Why would a dealer shoot himself in the foot ?

[frogonwheels]

I bought my Ballabio two weeks ago from the only local dealer here in Sacramento, California. The purchasing experience wasn't first class, but the price was really good and I loved the bike. The dealer, who sells only European bikes, wasn't the most friendly guy around, but maybe he was having a bad day or something !!!

Anyhow, I was gone with the family for a week and came back three days ago.

I jumped on the Ballabio and went for a great ride on the twisties. It was a hot days ( around 115 on the road ) but I loved the experience.

The engine has such a good response in engine braking, it is a joy to take these curves with only the throttle control, real smooth , relaxing and efficient....

 

The oil leak from the return oil line in the back of the pan has stopped on its own !!!

I never thought anything ever fixed itself, but I swear it is dry now ?

 

I found a very small airline crack in the fairing, right in the middle with the screw holding the two pieces together. I called the dealer, talked to a fellow I didn't know and he was really nice saying I was right to bring it up. He told me to bring the bike over, so they could officially acknowledge the defect. I drive 2 hours and park the bike right in front of the shop. The owner is inside, with nothing to do and no other customers. He totally ignored me, while I go to seat at the counter. I wait around ten minutes and he finally comes to me and ask me if I need something ( like he had never seen me before ??? ).

I tell him about the fairing. He tells me the other guy told him about me coming over ?.

We go outside, he takes a five second look and tells me :

" When I get a chance, I will submit a claim to MG and wait for their answer. Maybe they will cover it, maybe they won't. If they don't, tough luck !!! Give us a call in a few weeks to see where we are on this matter. " and he walks away and go talk to a customer as if I didn't exist and was never there !!!

 

Maybe he didn't make much on the sale of the bike. Maybe he doesn't like MG. But a new customer can only bring money to such a small business ( referrals to other buyers, accessories purchases etc....and even buying other bikes in the future )

 

That guy will never see me buy from him again. I will call MG myself to find out about this claim. I have serious doubt MY DEALER will ever do anything about it on his own.

 

I am self-employed myself. PR is EVERYTHING in life and in staying in business.

A smile doesn't cost much and goes a long way.

 

What do you think ?

 

Terry

[Steve G.]

It's really quite simple, the guy is a @*$^ing ass.

First thing I would do would be to contact MGNA, like now, ask to the procedure of changing official outlets for warranty issues, and tell them why.Take pictures of the cracking on your bodywork, take pictures of the odometer. If possible send them by digital camera to MGNA. Document everything. Do not give the guy one red cent more of your money, do not let him touch your bike, and make it a mission to smear this guys name in every way you can. Say bad things about him when ever you can, try to kill his business by word of mouth warnings. Post leaflets warning motorcyclists of this shop. Tell everyone on bikes he is by far the most expensive shop in town for oil, tires, all the stuff he makes money on.

This kind of loser should not be selling motorcycles, he should be serving beer at a skid road hotel.

If your nearest dealer from this guy is a long way away, I hate to say it, but I would deal with it. My buddy in Portland just bought himself a new MV Agusta, and his nearest dealer is in Post Falls, Idaho. Sometimes it's the price of owning a unique and enjoyable motorcycle.

And most important of all, enjoy your bike, and don't let that scumbag taint your ownership of it.

Thank heaven there are 2 Guzzi dealers in my town, as I don't think this kind of thing would happen in multiple dealer regions, the guy wouldn't last 5 minutes.

 

Ciao, Steve G.

[not_scooter_Scura!]

And most important of all, enjoy your bike, and don't let that scumbag taint your ownership of it.

that's the most important part - the rest is not motorcycling - enjoy your bike friend.

[Bill Hagan]

It's really quite simple, the guy is a @*$^ing ass.

