Bike Shop of Horrors

I know, what a cheesy title for this! I'm tired, leave me alone.

I just want to know if anyone has had any really bad experiences with a bike shop, and what they were. Also, has anyone had a really good experience, and where?

For buying a bike or any kind of kit, I think a local bike shop is the way to go, but sometimes, it seems that they forget a little bit about customer service. Here are some of my experiences:

I was helping a friend shop for a bike in the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge area in Ontario Canada. He took me along because he knew very little about the sport. I hate being the guy who tells bike shop staff about their products, so most of the time, I just kept quiet until they were out of earshot. Except for a few times.

The first was one shop that was trying to unload their lower end model Giant bikes. My friend is 6' 1", the bike had a 16" frame. Being the same height, with only slightly longer legs, I knew this was way off. I ride a 20" frame, and for him, 19" was probably as small as he wanted to do, and it showed when he tested the bike, it looked ridiculous. They tried hard to push that on him without even trying to find another model or bike for him.

The next shop we went to was even worse. They tried to dump a $400 full suspension bike on him. I can't remember the brand, but it was close to what they sell in department stores. They would not take no for an answer on this bike, so we left. If you get a full suspension bike for $400, even on sale, you're in for a world of hurt.

The next shop (note, this was all in the span of about 3 hours on the same day!) was a great shop, nice, clean, great selection of bikes. However, the staff member that was helping us had the physique that told us that she was the owner's daughter, and had never been on a bike in her life. She knew nothing about mountain bikes, and even less about the products she was trying to sell. I think she learned more from me than she knew about bikes altogether. My friend tested the bike he ended up buying, but not at that shop. He found another shop with friendly service, that was run by riders. Pierik's in Hamilton was the place he bought that bike. Great service there, and a great atmosphere.

Another great shop is in Woodstock Ontario, called Pedal Power. They were always amazing to deal with. Great service, great selection.

I always like to hear of terrible service, and places to avoid, so let's hear the stories.