I used to be of the "name and shame" persuasion and i still may in the future if someone really upsets me but its not always helpful. To illustrate, some of the dealers mentioned here are the very ones i or people known to me have had very bad service from. No doubt others rate them very highly and thats fine. My reason for commenting earlier was simply to point out that its not necessarily the big authorised dealers that are the competent guys and its not always the little unauthorised that are the bad guys.
It can certainly be a minefield for sure, I do and will continue to go down the route of marking up filters/plugs etc but do feel awkward asking for the old parts back. I will have my Multi dealer serviced whilst in Warranty, after that I will look after it myself minus the 15k services
Ah !, asking for the old parts back, funny you should mention that. One of my own first hand bad experiences was with a respected dealer that charged me what i thought was way too much for what they did. I was unhappy but prepared to let it slide. When i questioned the itemised invoice and particularly the shim prices i asked if they were purchase or exchange. The clincher that made me decide i will never return was the fact that if they were purchase costs for the shims then the old ones are mine are they not ? ( 7 in total, you add it up ) Did i get them returned, what do you think ?
Going back a bit two people with a BROWN Bandit????? Good god that's worst taste then mine !!! Brown bikes why??????
dont get me started on my local Cardiff dealer. I now travel to Coventry and get the service I pay for.
Trouble is everyone has an off day, and I'm sure mechanics are no exception. And different people expect different levels of service for their money, what's perfectly acceptable to one man is an absolute travesty to another. So generally I won't go apeshit about a dealer unless they fall foul of me more than once. It seems fairer that way. But once they have crossed me I'm happy to point the finger.
I agree. I'd give the dealer the chance to out things right first time round. If they f*ck a second time then they have lost the right to anonymity.
After many bad dealings with many things from furniture to bike service, this has now turned me into someone who trusts nobody until they prove or do something well to earn the trust. I do most of the work on my previous bikes myself and I know it has been done well but for the moment I am going down the dealer route with the 1198 so the service is booked for Saturday and its in at Moto Italia in Lincoln, they used to me Italia classics. Only once dealt with them before for some fork seals for my RSVR but speaking to them on the phone they seem very knowledgable and helpful so if its all good on Saturday I will report back!
My dealer lets me work on my bike with the mechanic, which not only allows me to learn more about the bike, but I also feel happy with whats done and I dont get hammered on dealer rates. Winner on all fronts
Off day!! They couldn't even get the clutch stack height right so they had to send the bike to Bristol to get it done. The mechanic told me ( When I was in the car park trying to get the bike in gear) that I needed more practice. You can imagine my response. And that was on the third bike. All three times I had shit service.
Here's another little corker for you. My boss, by way of a work bonus, paid for a full service and any repairs required on my old ZXR750 years ago. The dealer quoted £175 for the service and another £175 for head bearings and front wheel bearing. The total bill turned out to be over £1000! The dealer claimed that he had to strip the brakes and fit new O-rings - I'd done just that 2 months earlier - and the rear caliper was seized solid...mysteriously though, the caliper had changed colour from gold to black - he'd swapped the caliper from his own bike, and in doing so had managed to break a lug on my one. Gordon Farley motorcycles. Avoid.
Oh, and when I sold the bike the new owner stripped the bike down and found the front calipers had been mauled by mole grips. They definitely weren't like that when I serviced them, so it looks like he'd swapped the front calipers too. Charming.
Never used a dealer, but as I'm not far from baines if I need to ill go there, as its local and he really seems to know what he's talking about. I may take the opportunity to get my shims done this summer.
Old parts are no g'tee...easy to take some shite ones out if the parts bin and say they are yours. I have had a couple of bad experiences with main dealers, but none (that I think anyway) have stiffed me for work they haven't carried out....just done work which wasn't necessary or broke things.
My local main dealer in West Yorkshire is, in mine and other's opinions, a complete charlatan. Having bought a bike from a guy who had originally bought it from said dealer, when taking it in for service my mate was roundly bollocked for not keeping it tidy and for shoddy workmanship in the past. Guess who had been doing all that work? They didn't even clock that it was one of their own.............. I know loads of guys who don't trust them at all......................
Its getting easier to understand why Coventry shine out like a beacon among the official dealer network isn't it.
What about this one then. My first Streetfighter was delivered with the air intake bolts sticking out and not tightened. No big deal really. My next streetfighter s was delivered with the rear wheel nut loose. I wheeled the bike backwards out of my garage and notices the rear wheel was wobbling. I thought it was buckled but the nut was hand tight. I told the salesman but I heard nothing afterwards. The thing I find really strange is that every bloody bolt had the dab of yellow paint on which I think is to show that they have been checked. They also fitted a new rear tire to my st4s and is run flat half way home. O the joy!! This is why I love ducati coventry so much. lol
