But you know its worth it. Sorry but the following is my opinion only: I feel you expressed your urgency and exact requirements poorly. There may of course have been several reasons for this. For example: you may have been distracted by other matters that were demanding significant attention that day; either professional or personal. This happens to all of us. Strategic prioritization techniques or even delegation to a short term 'project manager' may have been employed. In short: this was an important issue, and you simply expected a result without implementing check points. You failed to be proactive and remained expectant. This is often a formula to failure. On delivery, you should have established intermediary action list such as a phone call at 12h00 and a phone call at 15h00. Flexibilty should always be incorporated. By the event of the first phone call, the diagnosis should have been completed and the quotation/estimate available. The estimate necessitates the evaluation of availability of the necessary spares. Furthermore you displayed utter resignation, displaying a low level of resourcefulness and resulting in your NON participation in a high capital event. You failed to construct a "back-up" plan. This may have been to secure another bicycle or allow someone else the privilege of participation on short notice. Again you were not proactive. I also do not detect reference to the event that caused the mechanical failure. This allows me to assume that you had indeed left it to the last minute. Generally one would have included a preamble about 'the previous evening' when the damage was incurred. No the case. In my opinion you are entirely to blame. Yes, the LBS did not pull off your expected miracle. Never the less it is not acceptable that you now conveniently place the blame squarely on them. I do respect your conduct in not flinging names. I remain appreciative. Introspection is required at this point. This is my opinion, and I stand corrected in light of not having read the entire dosier if there is one.
