A Poor Dealer Experience.

That's a good idea but why should we as the customer go to the extra trouble. I'm supprised how many of these Mickey Mouse outfits exist. They seem to rely on peoples ignorance of things mechanical so they can just abuse you.

SH...Purely for the points raised relating to the problem? That, I suggest makes it worth the trouble. Otherwise your right back to one's word against the other. I would call it insurance.

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

have i missed something here?

have we now gone down the route of not even being able to name a company that an individual feels has given bad service or product?

sad day if we have.


i realise that theres a diiference between a complaint and a grudge though, but is this how its gonna be?

I couldn't agree more.

'Sorry boys and girls, but if you suffer a terrible service from someone you can't post about it and warn other people from maybe suffering the same 'cos someone might get upset that you're revealing their crap attitude and incompetence to other people'

Whatever happened to Biker's sticking together?

RIGHT. Went down to see a certain place today with a mate (who is a mechanic) to just question them about the damage caused.

The conversation wnet like this:

My mate (Stephen): Chips in the tank, bolts missing, disgraceful service frankly
knob: Well we had that all noted down as happening before the bike was brought in.
Stephen: And why were the bolts on the tank loose?
Knob: We do not touch the tank for the first service.
Stephen: So how exactly did you grease the cables hidden under the tank?
Knob: As I said before, we have all this damage noted down before the service took place.
Stephen: Can we see this documentation?
Knob: Well we don't actually write it down anymore.
Stephen: So you're basically calling this boy a liar?
Knob: No.
Stephen: That's what it boils down to. He's worked to get this bike, its his pride and joy and doesn't expect to see it abused.
Knob: I completely understand but the fact of the matter is that our mechanics know the consequences for treating a bike this way.
Stephen: Let me speak to him.
Knob: I'm telling you they did no such thing.
Stephen: let me speak to him.
Knob: They know the consequences.
Stephen: let me speak to him then.
Knob: I am not the head of this establishment so I cannot do anything about this situation. I can advise you to come in and see the head another day.
Stephen: Oh, we will.
Knob: He's not here tomorrow or the next day, come back monday.
Stephen: We'll be here. This place has just gotten worse, how can you expect to treat people like this?
Knob: Well don't lose total confidence in us just yet.
Stephen: (laughs)

I was just left there thinking, what utter *******s. The sad thing is I know I'm not getting anything from this, I'm just going to get fobbed off again. I can only warn you to never go to this place for a service OR EVER and make a note off all scratches before taking a bike in for a service. Mine had none and came back with two chips. Good of them wasn't it?

If you want the details of the dealer, please feel free to send me a message.

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

Based on the mentioned "banned" thread and now this one. Should we all not adopt the practise of carefully running over any defects we know are present on our machines when checking them in for any service or repair at the dealer or garage?

Maybe taking along your own drafted form and getting them to sign it before allowing them to lay a spanner on your pride and joy? He could make notes on your form of things maybe you have not spotted and he could initialise them in your presence? I know this could have some problems but could prevent a lot of situations similar to these happening?

Wot u reckon?

I would have thought following on from the previous threads on similar topics, people would be doing that sort of thing. Shame really.

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by lukemillar

I would have thought following on from the previous threads on similar topics, people would be doing that sort of thing. Shame really.

Um, no, that's not the shame. The SHAME is that people are suffering at the hands of incompetent, careless, down-right unscrupulous dealers and mechanics, and NOTHING is being done about it. We pay our hard-earned money to these people and the very least we should expect is a decent, honest, professional job in return.

[Biker Biggles]

That is quite disgraceful.Interesting that the knob contradicted himself by saying the damage had been noted down on arrival but later said they did'nt write it down!
If they had noted any damage,surely they would have pointed it out to you?Also,apart from the issue of looking at the cables under the tank,I thought all services involved checking bolts for tightness,so the tank bolts should not have been loose.other bolts should not have been cross threaded,missing or the wrong ones,or if they were it should have been pointed out to you on collection in case you wanted the faults corrected.If you can show a series of small inconsistancies and the odd untruth in what they say,it adds wieght to your overall case that they are a bunch of cowboys.Are you in the AA or RAC,as I think a bit of legal advise might be needed.

I completely agree with Lissa's thinking as to the shame,but it is two fold..first shame if any garage is responsible for shoddy workmanship on anyone's bike. Secondly that it does appear to be an unfortunate topic that keeps coming up, to the pain of people like David.

My suggestion though no guarantee is a sure way of seeing them take a little more care and to do the job that they are being paid good money to carry out...properly.

Yeah, the whole experience left me a bit dumbfounded really. I just couldn't believe the way I was being treated. And they're no small business either! I bought the bike from them and after that they didn't want to know me.

The knob was obviously getting rattled by his uncorroborating answers, which just sets my ******** meter right off. They shouldn't have even touched my handle bars, I had them in a good position and the fact that the tank bolts were loose was a bit worrying. What if it had been my brake calipers?

Also if you don't want to get stung by a dealer, take out one of your rear brake pads or a headlight, and when the service comes and they say they have checked everything, mention the lack of said brake pad/headlight and the *******s won't be able to lie their way out of it then!

Either that or get rogue traders in on it. Bring the w*ankers down!

I think whether you name and shame is a matter of fact and degree. Surely it's best to get the matter sorted with the dealer first. If they refuse to listen or fob you off then fine, name and shame away. Nobody's saying you can't criticise people: there's no censorship (well I don't think so, anyhow) and if you can justify what you say, all well and good. But the power of forums such as this to damage someone's business is pretty high and the danger is to fire from the hip.