Fantastic Dealer Service!

As many of you know, after recovering enough from my accident I bought myself a 1997 Triumph T595 Daytona from JW Groombridge Motorcycles in Cross In Hand, East Sussex.
I bought it with the agreement that the chain & sprockets would be changed for new ones and that it would have been given a full service. They also reassured me on several occasions that all warranty works (there had been several recalls over the model's lifespan) had been caried out.

On the day I was due to collect my bike, I called them to confirm that everything was going to be ready but was told that they were still working on it (they had had to wait for delivery of a new battery) and that they would have to delay my collection from early afternoon to late afternoon and to call back later. So I did and was told it would be later still. By the time I eventually got to collect my bike, it had no tax on it - apparently it is not their policy to sell a second hand bike with tax (remember, I didn't have the V5 logbook yet, so I couldn't get tax beforehand), so had to ride it illegally. The chain was also not changed & I was told "Nah, It doesn't need changing - it's fine" and because I had waited sooooo long for the bike & had been delated by them further that day, I accepted it & took it, even though the point was that I had asked for a new set to be fitted as part of the deal!

As soon as I got it home (15 miles!) it was ****ing (rusty! ) coolant out of the overflow pipes - all over the rear tyre!
So I called them straight back and they told me to take it back when convenient & they would have a look for me.
They had it for 3 days and didn't call me to tell me it was done, as promised. They had loaned me an awful Bandit 1200 in the meantime, which would cut out approaching roundabouts, so was lethal to ride!
They told me they had replaced the radiator cap, the thermostat and flushed out & re-filled the cooling system (at my request, although it apparently didn't need doing!)

The overheating problem still existed, so I took it to my local Triumph dealer, JS Gedge in St. Leonards and asked them if they knew of anything that could cause that to happen - they didn't know of anything other than one warranty recall job. I told them I had been assured they had all been done but they took my frame number to make sure...

...It turns out that there were FIVE warranty jobs that had not been done to my bike, including 2 safety recalls!

But they did all of these, free of charge a week later and provided me with a TT600 as a courtesy bike - all Free of Charge on a nearly 8 year old bike which they had not sold me or even serviced!

I continued to have overheating problems, so had a look myself.
It turns out that the thermostat looks like it has never been changed and the rad cap was dubious as to whether it was new or not. I flushed out the cooling system and put 4 or 5 buckets of water through it until I stopped getting crap coming through and got clear water! I also put some decent coolant in, without getting airlocks (unlike Groombridges! )

However, I was still having the overheating problem so booked it in at JS Gedge Triumph for this morning.
I have a somewhat basic 12 month RAC warranty provided by JW Groombridges which looked like it might not cover work carried out to the cooling system, other than the thermostst...

I got a call from them, about 4 hours after Idropped it off with them, letting me know that theyhave found the problem...

A blown head gasket! They simply ran a pressure test on the engine to find this! Luckily this is covered by the warranty!
I find it amusing that JS Gedges found the problem in less than 4 hours when they have no real reason to help me out but JW Groombridge who sold me the bike and have, at the very least, their reputation on the line couldn't work it out when the had it for 3 days!

When you add to all of this, the fact that JS Gedge St. Leonards have been friendly, polite & helpful and have remained true to their word every time I have walked in there even though I have not yet bought anything from them (I was even offered a cup of Tea this morning while I waited for my lift home)... JW Groombridge salesmen sit in their office and seem rather unhelpful, even though I have spent about £1000 on servicing in the past year, bought my Triumph from them and spent over £1200 on kit in the past year as well!

All this from the Suzuki (& Yamaha) Main dealer garage with the Suzuki Technician of the year award 2005!

[BillyC]

It's worth noting that Groombridges also:

- Fitted Chutz's rear wheel after changing the tyres - except they didn't fit it straight causing him weeks of lost confidence!

- Fitted Chutz's gear shifter upside down, leading to him pulling away in 2nd, and then changing "up" into 1st!

- "Forgot" to balance my wheels, after I'd paid for it! Luckily, they redeemed themselves with an excellent service the following week.


Tim, it might be worth writing them a snotty letter on their service and competance, explaining that will not recommend them to anyone you know for those reasons.

Originally Posted by BillyC

It's worth noting that Groombridges also:

- Fitted Chutz's rear wheel after changing the tyres - except they didn't fit it straight causing him weeks of lost confidence!

- Fitted Chutz's gear shifter upside down, leading to him pulling away in 2nd, and then changing "up" into 1st!

- "Forgot" to balance my wheels, after I'd paid for it! Luckily, they redeemed themselves with an excellent service the following week.


Tim, it might be worth writing them a snotty letter on their service and competance, explaining that will not recommend them to anyone you know for those reasons.

Oooh, I will be doing just that - don't you worry!!

[Skip]

Thats terrible! AND from a main dealer too...

Good to hear that you have found a decent garage now tho! :thumsbup:

Ah yes - also worth noting that one of the warranty jobs carried out by JS Gedges was to replace the standard chain, as it was known to be a problem!

Originally Posted by coombest

Ah yes - also worth noting that one of the warranty jobs carried out by JS Gedges was to replace the standard chain, as it was known to be a problem!

Unbelievable.

Big up to JS Gedges though. It's worth loads when you find a dealer you can trust.

Who's going to get your business in the future?

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by coombest

However, I was still having the overheating problem so booked it in at JS Gedge Triumph for this morning.
I got a call from them, about 4 hours after I dropped it off with them, letting me know that theyhave found the problem...

A blown head gasket! Shocked Evil or Very Mad They simply ran a pressure test on the engine to find this! Luckily this is covered by the warranty! Smile
I find it amusing that JS Gedges found the problem in less than 4 hours when they have no real reason to help me out but JW Groombridge who sold me the bike and have, at the very least, their reputation on the line couldn't work it out when the had it for 3 days! Shocked Evil or Very Mad

Bunch of amateurs, why did they need to take 4 hours to work out that the head gasket was knackered? Mark and I told you this last night, and you didn't even have the bike with you, now that's good service, and don't you forget it sonny boy.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Bunch of amateurs, why did they need to take 4 hours to work out that the head gasket was knackered? Mark and I told you this last night, and you didn't even have the bike with you, now that's good service, and don't you forget it sonny boy.

Well, They did tell me they'd only been looking at the bike for 10 minutes, run the one test on it and found the problem! The point was that they called me back after only 4 hours!

As for you & Mark - the two of you must be cycic, I'm sure - and as we all know, you are the All Powerful, All Holy, Emperor, Dr Squid!!

Ahem!

Psychic

My excuse is that I'm really tired and rather hung-over!

Originally Posted by BillyC

Tim, it might be worth writing them a snotty letter on their service and competance, explaining that will not recommend them to anyone you know for those reasons.

Copy the letter to Suzuki GB they may then not get Suzuki Technician of the year award 2006.