The dealership satisfaction thread.

[yorkie_chris]

Owing to ongoing debate, this just for curiosity.

So, post up your positive experiences of main dealer workshops. Hows about:

• Works done
• Amount charged
• Your own opinion of the dealer, were you satisfied with the service and the price you paid
• Anything they could have done better
• Name of dealer (optional)
• Anything else relevant

Go for it. More interested in results from people than discussion.

[fizzwheel]

1. Work Done

Service, Belt Change, Look into bike cutting out stalling problem ( intermitant ) check bike over as had been stood for ages. They also found a few other problems with some corrosion issues and instead of replacing the parts stripped and cleaned them off. The dealer realises that not all bikes do alot of miles and tweak their service schedule depending on that. So bikes that dont do alot of miles dont get the air filter changed by default, they'll inspect it and act accordingly rather than charging for parts that arent required.

2. Cant remember, but labour charge was less per hour than the Suzuki Dealer that my GSXR was going to at the time. It was expensive, but alot of things needed doing as the bike had been neglected whilst sat in a showroom. I personally feel that we got good value for money.

3. Excellent. Liz has sometimes a problem in that when we both go to visit dealers the staff talk to me and not her even when its her bike. Not this dealer. They were polite courteous and explained everything that they were going to do to the bike when we booked it in. We both came away feeling that we were their most important customer and that nothing was to much trouble or hassle for them to do. They were happy for us to drop the bike off on a Saturday and then leave it with them all week and then collect the following saturday. In fact they were happy for us to leave it with them for longer because it meant that they could take their time over the work and not rush it through to get it back to us.

4. Cant really think of anything they could have done better.

5. Moto Rapido, Winchester. Ducati Main Dealer.

[G]

Claycross powersports - Chesterfield

Purchased and had fitted Michelin Pilot Power 2cts... £230 ride in ride out with free health check onthe bike.

Upsides price as they were £20 cheaper than anywhere else. The health check was good and confirmed a few things I already knew. They also checked a few things I was worried about and said they were fine instead of fleecing me.

Downside it took 3hrs instead of 1hr as the tyre machine broke, but they did pay for my breakfast.

They also have a big notice board with prices for services, parts and Tyres etc with their own price and the price of every other dealer and local independant. They aim to beat any price and ring around to check fortnightly.

They have made major changes recently (sadly one of them was to no longer be a ducati main dealer) and I really recommend them.

[rictus01]

diagnosics before I had tuneboy,
£40
yes very as only the dealers (at the time) had the tools for the job.

also numerous visits for insurance estimates, advice and parts lookup, all free of charge, at least a dozen test rides also free of charge.

Rosners (triumph dealer).

fitting of a chain at the roadside, riding someone elses T595, I knew the chain was on it's last legs so was taking it easy, it broke not a mile from jack lilleys, I had the chain and sprockets with me, but limited tools, they came out and changed the chain for me.

£20 willingly donated (they didn't charge me anything).

just two examples of many good experiences over the years,

Cheers Mark

[andrewsmith]

This thread will go like the other one (lets hope not)!!

Works done
600mile service
4k service and rear tire

Amount Charged

free, and £130 *edit* £65 was the tire a pilot sporty (on a ybr125 . was meant to be for a lads rs125)

Opinion

No complaints dealer spot on ride in service and stayed late to allow me to collect it (for the 600mile service)

Anything they could have done better

not really simple bike service and idler went nuts on the way to the service

Dealer

M&S motorcycles

Additional

Sadly one of the two main dealers left in Newcastle, with a group of very reputable indy mechanics

[Jayneflakes]

I had dealings with a Dealer in Plymouth, the very dealer I bought my SV from, but let me tell you a little about it first.

I was fresh out of hospital after some pretty major repair work and could not walk with out a stick. I was something of a physical wreck and was out shopping with the boyfriend, trying to get my walking fitness back. I wandered into the dealership just because I wanted to have a look at a dirt bike ( I had actually been over the road looking at a new Kona Stinky!), I had no idea I was about to walk out with the ownership slip of a 650cc sports bike.

The Manager saw me and my chap looking at the SV and said hello and he then offered to pull the bike out of the stand for us to look at. I asked if I could try to get on the bike and he said yes. To do so, I actually needed help from my bloke while the dealer held my walking stick for me.

I paid a £50 deposit and left. When I returned I asked about taking it away and where I could go to get a license. The dealer sent me to his mate, a local bike trainer who frankly was shocking. I left his training area in disgust and went to another, who the dealer did not recommend.

You have to ask, in all seriousness, what kind of a dealer will sell a sports bike to an unlicensed disabled woman who needs a walking stick and help to get on a bike?

