Would you like a couple of aspirin with your service?
I ride motorbikes and during the last 18 months I've had some very poor service experiences with a two-franchise Triumph dealer in Sydney. These two dealerships were so bad, I could no longer take the bike back to them to fix their own stuff-ups ( free-of-charge ), because every time they were supposed to fix something, they damaged something else, costing me more time and money one way or another. Eight visits after the first problem, I cut my losses, including the damage and incomplete/shoddy repairs they had done to my bike.
In contrast, I have also had several excellent service experiences from the BMW bike dealership at Gosford, even before I was a paying customer.
I moved my Triumph serviced to another Triumph dealer, but they closed their retail operation a few months ago and didn't notify their customers. My Triumph needed servicing, so I booked it in with the new Triumph dealer in the area. I booked the service by phone early in the week and told them some of the extra work I wanted, representing a service bill of perhaps a couple of thousand dollars. I like looking after my bikes and spending money on my bikes, especially if it keeps them looking good, working well and safe.
I called the dealer yesterday before I left home to confirm that I was on my way, and got their night-switch message, still on at 8.50 am, telling me that their business hours were 8.30 am -.... When I arrived at the dealership, I parked my bike outside the workshop and spoke to the one service person there. He said he had no record of my booking so I'd have to go into the front of the shop to book in.
When I went in, I met the person who I'd spoken with on the phone and he had, at best, a vague recollection of my booking a few days earlier. He checked his 'records' and said that he'd lost my details and asked for them again. He pulled out a paper pad with one piece of paper left in it, which had scribbles and doodling on it, and wrote my details on that. There was no repair order, no signature required, no authority to perform work, etc.
I wondered if the parts required for the work had been ordered, but I already knew the answer. I was then told that the work should be finished today because I was the only service booking for the whole day. I returned to the workshop to give the 'technician' my keys. He was already trying to loosen the rear axle, but didn't have a socket head to fit. I watched, a bit bewildered, as he went between my bike ( still outside ) and his toolbox trying to find the right socket head. He complained that Triumphs had strange bolt heads ( they do, but he's a Triumph dealer ).
I asked if he wanted me to remove the panniers ( hard plastic side-bags ) to make work easier and he said that it wasn't necessary. Then he decided that moving the bike into the workshop was a good idea. There were bollards closely-set in place just outside the roller door opening, so I thought he'd wheel my bike up to the bollards, pull out a bollard and then wheel the bike into the workshop. I watched in horror as he didn't stop, forced my bike between the bollards, and collected the right pannier on a bollard ( scratching the pannier and taking paint off the bollard ). I was not two metres away and I swore loudly. He ignored me, didn't even inspect the damage and started to lift my bike with a jack. There was no way I wanted him working on my bike, so I asked him to lower the bike and let me leave and forget about the service. Then he looked at the damage and said he could get the yellow paint marks off my pannier with some 'Prepsol.'
This didn't work, so he got something else which did remove the paint although he said it was difficult to get at the paint embedded in the scratch! He then tried to downplay the whole thing by saying that there were already a few scratches on the pannier so it didn't matter so much.
I returned to the sales office to speak with a very good salesperson there on my way out ( the owner is away until Monday ) to advise why I was leaving, probably wouldn't buy a new bike there, or be back. I want a new bike ( in addition to what I own, not instead of ). I really like Triumphs. I've owned two Triumphs, I attended the first 4 Triumph Australia rallies and been a passionate advocate of the brand, referring three friends to Triumph ownership. I might start referring enemies.
I want to buy from someone who provides good after-sales service and I'm having real trouble finding even barely adequate service with Triumph dealers I've been to. The poor after-sales service is preventing a new bike sale. So I have money to spend on bike service and money to spend on a new bike. It seems that nobody wants my money enough to give me even a bearably low level of service.
In contrast, I have also had several excellent service experiences from the BMW bike dealership at Gosford, even before I was a paying customer.
I moved my Triumph serviced to another Triumph dealer, but they closed their retail operation a few months ago and didn't notify their customers. My Triumph needed servicing, so I booked it in with the new Triumph dealer in the area. I booked the service by phone early in the week and told them some of the extra work I wanted, representing a service bill of perhaps a couple of thousand dollars. I like looking after my bikes and spending money on my bikes, especially if it keeps them looking good, working well and safe.
I called the dealer yesterday before I left home to confirm that I was on my way, and got their night-switch message, still on at 8.50 am, telling me that their business hours were 8.30 am -.... When I arrived at the dealership, I parked my bike outside the workshop and spoke to the one service person there. He said he had no record of my booking so I'd have to go into the front of the shop to book in.
When I went in, I met the person who I'd spoken with on the phone and he had, at best, a vague recollection of my booking a few days earlier. He checked his 'records' and said that he'd lost my details and asked for them again. He pulled out a paper pad with one piece of paper left in it, which had scribbles and doodling on it, and wrote my details on that. There was no repair order, no signature required, no authority to perform work, etc.
I wondered if the parts required for the work had been ordered, but I already knew the answer. I was then told that the work should be finished today because I was the only service booking for the whole day. I returned to the workshop to give the 'technician' my keys. He was already trying to loosen the rear axle, but didn't have a socket head to fit. I watched, a bit bewildered, as he went between my bike ( still outside ) and his toolbox trying to find the right socket head. He complained that Triumphs had strange bolt heads ( they do, but he's a Triumph dealer ).
I asked if he wanted me to remove the panniers ( hard plastic side-bags ) to make work easier and he said that it wasn't necessary. Then he decided that moving the bike into the workshop was a good idea. There were bollards closely-set in place just outside the roller door opening, so I thought he'd wheel my bike up to the bollards, pull out a bollard and then wheel the bike into the workshop. I watched in horror as he didn't stop, forced my bike between the bollards, and collected the right pannier on a bollard ( scratching the pannier and taking paint off the bollard ). I was not two metres away and I swore loudly. He ignored me, didn't even inspect the damage and started to lift my bike with a jack. There was no way I wanted him working on my bike, so I asked him to lower the bike and let me leave and forget about the service. Then he looked at the damage and said he could get the yellow paint marks off my pannier with some 'Prepsol.'
This didn't work, so he got something else which did remove the paint although he said it was difficult to get at the paint embedded in the scratch! He then tried to downplay the whole thing by saying that there were already a few scratches on the pannier so it didn't matter so much.
I returned to the sales office to speak with a very good salesperson there on my way out ( the owner is away until Monday ) to advise why I was leaving, probably wouldn't buy a new bike there, or be back. I want a new bike ( in addition to what I own, not instead of ). I really like Triumphs. I've owned two Triumphs, I attended the first 4 Triumph Australia rallies and been a passionate advocate of the brand, referring three friends to Triumph ownership. I might start referring enemies.
I want to buy from someone who provides good after-sales service and I'm having real trouble finding even barely adequate service with Triumph dealers I've been to. The poor after-sales service is preventing a new bike sale. So I have money to spend on bike service and money to spend on a new bike. It seems that nobody wants my money enough to give me even a bearably low level of service.
posted by Sean at 9:25 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home