Sportif Importer Ltd

Child Bicycle / Hebei Tongyi Bicycle Co., Ltd. in China - from: '' - Rating: 3/5 - 27-Aug-10
Hello, my name is Maria, I mail you from Hebei Tongyi Bicycle Co., ltd. in China. We produce mid-quality Child Bicycles. I wonder as your supplier.

Please contact me if interested, Thank you.

Best Regards,
Maria
Hebei Tongyi Bicycle Co., Ltd.
Web: www.hbtyzxc.com
Sales Represectative: Maria Ma
Add£º Gaozhuang Industrial Area, Guangzong County, Hebei Province, China
E-mail: maria_0508@yahoo.cn
Maria0181@gmail.com
Tel: 86-311-85980268
Fax: 86-311-85983702
M£º86-15932696119

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DO NOT SHOP HERE!!! - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 18-Jul-10
The owner could care less about making customers happy. He is as rude as it gets to potential customers. This man knows nothing about customer satisfaction and good customer service. With all of the great bike shops in Chicago, there is NO REASON TO SHOP HERE. I have now heard countless bad encounters from other bicycle enthusaiasts in dealing with this place and have never seen more negative reviews written about a bike shop. The owner is an angry old man who could learn a great deal from visiting other bike shops. Again, SHOP ELSEWHERE!!!
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Thanks - from: '' - no rating given - 16-Jul-10
I recently bought a beautiful English-made vintage lightweight frame in a city far from Chicago. It had never been built up or ridden, and was in "like new" condition. On the top tube, it was boldly marked "Sportif Importers, Ltd." Not knowing what that meant, I did some internet research and found this site. After reading the comments, I had the frame repainted to remove the Sportif name. Thanks for the information about that sorry organization.
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Sportif & Mr Zordani & Northbrook Velodrome - from: '' - Rating: 4/5 - 02-Jun-10
I have known of Don Z (& DZ Jr) for years & they have trated me well as a bike customer. & they have supported the bicycle track in Northbrook for years. Anyone out there in cyber bike land remember the track in Northbrook? Last time I went it seemed like no one remembers that great place, the velodrome in Northbrook!
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why are they still there? - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 04-May-10
I haven't bought a bike there, but have been in a few times- got training wheels put on, bought a bell, & another to look around. I've interacted with 2 different people, an older woman & a younger guy who did the wheels. Wont go back unless I feel like getting attitude from someone. I witnessed extremely rude treatment to an ice cream guy who needed a little fix on his fender - he wasn't looking for free work, he had a wad of cash in his hands. They wouldn't even go outside the door to look at what he was talking about (it was one of those bikes with the trailing freezer & would have been silly to bring it all the way in). The large a** woman wouldn't walk over to the door for this guy. Unbelieveable. Also, it has a rather depressing feel to it. All those lonely bike, hundreds of them. I think it's more like a warehouse - maybe they do mostly online sales? I don't get it. They were not nice people at all.
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Reconsidered - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 05-Apr-10
Because of this site and all of the customer comments posted, I decided NOT to patronize this bike shop over the weekend even though it is quite close to my home. Instead, I took my business elsewhere and spent almost $200.