I split up with the lad and then later on met Carol (the wife), a bike mechanic and senior motorcycle instructor. She was appalled and when I told her about buying the bike and then failing my DAS due to an accident, she was further less impressed when I told her that the bike was paid for and sat in a cellar, while I tried in vain to get more training. Carol and I agreed that she would collect the bike and ride it back to our flat. (It was also her idea to buy me a CG125 to train on and learn to ride properly. )

We made a trip down to Plymouth from Weston to discuss collecting the bike and agreed to collect it the following week. They told us that the bike would be MOT tested and would have a full PDI, all we had to do was tax it. We caught the train down to Plymouth and arrived just before lunch time, as agreed. The battery was so flat, the starter motor could not turn over the engine. They told us to leave it with them and collect it the following day! We told them that we could not do so, due to being a hundred miles from home. So they took out a boost pack and tried to start it that way. It did not start. They tried to bump start it, but it just sat there looking sad with the lights growing dim.

Carol got alarmed when they started stripping the bike down in front of us and they were soon connecting a big boost pack and the bike finally started, however as soon as they disconnected the pack, the engine died. At this point Carol was quite stern with them and the Shop Manager told me that if she continued to talk to him in anyway, he would refuse to help us. Carol nearly exploded!

Finally we managed to run the bike enough that it created enough charge to run the engine and we limped it to the A38 and went for a blast. It took twenty minutes to get to my Dads which allowed us to charge the battery a bit, but it was still very low. However the 100 mile ride back home saw the bike grow in strength and she screamed home at 115 MPH all the way.

The dealer offered us no further incentives and to be honest after that, I vowed to learn how to sort the bike out myself. I knew next to nothing when I went in there and they saw me coming. I did not even haggle the price and paid £3000 for a second hand K3 in 2007. Would I trust them ever again? Er... No, not with bells on.

Which shop I hear you ask? Dameralls in Mutley. I accept that I was stupid to walk in there and buy a bike when I had no license or knowledge, but I think that they saw a little girlie who had the enthusiasm and the money, but little else and to them, I was an easy sale. I even asked them to fit a Data Tool Alarm for me at an extra £500 (including fitting fee). I bought all of my gear from them and had to go back a while later when I realised that some of it was the wrong size and some was also faulty. I had been sized up and fitted by the lad in the clothes department upstairs.

Now in Weston I use a couple of small shops for work if we can't do it and and also for the MOT stuff. Best of them all is Wyverns, a great little shop with a nice pair of blokes who run it. I doubt very much that they would have ripped me off or sold me a bike I could not ride.

Just before I passed my test, I popped into Morses in Weston to ask about small bikes for newly passed riders. Bare in mind that by this time I had my SV and it had a restrictor fitted. I asked about a 250cc training bike, like the old CB250 or the modern equivalent. The Sales guy told me that no one really makes 250 bikes anymore and I should buy a XJ600 and he promptly offered me a seat on one. It was a lovely bike, but I already had a restricted 650, my SV. The guy told me that I could trade my bike in if I wanted to... Er right. They told my mate the same, but he just went private and bought a Grey Import 250 Hornet, that is now sat in our garage, until he can afford to pay for his test. Hmm, Dealers!

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

I had dealings with a Dealer in Plymouth, the very dealer I bought my SV from, but let me tell you a little about it first.

I was fresh out of hospital after some pretty major repair work and could not walk with out a stick. I was something of a physical wreck and was out shopping with the boyfriend, trying to get my walking fitness back. I wandered into the dealership just because I wanted to have a look at a dirt bike ( I had actually been over the road looking at a new Kona Stinky!), I had no idea I was about to walk out with the ownership slip of a 650cc sports bike.

The Manager saw me and my chap looking at the SV and said hello and he then offered to pull the bike out of the stand for us to look at. I asked if I could try to get on the bike and he said yes. To do so, I actually needed help from my bloke while the dealer held my walking stick for me.

I paid a £50 deposit and left. When I returned I asked about taking it away and where I could go to get a license. The dealer sent me to his mate, a local bike trainer who frankly was shocking. I left his training area in disgust and went to another, who the dealer did not recommend.

You have to ask, in all seriousness, what kind of a dealer will sell a sports bike to an unlicensed disabled woman who needs a walking stick and help to get on a bike?

