Me and my dealer

[HarleyHarry]

I would like to launch a new thread were we can share the funniest stories about our dealer.
Reason is the visit to mine to collect my Ultra after it's first 1000 mile service.
I had given them a list of things I was not happy with and needed correcting
Rust on the exhaust
Rust on the engine guards
Rust on the guards around the panniers
Crackle on the radio
wrong colour on the vehicle reg. docs.
Area of thin paint in the engine housing.
Engine overheating
When I came to collect the bike the reply to whether things had been corrected were like this.
The rust on the exhaust is not rust but DUST
We have cleaned the rust of the panier guards
We checked the crackle on the radio and find it acceptable
Don't worry about the wrong colour on the docs.
It takes a long time for the paint to start flaking
We have put in synthetic oil ( and here's the bill for doing that)
You noticed I left out the engine guard reply. I kept the best for last.
A comment was written on the engineers report about that and it reads like this:
Rust on the engine guards is visible and I advise replacing the guards with new ones.
OK I said, so this has been done?
No said the shop assistant... We were not sure if this was what you wanted.anic
I spent $30,000.00 on a new bike, have rust within 4 weeks and they didn't know if I wanted to get it sorted:mgun
The fact that the 2 months wait before I got my bike should have been a warning. A complaints letter to HD UK will now be send.

 

[glider]

Sounds as if you got the dealer of dealers there Harry.

At least they spared you the

"they all do that"

and

"it's normal"

Maybe they haven't learned that one yet.

It's a wonder how these guys stay in business.

I took my RK in for loose steering head bearings with about 1200 miles on it only because I was too lazy to pull it apart and do it myself. Well after about a 2 hour wait, they gave me the bike back and said it's all done.

As soon as I drove it out, I could see they were stroking me there.

I got home and called the service manager who was not there at the time the bike was done and knows his business and explained what had just happned.
He asked me for the invoice number on my repair order and after giving it to him, he tells me it has been removed from the computer by the asst. service Mgr that did the bike.:shock
I followed this up with a visit to the manager and the owner of the business who is a great guy.

No more monkey business when my bike goes in there now (if it does)

Needless to say it was a wasted few hours that I waited on the bike and brought it home and did it myself this time. Now it's done right and I'm sure everything is back together right.

I can't say very much good about most of these dealers at all.

Here's an interesting site to check on a dealer for their rep.

http://www.stealer-dealer.com/

 

[glider]

Hobbit
i was told the warranty is covered by US law as its a US bike told this by the manager and the service manager and if they or an authorised dealer did not service the bike the warranty was void

I'd be interested to know if they could show you that in writing. My bet is they couldn't.

 

[glider]

Some food for thought here...

Go to this HD page

https://www.harley-davidson.com/EX/MNT/SCHK/en/servicecheckup.asp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US

Enter your vin number and mileage for the 5000 checkup. What you will get is the screen shot that I posted below. Notice the NOTES on the bottom of the page. Thought you would get a chuckle out of this being it is printed on Harley's page by them!

 

[glider]

Don't you just love it when this happens and the dealer is left eating crow, I know I do especially when they are wrong from the start.

I had a similar experience with the local dealer and the person that I butted heads with no longer works there after many complaints from not only me but other customers also. After I spoke to the owner and pointed out the shortcomings of his employee and what I was told by him , I backed it up with facts and he agreed that I shouldn't have been told what I was told by his employee.

Anything I dislike is when someone ties to impress a customer with his knowledge that he doesn't have or their misunderstanding of the facts.

The bit about the warranty if you do something that causes damage, I can fully understand and also agree with BUT they have to prove that it was what you did that caused the damage if any.

 

[glider]

Great news.
I would be beneficial if everyone had a letter like this to show the dealers when they try to give us a line.

Any chance of a copy?

 

[glider]

Great reply and definately worth saving. I would back it up on a disc

Thanks for the info/update.