Expectations of dealer's service department?

[usedtobefast]

Hello all. I've owned/ridden motorcycles for ~40 years but have very rarely taken a bike to a large dealership for work (usually do the work myself or go to small independent repair shops).

I have a situation I want to run by the barf'ers and get some opinions.

- I bought a brand new street motorcycle, drove it home the evening of the day I bought it.

- The next day I went on a ~35 ish mile ride and noticed an issue (that would be a warranty item). At end of the ride the dealership was already closed.

- Next morning, I called the Sales guy (who had been great during the purchase phase), I told him what's up, he said they'd take care of it, no charge. He got a service guy on the phone. He said the same thing, and said to bring it in and he would work it in and take care of it that day.

- So this is sounding pretty good. I drop the bike off at 11am that day.

- Was expecting a call that day, never got it, they closed at 6pm, never heard from them. Hum, figured they had a busy day, just didn't get to it.

- The next day I call them around 10am to check in. Service dept line goes to voicemail, I leave a msg. I call back ~2 more times, each time it goes to voicemail.

- Around 2pm I text the Sales guy, saying sorry to bug him, but not hearing from service, and what's up?

- The reason I'm bugging them is partly I want my new moto back , and they did say they'd fix it the day before, and I would need to line up a ride to the dealer to pick it up.

- Sales guy texts back they will get it done that day and they'll call me.

- And they didn't. 6pm, they closed, no call from the service dept.


So I certainly understand they are busy, seemed like they had a ton of bikes in the service dept. But when the service guy says they'll work it in the day I dropped it off, they had it for 7 hours, and maybe the repair would take 1-2 hours (not sure) ... kind of set my expectations of getting it back that day.

So I thought for sure I'd get it back the second day ... was mostly wanting an update to line up a friend giving me a ride to the shop.

Also seems a new bike with an immediate issue should have some priority with the dealership to get resolved.

So should I just chill out and assume they are going to have it for a week or something? :rolleyes

The owner of the dealership talked with me the day I bought the bike, and gave me his business card, with his cell number on there, and said to call him if I ever needed to. But then I don't want to piss off the service guys and get them in any kind of trouble.

So if you were in this situation, what would your expectations be? What's reasonable?

 

[NoTraffic]

Well, based on the description, if I don't get a call from the Service dept 2 days in a row, even after I left a voicemail, I'd call the owner. You just bought a bike from them, if he's a good owner/manager, he'll approach the situation like any good person would. I wouldn't worry about "pissing them off".

Also depends what expectations they gave. "Right to it" means a lot of different things. I've learned to be detailed when it comes to repair work - Can I expect this to be done by end of business? Tomorrow, end of business?

Do they have to order a part? What is the fix?

 

[banshee01]

What he said^^^

If they have to order a part give them some time. Or were they making an adjustment to the bike?

What was the issue? You want to stay on there good side and choose your battles.... this one could be one to just relax on

 

[ST Guy]

And what's wrong with the bike? A minor thing, maybe fix it. If they have to tear into the engine or transmission, I'd demand a new bike. I don't buy new to have some "mechanic" of unknown skill take my engine apart and maybe put it right again.

 

[DTM74]

I dropped my bike off last week at a dealer and he said they would get to it that day. Called me later and said they needed to order a part and it wouldn't come in for a few days...

Maybe they needed to order a part. Anyhow, sounds like they could be a lot better at communication.

 

[bpw]

Much can be forgiven with good communication, there is no excuse for not calling you back multiple times. Especially on an issue with a brand new bike.

I’d be calling the owner.

 

[mrmarklin]

Much can be forgiven with good communication, there is no excuse for not calling you back multiple times. Especially on an issue with a brand new bike.

I’d be calling the owner.

Very true. The service department sucks. Get this fixed and then look for another dealer with the same brand for future dealings.

Call the owner. He may be unaware he’s got a problem.

 

[NB0tt]

In case this gets worse and becomes more of an issue down the line write down each and every interaction you have with them and take notes. You may need to produce a timeline of events and times you have contacted them.

 

[Blankpage]

I get that same BS when I drop the bike at the dealer. "We'll call you later today with an update" never hear from them until days later.