Business owners - large and small - need to realize the importance of good customer service, especially when they are not the only game in town!
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Customer service - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 17-Mar-10
Listen all ! l bought my first 12 speed at this store in 1990 , and that same stinking Owner Don was there , let me tell you ! 20 years later and the guy is the worst! Completely unbelievable! He is th Anti-Christ ! For real !
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UPSET - to say the least - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 17-Mar-10
Same old story. Horrible service and terribly rude guy!
I came in with my dad to buy a bike the guy hardly acknowledged us. Then I asked for his help and he mumbled "yeah let me finish here" while he took ten minutes to finish his stupid sandwich - and we just stood there. What a jerk. Then we were trying to be friendly to the guy and he was just a complete @$$hole!!! I want to tell him to goto this site to see how many people hate him. If i didnt want the bike so badly i would have stormed out of the store. He was also yelling at the guy who was servicing my bike to hurry up~RUDE!
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WHEN I WAS A KID - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 15-Sep-09
I LIVED ONLY 2 BLOCKS FROM THIS PLACE AS A KID(MIND YOU I WAS 15 W/ MONEY TO SPEND) AND WENT IN ONLY TO LOOK AT THERE SELECTION OF BMX BIKE WHICH THEY HAD A LOT OF (OR SO I THOUGHT). NEEDLESS TO SAY THE OWNER (DON) SAID "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I SAID "TO LOOK AT BMX BIKES" HE SAID " LOOKING HOURS ARE OVER". I MEAN ARE YOU KIDING ME. THIS BUILDING DESERVES TO GET KNOCKED DOWN AND MADE INTO WHATEVER THE CITY WANTS IT TO BE. I WOULD RATHER HAVE THE PROJECTS BROUGHT RIGHT TO THAT SPOT RATHER THAN HAVE THIS NON DESERVING MAN HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY OFF HIS ATTITUDE AND RUDE BEHAVIOR. HE IS WORTHLESS AS A SHOP, AND EVEN MORE RUTHLESS AS A HUMAN BEING. THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY SPEND MONEY ON HIS PRODUCTS I FEEL SORRY FOR CAUSE YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE RETURN ON THAT INVESTMENT FROM HIM. THE WORKERS HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF BIKES AND/OR HOW TO FIX THEM. IT'S ABOUT TIME CHICAGO WE PULL TOGETHER AND GET THIS BUSINESS TO GO UNDER. LETS GIVE IT TO A HARD WORKING NICE PERSON WHO ACTUALLY DESERVES IT.
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BEST PLACE EVER - from: '' - Rating: 5/5 - 14-Sep-09
this store is by far the greatest place i have ever been. fantastic selection of bikes and knowledgeable staff that could not be happier to assist me and my mentally challenged sister. it is truly nice to do business that has such respect for the mentally less fortunate.
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• Re: BEST PLACE EVER - from: 'Chris' - 01-Dec-09
  Your full of crap. and you know it
  
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  • Re: Re: BEST PLACE EVER - from: 'aediger' - 15-Mar-10
    : Your full of crap. and you know it
    : I feel sorry for the moderator of this site. The owners and employees of this company are so rude and have been rude for so long there is no mystery as to why there is foul language directed at them. I tried shopping there in 1987 and they treated me like I was some kind of criminal. I went back 20 years later and since I was not a college kid any more I was not a shoplifting threat. So they were rude instead. So if people use foul words to describe their experience they have probably been treeted worse by the owners of Sportif. They are jerks.
    
    
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Still Terrible - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 06-Sep-09
I live 4 blocks from this place and I actively avoid it. After not going there for two years, I was in there yesterday to ask if they would order something from Trek for me. All I got was a ton of attitude from both people to whom I talked. People, stop going to this bike store! We need to run them out of business. If you are in the Jefferson Park area, go to Rudy's instead.
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• Re: Still Terrible - from: 'Tony' - 02-Jul-10
  I lived within a couple of blocks of sportif for decades and I'm sad to see nothing has changed since the 70's. As the above poster said; go to Rudy's Cycle off Irving Park Rd near Portage park. That is one of the best & friendliest bike shops in the city. (No affiliation)
  
  
  
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Bogus service - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 28-Jun-09
My sister bought here bike here after week she brought it back because of a noise in the rear wheel. Long story short she picked it up it had no noise a week after that the wheel locked up. I took it apart to find that the mechanic used some sort of glue instead of grease to get rid of the noise. They couldn't figure out that the bearings were bad.

