I recently bought a Multistrada 1200 from a non-ducati dealer in England. Everything went relatively smoothly to get it bought. I had to arrange delivery to my home address, which I did and that went smoothly too. Sadly, this is where the story turns sour. I soon realised that things were not just as they were supposed to be eg. 1. The plastic cover for the ignition button was missing 2. the previous pin for the ignition had not been included and so it will need to be reset 3. The stamped documentation of all the servicing work done by the dealer prior to delivery had not been included. Not only that, but after my first ride the fork oil was literally running out of the seals. Whilst I was having a look at these, I discovered that there was a coolant leak running down the left side of the engine, which had caused the level in the tank to become low. Obviously, I wasn’t best pleased. I contacted the dealer and let them know that I wasn’t happy due to the faults that the bike had arrived with and that I wanted to return it. They in turn told me that if I wanted to return it, I would have to send it back to them at my cost. Given that the bike is faulty I would assume that they should pick it up at their cost, and even refund me for the cost of the delivery that I had paid for initially. I feel this may end up in a court eventually. Any thoughts or opinions please?
I see you are in NI. Was this a distance selling transaction? You have rights. Read https://www.themotorombudsman.org/distance-sales-faqs
It is always nice to be nice in situations like this. It may be that the dealer genuinely did not know about the faults with the bike. Some things can get missed. I would raise it with them as you have done. Get the bike sent back to them (at your cost to show goodwill), give them opportunity to fix it and return it to you at no cost. I would then raise the point that you have had to pay for the return delivery and would they consider some gesture off goodwill on their behalf. If not a refund, then how about some service items, anything you want really? Stay pleasant, these things happen and it is not a problem if sorted quickly. But be persistent and don't let them fob you off. Then you can turn up the heat if the nicely nicely approach does not work. I have found from both sides (not motor related, but still dealing with dissatisfied customers, and being one myself) that I'm more likely to go further for a nice customer than an arse. Also for the dealer, who may be used to the aggro tactics, being understanding often disarms them, and suddenly stuff is getting sorted quickly. However, if you are nice, but met with the opposite, then all bets are off!!
afaik u have 14 days from delivery date to return the item if this was bought over the phone and/or online, as long as u never seen it in the flesh prior to delivery. u don't need a reason ie u don't have to prove faults etc, it can simply be u changed your mind. the item must be in the same condition as u received it. i know superbike factory and completely motorbikes charge u if u do over a certain mileage on a bike u want to return. i'm not sure where the law stands on who pays for the return, tbh i thought the buyer would usually, but in your case it appears the bike is not as described so maybe the seller should pay for return. good luck, keep us updated, maybe name the dealer.
I understand what you are saying about missing things like this, but in this case they did the full desmo service (belts and valves), mot’d the bike (they passed it) and then did their PDI. Now, after all that surely it would be impossible to miss these things? I no longer have any confidence in the bike or dealer and am only happy to return it for a refund.
Thanks for that Cris. I think it is looking like I will have to return the bike to them at my expense, and then pursue the case. For now I don’t want to name the dealer, but may at a later date, depending on how they treat me from here on in. Will keep things posted here.
If they did a full desmo service, this would include plugs ,look at the state of the plug in the photo ,they have not been near it.
It looks like I will have to do that alright, but it sticks in my craw that the round trip will have cost me the guts of £700.00, due to them messing up and delivering a bike in that condition.
Before you send it back take lots of photos of the condition the day you send it before loading in the van and milage. Its a bugger on the money front, some horrible dealers out there.
Yes, good advice, thanks. I will take a video of the bike and mileage etc etc as it’s being loaded into the van. Up to this, I have never come across a dealer that has behaved so badly. When I do get rid of this and go looking for another bike, I will be doing as much background checking of the dealership as possible, or buying closer to home, which is more expensive for me, unfortunately.
If you have lost confidence in the dealer, then I agree with the others, just get money back. There has not been a spanner on those plugs for a long time.
You've sent it back according to another thread, so let's have the details how it ended up - did you have to sort return and who was the shoddy dealer?
It’s on it’s way back as we speak and until I have a refund in my account, I won’t be able to say anything more at this point in time
