I am a proud owner of a Ducati 1098 and love to look at it and ride it. Nothing quite like it after years of jap bikes. Yes, it needs the best attention to detail to perform at its best but worth every penny for the experience of owning and riding it. Since I have owned my bike I have been impressed with all the dealerships I have had dealings with and all seem to be dedicated to the marque, so it's with dismay that I have to report a dealer without much or any care at all. My girlfriend had owned and covered some 22k miles on her prized 1098 until last year when a fault with the ignition caused an engine fire and total loss with the cats catching light whilst she was riding it! So this year we set out to purchase another and she wanted the 1098s. We viewed many and she liked one on sale at DMC Preston so having had a long conversation with DMC Preston, I went ahead with the sale of the bike at £8500 on 6k mileage, being reassured that all Ducati dealerships were of the same attitude to their marque. With that, they would give the bike a service and new cam belts, which was great. We took delivery and after getting her out the van the bike was as flat as a pancake, so on the optimate for the night. The next day she started but no lights or working indicators so we thought, okay we are based in Milton Keynes and DMC Prestons is a long way off, so if it's just the lights etc we will take it to our local garage as it can't be much to sort. DMC Prestons offered to send a new battery if necessary. We asked our man Pete from Scorpio Racing who specialises in Ducati's to look over her, assess the problems with the lights and generally make an assessment of her as we are relying on her to go on a long trip across Europe, as well as putting on new tyres for us. He discovered bodged electrics on the indicators and a defective relay on the lights, many bolts missing including bolts holding the plate under the main and rear seats. The cam belts were fitted in a filthy condition and all the old belts' rubbish still in the housing and one belt was tensioned incorrectly!! The brake and clutch fluid were black and contaminated, the termis were burnt out and one dented on the end can and the complete tail tidy was held on by one loose bolt and one rubber! The battery itself was fine, however over the following ride-out, the bike wouldn't start, so back to Pete. In the meantime, DMC offered to buy the bike back or come and collect it. Naturally, with our experience of their pre-sale service, we didn't have any faith in their 'ducati trained technicians'. As a result, they refused to acknowledge or accept responsibility for any of these issues and to date, we have spent over £600 bringing the bike up to a standard expected from a main dealer with a refusal to recompense us due to the fact that we outsourced the work. We have since found out the reason for the flat battery was a failing voltage regulator which DMC refused to pay for as "our man hadn't initially spotted it either", so all in all not a pleasant experience from these amateurs. To add insult to injury, the log book was filled out with three years DMC service - all in the wrong engine and frame numbers . All through this, DMC Preston's answer was if you're not happy we will give you your money back and take the bike back. But that wasn't what we wanted. They just didn't listen. No apology or acceptance of their failings; just arrogance and defensive accusations of our engineer's abilities! This bike which was sold as being immaculate and with full service history, amounted to four receipts in a box, a service book which related to another couple of bikes and a credit card ID receipt from the previous owner !! Caveat emptor.... buyer be aware!
Sounds like you've had a bad time of it. I can't comment on the specifics of your situation but I've sent all my bikes there and have to say I've had nothing but exceptional service from DMC. Both Russ and Andy are Ducati owners and enthusiasts and have always been happy to go out of their way to help, even to the extent where Andy took my bike from DMC to be MOT'd then picked it up again and dropped it off at my house in his own time. I never asked him to. They've always broken off from what they are doing to have a look at my bike when I've just turned up out of the blue and I'm not a special customer who gets preferential treatment.
yes its not the normal Ducati dealer experience I am familiar with! having talked with the last owner of our 1098s it would seem the bike had many changes in the three months it was with DMC and the fact they all run 1098 bikes would suggest our bike was taken apart for all the good bits and changed for there old parts on there own bikes ! ie burnt out and dented exhaust pipes and many bolts and fixings not put back on !! I think the most annoying thing about them is they never put there hands up and admit they were wrong in any of it . we now have the bike in top condition after spending time and money on it and have both enjoyed a trip on our bikes to france for the weekend ! next trip 12 days 3000 miles Pyrenees alps Italy ect so although the 1098 is not a tour bike its worth the pain for the sheer pleasure of the right roads and sunshine !
Its good to hear these stories, it makes one think twice about where you buy/ service your much cherished ducati...I would have taken the money and returned the bike never to grace their shop again Sorry to hear of your dilemma it's really not acceptable from any dealer main or otherwise
update on our dealings with DMC PRESTON sent back our incorrect log book {filled out the last three years with wrong bike details } now 5 weeks later still no new log book !! the 1098s is now in the right order after spending nearly 700 pounds to get it to the expected standard from a main Ducati dealer so just needs the log book but as we have found this bunch of incompetent idiots cant even do this small task . having spoken to other owners that have had work done on their bikes at DMC PRESTON they are also not happy ie low fluid levels 1 mile into a ride after a service with them !! my advice is take your bikes somewhere else and give them a wide birth they have no dedication to the Ducati Marque just ripping off joe public with there poor service and crap customer service
Hi 1098 - just an observation, all of your 4 posts are negative words towards DMC Preston. I'm sure they have many happy customers - did you come just to leave negative feedback? Rob.
