Boycott Performance Bike.
Performance is a company that sells bike components. They’re pretty big and have acquired their former competitors like Nashbar and SuperGo. That’s too bad because I really don’t like Performance. Maybe you shouldn’t either.
In 2001, Kevin Fu and I (along with some other members of the Applied Security Reading Group) were looking into the security of web cookies. We broke some cookie authentication schemes and made some recommendations about how to improve them. Most companies were very receptive and thankful when we contacted them privately and pointed out potential problems. Performance, Inc did not. Their site in 2001 had several problems, most notably guessable session ids that would allow anyone to access personal (e.g., password, address, credit card numbers) about other customers. They delayed for over a month on fixing these problems and suggested simply that I order over the phone if I was worried. That’s not the answer you want to hear from a company with your credit card number: anyone could have stolen as many credit cards as they wanted with a simple Perl script.
So, instead of making phone orders or checking if they’ve fixed their problems, I decided to delete all my credit card information from their website (as best I could), sign off all their mailing lists and never buy from them again. (It does look like their security scheme is slightly different now, but I don’t know how much better.)
On Monday, I got an unsolicited e-mail from them:
Welcome and thank you for subscribing to our specials email list!
As a subscriber, you will be the first to receive notice of all our special online promotions. Plus, you are now eligible to receive exclusive, online deals not offered to anyone else.
Thanks again, we know you will enjoy receive [sic] our mail. And remember, all online purchases are 100% guaranteed by Performance.
I didn’t subscribe to their list; I can only conclude they went through a list of people who had stopped ordering from them and added them to this specials list. And today, they sent me their latest specials.
I hate that I don’t have control over whether companies send me ads/catalogs and that I have to explicitly tell them not to sell my address, preferences, and who knows what else (”opt out”). I hate that most companies don’t let me tell them to delete information about me. And most, I hate those companies that still contact me (and, potentially, share my information) after I’ve told them not to.
I can’t fix privacy laws, but I’ve switched to supporting my local bike store: they don’t send me spam or keep my credit card information online. My suggestion for you? Boycott Performance Bike.
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18 Comments
Welcome to the real world, pork chop!! Privacy is an illusion especially on the internet. Act accordingly.
Gary, I think that point is really brought home by the fact that my server logs show that your comment was posted from 207.13.126.2, which as of today was a /28 registered to Performance Inc. Thanks for the advice!
What tha? Gary Snook is the founder of Bitech; dba: Performance INC. This just goes to show how ridiculous this company is run. Their MIS department is sad, they refer you to there computer management company with IT problems. It is no surprise that there security is questionable. I worked for them in Atlanta. They are cocky and the District Managers especially in Atlanta are just followers to the slaughter. No social skills at all. The stores will fail eventually and to this demise I am glad to have left. DM’s belive that by reading “management skills” type books they can control the world. This is not a bike company this is a retail machine that has no real grasp of the concept of being human. The motto by the Dm in Atlanta is to get your “mookies” moving and “there will be consequences”. They practically refuse to terminate employees but rather give them less and less hours until they have zero for a few weks or months and they just disapper from the schedule. Sickening! They know that someone with zero bicycle experience will walk through the door off a bus and replace them. Whatever! For the founder of the company to call you “pork chop” how pathetic. It starts at the top and works it’s way to the bottom.
Perhaps Gary Snook should spend more time checking the quality of his house brand merchandise and less time responding to critiques of his stores policies regarding privacy. Snook..Your Forte` tires are beyond bad..they’re damn dangerous.
I share your sentiments my friend.
Performance Bike Spams
Well guys (gals?), I work at the Plano, TX store. I was delighted to get the job as I’ve been shopping them for 20+ years now, and the employee discount is keeping me in new tires on all my bikes. Despite what some of you have written, their products really aren’t bad. If you want “the lightest” or “the fastest” or “the most durable”, then yes, you need to shop somewhere else. Performance’s house stuff is very middle of the road. But when you consider their merchandise in a “price vs. performance” scenario (all puns intended) it really is a good value. Staffing… unfortunately, one bad apple can spoil any Blog. Of the 20 or so people working at my store, there are 2 that need to be let go. But the rest are knowledgable, helpful, and not inclined to be doing something else when there are customers in the store. We’re there to help y’all. (sorry, I’m in Texas, I have to use that language around here). re: internet security… I have no clue. But I’ve purchased stuff from Performance on-line many times, never had any problems. And I do agree with the one comment, the concept of “internet security” is a myth. – Chip “on your left…” Tredo
For my own reasons, I wanted to find out what other random people in this world had to say about Performance bicycle. Is there still a plano TX store? Please reply. Did the owners of Performance INC or BiTech shut it down? I heard the investors will walk into a store and if an employee doesn’t say anything to a customer within a minute or something, they will fire the employee.
I dont’ care about the product comment but how they value people; both employees and customers. I think they force a profit for themselves; the investors, but it is only at the expense of the employees who are trying to operate the store with no budget for employees and training. Their give it away policies force this situation. Let me know if you have a different experience.