UN-Believable!!!
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poor customer service - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 02-Jun-09
I walked over a mile to have my tire fixed. I had let a friend borrow my bike and he somehow stripped out the bearings on the rear axle. The guy behind the counter told me it would cost $45 to replace the axle. I work on cars, I knew that wasn't the issue, but I purchased the axle itself thinking that I had to buy it all to get the bearings. I got it home opened it all up and realized...no bearings. When I went back he didn't want to refund my money, he ignored me for over 5 minutes and said my bike was just cheap and disposable. Very poor service, very rude. I've worked in Customer Service and I know I'll never go back to this place again.
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Worst Customer Service & Worst Bike Shop - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 21-May-09
I went to this place earlier & it's the worst customer service ever!!! They're bikes & bike accesories are very expensive and dirty. This place should be shut down for ripping off customers & the sales people should go back to school and learn some manners if they didn't learn anything from home. Don't go to this place, it's full of junk and so as the sales people!
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Worst customer service ever - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 11-May-09
Stay Away! This place has the worst customer service of any local bike shop around the Northwest side.
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Rude people - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 06-May-09
[One associate] was nothing but rude. [I recommend against this shop.]
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• Re: Rude people - from: '' - 11-May-09
  Removed your personal attacks. You're free to post negative comments; but please keep to the subject.
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Do Not Shop Here - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 27-Apr-09
I was threatened by the guy behind the counter. Police report filed.
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• Tear this place down. - from: 'Joe' - 03-May-09
  I came here to have new tires and inner tubes put on one of my older bicycles, and was treated in such a way that I will never ever go back. I hate shiney new condos but I think they'd look really good in place of Sportif. Now I go to Rudy's on Irving Park, MUCH better service and prices.
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Bike - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 17-Apr-09
[I had a negative experience.]
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• Re: Bike - from: '' - 18-Apr-09
  Removed direct attack language. You're welcome to post negative comments; but make them descriptive, not just a string of disparaging remarks.
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Pretty unpleasant - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 25-Feb-09
They have a wide selection of both bicycles and accessories. The prices aren't cheap, but they aren't too expensive either. Overall, the selection is pretty good.

The selection though is dwarfed by the cranky and rude employees that work there. So far, I've dealt with three of them. They were all unfriendly. One of them tried to sell me a tire in a size I didn't ask for. I asked for a specific size with a certain tread on the tire. The young man return with a tire at a different gauge and said "It's the same thing". No, it's not! It's a different size. When I thanked them for their help and began to leave, the elder woman angrily asked me "what's wrong with this tire?" I informed her that it wasn't the size I asked for, and she gave me a look as if I just pissed on her shoes.