Hi Rob Thank you for that! No, I didn't come on this forum just to air my views about DMC Preston. As a passionate ducati owner, I am concerned that other ducati owners do not get treated the same way as we have been. I believe that the way we have been treated has been incredibly poor customer service but more importantly their work has been unsafe working on superbikes that are being ridden to their limits. We find as you all do, that these bikes require only the highest level of service and care to both be safe and exhilarating to ride at their peak performance. Anything falling short of that standard is both expensive and dangerous. I will be posting positive stories and sharing stories re our two bikes: 1098 and 1098S and in a few week's time, we are taking them some 3,000miles across the Pyrenees and the Alps so will no doubt have some stories which reflect the positives aspects of owning and running these beautiful machines. Thank you. Steve
Looking through this thread it is a very one sided view point. From what I can tell nobody else has had bad dealing with them, or haven't decided to add to the thread. Having received correspondence from the dealer themselves they claim to have tried to help, offering collection / repair and refund, which is all in writing. Now I don't want to get into a spat about what has been done, not done and I certainly don't want the forum to be stuck in the middle. For the record, personal insults are a big no no in my book and I will continue to keep an eye out on the thread, but I wont go as far as removing it just yet.
Hi Matt I can only speak from my own experience with DMC Preston and as it is not a good one, I cannot see how I can give them praise or recommendation. Yes, it is correct they met their statutory obligations and offered to collect the bike and repair or refund our money but on inspection of their works, it was just abysmal and dangerous. And by the way Matt, this bike was for my girlfriend and in my world, her safety is paramount and she, having owned a 1098 for the previous five years, doesn't pussy foot around. The bike should have never been allowed to leave the workshop in this condition and when we spoke to the previous owner, he confirmed the bike had been brought in for a major service before he exchanged it for an 899. So we had a choice. Send the bike back and get our money or keep the bike and spend some £700 putting it right. It wasn't about the money (which they didn't offer to refund). It was about the whole customer care issue and had we not had the bike inspected, we would have ridden this bike hard, unaware of the new cam belts being fitted into the bike without cleaning any previous debris and leaving one belt loose. DMC admitted they were fitted by an apprentice and not checked or signed off. That is the reason why we didn't trust them to repair the bike. As the bike essentially was a straight bike, we weren't looking for a refund, just acknowledgement, recognition or an apology that they sold us a bike in very poor service condition and not as the expected state you would expect from a main dealer. Am I to understand only nice things can be said about experiences of dealers on this forum? If you want me to say nice things, there are plenty of people in the dealer world we have come across who really care about the marque and I would be happy to post those up.
I understand you comments and negative reviews are just as important as positive ones. I'm certainly not asking you to lie about anything. Forums are all about discussion and in the true sense of the word, are places for people to come together and the reason behind my post was that I didn't want it to become a single sided argument where the dealer in question is being berated without response. They have asked me several times now to remove this thread, which goes against what Rob and I stand for. You have made you feelings very clear, but personal insults have to stay out of it. I'm not picking sides, just trying to keep it civil I hope you understand mmb
Hi yes Fully understand where you are coming from and yes, in the heat of the moment personal insults are not good form. For that I apologise and will not post up such insults again. I just feel badly let down by one dealer, in a world that I had become accustomed to where all Ducati people are caring, dedicated enthusiasts. I thank you for keeping the posts in as both good and bad reports show perspective and should be shown to all. We are collating all our dealings with DMC Preston and will be filing a complaint to Ducati Italy. Cheers Matt
Hi @1098 Definitely not just a place to make positive reviews for dealers, but, we have to be cautious and balanced as Matt said. I called out your posts as above as you'd just joined and all the posts since registering were negative towards DMC which smacks of disgruntled customer/enemy/rival etc with only one agenda, to post negative feedback. Again, not sticking up for DMC or taking sides, but you mentioned: 'Yes, it is correct they met their statutory obligations and offered to collect the bike and repair or refund our money'. However, you did have some other issues that were pretty poor too and I would not like to experience when purchasing a bike. Thanks, Rob.
I am interested in the fact that they have asked the thread to be removed and yet have not posted a reply. When this happened with Ducati Glasgow (from memory) they engaged quite brilliantly with an aggrieved customer and resolved the issues.
i think 1098 has every right to voice his opinion of a dealer and if that dealer does not like it then maybe said dealer should engage with the author and resolve issues accordingly. If 1098 has not had a positive relationship with dealer than how can he be expected to to add anything positive?? I personally slated a dealer and couldn't care less if it offended them, they are a service provider and if what they sell is not up to the customers reasonable expectations. As for asking for comments to be removed from a social media website, well you can infer what you want from that.
So, if the bike was such a nail, why wouldn't you just go and get your money back? And find a better one. I don't think I would pay to repair a bike I'd just bought that was supposed to be immaculate. I can understand 1098 being pissed off, but just hand it back and move on. Why persevere with a bike that you're not sure of the history of now it's been fiddled with. Move on , live and learn!
@Gingerdog fair comment mate just ordered a 1098s...hope i don't have any issues LOL (although not from DMC)
On a postive note, Preston is a shithole and DMC might be a place to stop and have piss if your desperate.
I have to say that would be my stance. If the dealer has sold you a pup then give it back and get your money, and any real expenses you've had, back. Sounds simple to me.
