Testimonials from Visiting Customers

Article in The Keene Sentinel Monday January 10, 2022

https://www.sentinelsource.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/local-shop-comes-to-a-cyclists-rescue-by-bill-cunnings/article_0cac2305-7ae7-58d4-acd3-d4a6301d0717.html

Title: Local shop comes to a cyclist’s rescue, by Bill Cunnings

Hi, just wanted to pay high compliments one again to local services.  This time it’s a bike shop and can’t say enough about their hometown service.

I’m pretty committed to riding a bike year round if at all possible. Recent bikes and gear that have hit the market make that more and more possible even as birthdays continue to sneak up on us. Today I stood up a little hard on my pedal and maybe the cold temps played a role and my chain snapped, over by the Co-op. So, nice day for a walk as he sun started to set.

Norm’s Ski & Bike Shop happens to be on my way home. It’s around 4:30 pm. …  and the Open sign was on. I went into the shop and realized I could buy a new chain … the tech had gone home. I realized I could have easily tweaked the cog on some part of the derailleur … so a tech would have been nice.

The manager was so kind and called his tech in to repair my wheels. How cool is that!

Anyway … a lot to be said for local purchase!

Bill Cunnings

Swanzey

“Had a rear bicycle tire that needed truing and forgot to bring it in early on a Friday. Finally got it there around 3 PM and didn’t fully expect to get it back until Saturday afternoon or Monday.

No more than 45 minutes later they called and said it was ready for pickup. Totally blown away on how quickly they turned it around!

Great people, outstanding service made a first time customer into a repeat one. I didn’t miss my Saturday bike ride after all!”

“I would like to give a huge shout out to Norm’s Ski and Bike, I have gotten both my Trek Marlin 5 and Scott Speedsder 40 from them. I had a accident today in Brattleboro 142 x some railroad tracks. My bike for the most part was in very good condition minus some handle bar adjustments. I rode to Norm’s they asked if I was ok and than took my bike and made all adjustments on the spot and a great price. Outstanding customer service after the sale is what will continue to make a repeat customer here. Never will get a bike anywhere else.”

“Consider this a sort of preliminary review for this shop, as I haven’t yet made the most important purchase of all (skis) from here – yet.

I brought in a pair of K2s from 2003 to be tuned/waxed so I could sell them. I won’t be riding them, so I can’t tell you if they were done perfectly or not, but they looked clean, & can now go on to make a new skier very happy. I shopped around a little & found a pair of Hestra gloves in my size that I hadn’t been able to locate anywhere else – on sale! They carry a lot of great brands – Hestra, Marmot, Spyder, Mountain Hardware, etc.

I like shops with employees & owners that want to talk to you. It helps to build a lasting relationship with customers, & it makes me respect their opinions more. Also, I’ve noticed it’s common for shops to treat women as lesser skiers than men, or not take them as seriously as they deserve. There are some talented, aggressive lady skiers out there, & it’s a shame that so many shops waste their time not listening to the customer’s wants/needs by pushing a lower-level ski on someone who probably rips harder than they do. Okay, /rant.

At this shop, that wasn’t an issue. They do offer a (very) limited selection of demos (for free!), so I gave them my ‘list’ of skis I’ve been looking to test out. It took the younger male employee a couple of tries to stop suggesting I try a softer/shorter/less aggressive ski, but he did know his stuff. The owner made a suggestion about a pair of Volkl Tierras in 161 (instead of the Atomic Affinitys in 154 I was going to settle for), so I took those out. They were very flexible about when I had to bring them back, giving me plenty of time to try them out at more than one mountain/in different conditions.

Overall, I’m very pleased by the level of customer service/knowledge/friendliness that this shop has.”