I grudgingly make a trip to Sportif to buy accessories anytime that Rudy's doesn't carry them. Every time I return I have to deal with the mean middle-aged man behind the counter. Ugh.
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#1 at bad customer service - from: '' - Rating: 2/5 - 03-Sep-08
Although this bike shop is close to my house and has a vast variety of bikes in stock, thats not what keeps customers coming back. "customer service" is what makes or breakes a business. This shop had the worst customer service i have ever experienced. My first and last visit was greeted with a hand gesture, instead of a "hello" or "how can i help you?" After that, asking for prices was like asking a hot girl out(tense). I will be going to most of the bike shops i can and give my honest opinion on their customer service, because remember people, WE are paying for it, your not giving it away for free, thanks.
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horrible really - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 27-Jul-08
i *have* received worse customer service before, but only in really snooty restaurants. the matron was uninterested in my budget for a bike--even attempting to argue with me, despite that several bikes in her shop were in my spending range--and refused to allow me to test drive it on the sidewalk in front to the shop. None of this would have been quite as bad if she hadn't also been outright rude.
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Avoid Sportif Importers- addendum - from: 'The Lemming' - no rating given - 15-Jun-08
After I posted my review, it occurred to me that Zordani probably enjoys negative publicity, as did other loud, self-promoting, one-man-band acts like Al Yeganeh, the screaming, abusive "Soup Nazi" made famous by Jerry Seinfeld, or the late and unlamented Harold Rubin, purveyor of dirty books -- the "Weird Harold" who, according to the newspapers, "reveled in stories that dubbed him 'the king of Chicago pornography.'" Rubin used to ride a motorcycle up and down the Burlington tracks in Riverside where he lived, and then start screaming about "civil rights" when he was arrested for trespassing. Anything for a story.
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Talking to customers with your mouth full, telling them that "the brake cables are OK, the rust will wear off," making wisecracks about how "this isn't a museum" -- there is one particular type of person who, thinking that "being a real character" will increase sales, gets up each morning and decides to be abrasive and obnoxious as calmly and cynically as he picks out which socks to wear.
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You're in great company, Don.
.
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• Re: Avoid Sportif Importers- addendum - from: '' - 16-Jun-08
  Removed rating from this message since you added one to your previous message. One rating per customer.
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Avoid Sportif Importers - from: 'The Lemming' - Rating: 1/5 - 15-Jun-08
I have to give Sportif credit; I learned to build and true my own wheels after they charged me $38.00 for a wheel job done by some 18-year-old idiot of a temporary summer employee who never heard the phrase "spoke tension."
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I also learned to spit in their doorway every time I ride by after I had a blowout in the area and they tried to charge me $20.00 for a cheap tire. I told them that I'd walk home first, and I did.
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I spit twice in their doorway in the winter, when they can't be troubled to shovel their sidewalk.
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The owner, Don Zordani, has cried for years to anyone who will listen about how the evil developers are trying to get his precious building. As much as I hate real estate speculators, I feel that Sportif Imports is the one place in Jefferson Park that * should * have been flattened to make way for a seven-story Zitella condominium horror.
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Sportif Imports repeatedly treated me as though I were a child. They have made a life-long enemy, and I will always go out of my way to tell everyone I encounter about my experiences with them.
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AVOID THIS STORE!
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are these guys for real - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 31-May-08
I live 5 blocks from this store. I go in Friday to look for a bike and the nitwit sitting at the counter lets me stand there while ther is no one in the F-ing store!! Finally some big kid riding some bike comes over and attempts to answer some of my questions. He acted like he could care less if I bought any bike! BUT ISN'T THIS A BIKE STORE?! (LOL) So I ask if I can ride a bike before I buy it and maybe take it out of store to test drive. He says "yes if you leave full payment"! He then makes some off-the-wall comment aobut how some people he has dealt with can't make any decisions and these are usually people who probably can't decide anything in their life so why would it be different in buying a bike?" I THINK? he was referring to why he doesn't let persons ride and seemd to imply that is also why he is reluctant to "waste his "time" answering many questions. A real punk. Anyway this dude obviously never took salesmanship 101 and maybe is related to the owner! I now have bought a used bike off Craigslsit and want to get a tune-u and new parts. After reading reviews on here I will go to another shop many miles away rather than deal with these retards who are a mere 5 blocks away. HOW DO THESE kind of shops stay in business??? It shows there are many suckers are out there who don't respect themselves or their money or know that they deserve service and respect as a customer! (I hope the owners of this place read this)!!
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terrible - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 30-May-08
lots of rudeness. was about to buy two products, but after more rudeness i straight up told the dude im going elsewhere. go to rudys or get a grip.
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Simply walk away! - from: '' - no rating given - 04-Jul-07
Look here guys and gals. I have been to the store. But I think the majority of the situations here do justify our own behaviour as a costumer. I don't believe in good or bad service. "either you have it, or you don't!......I'm a beginner in this trade nevertheless mentioned or imply at any bikeshop that I have no knowledge on bikes. "never reveal your weakness to a potential enemy" especially if you knew it's coming. Simply it's up to you to refuse the service. if you let it, I don't think you have any excuse to say the service is high. All bike shops I went for tweaking, overall Price is a MUST confirmed! before I even let anyone touches my GT-I drive. I am the type of costumer who's in control all the time not being led by any mechanic knowledgable to my needs or not, I don't care!. You must follow my instructions. if a mechanic achieve it? I don't think "there's a price of a talent". You win I win!..you refuse!, go somewhere else. do you think I have something to say to you? why bother??????????
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HOW IS THIS PLACE STILL OPEN??? - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 21-Jun-07
This shop is a joke please do not waste your money here!!! I rather pay a little more and be treated with a little repect. The owner and employees are rude and act like if you coming in their shop is a burden on them. I never seen a owner of a business act this way to a customer......
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• Re: HOW IS THIS PLACE STILL OPEN??? - from: '' - 03-Jul-07
  trimmed message a bit -- lets keep it clean.
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dumb - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 11-May-07
Two counter people were unable or unwilling to help me a 50 year old with lotsa cash in pocket. I showed them a air stem valves and they said they never saw one like it before. I looked down inside their counter and there was a box of the same air stem valves right there!! Then after I showed them they did not know how much to charge me. They aren't only crude and rude but dumb as a box of rocks! They're either a discredit to the human race or mental.
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Sportif Importers - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 12-Mar-07
I grew up going to this bike shop and have watched the owners age disgracefully. By the time, I was in high school they would not even let us just browse the bikes because he thought we were going to steal something. I brought my bike in for a tune-up once and they did nothing to fix the gears! Now I go to Village Cycle on Wells. They are pricey but have amazingly knowledgeable employees and fantastic sales!
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schiesty - from: '' - no rating given - 27-Dec-06
[the proprietor] wanted 3 dollas for one screw to hold a peddle on my mountain bike. dont fix your bike at this shop.
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• Re: schiesty - from: '' - 28-Dec-06
  edited to remove profanity. Let's keep it clean.
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Couldn't believe my ears! - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 16-Oct-06
I have to agree with the great majority here. I've been treated this rudely and abruptly before, but never in the private sector! The owner should not be allowed to interact with the public.

