am I being a difficult customer

Maybe an example of bigger is not always better.......

Dedicated, enthusiasts in our small independents, now that's the future!

 

Fickin hell, that all you get dor £1320?! No wonder the geezer runs ferraris lol

 

I went to JHP with a friend back in May this year. All I can say is that for a pair of OEM tyres on a Streetfighter I thought it was a very expensive trip/change. Glad I wasn't paying the bill.

Unfortunately with dealers, some love'm and some hate'm. After all you pays your money and you takes your choice.

I only hope that you asked what there hourly rate was, before you asked them to carrying whatever work you wanted .!.

 

If it was me, I would like to see each of those items individually priced.......Based upon what I have bought for my bike (OK, it's not the same thing) from MotoRapido, I'm stunned.

And......a mate of mine with a Multistrada had a helluva lot more done by a certain Ducati 'independant expert' in Norfolk and his bill didn't quite reach £800....done in a week while waiting for some parts.

AL

 

Bet you there is £700 of labour in there, probably 10hrs given shock out refurb in etc

 

Is it more difficult to remove his shock than it is on an SS?

I was looking at mine and it can't take that long, surely? I would say the hardest thing would be to remove and re-join the chain......besides, doesn't the top bolt have to come out to do the rear valve clearances?

AL.

 

I had my shock refurbed ,shortened, fork oil change and bike set up and lowered to my specification £250.
My bike was away for a week but it was very busy time.

As for a certain chap in Norfolk ... He rings you if he thinks it's going to cost you more and you know where you stand from the start. He would never charge that!!!

what's JHP hourly rate? Bloody VAT cranks it up now

 

looks like £50 an hour! That's not too bad considering the premises, franchise, staff and kit required.

 

My local dealer with VAT is £60 per hour ..
My local non Ducati dealer is £45

So £50 is normal for a non independent by me..
London would be about the same or worse an hour.

 

I don't think you're being treated well at all. Might I suggest a visit to your local citizens advice bureau or even trading standards, if they can't help a solicitors letter might be the way to go.

 

Have you spoken to John (Hackett) or John (Burrows) to discuss your issues? Who was dealing with you all of this time?

John H takes his business and his customers very seriously but he doesn't run the workshop so if something is amiss he may not know, I've used JHP for 10 years now and on the whole I've been very VERY happy with the service I've received and would recommend them to anyone, but occasionally things don't go to plan and my only real critism would be the lack of communication back to the customer but if you're there you can appreciate the phone never stops ringing.

Like I say give John a call to discuss your experience.

 

I have mixed feelings about JHP. I had my 848 serviced there earlier this year - recommended by a friend who swears by them. They quoted me £400 inc VAT, Parts and labour for a belt and brake fluid service which I thought was about right. They came and collected the bike too which was good customer service I thought and they said that they would valet the bike too! Happy days.

I got the bike back, looked dirty, wasn't valeted.

Invoice was £450. I had to argue over that - said I was only going to pay the £400 quoted.

Went to wash the bike, found that sprocket cover was loose - missing a bolt - could have been missing before, but shouldn't they have checked and advised me when they adjusted the chain? Was chain adjusted? not sure as it had about 2inch of play in it... with me sat on it- thought it was a bit loose, so I got OH to tighten again.

Couple of plastic fairing clips missing from underneath the front fairing - they were definitely there before as I had been cleaning the front forks before it was serviced.

Getting ready for trackday the next day, checked tyres expecting them to be set back at road pressures - Tyres had 22psi in back and 27psi front - clearly hadn't been checked.

Another couple of days later, took bike for MOT. Failed. Front brake switch wasn't connected - can only assume they disconnected it when changing brake fluid and didn't refit. Easy fix for MOT.

All in all- not the end of the world, but wasn't perfect.

Would I use them again? possibly - if only for the convenience of having my bike picked up and dropped off.
Are they good value for money - I have doubts that they checked my tyres or adjusted my chain... which makes me wonder what else they "haven't" done... like I can't tell if they balanced the throttle bodies as they said they would, checked the fueling or even changed the oil filter. I did get the belts back though, but they could have been off any duke.

Is the same story for all garages though. You just need to find one that you trust.

HTH
DG

 

I do believe that you need to build a relationship with dealers. Ultimately, they're going to make mistakes - they're still human - but, I believe that they will work harder for people who really appreciate their work.

 

Unfortunately the big franchise dealers seem to rely on the 'Ducati' dealership name to bring their custom in rather than top service. You shouldn't have to 'build' a good relationship to get good service, it should be a given if they want you to return next time.

There are a number of excellent 'independents' who rely on the quality of their work to bring customers back once your bike is out of warranty.

 

Sounds a lot for the work done.

As suggested by some one else give the main man a call and explain your concerns in a cool calm manner; I would suggest writing down what you want to say before hand. Do a bit of research and maybe get a couple of quotes for the same work from other dealers/garages.

Follow up your conversation with a letter. If not happy and you are sure you are right its about £80 to bring a claim in the small claims court.

 

They seem to have missed out the 999 and the st3 Got most of the other bike range mentioned in that bill