Back in mid September (when the sun was still shining regularly) my wife and I ventured into the local bike shop in her home village in canton Sankt Gallen. We were on the hunt for two new bicycles, and had been referred to this particular shop by her parents who have purchased bikes there in the past. We found two nice looking bikes, the price seemed fair, and we struck a deal. My wife's bike was immediately available, but mine however needed to ordered in the appropriate size, etc. We were told that it typically took 3-4 weeks for this particular manufacturer (in Germany) to deliver new orders. I was anxious to get a bike before the weather turned chilly, but the price was good and the bike was what I wanted.

It is now November 18 (nine weeks have past) and the bike still remains MIA. We have contacted the bike shop three or four times to inquire about the situation, and have been given no concrete information about it's arrival date.

What ****es me off here is that we have had to initiate all of the follow up with this bike shop. Why hasn't this guy made the effort to get in touch with us to keep us informed about the status of the order? Seems like it's his responsibility to get in touch with us when he discovers his delivery estimate is off by 1.5 months. WTF?

Am I just a spoiled "customer first ethos" American, or does this seem like poor customer service to anyone else?

The other issue at hand is that we have planned a long bicycle tour in SE Asia beginning in January, and I'm getting worried that I won't have time to familiarize myself with the bike, break it in, etc.

Thankfully, we have not yet had to pay for either of the bikes (I've been riding my wife's model for 9 weeks now) which also seems a bit odd. He let us walk out of there with a CHF1200 bike without paying.

Has this guy got his head screwed on?

Things just happen a little different over here. It is quite common for people to walk out of a shop with goods and/or services and pay when the "einzahlungschein" arrives a few weeks later. In this case the shop has only completed half the deal you agreed on so he will issue the bill when the transaction is complete. I agree that it is funny that he did this without a deposit though.

As for the bike, you ordered it at an unfortunate time. Usually in August/September the distributors have very little stock and are waiting for the next years products to come in. If the distributor was out of the bike you ordered then there is nothing the shopkeeper can do about it. If this is the case then the distributors will send out all the "preorder" bikes to the shops first then send out any other stock that they happen to have left over for orders like yours.

This may be the case, and the shopkeeper should keep you in the loop. I know that when I ordered my bike this time last year for delivery in March the guy kept in touch with me and told me when the frame arrived in his shop so I could inspect the frame before he built the bike for me.

I would talk to the shopkeeper, If he can't get the bike then pay the agreed price for your wifes and go elsewhere. You should still get the discounted price seeing as the shop can't hold up its end of the deal.

I see you are in Rapperswil, Jona. I know of one bike shop in your area that is quite good with customers maybe you could try there if the deal falls through in the other place.

Quite normal - welcome to Europe. This is not a Swiss thing, but is Europe-wide: US-style customer service is often non-existent and sadly Switzerland is often low on the list for European customer service.

However, the payment business is very Swiss. I have twice bought a new car and driven off with the documents and a payment slip to pay in 30 days...

Thanks for your input. I just contacted the manufacturer directly. They assure me that the bike will be delivered next week. We'll see what happens.

My main gripe is the lack of information and lack of communication on behalf of the shop owner.

Demand a freebee as compensation for the delay. That seems to be the norm here.

As an American, I find the communication and customer service
here really non-existant. When you press for things to happen,
sometimes they just don't, or it takes much longer in Switzerland
than it does in the US.

It is just part of living here. After nine years of living here,
you get used to it.

I guess it sort of fits together with the fact that the shop will just close it's doors for about a month each year while the shop keeper takes a vacation. There are (of course) many benefits of living in Switzerland, but I'm convinced that 99% of Swiss businesses would not survive one week in the USA. Not that they need to, but I find their "customer care" awareness a bit humorous at times.

Welcome to stress-free business

Quite normal here, the delay seems long, but in general here, as you are the interested, you should do the calling.

If they are the interested, for example if you don't pay the invoice, they will for sure contact you in the shortest delay they could.

This is quite normal. Everything has to be ordered and everything takes much longer than first anticipated. It's quite frustrating but you do get used to it. When possible, I try to buy things in stock, which really limits the selection.

I actually took it upon myself to contact the manufacturer today to get some information. They assure me that the bike will be delivered next week. I suppose I should be careful not to let the shop owner know that I went around him. He'd probably not give me the bike at all if he knew that! Oh dear, gotta love small town Switzerland... I guess...

Yes...It's normal...and as others have said, it is a Europe thing. The USA comparison makes things worse. Although, within Europe, Switzerland is not half bad business wise and customer service wise. I just spent 7 years living in Spain, and I can tell you that it's much worse than CH.
It must be this whole idea of working to live, as opposed to living to work.
Good luck, and hope the manufacturer gets that bike to you soon.

This is normal, however what often happens is the reverse situation, which is equally annoying.

1. You order something, and ask how long it will take.
2. Vendor sucks teeth, shakes head and says, "This is going to be a problem, it's going to take at least 9 weeks."
3. A week and a half later, the vendor rings up and proudly announces, "Your goods are here and ready to pick up!"

Has happened to me with ordering new bank cards, and particularly annoyingly, with the nursery furniture for our new baby. The goods had to wait in the shop (something the vendor was not happy about), as the baby's room was not ready, and we simply had not had time to save up for them.

Cheers

Jim