Hi All.
Why I always manage to find the worst dealers I don't know. I just had a very annoying thing happen to me, and tomorrow I'm going to go and complain to the mgr and see what happens. Ok, here's the story:
I buy a used Vmax from a local dealer (we'll say dealer A), and the salesman reassures me that they stand behind every bike they sell, if I should have any problems within the first couple of weeks, they would take care of it. A couple of days later I'm at the scooter shop where my Vespa is having work done, and I meet a mechanic from another dealer (we'll call them dealer B) and he says I just have to come over and checkout all the stuff they have in the store, and how they're so much better than dealer A, etc. etc.
My bike starts acting up a couple of days later, I have to tap on the false gas tank/ air box cover to get the neutral light to come on, and sometimes it'll start, sometimes not. I decide the next day to take it over to dealer A for them to look at it, and also to stop by dealer B on the way, as they're sort of on the way. Well, I get a block away from dealer B, and the bike dies. I manage to get it started after 10 minutes of trying, taping etc. and I get to dealer B. I go in, give them a quick look, they look to me like any other motorsports/boat dealer, so I get back on my bike, start it right up, and it dies in their parking lot. Their service dept says it would cost $100.00 just for their mechanic to evaluate the bike, when I bitch about it, they suggest that since I just bought it from dealer A, I have them pickup the bike and fix it. I call them, and they're like "nope, used bikes only have a warrantee if you buy one with the bike, they wouldn't come get the bike. But they tell me that dealer B should honor the warrantee that I bought with the bike, so why don't I just have them fix it! So much for their taking care of any problems!
Ok, so back to the service dept. and they say yes, if it's under warrantee the'll honor it, but I would still have to authorize a $100.00 evaluation of the bike. So I do, and I take a cab home (another $50.00 wasted). I call them the next day, and they say the mechanic hasn't looked at it yet, but he will by the end of the day. I go ahead and stop in to drop off a wire I had for a battery tender, and ask them to attach it to the battery. While there I notice that they sell the Oddessy batteries, so I check if they have a PC680, and they do, and the price is $130.00 for it. I tell the service writer (can't talk to a real mechanic) to put on of those in my bike, and I would either pay for it if it's not covered, or pay the difference if it was. He says not to worry, if a battery is needed under warrantee, they would cover the full cost of the PC680, and I think 'cool'. I tell them to also do an oil change, as I just bought the bike, and who knows what shape the oil is in, they again say no problem. Well to cut this short (I'm starting to ramble on) almost a week later after many excuses for delays, etc. my bike is almost ready. The tech has finally looked at the bike, done the oil change, replaced the battery, and determined that the fault was a bad kill switch on the handlebar, and electrical isn't covered under they warrantee, I would have to pay for it to be fixed. I tell them I'll pickup the bike as it is, as they don't have the part in stock, and it should only take a week or so to get the part once I order it, I told them I would deal with it later, and just jumper out the switch when I got the bike. I go pickup the bike, and they charged $100.00 for the oil change, $100.00 for the evaluation, and the total bill is $224.00 The bill says nothing about oil changes or batteries, only a $100 charge for the eval, then another $150.00 for labor, so how they got $224 I'll never know.
Anyway I specifically asked the service writer "ok, you installed a new PC680 battery, and he assured me they did, when I get home, sure enough, no new battery, just the original one recharged! And I now suspect if it was in fact the kill switch, it might have been a loose connector, as since I got the bike back, it's been running great again.
So, is this normal shit for dealers, or did I just luck out that the only 2 dealers in the county are both trash?
-MikeS
Why I always manage to find the worst dealers I don't know. I just had a very annoying thing happen to me, and tomorrow I'm going to go and complain to the mgr and see what happens. Ok, here's the story:
I buy a used Vmax from a local dealer (we'll say dealer A), and the salesman reassures me that they stand behind every bike they sell, if I should have any problems within the first couple of weeks, they would take care of it. A couple of days later I'm at the scooter shop where my Vespa is having work done, and I meet a mechanic from another dealer (we'll call them dealer B) and he says I just have to come over and checkout all the stuff they have in the store, and how they're so much better than dealer A, etc. etc.
My bike starts acting up a couple of days later, I have to tap on the false gas tank/ air box cover to get the neutral light to come on, and sometimes it'll start, sometimes not. I decide the next day to take it over to dealer A for them to look at it, and also to stop by dealer B on the way, as they're sort of on the way. Well, I get a block away from dealer B, and the bike dies. I manage to get it started after 10 minutes of trying, taping etc. and I get to dealer B. I go in, give them a quick look, they look to me like any other motorsports/boat dealer, so I get back on my bike, start it right up, and it dies in their parking lot. Their service dept says it would cost $100.00 just for their mechanic to evaluate the bike, when I bitch about it, they suggest that since I just bought it from dealer A, I have them pickup the bike and fix it. I call them, and they're like "nope, used bikes only have a warrantee if you buy one with the bike, they wouldn't come get the bike. But they tell me that dealer B should honor the warrantee that I bought with the bike, so why don't I just have them fix it! So much for their taking care of any problems!
Ok, so back to the service dept. and they say yes, if it's under warrantee the'll honor it, but I would still have to authorize a $100.00 evaluation of the bike. So I do, and I take a cab home (another $50.00 wasted). I call them the next day, and they say the mechanic hasn't looked at it yet, but he will by the end of the day. I go ahead and stop in to drop off a wire I had for a battery tender, and ask them to attach it to the battery. While there I notice that they sell the Oddessy batteries, so I check if they have a PC680, and they do, and the price is $130.00 for it. I tell the service writer (can't talk to a real mechanic) to put on of those in my bike, and I would either pay for it if it's not covered, or pay the difference if it was. He says not to worry, if a battery is needed under warrantee, they would cover the full cost of the PC680, and I think 'cool'. I tell them to also do an oil change, as I just bought the bike, and who knows what shape the oil is in, they again say no problem. Well to cut this short (I'm starting to ramble on) almost a week later after many excuses for delays, etc. my bike is almost ready. The tech has finally looked at the bike, done the oil change, replaced the battery, and determined that the fault was a bad kill switch on the handlebar, and electrical isn't covered under they warrantee, I would have to pay for it to be fixed. I tell them I'll pickup the bike as it is, as they don't have the part in stock, and it should only take a week or so to get the part once I order it, I told them I would deal with it later, and just jumper out the switch when I got the bike. I go pickup the bike, and they charged $100.00 for the oil change, $100.00 for the evaluation, and the total bill is $224.00 The bill says nothing about oil changes or batteries, only a $100 charge for the eval, then another $150.00 for labor, so how they got $224 I'll never know.
Anyway I specifically asked the service writer "ok, you installed a new PC680 battery, and he assured me they did, when I get home, sure enough, no new battery, just the original one recharged! And I now suspect if it was in fact the kill switch, it might have been a loose connector, as since I got the bike back, it's been running great again.
So, is this normal shit for dealers, or did I just luck out that the only 2 dealers in the county are both trash?
-MikeS
