In my bicycle retail store, service is a huge part of our business. We used to offer free "air & oil". It was a pain in the butt, because, like you said, someone has to drop everything to perform a free service for some tenuous amount of goodwill. A few years ago, we started charging $10, while keeping a pump outside the shop people could use for free. Zero complaints. We recently discovered that another shop in the area is basically selling the same service (with a little value added) as a mini-tune-up for $40. Genius.
In my bicycle retail store, service is a huge part of our business. We used to offer free "air & oil". It was a pain in the butt, because, like you said, someone has to drop everything to perform a free service for some tenuous amount of goodwill. A few years ago, we started charging $10, while keeping a pump outside the shop people could use for free. Zero complaints. We recently discovered that another shop in the area is basically selling the same service (with a little value added) as a mini-tune-up for $40. Genius.