More whinning about my local yamaha dealership

[MojoRisin]

Back story. I had a cover on the engine replaced it was scraped up when I got rear ended. It was leaking oil through the replaced cover, so I took it back to the dealer. It was also making a clattering noise. Problem was located, parts were ordered. I was told some "special" washer was on back order. 4 weeks later it came in this past Tuesday afternoon. They're closed on Wednesdays. Called Thursday afternoon to check on the progress. They said there were a lot of bikes ahead of mine. Whatever, they had my bike before these others came in and they gt fixed first, fine whatever. So I said "Next week sometime?" The service manager said I'd have it this weekend. Saturday they're open 9 - 2 and I hadn't heard from them by 11:00 so I called and was told tere were 3 bikes still ahead of mine but mine was an easy fix, 15 minutes. They;d call me to pick it up. Yep you guessed it no call again. But now I'm fuming 15 minutes!?!?! Really, you've had my bike for 4 weeks waiting for a part, it comes in, it's a 15 minute fix yet you can't manage to fix it and get it back to me? Now here we are starting week 5.

When I do finally get the bike back, as much as I love it, I'm going straight to the Suzuki dealer and see what they'll give me on a trade in. It's sad that a dealership can treat a customer like this and get away with it.

 

[highoctane]

That's f'ed up man, wtf? Id be pissed too!

 

[Vapordan]

Post their name, send them a link to this review. If you want it to change for the better, got to be proactive! What happens if the suzuki dealer behaves the same way?

 

[Black Widow]

I understand your frustration with the dealer. That is still no reason to trade in your FZ8 on a Suzuki or any other brand. The warranty is not very long on bikes so you will have a choice of mechanics to choose from when you need repairs. Like stated above, you may have the same experience with the Suzuki dealer. Find a good mechanic (independant) build up a good relationship and life will be grand.

 

[SpunkyTheTuna]

Yep, I agree with brother Black. Find a friendly local independent shop and help somebody that will actually treat you right and give an honest damn that the work's done right. It's how the HD community has stayed such a strong community for all these years. It's not the dealers, it's the independents who keep a community strong, so find a guy and keep him in the business of keeping you happy.

Thus endeth the sermon.

 

[lothodon]

warranty work (if it is) will always get pushed to the back burner for customer paid work. they get their money much faster and that's all they are after.

 

[Camo]

I've wiped my dealer for good also. They never even changed the oil on my first service!
Bought two bikes from them, accessories and gear... Not a single dollar of mine will wash through there again.
I use an independant who is a touch more expensive but doesn't void my warranty and is a genius!!
Just find a good'n and stick with him

 

[FZER]

I'm with everyone else. Get your bike back up and running and you'll be back in love and try another dealership. However, if you aren't happy with the work I wouldn't hesitate to start looking at a new bike. I don't screw around with my bikes. Whole hell a lot easier for something to go bad on a bike and you end up seriously injuried. If you go Suzuki I'd have to get a GSX1250, neat bike.

 

[Camo]

If you're going Suzuki, B-King or GSXR750 are the stand-outs for me, both great bikes.
The SV's are a cheap and reliable do it all ride also but you'll probably regret selling the FZ just because your dealer's a douche.

 

[MojoRisin]

That was mostly venting and frustration talking, but I'm still gonna look into trading it in. I live in a rural area, if I post the info for the dealership they will know it's me and imo it will only make the situation worse. I'm the only one they've sold an FZ8 to. Also I'd have no idea where to start looking to find a certified yamaha mechanic that's not affiliated with this shop. But that being said a change is happening, I'm going to visit the other 2 yamaha dealerships both 50 miles away. And I'll talk with them and hopefully I can have a better experience. And if I do get a Suzuki it'll definatelty be a GSXR 750, those things scream.

Oh and thanks for all that commented, I appreciate the advice.

 

[Hereward]

Must be a global thing, I had a similar problem here in the UK, I have since found another dealer who is indipendant who gives far better service. Actual Yamaha themselves are a different matter, they wanted my dealer to replace the entire wireing loom after a faulty conector issue........the dealer wouldn't do it because yam wanted them to pay as they had bodged it putting it together..........bike was under warranty at the time, it never got done!

The bike then got knocked of it's stand by a freind of mine, minor damage to the bars and mirror. exhaust footpegs ect ect....anyway to cut a long story short, yam dealer was a pain to deal with, I eneded up ringing yam uk distrabution, got the part prices and delivery times and took them to my yam dealer.........spoke to the guy who orderd parts who again told me "yam havn't got back to me yet" at which point I handed him the info and told him if they didn't arive when they were suposed to I wasn't paying for them.......I got the parts on time fitted them myself and then found another service center..........Quite happy to say it was Wigan Yamaha in the UK attached to Chorley Yamaha. I now use milenium cycles in St Helens........no doubt they will read this as I hope other potential customers will also.

