A friend of mine recently told me about a really bad experience with B&B sport cycles in Evergreen.  Usually, I’m really supportive of local merchants as they really try to do the right thing for all of us in the community, but in this case, it seems so obviously bad, that I thought it was worth telling people and making sure that if you go to B&B Sport Cycles make sure you get everything in writing, or better yet, maybe find somewhere else to go.  Here’s what he said in his email:

I requested B&B Sport Cycles to get my bike on June 23rd  and bring it to their shop to get me an estimate for cleaning the carburetor on my 1992 Honda Shadow as it was clogged and needed cleaning and wouldn’t run.  They picked it up and then about a week later the owner told me that it would be about $800 to fix it.  I told him I was shocked it would be that much and not to do anything as I would contact the last company that worked on my bike to see if they would do it for cheaper – which they would.

I arranged for Sun Honda to pick up the bike from B&B and was then notified that I had to pay B&B Sport Cycles $485.00 before they would release the bike.  I asked why the bill was so high and they said it was because they did 3.5 hours of work to replace the battery and spark plugs.  REPEAT: 3.5 hours to replace a working battery and spark plugs!

There are 3 problems with this.

1. I NEVER approved ANY of this work to be done to my bike and they NEVER gave me this estimate prior to performing the work.
2. And 3.5 hours to replace a battery and 2 spark plugs is thievery at it’s finest.  These tasks should take 30 minutes, tops.
3. The problem WASN’T the battery or the plugs.  I told them it was the carburetor and it was this issue for which I needed an estimate.  Just before they picked the bike up, I tried to start it and it turned over just fine.  When I asked for my battery back, he told me they disposed of it already.

Essentially, B&B Sport Cycles did unneeded and unapproved work in MUCH longer than it should have taken and held my bike hostage until I paid their ransom.  Now that I’ve paid them, I’m requesting a full refund.  If I don’t get one, I’ll be reporting them to my credit card company, the Colorado Secretary of State, Department of Labor and the IRS to report them for unfair business practices.

Needless to say, his carburetor wasn’t fixed…  If anyone has any better options than B&B Sport Cycles, please let us know so we can promote good, honest businesses in Evergreen, CO.