Cajees rip-off

[Delgado]

It is hard to imagine after five years of hub moaning about Westdene Cajees and Solomons that the same people still go into these shops. Are you addicted to their way of trade or simply addited to their bargaining power, because somehow us the public is keeping them in business for over 80 years each in the case of Cajees and Wesdene. I support both whenever I need something. By the way I notice many of the complainants also moan about Cyclelab.

Certain minutes to a meeting that were found on the net took care of them for me!

[ThePubSA]

Sure Scotty but one would expect a retailer to possess product knowledge for the goods they are purveyors of. Much like you would like your investment broker to know what the hell they are doing with your cash.

right on +1

[BigBoy10]

Always got good service and very competitive pricing from the Boksburg store. Like any LBS build a relationship with the guys in the shop and you will receive good value for your money.

 

As for begging for a discount you don't have to beg and if you are not willing to negotiate a better price then you are probably not a very good business man. You need to start thinking of yourself as an enterprise and much like any well run business you always haggle for the best price be it in a Cajees store or a Cycle Lab store. Most businesses get three quotes why don't you as an individual apply the same policy, I'll tell you why cause you are lazy and want everything handed to you on a silver platter, welcome to the real world. It is a free market system and at the very least its a breath of fresh air to know that these guys were not involved in the price fixing scheme - I really wonder who is trying to rip off who here?

 

+1, wake up and welcome to the real world, #spoonfeedingbabysindrome!

[mallo]

Not even the cartel could close down Cajees and Westdene with their tricks yet forever and a day we have these stores torn apart by hubbers who simply don't like them for reasons other than those stated about their pricing structure and service.

[TNT1]

Certain minutes to a meeting that were found on the net took care of them for me!

 

+1

[scotty]

Sure Scotty but one would expect a retailer to possess product knowledge for the goods they are purveyors of. Much like you would like your investment broker to know what the hell they are doing with your cash.

I don't go to Cajees for advice or without knowing prices of components.

 

Speaking of advice, a colleague mentioned he was looking at buying a bike to cycle and get fit, i told him i will help when i get time. This guy is a complete beginner, small, round and quite large. Being impatient he could not wait and went to a well known cycle shop in the north JHb, when i bumped into him he had a broad smile and told me he was advised and bought a top end DS 29'er as the salesman told him that this would be perfect for him based on his weight and size. This guy has no interest in doing races and has no intention of even going off road. Methinks salesman saw $$$ signs. This was 2 months ago and i think he has done about 50km total on it.

[chris_w_65]

I don't go to Cajees for advice or without knowing prices of components.

 

Speaking of advice, a colleague mentioned he was looking at buying a bike to cycle and get fit, i told him i will help when i get time. This guy is a complete beginner, small, round and quite large. Being impatient he could not wait and went to a well known cycle shop in the north JHb, when i bumped into him he had a broad smile and told me he was advised and bought a top end DS 29'er as the salesman told him that this would be perfect for him based on his weight and size. This guy has no interest in doing races and has no intention of even going off road. Methinks salesman saw $$$ signs. This was 2 months ago and i think he has done about 50km total on it.

 

"A fool and his money are soon parted". I think that is how the saying goes

[Caerus]

I don't go to Cajees for advice or without knowing prices of components.

 

Speaking of advice, a colleague mentioned he was looking at buying a bike to cycle and get fit, i told him i will help when i get time. This guy is a complete beginner, small, round and quite large. Being impatient he could not wait and went to a well known cycle shop in the north JHb, when i bumped into him he had a broad smile and told me he was advised and bought a top end DS 29'er as the salesman told him that this would be perfect for him based on his weight and size. This guy has no interest in doing races and has no intention of even going off road. Methinks salesman saw $$$ signs. This was 2 months ago and i think he has done about 50km total on it.

 

This is crazy, but I'm sure it gets repeated often. Poor bike

[Gobbo]

About 3 years ago I went to Cajees in fourways to by a moon shine light (topeak) , was quoted over the phone R1500.00 , went to buy it was marked at R3200.00 I told the guy I was quoted R1500.00 and thats what I paid , like it has been said , scary if you dont know your pricng , the unsuspecting consumer will be taken for a ride so to speak , he will pay for our bargaining

[Beer4Recovery]

Looks like Cajees & CycleLab are not very popular, is it then better to import a bike or support "smaller" bikeshops?

 

I always try to do proper homework on pricing before I buy, but when you are faced with the figures at these stores you kinda "accept" that it is the going rates while in the meantime you are being ripped off.

 

After seeing these comments i am kinda put off by, what I thought, decent bikeshops.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Dude, I don't bargain at my local spar because the difference in petrol money to get from spar to Pick n Pay far outweighs the price difference of a bottle of tomato sauce. Get realistic here for a minute please and stop being so pedantic.

 

Tell me if you are going to drop 40K on a bike or 1k on a bike part are you not going to shop around for the best deal (3 quotes)? That's kind of the point being made here, it's really got nothing to do with the R20 box of constipation tablets you buy from your local pharmacy. Fact of the matter is that if you are too lazy to do some homework and determine what the correct price to pay for goods is then you deserve to be parted from your cash - you will remember that saying a fool and his money are soon parted. It is certainly NOT the responsibility of the retailer to inform you as to what market value is, after all market value is what a consumer is willing to pay for a product.

 

They just have a different business model which requires that the consumer be educated about the product which they are purchasing. Asking anyone for that matter for a discount is not demeaning it is good economics. People don't get discount at their local stores because they don't ask for it - period!!

 

Even pensioners need to go ask their local Spar for the pensioners discount you don't see the manager hopping around with the pensioners discount key every time an old person walks into their shop. In fact have you ever seen a pensioners discount sign displayed at a SPAR - NO!! Well they can get one and are entitled to one but I guess the fact that it is not openly displayed puts Spar into the same category as Cajees then?

 

You didnt get my point and now you have gone off on the wrong end.

 

There is no problem getting quotes, I said so initially and in fact I do it myself, that is not the same as bargaining in store to lower the price - however you want to look at it they are differant animals.

 

Been an informed consumer is a major part of my gripe about bargaining, the issue is, not everyone is an informed consumer in every sphere, I wanted to buy a computer programme the other day, I researched it as much as I could but I still didnt know what to look for, bytes and processing units, anisotropic filtering, Hypermemory and ATI Avivo technology means squat to me, so I go to a store and ask whats the right product and trust them to give me a fair deal - I imagine its the same with a new bicycle purchaser.!

 

Taking them / me for a ride because I am learining or uninformed on that subject is criminal.

 

By the way every Spar that has a pensioners discount displays it very conspicuously at the door, and the cashier ever asks you personally, ask me I know as I often get mistaken for a pensioner.