I bought my Supersport from them last year. I found the sales guy to be easy and straight to deal with. Got a reasonable deal on my part-ex, a bit of discount and a few extras thrown in. They wouldn't be my first choice for servicing but I took the SS back there for its 600 mile service because I had negotiated that into the purchase price. When I was collecting the bike from the fuel hose recall last month I couldn't help noticing the shop was packed with staff and no customers. All the staff were noisily chatting and joking with each other, completely oblivious to a customer in their midst, eating their breakfasts and drinking coffee. I felt like I was intruding in their social club. I remember thinking at the time it was a really bad sign of a shop in decline. No surprises with me that this has happened. I've used them on and off over many years. I used to work nearby and have bought quite a bit of kit from them in the past. It's a shame to see less choice in the market, a shame for people losing their jobs, but there isn't much sympathy for them on londonbikers.com - their service has been luke warm for too long.
That must be new. I didn't use him last year as I part-ex'ed the my 748 for my Supersport. What a shame.
It certainly looks grim for London owners. I agree, Croydon and Romford are not London. It would take me an hour and half to get home on public transport from either. Ducati need to get something sorted out soon.
Who wants to sit around whilst the service is done anyway. Much better to let someone cart it off over the winter whilst you are not planning to ride it anyway.
Hi there...total newbie here. I bought a used Scrambler from Metropolis in August and have ONLY now found out they've closed. I feel really angry and cheated. However...what do I do next with regards the warranty? Who do I contact? Who do I speak to about how/when my bike needs servicing? I'm afraid I'm one of those bikers that when it comes to engines, etc, I know where the petrol goes in, and that's that. Any help would be very gratefully received - thanks in advance.
Your warranty is with Ducati, not the supplying dealer. Any Ducati franchise will be able to help you with any warranty issues. Or so the theory goes, new to the brand myself... Loosing a convenient close-by dealer is something with which I can identify. Same happened to me and MV, 36 miles round trip became 200+ miles when my local guy went under. Finding someone who can pick-up and drop-off would be handy or see this as an opportunity to have ride somewhere and maybe try out some demo models whilst your bike is serviced.
Adding to the above, I received a letter last week reminding me it is a year since the purchase of my 959 and reminding me of service requirements.... you should still get that regardless.
From what I’ve read, they also got caught selling dodgy CBT certificates without actually testing and had that side shut down
Hey Bumpkin...thanks for this. Has majorly put my mind at ease. However - there's always an however - go onto Ducati UK and there's no direct contact details. Do I just google map my nearest Ducati dealer and ask them?
Whoa! It's more than what I've got so far. Let's hope mine is winging it's way through cyberspace as we speak.
Is there anyone familiar with consumer law on here? I guess the more I think about my question, the more it becomes quite simple: where does someone stand, legally, when they buy a product from someone who later goes out of business? Is there any residual legal protection, is there general legal protection to which anyone/everyone is entitled to, or does the demise of the business take any guarantees they made to the grave with them?
I'm guessing in your case, with a used bike, your warranty is a contract between you and the warranty service. This should survive the demise of Metropolis. In my case my contract is with Ducati and they've already written to me to reassure me the manufacturer's warranty is unaffected. If you have any other complaint against Metropolis you would have to take it up with the liquidator - your chances of getting redress would be less than zero. HMRC get first priority over any assets remaining. The liquidator's job will be to see what is owed to Metropolis (most certainly nothing because all their customers had to pay on the spot), receive that money if there is any, and pass it on to the creditors. HMRC get paid first, then everyone else, bank loans, landlord, suppliers, etc. If you had a claim against them for something not supplied it would be somewhere at the bottom of that list of unsecured creditors.
I've written to Ducati to complain about their absence of dealers in the capital city. I urge others to please do so too. [email protected] Dear Mr[], Thank you for your email, we are sorry to hear that this is inconvenient for you. We would hope in the future that we will be able to open a Ducati dealership within London. However, in the meantime please use the dealer locator as there are a few Ducati dealerships on the outskirts of London. Kind regards, Stacey Moutrie
Long enough?!..... they have only been closed a week! I would say that is a pretty rapid update considering everything they have to sort out.
I've recently used Hyside for a couple of things on the Panigale, they seem ok so far, so if it's not a big job and you don't want your bike off the road for a length of time it might work for that, or if you need a main dealer stamp, plus they offer a courtesy bike, and packed me off on a Diavel Carbon the other week. Interesting! I do use the independents where possible, Dave Robinson and Ray Petty have both worked on my bikes in the last year, where I don't need a main dealer, and I have used ProTeam before and been very happy with their service, however with the collection service not happening now, it's just not practical for me in North London. Motoden in London have expanded to take on Moto Guzzi as another marque (they have KTM, Honda and Yamaha too), so I wonder if they may be interested in taking on Ducati.
