Lost a customer over a seized seatpost in Portland

Had a guy bring in a vintage steel frame with a seatpost stuck solid for like 15 years. I tried the usual tricks, heat, penetrating oil, even made a DIY puller with a threaded rod from Home Depot. After 3 hours of fighting it, I snapped the post clean off inside the frame. Told him it needed a machine shop to drill it out, cost around $120. He got mad, said I should've warned him about the risk upfront, and left without paying. His buddy now does his own work. Has anyone else had a customer bail after a repair went sideways, or do you always set expectations before touching seized parts?

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1 Comment

umabailey24d ago

Cut the guy some slack here. You took on a job that had a solid chance of going bad and you didn't tell him that upfront. If you knew the post was seized for 15 years, you knew there was a real risk of breaking it. That's on you, not him. He came in expecting a repair, not a gamble with his frame. You spent three hours on it, snapped the post, and then hit him with a $120 bill for someone else to fix your mess. I would have walked out too. If you can't look at a stuck seatpost and say "hey this might snap, and if it does it's gonna cost you extra," then you're not doing your job right. Warn people before you start, not after.