Tolland Bicycle

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

Tolland Bicycle strives to provide excellent, friendly customer service whether we are repairing a bike or selling a new bike. The overwhelming majority of our customers are loyal, happy with our services and trust us with their bikes. We sincerely regret that one of our reviewers had a negative experience at our shop. This particular customer asked us to replace the rear wheel on his K2 mountain bike without performing a full tuneup of his bicycle. With each customer, we clarify whether they wish us to perform a full tuneup in which case we inspect and adjust all componentry on the bike, including the shifting. In this case, the customer declined this full service. Therefore, per the customer’s instructions we did not adjust his front shifting which he subsequently complained about in his review. We would also like to clarify some misinformation made in the negative review. 1. 9 year olds do not work at the shop nor do they touch customer bikes. This is a family shop. The owner has 2 children (ages 9 & 6) who interact with (but do not interfere with) the paid staff. The children are sometimes at the shop (e.g. after school) and we enjoy their presence. 2. All bike builds and repairs adhere to procedural checklists to ensure that the builds/repairs are performed properly and consistently. Moreover, Tolland Bicycle has a stringent quality control policy whereby every build/repair of a bike is not completed until it is thoroughly inspected by a mechanic other than the one who performed the work. We take pride in our work and believe that most of our customers appreciate the comprehensive care we provide their bikes. 3. It is a standard bicycle industry policy that old, failed parts are discarded unless the customer specifically requests that they be saved. In this case, this young man did not instruct us to save his old wheel and skewer and became very indignant when we informed him that the old parts had been discarded according to shop policy. When that explanation proved unsatisfactory and he insisted on having his old parts returned to him, we allowed him to rummage through a small cardboard box containing recently discarded metal parts in hopes that he might be able to identify his particular parts amongst the many in the box. 4. Bicycling is inherently risky and occasionally a bicyclist will have an accident on the road or in the woods. Tolland Bicycle replaced this young man’s rear wheel; we did not work on his front shifting or chainrings. To blame our shop for his chain falling off his front chainring (a component we did not touch as part of the repair) after 2 weeks of riding is unwarranted. If any customer has a concern with a repair we performed, we encourage them to promptly return the bike to us so that we can inspect and, if necessary, perform further adjustments - at no charge. 5. As to allegation that we overcharged this customer, we have reviewed the invoice for this customer’s repair and charged a modest $24.99 for our labor which included installing the cassette and tire/tube on new wheel, replacing rear brake and derailleur cables, aligning derailleur hanger, adjusting rear shifting and braking, cleaning, lubricating and road test. There are a number of good, reputable bicycle shops east of the river. From the many comments of our customers, the word-of-mouth referrals and the steady growth in our business, we know that we are among them. Whether you are shopping for a new bike or need your current bike serviced, try us out and make your own judgement. We hope that you find us knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and that your bike is serviced to your satisfaction. And if you are already one of our customers, please post a review of your experience with us so that we have a representative sample of opinions. We’ll read your reviews, learn from them and continually improve so that you can have a delightful experience at Tolland Bicycle whether you are a bicycle enthusiast, an occasional rider or are shopping for your child or grandchild. Thank you. Tolland Bicycle

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A

A Private User

Admit it: you dont go to your LBS (thats "local bicycle shop") for stuff you can mail order wholesale. Instead, you go to your LBS for service. You go there for recommendations on how to solve that problem with the way your shoes fit or for figuring out what that mysterious clicking noise is. You go there when you cant figure out what part you need. You go there when the cockpit is just a little long, but you cant quite put your finger on the stem length you need. You go there when you realize you used your last tube and the pack under your seat is empty. In all of this, you want a friendly face who remembers you, your bike, the last rides you did (and subsequently bragged about when purchasing said tube), and the names of your kids. This, in short, is what the LBS experience is all about. And its precisely what the Barrows and Tolland Bicycle are all about, too. Ive had good experiences with several other LBSs. Manchester Cycle, Vernon Cycle, and Bicycles Unlimited. All of them are excellent LBSs, offering the quintessential LBS experience. But Tolland Bicycle is closest to me, is the friendliest, and provided the best service. The others are excellent--dont get me wrong--but its the family atmosphere (his wife and kids are often around, too) of Tolland Cycle that makes it just that one notch better for me, a family kinda guy who likes to ride but whose whole life doesnt revolve around riding. So, if you live nearby, drop into Tolland Bicycle for your LBS needs. Go to the others if David doesnt carry the new bike you want, but dont hesitate to bring it to him for service. Hes exceptionally knowledgeable and will find that click, will help fit that shoe just right, and will remember whats going on the next time around, too.

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J

J Klimas

The owner treats customers like dirt, his children do the work and it is not safe when they are done. Not only did i get over charged my bike failed within 2 weeks causing me to flip and break my hand, destroy both rims on my bicycle because the adjustments they did caused the chain to come off the front sprocket, when it was on the middle sprocket which in 15 years of ridding has never happened to me, he also threw away my old parts after specifically asking for them to save them, and then made me dig through his trash cutting myself several times to find the parts. I intend to sue this place and would urge everyone to stay away. For anyone in the tolland coventry area i suggest the bike shop on main st in manchester. He has a knowledgeable staff and treats people like their business is appreciated. I will be contacting the better business bureau asap to file a complaint and possibly putting a lawsuit against the owner and his "techs". I will also be contacting labor department over the 9 year old i observed repairing a customer bicycle. If we all work together we can put this thief out of business and make way for a REAL bike shop in the tolland coventry area. I am sorry for anyone else that has been hurt by their incompetence hopefully it is only a matter of time before they are no longer able to keep their doors open to rip off the public.

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A

A Private User

i am a professional bike racer and david and his select mechanics at tolland bicycles are the ONLY mechanics who i let work on my race bikes. as a cyclist, i realize that it is MY RESPONSIBILITY to have a basic understanding of my bike, but i let them diagnose and recommend. after all, they are the experts at fixing. i always say "i just ride em, you guys fix em". yes, sometimes the recommended repair costs more than one expects or may take a little longer, but there is usually a reason for the recommendation; and that is usually based on rider safety. speaking of which, a sprocket that is 15 years old IS a safety hazard. it is a cyclists responsibility to do (or have done) some basic maintenance and troubleshooting on their own rig. davids family is a joy to have around the shop, and i am glad that he operates such a family friendly environment. i unequivocably recommend and endorse tolland bike. i am sorry to hear that a customer had a bad experience, but sometimes the customer is NOT always right. if your dr. recommended you have your appendix out, you said no and then got appendicitis, would you blame the doctor? that reminds me, i need a tune up!

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