My wife is a special soul who is treated with courtesy and respect at the Secretary of State and the Dept. of Employment Security. People at the Post Office are nice to her! But Don was the first bike person I can ever recall her referring to as a "twit." That's her strongest insult, reserved for people like Nazis & racists. (We're white, so his rudeness is not racial: he's an equal opportunity twit!).

This shop is 6 blocks from our house, but we go to Village Cyclesport in Elk Grove Village.
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Looooooser Bike Store - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 15-Sep-06
The jerkbag owner practically ignored me when I was browsing around. After he tried to sell me rusty brake cables, he said the rust will come off with use. Brake cables!!!!!! This is the most important safety device on the bike. Also, asked for a couple ferules for the ends of the cables and he would not give me (or sell me) them. He said to use spoke nipples. This guy is a pathetic moron who has no business being around bicycles. Boycott this menace to the neighborhood. Down Down Down. Sportiff Going Down!!
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• Re: Looooooser Bike Store - from: '' - 30-Sep-06
  : The jerkbag owner practically
  : ignored me
  [snip]
  
  Very , very rude owner named Dick will soon or later have problems with discrimination isuues BIG TIME !!!
  
  This store should be close !!!
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  • Re: Re: Looooooser Bike Store - from: '' - 23-Oct-06
    Edited to remove bulk of quoted content and to remove explitive. Keep it clean.
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ICK!!!! - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 13-Sep-06
Don't waste your time here! The owner is RUDE. I bought a bike here and it was too small for my 6'2" frame and he blamed me. He refused to give me a larger bike unless I handed over 50% of the cost of the bike. This shop belongs in the seventh circle of hell. You'll feel dirty and violated if you deal with this creep. Save yourself.
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Sportif - BAAAAD - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 12-Sep-06
This is diatribe about Sportif for those of you who do not know how bad they truly are.

I am one who those that despises Sportif and my recent experience reinforces that. I went there yesterday because I was desperate for a couple of tubes for my mountain bike. So I figured it can't be all that bad just for tubes. Wrong!

I asked for two 26" presta tubes. I go to pay with my credit card the clerk tells me they do not accept credit cards for anything less than $25. Then I see that he wants to charge me $7 a tube when the going rate anywhere else I've been is $5! Then he said I could buy two more tubes and then I could use my credit card.

As politely as I could under this situation, I simply said no thank you and now I really know why I don't come to this bike shop.

Also, a bike mechanic I know worked there four days before he quit because of questionable practices. One example is charging 2x the price for pedals because the posted price was per each.