I split up with the lad and then later on met Carol (the wife), a bike mechanic and senior motorcycle instructor. She was appalled and when I told her about buying the bike and then failing my DAS due to an accident, she was further less impressed when I told her that the bike was paid for and sat in a cellar, while I tried in vain to get more training. Carol and I agreed that she would collect the bike and ride it back to our flat. (It was also her idea to buy me a CG125 to train on and learn to ride properly. )

We made a trip down to Plymouth from Weston to discuss collecting the bike and agreed to collect it the following week. They told us that the bike would be MOT tested and would have a full PDI, all we had to do was tax it. We caught the train down to Plymouth and arrived just before lunch time, as agreed. The battery was so flat, the starter motor could not turn over the engine. They told us to leave it with them and collect it the following day! We told them that we could not do so, due to being a hundred miles from home. So they took out a boost pack and tried to start it that way. It did not start. They tried to bump start it, but it just sat there looking sad with the lights growing dim.

Carol got alarmed when they started stripping the bike down in front of us and they were soon connecting a big boost pack and the bike finally started, however as soon as they disconnected the pack, the engine died. At this point Carol was quite stern with them and the Shop Manager told me that if she continued to talk to him in anyway, he would refuse to help us. Carol nearly exploded!

Finally we managed to run the bike enough that it created enough charge to run the engine and we limped it to the A38 and went for a blast. It took twenty minutes to get to my Dads which allowed us to charge the battery a bit, but it was still very low. However the 100 mile ride back home saw the bike grow in strength and she screamed home at 115 MPH all the way.

The dealer offered us no further incentives and to be honest after that, I vowed to learn how to sort the bike out myself. I knew next to nothing when I went in there and they saw me coming. I did not even haggle the price and paid £3000 for a second hand K3 in 2007. Would I trust them ever again? Er... No, not with bells on.

Which shop I hear you ask? Dameralls in Mutley. I accept that I was stupid to walk in there and buy a bike when I had no license or knowledge, but I think that they saw a little girlie who had the enthusiasm and the money, but little else and to them, I was an easy sale. I even asked them to fit a Data Tool Alarm for me at an extra £500 (including fitting fee). I bought all of my gear from them and had to go back a while later when I realised that some of it was the wrong size and some was also faulty. I had been sized up and fitted by the lad in the clothes department upstairs.

Now in Weston I use a couple of small shops for work if we can't do it and and also for the MOT stuff. Best of them all is Wyverns, a great little shop with a nice pair of blokes who run it. I doubt very much that they would have ripped me off or sold me a bike I could not ride.

Just before I passed my test, I popped into Morses in Weston to ask about small bikes for newly passed riders. Bare in mind that by this time I had my SV and it had a restrictor fitted. I asked about a 250cc training bike, like the old CB250 or the modern equivalent. The Sales guy told me that no one really makes 250 bikes anymore and I should buy a XJ600 and he promptly offered me a seat on one. It was a lovely bike, but I already had a restricted 650, my SV. The guy told me that I could trade my bike in if I wanted to... Er right. They told my mate the same, but he just went private and bought a Grey Import 250 Hornet, that is now sat in our garage, until he can afford to pay for his test. Hmm, Dealers!

did I read this thread title wrong ?

I don't understand why you wanted a sports bike you couldn't ride at that time and why you think a salesman should vet who or how you spend your money

to redress I used an independent for specialised work admittedly some time ago, but never the less, after they had much money off of me the bike blew the engine within 76 miles, they collected it and told me it was repaired ( rear piston destroyed itself, so they said), because they failed to clear the sump of the broken bits, it caused another failure when it was again picked up, they collected it and wouldn't return the bike unless I paid an additional bill, even after a court case I couldn't get satisfaction (as at the time I didn't have the evidence until I'd got the bike back, which was obviously to late), I paid the bill and got the bike back, rebuilt the engine myself and found bit's of piston in the crack cases, it was a typical case of a really nice guy when the prospect of money was on the table but nasty when it might cost them something to fix preperly.

Anyway redress over back on track.

I've been to a number of dealers where prospective owners have asked me to come along ( as they themselves have limited knowledge) and the dealer has been more than willing to sort out any problems I've pointed out to insure the new owner was happy, to me that is good service.

Cheers Mark.

[yorkie_chris]

Purpose of this thread was so I could hear positive experiences of dealers, so as I could see whether I am actually missing half an argument.

[rictus01]

As I thought, to be honest it's human nature, you have a bad experience you want to rant about it, you have a good one, you just go out and ride your bike*, perhaps put up a post about a good days riding

So this thread I'm guessing will be used to say "look only X amount of people have had satisfaction with dealers, when in actual fact it just shows most can't be bothered to post.

I know both good and bad on both sides of the fence and will generally recommend the good I've found regardless of dealer or independent.

*Unless asked to make a post about it (which if you're happy with the work I have no problem with by the way)

Cheers Mark

[yorkie_chris]

I can't be arsed trying to back up an argument on a forum that way mate. I'm genuinely curious.