 

[DJK1505]

I had a horrible experience with a dealer last month. Most dealers take warranty work and push it off, I do not understand why, they get paid for the work. Anyways, get the manual for your bike and start reading. These things are super simple to work on. I understand your frustration, I have never had anyone work on any of my vehicles, until this bike. I took it in being very skeptical, the dealer made all these promises and 3 weeks later I had to call Yamaha Corp. for the douche to get my bike done. Sorry it happened to you, my suggestion, learn how to wrench on your own bike. Makes life a lot simpler!

DJ

 

[Vapordan]

I had a horrible experience with a dealer last month. Most dealers take warranty work and push it off, I do not understand why, they get paid for the work. Anyways, get the manual for your bike and start reading. These things are super simple to work on. I understand your frustration, I have never had anyone work on any of my vehicles, until this bike. I took it in being very skeptical, the dealer made all these promises and 3 weeks later I had to call Yamaha Corp. for the douche to get my bike done. Sorry it happened to you, my suggestion, learn how to wrench on your own bike. Makes life a lot simpler!

DJ

I understand but some of us don't have the time (or the inclination) to do this. It's cheaper on my time to just take it in. If I'm paying for it, I want it done reasonably well otherwise I'm complaining - I've learned that everybody reports to somebody and that most if not all the times when I complain, the actual business owners don't realize that there's a customer service problem in the back. And, I'm complaining to the business owners with the service manager standing right there. I want him to know I AM THE ONE COMPLAINING, not an anonymous person. I want him/her to know that my complaint is a reflection of his/her job performance. And I would like him/her to know that they have to work hard to earn my business. It's certainly not confrontational. I simply like them to understand that I'm a reasonably busy person and I don't like it when my expectations are not met. Most times anyway, other times I just get pissed and go somewhere else... I know I know i'm a walking contradiction.

 

[DJK1505]

Completely understand, just realize when you depend on others, you also depend on their time, their skill, their desire to do the job correct or just get it out, and have no idea if you are getting what you pay for. It happens every day in just about every shop. I have worked and ran several shops, tech's can be the best tech i have worked with, some days they just get lazy.

Sorry you had as bad of an experience as I.

DJ

 

[MojoRisin]

Completely understand, just realize when you depend on others, you also depend on their time, their skill, their desire to do the job correct or just get it out, and have no idea if you are getting what you pay for. It happens every day in just about every shop. I have worked and ran several shops, tech's can be the best tech i have worked with, some days they just get lazy.

Sorry you had as bad of an experience as I.

DJ

This is warranty work, parts were needed so it's not something I should have to do by myself. I don't do maintanence on my cars other than oil changes either and they have 4 wheels.

Anyway here it is after 12:00 noon and still no call from the dealership.

 

[FZER]

I had a 09 GSXR750 oh my goodness is all I have to say...... Well that and speedo read 168 one time.

 

[DJK1505]

This is warranty work, parts were needed so it's not something I should have to do by myself. I don't do maintanence on my cars other than oil changes either and they have 4 wheels.

Anyway here it is after 12:00 noon and still no call from the dealership.

I understand, warranty is good, but a lot of dealers really take advantage of you on this. Anyways sorry to hear you are going through almost the exact same crap I went through. Hope you get it back soon!!!!!

DJ

 

[MojoRisin]

Jezus Effin Cripes, they had the GD bike for 5 fvcking weeks FIVE WEEKS and it's still making the same GD noise. I'm not a mechanic so bear with me. On the left side of the engine there is a round cover with a little circle in the middle of it. I was told that behind this cover is what amounts to the altenator. There is a finger on the spinning part of it that is coming in contact with the engine block. The tech said he could see slight wear marks and thought the shaft was slightly bent and needed to be replaced. Then the shop manager said no it was a bearing behind the shaft that was causing the problem. I rode the bike for 2 weeks and the sound is back and imo is louder than it was before. I'm taking it back to the shop AGAIN. I was polite with the shop manager and said I really didn't want to be without the bike for 5 weeks again and he said he would work on it himself. Here we go again.

 

[MojoRisin]

I did look into some other shops found one closer than the 50 miles the other 2 were but when I called them they told me they had one really good bike mechanic and there was a 3 week back log to get a bike in and that they had limited space so you couldn't just drop off your bike anytime, you had to have an appointment.

 

[Camo]

Give Yamaha a call directly and fill them in about what a shit time you're having with your local dealer.