They’re obviously unethical goofballs from your story and from my recent experience with trying to stop spam from them: http://performance-bike-spam.blogspot.com/
“I worked for them in Atlanta. They are cocky and the District Managers especially in Atlanta are just followers to the slaughter. No social skills at all. The stores will fail eventually and to this demise I am glad to have left. DM’s belive that by reading “management skills” type books they can control the world.” (posted:16 Feb 2007)
I too have had the misfortune to worked under this “DM.” It is amazing to me that this individual is still in a position of authority. Understand, I feel that with the right District Managers at the helm, Performance can be a very good place to work. I have worked under other DMs at Performance that empowered their store managers and unltimately the employees in their District. I love the bike industry and enjoy helping customers discover biking. Performance and certain DMs make it hard to do so.
Bing (and all), thanks for sharing your experiences. There’s obviously a steady undercurrent of unhappiness about Performance: this post gets an average of a hit per day. It’s a shame Performance doesn’t use this kind of feedback to improve their business. Unfortunately, I still get (and autofilter) their e-mail spams.
Would like to know more about the DM you work with in Atlanta…We just lost a great Store Manager because of a DM in Portland. He has no people skills and is nothing more the a yes man. If he could see the big picture, he might know it’s the people that make your company great! Performance has a long way to go if they keep letting people like this run their stores.
I have to agree with sentiments regarding Performance Bike- I bought a GT pro (carbon road bike) from them last summer and while I love the bike, that is equipped with good componentry, the only problem I have had with it are the pedals. They are the house brand “forte”. The pedals or accompanying cleats have had a series of issues, at one point breaking in the middle of a climb- a painful experience.
When I took them in to the shop the 100% satisfaction guarantee was immediately understood to have a plethora of fine print to be read. In the Rockville store the manager was a plain ass, blaming everything on me and not replacing anything let alone giving any money back. I’ve been riding for a long time, the pedal issue was certainly not my fault. Regardless, I’ve e-mailed them but to no avail, three times to no avail. The pedals suck but i’m definitely not getting my money back.
Overall experience with the people has been mixed; the store in northern chicago is great, with some cool people. The rockville manager was a deuche. Regardless, the house brand stuff sucks and so do the deals offered from the shops. Boo performance.
Performance and Nashbar have been plagued with customer service issues apparently. I ordered from them once, never got an order confirmation nor a way to track the package. They charged the card and I got my order in the approximate time that it took to ship. The product was great and at a decent price but the fact that the only confirmation I had was my card being charged is another thing. Do customers have to just hope and cross thier fingers when they order something online?
To current times… I was sick of receiving thier daily emails and deal alerts so for the past month or so I have been trying to unsubscribe. I have also emailed them twice. I am still receiving the messages and I am yet to recieve a reply from an actual person there. Shucks, they’ve for sure lost another customer. Hopefully these pricks will be one of the losers in the recession.
I don’t know what performance bike shops you guys go to but the one near me is phenomenal. Great service, great prices. The employees are knowledgeable and honest, and do tons of stuff for free. Every time I go in, I end up loving the sport more and more. My impression of performance has been astounding when compared to local shops. The local shops are nice and it can feel good to support a small business, but I never end up getting the price I want. I can’t drop $80 on a tire which I can get at performance for $40. Not only that, but local shops around me have been known to do pointless stuff when repairing bikes (kind of like car mechanics). Usually I do my own work on my bike but I know what needs done, and if I don’t trust myself to do it then i pass it onto a mechanic.
Point is, don’t assume all performance branches are the same. Go to your local one, and see how it is, as it seems that they are all different.
I agree with Wheelinanddeelin. The manager at performancebike in Rockville, MD is a DUCHE!!! I learned that his name is “AJ”, and I filed a complaint with the company. He has zero customer service skills and should be fired. I stopped going to that store because of how rude that guy is. Performnace has lost my business because of that guy and so far this year, that tallies to over $2k.
WOW! I would like to say that I’ve spent thousands of dollars with performance over the past 15 years, but after seeing that particular comment from Gary Snook at the top, and reading other horror stories, I won’t spend another dime
i just quit performance bike after a two and a half year stint with them. i can tell you that anything negative you may have heard is probably and undoubtably true. i was a store manager with this “company” for too long. i should have trusted my gut when i met the district manager the first time-he doesn’t even ride a bike. this guy is the definitive douchebag. i know the atlanta/east-coast dm and the portland/northwest dm, believe me, they don’t come close to the stench of this turd. the dm’s are what suck the life out of the few good souls that actually care about the job they do. and the service they provide the customers. i agree, the part timers can leave a little to be desired. it’s usually because the good ones are turned off by the inane sales tactics preached by the glorified used car salesmen dm’s.
What’s the point of using Performance Live Chat when they can’t answer your questions. I was told to call the 1800 number. I called the 1800 and the lady on the phone “Gina” was pretty rude. I asked to talk to a supervisor to discuss an order, but was refused. I was told the supervisor didn’t want to speak to me. It looks like customer service is not on Performance high priority list. I have been a loyal Performance customer even before I joined the Team Performance membership. This is a blow to my confidence on spending another cent from this company. It makes me appreciate more on being an REI member.
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