Apparently he had used a skimmer on my card when he took it out of my sight and he or another employee used my Discover card info to purchase two items from the store that totaled almost the same price as the item I purchased; probably thinking I would overlook it when I received my statement.
Spokes is a great bike shop, and Adam is the best bike mechanic of any shop I've ever visited. He's very professional and uninhibited when it comes to repairs or upgrades. When other bike shops say it can't be done, Adam will make it work!
An employee at Spokes, Etc. skimmed my credit card and used it to purchase two items in the store. Store manager Brandon was apparently either part of the skim or covered it up. I am probably not the first person that they have done this to as they seemed to know what they were doing and everyone tried to cover it up once the police got involved.
Then remembered that when I was making my purchase, I had swiped my Discover Card on the terminal and it didn't work. The employee asked me to hand him my Discover card. I did and he took the card out of my view, down low behind the register and had it there for maybe 10 seconds. He then handed it to back to me and requested I slide it through the terminal again, which I did. It went through and I left the store and didn't think anything else of it.
The moniker of any small business is to WOW the client at each and every visit with great customer service. I just don't know how Spokes/Leesburg can up their game anymore.
Why would he say this? It seems like he would want to help and find out which store employee fraudulently used my credit card to make purchases in the store that he was managing. I knew when he said this that he was apparently involved in the skim.
I went from frustrated to elated in 10 minutes. Thank you Adam!
Damian
What happened was that I went to the store and purchased one item which was Lizard Skin handlebar tape using my Discover Card and left the store. When I received my Discover statement, I saw there were two charges from Spokes, Etc. posted on the same day.
I called and spoke with the store manager, Brandon, and told him the issue. He said he would call the main store in Vienna and look into it. I spoke with him later and he said that there was a second purchase that occurred 20 minutes after the first purchase and it was for a water bottle holder and tape that fits inside a tire rim.
I contacted the police fraud unit and an investigation was started. The investigator reached out to Brandon and the main office in Vienna but apparently everyone was involved in a cover-up and were of no help to the investigator. My advice would be to avoid Spokes, Etc. stores. When a manager is involved in stealing from customers, this is very bad.
Update: I see that the owner (who is Jim S.) posted a response that says that my post is not accurate. He knows it accurate as I had spoken to him and the detective spoke to him however he would not assist the investigation and covered for his dishonest employee. For proof one can view the Loudoun County Police report# T15001831 that I filed against Spokes, Etc. on 10-17-15 .
I broke a chain on Dry Mill Road in April and brought the bike into Adam. He repaired the chain, explained it looked like a factory defect, it wasn't something I did, and then checked out the entire bike. All at no charge because I bought the bike there last fall.
I asked Brandon to send me a copy of the receipt showing the signature of the second purchase, the one where he said he had checked the signature and it matched the signature of my original purchase. He referred me to someone in the accounting department and they sent me a copy of this second receipt; but it was someone else's signature, not even close to my signature.
This place is awesome. Adam is top notch. He answered all my questions and took his time to explain and educate me. There is 9 bike shops from my house to Spokes and i can say i will come back for all my service, and purchases in the future. Thank you to Adam and his team for the great, honest, and fast work. See you guys in 500 miles.
Why would Brandon lie to me tell me that he had compared the two signatures and that they both matched. When I told him I was going to contact the police, he said he was not going to speak to me anymore about it if I was going to contact the police.
Good bike shop. Always friendly and helpful. The tune ups are a bit pricey but I like this place.
I told him I did not purchase these items. He said he checked the signatures and that the signature on the second sale matched the signature on the first sale (my purchase). I told him this was impossible as I had left the store after I had made my purchase.
The first charge was for $42.39 which was the handlebar tape purchase and then there was a second purchase for $42.38. I never made a second purchase....I had left immediately after my single purchase.
Spokes Etc is a US Bicycle Store based in Leesburg, Virginia. Spokes Etc is located at 1605 Village Market Boulevard Southeast #116, Leesburg, VA 20175, USA.
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