Immoral or not... you tell me (dilemmas of a shop-owner)

[Wyatt Earp]

My advice Naas.

Send a nice little love letter to Admin and ask him to delete this thread.

Secondly check your ethics and make sure you understand the difference between right and wrong .

[Blackheart]

A long time ago, in another life and another country I co-owned a bike shop.

 

One day 2 guys came in looking to sell their 'uncles' mid level mountainbike, nearly new for about 10% of its actual worth.

It was a clear case of dudes don't fit with bike.

I asked them to leave the bike with me, to give me time to value it properly, and also leave a phone number so I could call them back with an offer in a day or two.

 

I called the police straight away.

A constable came around who couldn't do anything as no theft could be proven.

I was asked to give him a call if they ever came back, and he could have a chat with them.

 

Of course, we never saw them again.

 

I thought I'd call the large bike shop in town, who were also the local agents for that brand.

See if they knew of any thefts.

Sure enough, it had been stolen a month prior from one of their regular customers.

They gave me his number, and I called him, happy to be giving him the good news about recovering his bike.

He was thrilled - He'd claimed on the insurance and bought himself a new road bike, and how nice it would be now to have the mountainbike back as well!

I explained that it doesn't work that way and the MTB doesn't belong to him anymore.

I asked who his insurer was, and told him to call them and see if he could buy the bike from them. He wasn't willing to do this, he just wanted 'his' bike back. So I called them told them the story. Their response was "we'll get back to you on this". That was the response to my next 5 calls too. I never heard from them, the previous owner or the cops ever again.

 

It sat in my shop storeroom for about a year.

Eventually I gave it to a bicycle charity dealing with at risk youths.

[HBO]

A long time ago, in another life and another country I co-owned a bike shop.

 

One day 2 guys came in looking to sell their 'uncles' mid level mountainbike, nearly new for about 10% of its actual worth.

It was a clear case of dudes don't fit with bike.

I asked them to leave the bike with me, to give me time to value it properly, and also leave a phone number so I could call them back with an offer in a day or two.

 

I called the police straight away.

A constable came around who couldn't do anything as no theft could be proven.

I was asked to give him a call if they ever came back, and he could have a chat with them.

 

Of course, we never saw them again.

 

I thought I'd call the large bike shop in town, who were also the local agents for that brand.

See if they knew of any thefts.

Sure enough, it had been stolen a month prior from one of their regular customers.

They gave me his number, and I called him, happy to be giving him the good news about recovering his bike.

He was thrilled - He'd claimed on the insurance and bought himself a new road bike, and how nice it would be now to have the mountainbike back as well!

I explained that it doesn't work that way and the MTB doesn't belong to him anymore.

I asked who his insurer was, and told him to call them and see if he could buy the bike from them. He wasn't willing to do this, he just wanted 'his' bike back. So I called them told them the story. Their response was "we'll get back to you on this". That was the response to my next 5 calls too. I never heard from them, the previous owner or the cops ever again.

 

It sat in my shop storeroom for about a year.

Eventually I gave it to a bicycle charity dealing with at risk youths.

Respect for the effort you made with regards to this. Not many shop owners are willing to do this.

 

Their might be a spot opening up in Bredasdorp soon for a new LBS. Interested?

[Patchelicious]

A long time ago, in another life and another country I co-owned a bike shop.

 

One day 2 guys came in looking to sell their 'uncles' mid level mountainbike, nearly new for about 10% of its actual worth.

It was a clear case of dudes don't fit with bike.

I asked them to leave the bike with me, to give me time to value it properly, and also leave a phone number so I could call them back with an offer in a day or two.

 

I called the police straight away.

A constable came around who couldn't do anything as no theft could be proven.

I was asked to give him a call if they ever came back, and he could have a chat with them.

 

Of course, we never saw them again.

 

I thought I'd call the large bike shop in town, who were also the local agents for that brand.

See if they knew of any thefts.

Sure enough, it had been stolen a month prior from one of their regular customers.

They gave me his number, and I called him, happy to be giving him the good news about recovering his bike.

He was thrilled - He'd claimed on the insurance and bought himself a new road bike, and how nice it would be now to have the mountainbike back as well!

I explained that it doesn't work that way and the MTB doesn't belong to him anymore.

I asked who his insurer was, and told him to call them and see if he could buy the bike from them. He wasn't willing to do this, he just wanted 'his' bike back. So I called them told them the story. Their response was "we'll get back to you on this". That was the response to my next 5 calls too. I never heard from them, the previous owner or the cops ever again.

 

It sat in my shop storeroom for about a year.

Eventually I gave it to a bicycle charity dealing with at risk youths.

This is a very important point that people often forget.

 

Once the insurance company has paid you to buy a new bike, any salvage and recovery belongs to them, and rightfully so.

[Maniax]

I guess the mods can close this one. Its going no where really fast...