I honestly do not know how this shop stays in business. No matter what I will always go to the shop I've gone to for the last five years, OTR, even though this one is a half mile away from my house.
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Basil - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 29-Aug-06
The Basil Fawlty of Bikes. Rude without the endearing humour of Basil. Just ask him to test drive a bike (you'll need to buy it first). How he stays in business eludes me. I drive out of my way TO *anywhere* but here.
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Good Prices - from: '' - no rating given - 07-Aug-06
If you don't mind looking for your bike on your own and a grumpy old owner sitting behind the counter motionless this is the best place. The prices on the bikes are the best prices I have seen so far. Great prices on great bikes. Wow!!!!!
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Poor Customer Service - from: '' - Rating: 2/5 - 04-Jul-06
I visited this shop near my home, and browsed there respectable collection of bikes. The manager of this shop is mad at the world apparently, so customer service was about as bad as it could get. When I asked him for help, he stayed behind the counter, sarcasticly comenting on the bikes in the store. Sorry for the inconveince, buddy. Next time I will shop somewhere else.
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Truly hostile - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 20-Jun-06
I left the place hating myself for actually making a purchase! I asked the owner a question about new pedals and he simply ignored me. He sat down as I was talking to him and began to eat. Five minutes later, as I stood at the counter like an idiot, he acknowledged me again. I repeated my question and he shrugged his shoulders and walked away. I bought a lock and a seat cover and now feel sick that I gave him my business. Never Again!
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Don't waste your time - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 06-Jun-06
This is a very rude, condescending owner. I brought my bike in for a routine spring tune-up and was treated so poorly I left with my bike and self-respect. This guy acts like he's doing you a favor by waiting on you. I wouldn't waste your time here unless you like to be treated poorly.
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Excellent! - from: '' - Rating: 4/5 - 31-May-06
I just purchased a Trek bike from this store and I love it. I couldn't ask for anything more, and the price was excellent! This place deserves more credit. I thoroughly appreciated the service also.
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Rude - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 12-May-06
I am an avid and knowledgible cyclist, but both times I've been to this shop I have been treated rudely. Once I went in and was looking at a Dahon bike and was told not to touch a bike unless I was going to buy it. Another time I went with a friend who was interested in buying a bike sometime soon but wasn't sure what he was looking for. While we were browsing we were asked to leave if we weren't going to buy anything because they were thinking of closing early. When I've asked product questions, they didn't know the answers and had to look them up in the product literature.
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• Re: Rude - from: '' - 16-Oct-06
  : I am an avid and knowledgible
  : cyclist, but both times I've been
  : to this shop I have been treated
  : rudely. Once I went in and was
  : looking at a Dahon bike and was
  : told not to touch a bike unless I
  : was going to buy it. Another time
  : I went with a friend who was
  : interested in buying a bike
  : sometime soon but wasn't sure what
  : he was looking for. While we were
  : browsing we were asked to leave if
  : we weren't going to buy anything
  : because they were thinking of
  : closing early. When I've asked
  : product questions, they didn't
  : know the answers and had to look
  : them up in the product literature.
  
