Mobile bicycle repair scam?

gerardnfarrell

Realise this post might sound paranoid but just checking if anyone else has had a similar experience. The other day I went to pick up my bike where I'd locked it to cycle rack overnight in the centre of Dublin. I found that some bas***d had destroyed the front brakes-twisted them around the handlebars, got at them with real force by the looks of it. The weird thing is that at the same time I find this green laminated card stuck in the stokes of my bike advertising 'mobile bicycle repair' and roadside assistance. Now, there may be several explainations for this but it has crossed my mind that someone is going around wrecking people's bikes in order to drum up business for themselves. Sounds cynical I know but if several people had a similar thing happen to them it would look suspicious...

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Go to the Gardai about it.

Never heard of it before but it sounds pretty ruthless.

DJsail

Although whoever left the card was a fair cheeky b***ox and only added further insult I sincerely doubt anyone associated with cycling could be such a ***t! Sorry to hear about your brakes as thats some sore dose, you can't have anything decent anymore without some knacker getting a thrill by wrecking it!

nak

The guys who left the card definitely would not have damaged your bike, they are offering a genuine service. I was given one of those cards in Cyclelogical and had my bike fixed last week. Low cost and they know what they are doing when it comes to fixing bikes.

JacksonHeightsOwn

you`ll find the bike repair fella just seen the damage to yuor bike, otherwise, he`d be the thickest person when it comes to canvassing for work

uberwolf

I've seen those cards in a lot of bikes spokes recently, some people don't seem to have even spotted them! They'd have been damaging a lot of bikes given the sheer volume i've seen in the stephens green vicinity in the last week

blorg

Haven't seen it but in fairness I think nak has the more likely explanation there. Have seen hanging bike repair cards in Dundrum but they were just draped on every bike.

gerardnfarrell

yeah, most likely nothing sinister about it. I was just putting it out there to see if it had happened to anyone else. Now that would have confirmed my paranoid suspicions....

dubmess

Hey there,
I am one of the bicycle repair guys in question. I would like to confirm that we are not scammers and abhor the very thought of screwing around with someone else's bike.

We are Velocity Couriers : www.velocitycouriers.ie you will recognise our cargo bikes on the reverse of the spoke card. Business is quiet right now, our bikes can carry a lot of tools and spares, and Chris, my colleague, is an excellent mechanic, so we thought we try get a bit of extra cash offering this service.

Nothing sinister at all...

Sorry to hear someone messed with your bike...

dubmess

Ps. leaving a bike overnight in Dublin is asking for trouble...

Vélo

dubmess wrote: »

Hey there,
I am one of the bicycle repair guys in question. I would like to confirm that we are not scammers and abhor the very thought of screwing around with someone else's bike.

We are Velocity Couriers : www.velocitycouriers.ie you will recognise our cargo bikes on the reverse of the spoke card. Business is quiet right now, our bikes can carry a lot of tools and spares, and Chris, my colleague, is an excellent mechanic, so we thought we try get a bit of extra cash offering this service.

Nothing sinister at all...

Sorry to hear someone messed with your bike...

Good idea, best of luck with it.

flickerx

gerardnfarrell wrote: »

Realise this post might sound paranoid but just checking if anyone else has had a similar experience. The other day I went to pick up my bike where I'd locked it to cycle rack overnight in the centre of Dublin.

There's your answer alright.
Which rack did you leave it at? Anywhere in Temple Bar I think is bad news. Too many drunken morons wandering around with a high capacity for random vandalism.

Only place I would ever leave a bike overnight is at the Pearse St. cop shop.

monument

dubmess wrote: »

Ps. leaving a bike overnight in Dublin is asking for trouble...

:rolleyes:

flickerx wrote: »

There's your answer alright.
Which rack did you leave it at? Anywhere in Temple Bar I think is bad news. Too many drunken morons wandering around with a high capacity for random vandalism.

Only place I would ever leave a bike overnight is at the Pearse St. cop shop.

From personal experience the bike racks around Temple Bar are fine, Garda presence is high in the area too -- and people have posted here before saying they have had their bikes damaged outside that Garda station.

And from looking around town, most of the bikes that really messed up are ones which are poorly locked in the first place. Ie against a poll (or even rack) in a way the bike can fall or be knocked down to the ground. I regularly* pick up bikes lock to polls which have been knock to the ground just to advoid some drunking ass from juming on them.

* at least three times in less than the same many months

dubmess

monument wrote: »

:rolleyes:



From personal experience the bike racks around Temple Bar are fine, Garda presence is high in the area too -- and people have posted here before saying they have had their bikes damaged outside that Garda station.

And from looking around town, most of the bikes that really messed up are ones which are poorly locked in the first place. Ie against a poll (or even rack) in a way the bike can fall or be knocked down to the ground. I regularly* pick up bikes lock to polls which have been knock to the ground just to advoid some drunking ass from juming on them.

* at least three times in less than the same many months

Why is your personal experience any more valid than mine? Why do I get some patronising rolling eyes?

monument

dubmess wrote: »

Why is your personal experience any more valid than mine? Why do I get some patronising rolling eyes?

I never said my personal experience was any more valid than yours.

But you get patronising rolling eyes because it's all I could muster in response to your last post.

dubmess

The original posters question has been answered I believe, so I'm out.