25 September 2010

Wow...

Looks like Specialized gets the 'King Douchebag Award' of Interbike 2010...and in Vegas, that's an accomplishment.
It seems they had a big booth at the convention center, yet were scanning badges of attendees. Big deal you say? Well, they were scanning the badges into their database to see who was, and wasn't, a dealer for the Big S. If you were, you got into the booth. If not, you were turned away by security. Security? Really? Cyclists sure must be a violent bunch!
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I know that, on the first day of business school, you learn that your customer's customer is your customer! In this case, it seems Specialized cares more about stroking their dealers than letting people see their product. Nice...
Yet another reason I won't buy a Specialized product. Between broken frames, broken wheels, and now this, one could postulate that they are turning into Trek.

2 comments:

carpetbagger said...

Not what I saw; I got in with a vendor badge as did several friends that weren't sporting dealer badges. They were scanning, but I never saw anyone turned away. Private booths are pretty common and many of the big boys do this and many (Trek and Felt among many) don't show at all in favor of private dealer shows. Let's talk about Cervelo and their private suite though... You had to flash an invite just to get off the elevator.

MM said...

Hmmm...I've heard it both ways from several folks. Odd...
Maybe they did it for a while, and then changed their minds. Who knows...