First thing I would do would be to contact MGNA, like now, ask to the procedure of changing official outlets for warranty issues, and tell them why.Take pictures of the cracking on your bodywork, take pictures of the odometer. If possible send them by digital camera to MGNA. Document everything. Do not give the guy one red cent more of your money, do not let him touch your bike, and make it a mission to smear this guys name in every way you can. Say bad things about him when ever you can, try to kill his business by word of mouth warnings. Post leaflets warning motorcyclists of this shop. Tell everyone on bikes he is by far the most expensive shop in town for oil, tires, all the stuff he makes money on.

This kind of loser should not be selling motorcycles, he should be serving beer at a skid road hotel.

If your nearest dealer from this guy is a long way away, I hate to say it, but I would deal with it. My buddy in Portland just bought himself a new MV Agusta, and his nearest dealer is in Post Falls, Idaho. Sometimes it's the price of owning a unique and enjoyable motorcycle.

And most important of all, enjoy your bike, and don't let that scumbag taint your ownership of it.

Thank heaven there are 2 Guzzi dealers in my town, as I don't think this kind of thing would happen in multiple dealer regions, the guy wouldn't last 5 minutes.

 

                                                                                Ciao, Steve G.

[Most of] What Steve said.

 

I especially agree with his first sentence.

 

While I do agree with Steve and, no doubt, most of us here, that this jerk should not be selling motorcycles, I recommend you go slow with: "make it a mission to smear this guys name in every way you can. Say bad things about him when ever you can, try to kill his business by word of mouth warnings. Post leaflets warning motorcyclists of this shop. Tell everyone on bikes he is by far the most expensive shop in town for oil, tires, all the stuff he makes money on."

 

You may find yourself in more legal trouble than you can afford to get out of. This a-hole will collapse on his own, either because others will do the smearing, or, more likely, that kind of "business' is bad business.

 

Finally, one option is, believe it or not, discuss it with him. May be a waste of time, but you will have tried. Not suggesting you prostrate yourself, but airing this sort of thing can sometimes result in getting what I got once (albeit not at a m/c shop): an apology and explanation. The guy's wife had left him the night before and trashed the house, etc. Thought he was going to cry on me.

 

My point is that if you take the high road, you will at least have the satisfaction of that, and it will stand you in good stead with MGNA (FWTW! ).

 

And, whatever happens, you have a Ballabio. Ain't it sweet?

 

Best wishes.

[Mike Stewart]

I think Guzzi Dealers are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. First, the bikes do not sell as fast as other brands. They stay on the floor for long periods of time and cost the dealer flooring each month. Then Guzzi dumps bikes to certain dealers for cheaper than what other dealers buy the bike for in the first place. Then these dealers sell these bikes for way under list while the other poor dealers take it in the shorts trying to sell their more expensive product. This usually means that they loose money on the bike.

 

This doesn't mean the dealer has to be an ass, but it is true that the dealer needs to call MG for an claim before any work is done under warrantee. If the dealer goes and repairs the bike before the OK, the claim can be rejected and the dealer is out of cash for the repair and parts.

 

If there is a place to bitch, I would start at the top with MG because they are the ones that tell the dealers how they want the repairs to be done.

 

There are ways around this for the dealers but it involves being really dishonest (fraud) and pulling the wool over Guzzi on every warrantee repair. This is a bummer but the dealers need to keep the customers happy and make Guzzi pay for their mistakes.

 

Just another view,

Mike

[jrt]

(topic moved from '24/7' to 'dealers')

[Guest robbrugg]

Yeah, OK - I am not going to be PC about this one. It doesn't matter WHAT circumstance (read: EXCUSE) we might theorize for a jerk-off dealer. Business is business, no matter where. If an owner of a shop decides (yes, attitude is a choice, guys) to be unprofessional, our friends (all bikers) need to know about this - accountability can be imposed on someone that treats us as anything below what we are: the reason for bikes (Guzzis) to exist!

 

If someone that is treated unfairly decides to tell the world, and tells a true story, great. I prefer to stand up for myself and ANYONE else that could fall victim to a crook/jerk/danger.

