Jay Green, who writes the "Road Captain USA" blog, writes about his frustrations dealing with RideGear.com, an online retailer of motorcycle gear...

http://roadcaptainusa.com/2008/06/28/my-own-jacket-quidick-fiasco-with-ridegearcom/

What started out as a purchase of a jacket, turned out to be 80 days of e-mails, phone calls, and headaches.

Labels: Bad Customer Service, Websites

Mark from Durham, New Hampshire writes to us about a "bad dealer" experience, and wants to know what he can do. Anybody have any thoughts?

Here's his letter...

Hi steve,

I've tried to work this with the dealership in about every way I can think of. I'm a 55 y/o professional who recently purchased a new 2006 honda metropolitan moped for my wife. she is faculty at the university in the town where we live. Parking is difficult at the university so I purchased the moped for her for her last birthday. Note that the moped is kept in a heated garage and that I have been riding motorcycles for 40 years and currently own two street bikes and an off-road bike.

After less than 4 weeks with only 48 miles on it (a few practice rides around the local neighborhoods and about 6 roundtrips back/forth to the university) - my wife called me one morning and told me the moped would not keep running. I called the dealership where I purchased it and they told me to bring it in. I asked them if it was ok for me to bring it to a closer Honda dealer and they said that would be ok.

The nearby dealership now tells me I have to pay for repairs because the gas was contaminated (they found rust particles in the tank which clogged a jet in the carb) and that this is not a warrantee repair. Note that the moped came with a full tank of gas and still had half a tank of gas in it. I hadn't put any gas in it yet and had not even had the gas cap off yet.

I called the purchase dealership and they told me it wasn't my responsibility but took no action. After 4 calls to their service and sales managers with no return calls and no action - I paid a visit to the general manager of Best Ford/Motosports in Nashua, NH. He also took no responsibility and attempted to victimize me with such absurd statements as "maybe someone went into your garage and poured water in the gas tank". I live in a house with a locked garage and someone would also need the moped key to get the gas cap off. At this point - I realized that talking to this guy was a lost cause.

Meanwhile - the moped is being "held for ransom" at the repair dealership, my wife is not able to use it, and the purchase dealership will take no responsibility to make good. I suppose I will go and pay the repair fee so my wife can use the moped but it really bothers me that the purchase dealership is able to get away with such irresponsibility.

I put down my cash and bought a brand new name-brand machine, which four weeks later wouldn't run and I have to pay for the repairs. I'd love to have this come back at the dealership and see them get a black-eye for the way they have treated me. Any thoughts?? - thanks, mark

Labels: Bad Customer Service, Honda Motorcycle Dealerships New Hampshire, Repairs

Last March I wrote about my friend getting bad service on his Honda Valkyrie. Well it just got worse!

Last Friday the bearings on his rear wheel failed and became shot. He discovered the nut holding down the rear wheel was over-torqued. The last person to touch this nut was a mechanic at West Coast Motorsports in Perris, CA.

If you recall, they took six hours to put on a new rear tire, a job that normally takes two hours. They charged him for six.

He also mentioned they stole his tool bag. He said it was missing after they worked on his bike. This is in addition to them replacing his chrome valve stem caps with plain plastic ones.

So now his bike is in his garage, torn apart, waiting for new bearings. Of course, he can't ride.

What's worse is that West Coast Motorsports keeps giving him the runaround, refusing to address the matter. He's absolutely livid, and he's posting messages on every motorcycle forum focused on Southern California. He's filing a complaint with the State of California.

What's the moral of the story?

1. Keep all receipts and paperwork in case you have to file a complaint or case.

2. Remove the custom valve stem caps before taking your bike in.

3. Remove all stuff from your bags before taking your bike in.

With a place like West Coast Motorsports, you can't take any chances.

Labels: Bad Customer Service

A friend of mine told me about his recent bad experience with a motorcycle service shop last weekend. He took his 1999 Honda Valkyrie to West Coast Motorsports, a dealer in Perris, CA. All he needed was a new rear tire put on.

They initially told him it would cost $150.00, and would take 2 hours to complete.

It ended up costing $250.00, and took 6 hours.