  All of the comments about how horrible the service is here are understatements. We were treated rudely on the telephone x 2 only to come to the store to look at the trek bike we were inquiring about. was told to "go over to aisle 2" w/ owner not even getting up w/ no interest in helping me, and only when I couldn't find the bike, did he get up (it was hanging overhead; no way could I have seen it since was not actually on the "floor"
  Then after my credit card was rung up, noticed an extra $17 added that I was never informed of. When I asked why I had this charge I was told "freight and setup." I've bought a dozen bikes. never had a hiddne charge like this (never mentioned, is this legal?)
  Finally the bike was "set up" for me. A 60 second tune up, from a young also alientated employee. When the brake didn't work properly (wasn't adjusted properly) he insisted this was a feature of the bike ("a spring in front brake, that is safety feature do you want me to remove it"). Since we had just had the exact same bike and this was not a problem, we knew this could not be true.
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really good experience - from: '' - Rating: 4/5 - 07-May-06
I had a really good experience with these guys today. The mechanic that showed us the cruisers was knowledgeable and not pushy. Yes, the owner was gruff, but also quite kind.
We bought a nice, inexpensive Trek.
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• Re: really good experience - from: '' - 02-Jul-08
  I too bought a Trek beach cruiser here at a great price. The sales guy that assisted me was very nice and knowledgable. When I returned to buy the bike the salesman was there to initially help me but the owner waited on me when I paid.
  The owner is very grumpy but in a sad way. I agree with other blogs however, if he (the owner) had waited on me the first time I was there I probably would not have returned - he is better "behind the scenes." Also thought there is a nice older lady that works there behind the counter and she has also been very nice/ welcoming.
  Go, just ignore the owner and find a sales person: )
  : I had a really good experience with
  : these guys today. The mechanic
  : that showed us the cruisers was
  : knowledgeable and not pushy. Yes,
  : the owner was gruff, but also quite
  : kind.
  : We bought a nice, inexpensive Trek.
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Jerk - from: '' - Rating: 1/5 - 16-Apr-06
I live two blocks from this place but I'd drive 100 miles to avoid the jerk who runs it. Overpriced, clueless about bikes, stocks the most jumbled mess of dreck you could imagine. The owner either needs to up his meds or put the rest of out of our misery by closing up. I can't `dump' on this idiot enough.
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the owner is ... - from: 'bike boy' - no rating given - 27-Mar-06
i brought one of his sales brochures up to the counter-- where he was looking at his laptop--to ask him where i could find an advertised product. he grabbed the flyer, tapped on it (didn)'t take his eyes off of his laptop, mind you) and said, "sale's not til next week." and that...was...it. he acted as if i was bothering him.
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• Re: the owner is ... - from: '' - 22-May-06
  I modified this post to remove some ad hominem statements. Let's keep it clean.
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My Experience - from: 'Micheal Mirra ' - Rating: 1/5 - 26-Mar-06
Owner Truley rude I told him I'd like to browse his selection of bikes and he made a smart comment, would you like popcorn and soda with that this ain't no movie theatre. This shop should be closed by chicago i'm all for it especially when someone so rude owns it.
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IGGY POP iggy pop? - from: '' - Rating: 3/5 - 18-Mar-06
Quite rude, quiiiiiiiiiiite rude. But fully stocked. Lack of fixed gear items is unnerving, but but but but but but but but but TYPOS
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Sportif Importers - from: '' - no rating given - 12-Aug-05
The City of Chicago is trying to take over this shop using its powers of eminent domain. Don Zordani has owned this shop for over 30 years.
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• Re: Sportif Importers - from: '' - 28-Feb-06
  : The City of Chicago is trying to
  : take over this shop using its
  : powers of eminent domain. Don
  : Zordani has owned this shop for
  : over 30 years.
  
  I read in the reader that he has (largely, and for now) beaten the City's attempt at an eminent domain grab. Way to go Don!
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Mixed bag - from: '' - Rating: 3/5 - 19-Jul-05
If you know what you want and do not mind a unfriendly owner you can save some money. The shop has a lot of old bikes that are perfectly good but you have to know what they are worth compared to newer bikes. Overall it is probably worth going somewhere else.
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My experience - from: '' - no rating given - 29-May-05
In all my experience with this shop they never once tried to sell me any life insurance or kitchen utensils I didn't need, and they never hit, kicked, or scratched me even once. I think that says something.
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• Re: My experience - from: '' - 04-May-10
  I guess that says they didn't do anything bad to you. But if you need anything bike related, you probably wont be impressed either, except in a negative way.
  : they never once tried to sell me any life insurance or kitchen utensils
  : never hit, kicked, or scratched me
  : I think that says something.
  
  
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store closing? - from: '' - no rating given - 25-May-05
I heard that this store might be closing...
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• Re: store closing? - from: 'DADROCK' - 31-Jul-09
  : I heard that this store might be
  : closing...
  
  I sure hope so. I worked for the guy for a few days. I don't really like to bash other shops, so I'll just say "Do yourself a favor and don't go there."
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