Mellow Johnny's — Local services in Austin

MTBers STAY FAR AWAY to avoid snobbery stinch!!! Ye be warned!

After several years of interactions with these guys I've concluded they deserve a 2 star rating. As a long time (25 years) cycling enthusiast who happens to love both road and mountain, it frustrates me to walk into a hyped-up bicycle shop in Austin texas only to find that their sales staff is completely incompetent when it comes to anything other than road cycling. On several different occasions I have asked the sales staff very basic, binary questions and about products they're not only a dealer for but also, at times, have sitting on their showroom floor and the employee's at the counter are utterly clueless. But not simply just clueless, ANYTHING MOUNTAIN BIKE RELATED, they don't even seem to care enough to find a reasonable answer for you. These bozos dont even know the difference between a hydraulic and mechanical disc brake. They are that obstinate! Last week I asked 2 sales people if they had any of the 2017 Trek Slash's come through the store yet (which is a fairly anticipated bike from trek this year), they were with the dumb dumb face like "uhhhhhh the what?" Then I mentioned that it was similar to a Trek Remedy much like the one that was sitting 30 feet away from my fingertip and they had no idea what I was talking about. No respect for the mountain bikers to even look it up, only reason these snobby dufflebags even carry mountain bikes is because of the dealer agreement that Trek and Cannondale made them accept at their level. Speaking of level... These folks seem to believe they're on a higher one than you. They are ULTRA SNOBBY (mechanics included), Im primarily referring to the people who work on the main floor (street "level"), with the exception of the guys and gals who work the coffee shop which is actually pretty good btw, (They're the only reason I'm not giving this dump 1 star) them and the Pedal Hard crew on the lower level are good to go... But the 1st floor guys.... wow, rentals, sales, management, and service/mech...That's a whole other level. In fact, I think the snobs on the 1st floor should swap place's with the guys downstairs because they are definitely "Lower Level".... (see what I did there ;)

It not just me. Other's have pointed this out as well. They alienate 50% of their clientele because they judge you as you walk in the door. These slimeballs only respond to money and dry spandex. Roadies only. No thanks, I'll serice my road bikes elsewhere. Tri guys turn around, these losers don't want to help you order a new bike, and ordering it would be as they seem avoid stocking tri bikes.

Bottom line, This place only caters to rich, staunchy, and of course, snobby people who only show interest in road cycling, nobody else seems welcome there. And if you are one of those "Rich, Staunchy, Snobby Roadies, cool! But I still advise you to steer clear because I don't believe these people are mechanically competent to work on a bike or knowledgeable enough to sell you one assuming you're all those horrible things but actually intelligent enough to make inquiries.

"Go F*#!...

STRONG-ARMED INTO REMOVING NEGATIVE REVIEW

I posted a review a few months back to share about a couple of bad experiences I had with this shop. Apparently, MJs is pretty sensitive about honest reviews so they asked me, through my former cycling club, to take it down. MJs didn't even have the courtesy to ask me directly or try to understand what happened. MJs is a sponsor of the club and used this standing to pressure the club into making me remove the review. I complied but instantly regretted it. I was threatened with removal from said club if I re-posted so I quit the club. Feels good to have my First Amendment rights back!

To be honest, the initial problems I had with them really weren't that bad; in fact, I made sure to mention in the original review and will do so again that I had really great interactions with the shop prior to the incidents. You're probably thinking: "This guy must have been a pain to deal with for MJs to react so strongly." You be the judge. Here's what happened:

Incident 1. I wanted to buy a bike that was on sale. I wasn't haggling for a better deal or more discounts, just what was advertised. I was ready to pull out my credit card when the sales guy tells me that it's impossible to get the bike from the manufacturer (he checked with a manager to be sure of this). Of course, he said that I could get a more expensive version of the bike, without problems. I found it a bit odd so a couple of days later, I contacted another guy at the shop and recounted the above. He told me that the bike I wanted could be ordered. Not sure about you, but I'm not about to give $2000 to a shop that may very well have tried to rip me off!

Incident 2. I really wanted to give these guys another chance so I ordered a pair of sunglasses from them a few days later. I was told that I'd be contacted and given a shipping update. Waited a week and hadn't heard from them so I called the shop. I spoke with a sales rep who told me that she'd get an update and call me right back. Waited 2 days and no callback. I called again and they still had no info so I canceled the order.

See? Pretty harmless stuff. I didn't even go into all this detail. My review was 3 lines long! For some reason, MJs saw fit to have it removed.

But let's get back to the heart of the matter: the fact that they tried to get me to pull my review because they sponsor my former club. I guess one can't speak negatively of a sponsor, even though said sponsor employed questionable sales tactics on me. Unwritten cycling club rule that I broke? Maybe. If that's the case, I'm glad I did it and quit the club to publish this review. I'm not for sale. Keep the discounts. I won't stand for this kind of behavior and neither should you. Other bike shops in Austin are fantastic and I've always had great experiences with them. Get your gear from a shop that actually respects...

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE THERE IS NOTHING MELLOW ABOUT THIS PLACE, FILLED WITH EXTREMELY RUDE EMPLOYEES!!

I went to Mellow Johnny's on Sunday, August 28th, to take advantage of the advertised "Back to School, Free Safety Checks" that was emailed to me on August 24, 2016. My daughter is starting her second year at a local University and I wanted to make sure her bike that had been outside for several months was going to be fit to ride around campus. I brought her bike into the shop and after waiting five minutes a bike mechanic finally came up to me and said said "Whats Up". I thought that was rude. What happened to "May I help you". I proceeded to tell him that I would like to take advantage of the free safety checks for back to school kids. He said "we don't do anything for free here". I said wait a minute I got an email from Mellow Johnny's detailing the free checks. He said "no way" and "where is the email"?

Since my phone was in my car, I left bike at mechanic's station and retrieved my phone and showed mechanic the email. He read email and said "oh we do diagnostics all the time." And you didn't need email for that. Although he admitted not knowing anything about email. He then glanced down at my daughter's bike and within 5 seconds he said there is really nothing that can be done. He said it will at least cost $150-$200 to repair her bike and that I should talk to one of the Mellow Johnny sales reps to get a new bike. Additionally, he proceeded to say that my daughter's bike was in such bad condition that he would recommend that they not take in as trade in. I told him I did not come here to buy a new bike.

I asked the mechanic if the "Back to School, Free Safety Checks" was just a "bait and switch" tactic to get people to bring their bikes to Mellow Johnny's in order to get them to overpay for needless repairs or to get suckered into burying a new bike. He just looked at me. He was either too stupid to understand or knew that was the truth.

Long story short, I took the bike home. Googled how to remove rust and get gears working, put air in tires and the bike works perfectly now. No need for costly repairs and no need for a new bike.

Again, I would stay away. I bought a bike here two years ago because I wanted to buy local. The salesman, at that time, convinced me to buy a bike for my other daughter (9 years old at the time) that was too big for her. He said she would grow into it. I trusted his judgment and the bike is still unusable.

Remember, there are so many other shops that give you great customer service. They may not have a Lance Museum but really who cares about him anyway. I'm going for customer service not to praise a has...