Their excuse? They said Valkyries usually take more time. That may be true, but then why did they quote him the original quote?

To rub salt in the wounds, they replaced his custom valve stem cap with one of those black plastic ones. He called them back to look for his cap, and now has to make another trip back to get it.

Oh, and they only filled his new rear tire with 18 pounds of pressure.

I'm one of those types who absolutely hates bad service, especially when they try to tell you that the problem is you. The dyno-tuner at Corona Yamaha tuned my Road Star too lean, and when I complained about it the next day, he insisted it was my error for not knowing how to ride a bike. I took it to Lee's Cycle Service in San Diego, and they tuned it perfectly.

Got any bad motorcyle service stories? Post a comment below.

Labels: Bad Customer Service

Yesterday Ox and I and my wife rode down to Biggs Harley. Biggs is a Harley dealership in San Marcos, CA. We didn't have anything to do, so I suggested riding down there just to look at bikes.

We got there, and sure enough there were lots of shiny new Harleys with signs on them saying "Please Sit On Me".

However, I saw this used 2005 Ultra Classic, with 3,500 miles on it, black cherry paint, all stock. They had it priced for $19,600. If you remember last October, I wrote that I wanted to buy a touring bike, and couldn't make up mind between a Harley or Yamaha. Well, I still hadn't made up my mind, and I was getting impatient with myself.

I sat on the bike, and then my wife got up on the back. She really found it comfortable, claiming the passenger seat was wider than the one on my Road Star, and really enjoyed the large backrest on the tour pack (and mini arm-rests too). The rider seat felt pretty good, perhaps being a used bike.

I was sold. Well actually, we've sat on Ultras and Electras before, as well as the Yamaha Venture and Tour Deluxe. But I guess it was a combination of her telling me that this was very comfortable, plus the fact that I needed to get serious about buying one, plus it was a color that I really liked, plus we had saved up a bunch of money to afford one, and that my feet could touch the ground on this thing (short legs!)

I confirmed with her again that she felt comfortable, even asking her if she thought it was more comfortable than sitting on the Road Star. "Oh yes", she replied. And that's really why I set about to buy a touring bike, so that she could be as comfortable as possible. I've learned that a having a woman on back complaining about her sore butt and sore knees almost ruins a good day of riding. Plus, she keeps falling asleep after a meal, and I feel better with her having the wide back support on the tour pack.

So I talked to a sales guy, and he ran down the numbers for me. But I couldn't buy the bike right then. Remember, I rode my Road Star there, and I couldn't ride two bikes back home. So, the three of us headed home and planned to come back in Ox's truck. While at home, my wife and I rechecked the balance in our savings and checking, and yup, we had saved up enough money.

We got back to Biggs, and I told the sales guy I was going to write a check for the full amount. "No way" he said. They don't accept personal checks over $5,000 dollars, only cashier's checks. Or at least if they did, they would have to hold the bike for 10 days until the check cleared. I couldn't believe it! Any car dealership will take a personal check for the whole amount. Heck, when I bought my Road Star, they took a check for the whole amount as well.

Ox mentioned that I could use my Bank debit card instead, because then it would automatically debit my account. However, Biggs also said "No way", because they consider that a credit card and that they don't do charges over $5,000.

Then they said I could finance the bike through Harley, and then pay off the balance in a few days, to avoid interest. So we talked about that, and soon discovered that when financing a bike, Biggs won't let me ride it off the lot unless I had full coverage on the bike. Well, I couldn't call my agent because it was a holiday weekend (MLK day). But they said their "preferred agent" could hook me up right now. I said "No way". I want MY agent.

The only thing we could do was put some money down as a deposit, and have them hold the bike until Tuesday. Then I could go to the bank and get a cashier's check for the full amount. And so that's the plan.

So, tomorrow I plan to be riding a 2005 Ultra Classic down the freeway. I was disappointed that Biggs wouldn't take a personal check. Maybe all Harley dealers are like this? I dunno. At least not all Yamaha dealers are like that. I wonder if it's a conspiracy to get people to finance through Harley!

Labels: Bad Customer Service, Biggs Harley Davidson, California Harley Davidson Dealerships