 

[Pushrod]

Worried about pissing off a wrench bender by calling the owner of the shop? Really?

Bubba butt-crack needs to worry about pissing off customers. His job depends on repeat business and the largess of the boss. Call the owner, do not hesitate, and make sure Bubba knows it was you. The familiar face gets the best service.

 

[m0t0_ryder]

What we have here is a failure to communicate.
That is on the shop manager, if there is one.

Notify the owner.
Let him know that you are concerned about the issue with your "brand new" bike and you have heard nothing in days. Even though you have made inquiries.

Good customer service is about understanding and communicating.
Quick resolutions help, but are not always possible.

 

[johnparjr]

Like everyone says communication is very important the dealer I use for my bike is always very forthcoming with info.

 

[usedtobefast]

Well I don't want the mechanic to spit in my soup, so to speak.

Thanks for the sanity check, this seemed a bit messed up to me, but like I said, I've almost never taken a bike to a large (original seller) dealership (and I'm starting to realize that has been a wise course of action in the past ).

Places I've used in the past:
Nichol's in Milpitas for my Ducatis
Hare Racing in Sunnyvale ... remember those guys?
Moore & Sons KTM ... and sat in the back watching Tom & John Sr. work on my bike and pick on each other the whole time
707 for dirt bike suspension
Santa Clara Cycles for tires
those kinds of places.

We'll see what happens today.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I would have called the owner two days ago and asked for an explanation. I would have told him that I expected a phone call from one of them soon after, to explain what was going on.

I recently purchased a new bike and had an issue with the balance of the front wheel. I waited until I had 600 miles on it and it needed its first service, but they re-trued the wheel and rebalanced it along with the regular service. I expected no less than that.

 

[Entoptic]

Lol is this Munroe Motors? It’s like trying to get water from stone with them.

I’d be all over them.

 

[Hammerstime]

lol has to be the pasta shop close to him :teeth

 

[ob1ventura]

Much can be forgiven with good communication,

I’d be calling the owner.

I would have called the owner two days ago and asked for an explanation. I would have told him that I expected a phone call from one of them soon after, to explain what was going on..

Agreed.

Started my own business in the mid 80's and was told that the worst thing one could do is not return calls.

The owner has a lot invested in the shop and would probably like to know wtf is going on in the service dept.

It would help to know what the issue is. I don't trust others to wrench my stuff. Have had issues that were covered by a warranty but have always asked the dealership to provide the parts and I would fix it myself. Generally they have been accommodating.

 

[usedtobefast]

Ok ... not wanting to throw a dealership under a bus here ...

The bike has tubeless tires/wheels ... but has wire spoke wheels (like a dirt bike) ... and the front tire/wheel is leaking ~10-12 psi over a 12 hour time period.

No nail/screw or anything in the tire (this was checked by me with < 30 miles on the bike). The valve stem core is not leaking.

I'm assuming one or more spoke seals are leaking. So the job is to figure out which spokes are leaking, take the tire off, sort out why those spokes are leaking, fix it, put tire back on, recheck leak, do it all over again if still leaking, check wheel balance and adjust if needed.

I would do this myself if I had just bought a used bike, but on a brand new moto figured the dealer should handle it.

 

[usedtobefast]

Ok, called the dealership, kind of strange but good end result ...

- I called them just now
- they thought some guy had called me with an update or two
- they've been working on it, testing it, guy went through all they've done, very detailed, and sounded like the right steps
- they did an overnight verification of pressure, all is good, bike is ready to go

So ... sounds like great work going on in the shop ... but customer (me) left with zero info/update ... for all I knew it was forgotten about.

Thanks for all the replies, now off to go get my new bike back!!

 

[NoTraffic]

Ok, called the dealership, kind of strange but good end result ...

- I called them just now
- they thought some guy had called me with an update or two
- they've been working on it, testing it, guy went through all they've done, very detailed, and sounded like the right steps
- they did an overnight verification of pressure, all is good, bike is ready to go

So ... sounds like great work going on in the shop ... but customer (me) left with zero info/update ... for all I knew it was forgotten about.

Thanks for all the replies, now off to go get my new bike back!!

Good luck, I hope you don't show up and they got you confused with a different bike. arty