My confusion and I work in the motor trade is why we have allowed the manufacturer to get as powerful as they have in this country - go to France and a Renault Dealership is in a barn or they have 5/6 brands in one site - not permitted in this country. To a degree we have all caused this by going to big groups ( I work for one ) and trying to screw the last penny out of the deal. The large groups work on reg bonuses on both new and used. As per another thread we expect retail money for a trade in and a discount on a new vehicle and wonder why a smaller site closes down rather than paying a little extra for service and the loyalty they try to give us. Unfortunately some have made their bed by expecting the dealers to do the job for nothing now will have to lay in that bed. Just my two pennies worth
I was there last week and was confirmed that they will no longer be a dealer and it was intact Audi influence to make that decision . Big shame indeed .
I again popped in to Moto Italia at the weekend and good to see same old clique Took my boy with me to look at the “red bikes” as he loves them and was quite amused to see the demo V4s still sat there after I had phoned up twice about this bike and them never even bothering to get back to me. No big issue, I wanted to use a local dealer as I live in Lincoln. But, instead I just popped over to Nottingham Ducati and they sorted out a new one being delivered today. Good service from Ducati Nottingham, listened to what I wanted and delivered exactly that. Used Phill years ago and purchased one of the first 750 MV Augusta’s from him when they were based around the corner. Old style dealer now and no better for it.
Just facts from me, it’s not hard to spend £20 odd grand. I have run a business for almost 16 years, customer service is really not that difficult
No worries Anyhows after a lay off of 7 years from Ducati, my S1000RR has gone today to be replaced by a’19 V4s WHAT AN ABSOLUTE CRACKER! Life is good
Only my thoughts....I picked up a 2001 748r last year. I contacted the original Hampshire dealer that sold and maintained the bike from new. The guy at the dealer spent time happily talking me through all the detail on history, work carried out including mods and issues including warranty works and couldn’t have been any more helpful. That works nicely for me. I do work for Rolex from time to time. They have little interest in customer satisfaction. It’s about the brand above all else. Ducati are heading that way.
Ducati are in danger of pushing brand loyalty to far and customers will walk away other manufacturers are producing bikers as good or nearly as good that don't have the same maintenance and running costs
Well, i have a 1200R Monster, compared to say a 1000R BMW ,the BM is bloody ugly ! I had a good look at most of the other offerings and thought them bland and plasticky ,saw the Ducatis ,bloody stunning.
As new member of the forum this is my first post, so apologies for the length of it! I was disappointed to learn that Phil had decided to give up the franchise. I bought my first bike from Italia about 27 years ago and have bought a fair few from him since (including, once, a new Benelli!) I fully understand and appreciate Ducati‘s strategic marketing and sales stance, but the point they are missing is that people buy from people. Phil takes the trouble to learn his customers’ names. He has never changed. He has always been a lover of all things Italian and a true Ducati enthusiast. How many other bike dealers do the readers here know of that retain many of their staff for decades? I’m sure that Ducati will not lose too many sales by effectively freezing out the smaller dealerships who are unable or unwilling to make the regular and significant investment demanded. However, that leads only one way; a rapid turnover of sales staff who can’t make the high targets demanded and an impersonal service. I buy Audi and BMW cars every three or four years and I never see the same sales staff. It’s an impersonal and not particularly enjoyable process. A Ducati purchase is always special and has an emotional aspect to it. When I buy a bike, I want to buy it from an enthusiast who I know will remember me, greet me as a friend, know the product inside out. I’ll stick with Italia.
I went in last week and it was a bit sad to see the depleted new bike stock and clothing etc, but the welcome was warm and they supplied me with all of the parts needed to service my 25 year old monster. They will continue to supply parts and service bikes as they have done previously. And will continue to supply gorgeous preloved bikes. Good luck to Phil and the team.
They were decorating / relocating the accessories downstairs when I was in. Looked like a bomb had landed! The new premium RST range looked good though, liked that.
I'm having a nightmare with a new Ducati I bought from italia moto it's a 1299 final edition. It had a fault which italia was happy to fix before they gave up dealership but it's still got fault 4 and a half months later Steve Cox technical director for Ducati UK wouldn't allow Phil at italia to carry on trying to fix fault it's now been took to another Ducati service centre been there another 7 weeks still no clue what fault is no error codes on bike at all just spit balling changing parts on it have tried contacting Italy and basically been fobbed off. I asked for a refund or replacement bike and got no reply from anyone absolute joke off a company especially spending 35 grand and been treated like crap really
Which dealer have you taken it to now ? What's the problem with the bike ? If your not happy then contact your local citizens advice I suggest .
That’s a shame, am sure Phil would have got to the bottom of it. Is the bike on finance? Give the finance company a ring and explain the situation. The finance company will intervene... What is the fault?
It wont rev past 7k like a limiter cutting in and then if you key off and on it resets for a few mile then does it again. I paid cash for bike so cant do the finance company route asked them how long to fix they basically said how longs a piece of string. Really crsp customer service department Ducati have got even Phil from italia says its stressing him out he cant do anything about it.
Before this turns into a “name and shame” thread, and as I’ve already been mentioned in another thread regarding this bike, I’d like to try and clarify the situation a little. Following Italia dropping from the network, they no longer have the ability to process warranty work or order parts in, so I was asked to take the job on by Ducati UK. Despite being still pretty busy with my own customers bikes and having a 3 week lead time, I agreed. Phil and I go back a long way and he asked me to help out. There’s a couple of things raised that I’d like to clear up. I’ve had the bike about 5 weeks, not 7. A long time I appreciate, but we are a small workshop, with work already in and booking well ahead. I was down a man for 2 weeks and as that is 50% of the staff, it’s been busy. Italia provided me with a long list of diagnosis and attempts at solving the issue. None have which had worked so I’ve basically started from scratch. There are no errors and before I can swap parts, I have to test and prove a viable reason, else I end up paying for them. Italia have been swapping parts from their stock bikes. I don’t have that luxury. I have my own customers bikes in for some medium terms issues I’m trying to sort whilst also trying to keep someone else’s customer happy........ I’ve put about 20 hours into diagnosis so far, am asking/waiting for technical support from the factory (which is slow) on further diagnosis I have done and tried a couple of new parts already. I’m not “spit balling” guessing or quoting lengths of string or fobbing anyone off. I’m trying to sort the bike out. It sounds simple, but it’s far from it. Italia haven’t come up with anything in 4 months, tech support in the UK have elevated it to a factory level and I’m trying to keep my own customers bikes thru the shop. I understand how frustrating it must be, it’s giving me restless nights to, but I am working on it and want it away as much as you want it back. Neil @ Cornerspeed
