A proper scooter shop should have these five properties:
-Wide selection of quality scoots
-Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff
-Scooter miscellany (parts, accessories, clothing, rider gear, toys)
-On site service and repair
-Socially active with the scooter community
New owner of the San Antonio AND Austin Vespa shops, Fred McGinnis, has written these five elements to their relaunch plans beginning with Alamo Heights Vespa in San Antonio and then the new Vespa of Austin opening around January 2008.
I took a trip to San Antonio to get a glimpse of what to expect for Austin in the coming year and from the looks of it I’d say “good things!”. I spoke with owner Fred McGinnis for about an hour, discussing the new shop. Everything is in place, they will have Vespa and Piaggio scooters, lots of miscellany, service and repair AND plan on sponsoring weekly rides that launch from the shop on Sundays. This is all very exciting. All we need now is to make sure they come up with the “friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff.” I have faith that they’ll be able to pull that off.
We plan on covering the grand opening right here on TheScooterScoop… so stay tuned for the announcement and we’ll see you at the party!
If you want to find out MORE about their plans, check out the great little article at MySA.com.
4. December 2007 at 10:39 am
Yesterday, on my way to pick up some groceries, I saw the 5th street store was closed and the dealership was in the process of relocating. This news is probably just about the best I could have received about scooting in Austin!
Steve, you’ve made my day. :D
- sFish
4. December 2007 at 1:00 pm
This is very cool. I will have to plan a trip out there!
5. December 2007 at 4:02 pm
**Clarification**
I drove by yesterday and noticed that the Austin Vespa location on 5th isn’t closed yet… it’s merely having a moving sale and will be relocating soon.
Sorry for any confusion.
- sFish
30. January 2008 at 1:30 am
One of my worst customer experiences was at Vespa. Becareful dealing with Fred McGinnis:
1. He does not honor the deals that are made in his stores.
2.I ordered some helmets and a seat and paid in advace after 3 months I never got the helmets i requested and while they keep my money in the bank they kept on telling me that the factory from Italy was delayed. Yet when I bought it they told me I will have them within 1 week.
3. It is almost 5 months since I got my bike and I still donot have a title in my hand. First they misspelled my name, then they put the wrong address. they do not pay attention to detail and are not customer oriented.
4. I picked up my bike today after service and the ligth to turn was not working. Yhey told me is “not part of the service”. actually they took my bike for inspection and it passed! but the light is not working!
5. Is a shame that there are business that have no ethical principles. Fred demonstrated to me that money is first and he does not care about the customer.
Francisco
23. May 2008 at 2:06 am
I have to echo Francisco’s comment about Fred not honoring deals that are made, and in my case, a deal I made directly with him over the phone on 5/22/08 after me first sending him an e-mail detailing my frustrations with the Austin shop. He and I agreed on a concession, and I had already had the the rest of the deal worked out with the Austin store, and when I went in to pay they refused to sell me the scooter and tried to offer me a 2007 model instead of the 2008 model that they had already quoted me. I filed complaints with both the BBB, and with the Attorney General’s office.