I don't understand, if you paid for someone to bleed you brakes and they were spongy, why was there no choice?
In both instances the bike was my only form of transport, so it needed to be working, hence why I ended up fixing it myself. And had I not being able to fix it myself, it would have gone back for said shop/s to do the job.
And only because it was brought up a few posts ago, as bleeding the brakes was only part of the work being done. I did get a reduction in the bill due to the brakes being spongy in both instances.
But as the cable-tie method work both times and has always worked in the past, I will continue to plan ahead when working on a brake systems so I can use said method as a backup plan.
Back on topic, lets wait and see how Bikebud gets on with his bike.
What I find very puzzling, is you went somewhere else and they did they exactly the same. It's a matter for you mate but something is very wrong here, one getting it wrong but two? Chances are there's something else at fault here. I would in all seriousness suggest you get your system properly inspected either you've been extremely unlucky or there's another issue, spongy brakes will not correct themselves and will only get worse over time, depending on how you ride and the way ABS works, it can speed up the process.
What you've not said is, were they spongy before the bike went in for whatever it went in for, service I assume. Or did they came out spongy after they'd worked on it? Brake bleeding/fluid change isn't a annual task just inspection, on a GSF it's replace every 24mths, is the fluid past 24mths?
Personally if that was my bike it would have gone back within minutes of riding the bike and I'd have insisted they were re-bled, as the bike was given back to you in an unsafe manner. As such they would be required to either correct it at once or supply you with a bike or cover costs until such time as they could correct the work. If they refuse, trading standards and take the bike elsewhere, then sue them through the small claims court for the corrective work and any bike/car hire and public transport expense if any. Most stealers would have just rebled them it's not worth the aggro as bad brake work isn't defensible. In my experience even the worst stealers start taking notice once you start politely pointing out their legal responsibilities certainly when they get contacted by either trading standards, solicitor or summons from the court, the vast majority pay up almost instantly.