Paul's Bicycle Way of Life

The recent situation arose when the customer came in with his internally geared speed hub removed from the machine and completely disassembled in a bag A Sturmey archer hub is not a simple device, it is not unlike a transmission in a car, having many moving parts that are sealed or contained in the hub that generally during a service would NEVER be removed or disassembled This would be a very challenging situation for any professional mechanic that has years of experience servicing these hubs in shop conditions, and it is expensive The customer then demanded that we simply write instructions or show him how it should go back together And this should be done immediately with out compensationCan you imagine showing up with your Volkswagen transmission torn apart and making this proposal to your mechanic in the middle of the afternoon with no appointment? The customer returned at a later date to our second store across town with the complete trike and hub reassembled and installed, and scheduled them to service the hub They found it to be reassembled incorrectly with several parts reversed or damaged, replaced several damaged parts and felt pretty good about it as it seemed to function perfectly at the conclusion of the work He was charged $for the service Unfortunately, there was apparently more wrong or parts had hidden damage, as it failed once again and returned to the original store for a solution We have offered a refund of his service charges, that he may apply to the new hub as his original is not serviceable We have offered free storage of the trike, and it was accepted, until plaintiff can afford the repair parts as necessary I would gladly provide a full refund of service via payment method originally received

The recent situation arose when the customer came in with his internally geared 3 speed hub removed from the machine and completely disassembled in a bag.  
A Sturmey archer hub is not a simple device, it is not unlike a transmission in a car, having many moving parts that are sealed or...

contained in the hub that generally during a normal service would NEVER be removed or disassembled.  This would be a very challenging situation for any professional mechanic that has years of experience servicing these hubs in shop conditions, and it is expensive.  The customer then demanded that we simply write instructions or show him how it should go back together.  And this should be done immediately with out compensation. Can you imagine showing up with your Volkswagen transmission torn apart and making this proposal to your mechanic in the middle of the afternoon with no appointment?
The customer returned at a later date to our second store across town with the complete trike and hub reassembled and installed, and scheduled them to service the hub.  
They found it to be reassembled incorrectly with several parts reversed or damaged, replaced several damaged parts and felt pretty good about it as it seemed to function perfectly at the conclusion of the work.  He was charged $47 for the service.
Unfortunately, there was apparently more wrong or parts had hidden damage, as it failed once again and returned to the original store for a solution.  We have offered a refund of his service charges, that he may apply to the new hub as his original is not serviceable.  We have offered free storage of the trike, and it was accepted, until plaintiff can afford the repair parts as necessary.  I would gladly provide a full refund of service via payment method originally received.