So, if I did not love my bike as much as I did , (and for Metropolis Barnet restoring my faith in Ducati), I think that the experience I got in Italy from Ducati would have made me think twice about staying with Ducati for my next bike. Cutting a long story short (kind of ). My friend (he rides an 1198) and I had organised to have our bikes transported to Nice with FlyBikeFly,where we would have a 2 week holiday riding through Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. It was on the 1st day when my friend noticed that my brake light was not coming on when I seemed to be braking. Having purchased my bike from Metropolis in Barnet and had nothing but great service from Mike and Artur since then, I decided to give them a call. I spoke to Mike and he quickly diagnosed the issue to be with the Front Brake Microswitch. He gave me the part number and said that as I was in the home of Ducati I should have no issues getting hold of the part. So, in the morning we went to Ducati in Piacenza where they noticed the issue immediately, filling me with confidence. However this soon changed when I was informed that they did not have the part and the dealer simply walked away and offered no other support. It was only until I got my Michelin map out and sprawled it over his desk showing him my route for the next 2 weeks and asked him if there were any other Italian Ducati dealers on my route. He said there were a few and I finally convinced him to give the dealer in the next town a call to see if they had stock.... which they did not.... I had to keep asking him to call Italian dealer after Italian dealer along my route to see if they had the part.... which NONE of them did. I then asked him how long it would take for him to get the part for me. Being a Tuesday morning, I was expecting Thursday morning (at the latest). However after allot of deep breaths (and sucking through his teeth) he was willing to say "Maybe on Monday"... THAT IS 6 DAYS!!!! for a part to travel less than 100 miles Needless to say, I left and did not order the part, as by Monday I was scheduled to be in Croatia The following day (after calming down due to the poor service I got) I called Metropolis Barnet and spoke to Mike. He was shocked that they could not get the part and said he would call me back in 10min. 10min later he called me and said that he does not have it in stock, but can order it via priority mail (from Italy) and have it in his dealership Friday morning at the latest. He will then happily send it over to me at the address of my choice in Croatia - to be with me on Saturday (Maybe Monday). The thing that shocked me was that he said he would be ordering the part from ITALY and would have it delivered to him the next day (that is 900 miles) Unfortunately as our touring route was not fully pre-defined, and no hotels were pre-booked it was very difficult for me to ascertain where I would have been on Monday. Due to this I decided that I would complete the trip with the issue (which meant that I had to touch the back break every time I used the front one - not ideal when doing switchbacks in the rain through the Alps - oh joy ) Should the situation have been reversed and an Italian rider on a Triumph (or dare I say a GS?) with the same issue while touring the UK, I can easily see Triumph pulling out all the stops to get the bike sorted. I know I might be overstating things here, but I am disgusted at the lack of customer services, care or willingness to help. I spend so much money every year on my bike and get a 2nd rate service from the dealer. I think that as this happened in Italy only increased my disappointment. Rant over... thanks for your time... if you got this far
Ha ha... Thanks El Toro - I do feel better... If you did not get the jist - I was ranting about how poor Ducati dealers in Italy are at looking after their customers. Thankfully it was not something more serous and I could continue my trip...
Barnet is my local dealership and I know both Artur and Mike very well. They are a great team and will always bend over backwards to help. When I stuffed my 1098 at Silverstone and at Brands for that matter, behind the ribbing, they clearly wanted to help. Regarding the next day delivery. Each dealership is only allowed to do one of these urgent requests a week, which costs too, but all in all, very strange behaviour from the parent company.
Thats very disapointing to hear, sounds particular to that dealer. I had nothing but good service from the dealers in Bologna and Turin South last month; kept me fuelled with coffee and so on whilst I was there. It probably helped being there with the Italian girlfriend but I dont think it would have changed much if not.
Once had a blade with a broken gear leaver, offered to buy new lever, which wasn`t in stock if Italian Honda dealer would take it of the floor blade (2nd hand) which he could then replace with the new one. - no dice maybe its the dealers not Ducati
I must say that I had brilliant service from the Ducati dealer up the road from the factory last year when I went over for the tour. My chain had developed a really bad tight spot during the ride over and I too thought that if I couldn't get the problem sorted there, with the factory literally within sight then there would be something seriously wrong. I did literally laugh thouh when they checked their inventory and told me that they didn't have a chain & sprocket set in stock for a M600! However, Sergio, the Workshop Manager and his guys pulled out all the stops and found a kit from another model that would fit with a couple of links taken out. He told me to come back a couple of hours later after my tour had finished and it should be ready. Sure enough, I came back and waited about 30mins and it was all done - on a Friday afternoon too! I'm really sorry to hear you had such bad service from that dealer - shocking really! However, have faith that he was probably in a minority and not all dealers are the same - in Italy or elsewhere.
It could well be "life threatening" if the guy in the Porche behind him runs straight up his exhaust, because he didn't know he was braking.
So that's three of us that use Mike and Arthur in Barnet! Top blokes both of them and Arthur does not mind you standing in the workshop whilst working on your bike and answering all the stupid questions I put to him. Such was his patience last time I was there, I even slipped him an extra 20 notes for his new born. When I but another Multi it will be form them. I sold my 10 plate gixer into them and I know dealers are there to make money but I know for a fact he only made 300 quid in the bike I traded.
Its a small dealership, not like On Yer Bike or Ducati Coventry, so expecting them to have a full range of parts for most bikes would be expecting a little much IMO. I know they do keep a nice stock of generic parts (like clutch assemblies) in stock though
But to be fair, you do have a rear brake with a stop-light switch as the guy already mentioned in the original post - that's your back-up. If you have trouble using both brakes simultaneously, then there's something wrong. I'd therefore have to agree that, whilst annoying that you couldn't get it fixed quickly, I can't say I'd have lost that much sleep over it till the trip was over, providing you rode accordingly :Yawn:
I had the microswitch go on my front brake. It was a bit more serious though than losing the brake light. It blew the damned 20A fuse on the starter motor circuit - every time I used the front brake. I was not H.P., I can tell you.
@bradders- dude, you try doing the wave arm up and down thing in Italy and see who realises you're trying to slow down- they'll think your hands too hot! With respect to the Ducati experience, take the rose tinted specs off. Just because it's Italy it doesn't mean that it's all ice cream, espresso and have a go on my sister just because you've got a Ducati. Here in the uk dealers know you're paying premium dollar for the privilege of duke ownership, and in Italy dealers are no less sharks as they are here. To me it sounds like he's one of those donkey dealers who if you're not his regular new bike every two years buying cash cow then he couldn't be arsed as it meant having to get off his arse. Just write to Ducati Italy with a whinge and make sure you liberally sprinkle some choice references to how well you're going to spread the word. Disappointing I know and frustrating but unfortunately we just can't get sentimental just Because Italy. :/
OK feel free to call me stupid but if the part was "LESS THAN 100 MILES AWAY" why didn't he or if it was that dangerous his mate, ride the 1 1/2 hours or so up the road to pick it up? Perhaps the OP not only expected to have the parts delivered pronto but wanted views of the Sydney Opera House, or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or even Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain, while he waited!
Yeh tell them that you're a close personal friend of Mr Bridger, and if you don't get satisfaction every Italian Cafe, and restaurant owner from London to Glasgow will get a visit from his boys!
