. Getting air should be a good will gesture from that local corner bike shop and that among a few other things should convince customers to come back to that shop and not buy online instead. It is tough for a customer to build up a relationship with a store when they are getting nickel and dimed to death. But maybe in some cases relationships are not desired.
"We don’t charge for air at SBR, but I can see why a mom and pop shop would do it. In NY it is all about convenience and you can choose to pay for air right there or go another 10 blocks and get it at that place for free," said Christophe Vandaele, the owner of SBR Multisport in New York City. "But surely these shops who do charge for air can come up with something more creative than that to make that extra money."
The Toga bike store on 110 West End Ave in New York has an air hose outside and pumps available for customers inside, and they don’t ask for money for air either. "It’s not worth charging for air, and you just can’t charge people for everything," said manager Philip Svercl of Toga Bikes. "After all, when people come inside the store to get their tires filled up they might also realize that they need something else in the store and spend their money then."
Of course the opposite is true too. Why should a bike shop give a customer free air and water etc, when those customers buy all their goods online elsewhere?
Also, do we as consumers expect too much? Do we expect to get discounts and freebies even when it is not warranted?