 

I think this forum would do well to have a DEALER RATING section, complete with experiences. Wouldn't EVERYONE here pay close attention, including the dealers? Humph...

 

We need more people to be riding Guzzis - bad dealers do not help this cause!

 

There.

[Flatland Dan]

I think we are all in agreement on this dealer. He is not a dealer that anyone of us would willingly deal with a second time. And without getting into dealer bashing, I think it is important to warn others of unscrupulous and unethical dealers. However, that said, I do not think that it would be a good idea to develop a dealer rating system. As Jaap pointed out one time, a specific dealer may have had contact with one person on this list. And that experience may not have been the norm. Could have an off day, been bitten by the dog, been bitten by his wife. Who knows? I know of only one other person on this forum that has dealt with the dealer that I bought my bike from and his experience with him was better than mine was. Would I bad mouth him for that? No! I will just take that into account in further dealings with the man. Later, Dan

[Guest Guest]

I talked to the Sacramento dealer (salesman) when I was buying my V11. He was 1800$ higher than L.A . I asked him to come down a little and he stated: "Just try to get the bike serviced when you have a problem with it". He is a asshole. Even with all the trouble I have had getting my bike worked on at Livermore, they didn't make a statement as foolish as that.

[Guest robbrugg]

Maybe that Sacramento Dealer was bit by a dog. Girlie man!

 

If I beat up one of the forum members at a rally because I was "having a bad day", would everyone here just chalk it up to that? Of course not. Why should we protect the dealers? I think most of us are adults here, and are capable of decifering someone's experience (good or bad) with a dealer. The forum should be a place to voice technical stuff (which is not an exact science always), AND everything else Guzzi related which would include Dealer feedback.

 

Answer me this: if we started rating Dealers/service biz's, would that impact these guys that think they have us over a barrel?

[Guest bshpilot]

 

Answer me this: if we started rating Dealers/service biz's, would that impact these guys that think they have us over a barrel?

 

sure it would impact the dealer/service (or at least we HOPE)

but at the same time i think youd have to allow the dealer a chance

to explain his side of things (could have been a bad day for who

ever is bashing the dealer *OR* someone might have made a

pain of themselves w/ unreasonable request/demands *OR* threats

of public/exposure & forum bashing if the the dealer didnt do

what someone wanted)

[Guest robbrugg]

I would TOTALLY be in favor allowing a dealer to explain good/bad reports - I would LOVE for dealers to be involved and not just lurk around.

 

Shoot man, if I was a dealer, I'd have one of my mechanics all over this board. That would drum up tons of business - service, bike sales, parts, etc...

 

I, as all others on this forum, consider the source of any comment/advice.

[Guest bshpilot]

I would LOVE for dealers to be involved and not just lurk around.

 

Shoot man, if I was a dealer, I'd have one of my mechanics all over this board. That would drum up tons of business - service, bike sales, parts, etc...

 

I, as all others on this forum, consider the source of any comment/advice.

 

you mean like the wild guzzi site does ?

(truth be known if i could get mph to do my case swap id

get the engine there for 'em myself)

 

but remember most dealerships pay their mechanics to turn

wrenches not tap keyboards...

[jrt]

The problem is one that Dan alluded to, and that is the statistics of small numbers. The V11Sport/LeMans market is small- very small (couple thousand). Of this small number, only a few people post here- very few (tens to a hundred). Any data that we collect for a dealer will be from what- one or three people who actually interacted with that dealer? It's just not enough to get a real feel for what a dealer is like. That's huge sampling error for an inherently negative approach.

I would propose a statistically safer way to accomplish this is to set up a positive dealer response system. There are many reasons you might not like a dealer, but to like one is a much more discriminating choice.

[tomsp]

MG in georgia is 678-238-0902 - people there are professional. Customer care is everything, THAT is a true statement.

 

I saw your bike in that store! Very cool. I know what you mean about riding in the twisties using engine compression and throttle control- way good.