I have a problem with Dishonest Dealers!

[ollicat]

OK venting here. I took my Spyder in for an oil change, replace the seat shock, check out the squeak in my brakes, and to rewire a light from the battery to the the accessory switch. After 5 weeks, they got MOST of the work done. Never got to the brakes - fine. They say they did the oil change, rewired the light and put on a new shock under warranty.

I get the bike back and find out - now the light doesn't work at all and worse, I investigated the strut and they never touched it. You can still see all the grim on it from when I brought it in - not a shiny new strut. But they billed Can Am for it and billed me for the light. (I sure hope that they actually did the oil change.)

Now I have to bring the bike back (50 minutes each way) and this time wait for them to do the work they said they had already done. I have a REALLY big problem with both shoddy and dishonest dealers. Such is the time we live in now.

[Bfromla]

Sorry to hear maybe helpful to contact BRP cares?

[rhino1]

Sorry to hear that. That is why I’ll do my own oil changes and other work. It sounds like it is still under warranty, so if you do your own oil changes, make sure you keep your receipts on the oil and filter you buy. Keep a good log on what you do. Time and date of everything. I would file a complaint with BRP. Best of luck!

[Woodenfish]

I had the unfortunate luck of having to work with about 4-5 unscrupulous people among the hundreds I had been associated with over the long course of my career. They get caught and that bad apple’s taste for the easy money puts him out of a career as word quickly spread in the industry. I’m sure the management will be highly upset at this bad seed. I’m sorry it happened to you but their are low life’s that sometimes appear in every occupation. God just made people different for us all to deal with and make us stronger. Try not to let it eat you up during this time of extreme disappointment.

[canamjhb]

If that happened to me, (and something similar did), I would (did) have a very frank discussion with the Service Manager. He may not be aware that one of his technicians is costing him money and tainting his reputation. Give him a chance to bend over backwards (he should) to make things right for you and earn your future business and confidence. If the Manager is non-responsive, time to get the Owner involved. Good luck..... Jim

[2dogs]

Had similar situations happen to me. I began marking items that had to be removed by the dealership so when I got my items back I could confirm or dispel my suspicious nature. When confronted with my discoveries of fraud I received various responses from sincere apologies and refunds to threats to kick my ass. It was suggested to me by a very trustworthy dealer to discredit and expose fraudulent dealers and service departments by using social media like this site and Facebook so as to identify them for others to see. Also, it's appropriate to advertise quality performance and workmanship in the same way.

[BajaRon]

We have seen a spike in dealership issues since Covid. Work charged for and not even attempted. I know there are good dealerships out there. But the bad ones are ruining everyone's reputation. There is no excuse for it. Honest mistakes are made by everyone. But when that happens. You simply make it right. What happened to integrity? When it becomes all about the dollar, everyone suffers.

The Spyder/Ryker and bike world in general, is a community. Brothers and sisters in the saddle. This includes dealerships. We used to do what we could to help each other. That's the way it should be. And no reason it can't still be that way. Find someone you trust and support them. Hopefully, the others will either get their act together, or go away.

[Realtor]

I have questions about my dealership doing the last oil change too. got it done at 10K (supposedly), my oil is darker than the oil in the wife's machine. I don't think they did mine when they were both in there for the service, I ride mine more, but I have a feeling they skipped mine. I ordered the oil from amazon, and will do it myself, since BRP say 9K between changed, I'll do it at 15K, I'm at 12,500 now...

[Peacekeeper6]

OK venting here. I took my Spyder in for an oil change, replace the seat shock, check out the squeak in my brakes, and to rewire a light from the battery to the the accessory switch. After 5 weeks, they got MOST of the work done. Never got to the brakes - fine. They say they did the oil change, rewired the light and put on a new shock under warranty.

I get the bike back and find out - now the light doesn't work at all and worse, I investigated the strut and they never touched it. You can still see all the grim on it from when I brought it in - not a shiny new strut. But they billed Can Am for it and billed me for the light. (I sure hope that they actually did the oil change.)

Now I have to bring the bike back (50 minutes each way) and this time wait for them to do the work they said they had already done. I have a REALLY big problem with both shoddy and dishonest dealers. Such is the time we live in now.

When my boat was scheduled for a 50 hr inspection, I took it to a dealership. I made it a point to put a black dot with a felt pen on both the fuel and oil filters. They had my boat for a couple of days. When they said it was ready to be picked up, I decided to check to see if they indeed replaced both filters prior to hitching it up to my truck.

And wouldn't you know it ?? I saw the black dots which proved that they didn't even bother to change the filters.

Some dealerships are REALLY rip-off artists and don't really give a damn about their customer's car/boat/bike/whatever.

That is why most of them are called "stealerships" ....
__________________

[BajaRon]

I have questions about my dealership doing the last oil change too. got it done at 10K (supposedly), my oil is darker than the oil in the wife's machine. I don't think they did mine when they were both in there for the service, I ride mine more, but I have a feeling they skipped mine. I ordered the oil from amazon, and will do it myself, since BRP say 9K between changed, I'll do it at 15K, I'm at 12,500 now...

I highly recommend doing your own oil changes if you can. I've had more than 1 customer that uses my HiFlo or K&N filter kits tell me stories. It usually goes something like this. "I do my own service but got pinched for time just before a long trip so I took my Spyder to the dealer and paid for a full oil service. When I did the next oil change I found the same, aftermarket brand filter as I use still in the bike which seemed suspicious. So, I called the dealership and asked what filters they use for Can-Am Spyder oil service. They told me they only use BRP manufacturer's brand oil filters on the Spyder. Now I wonder if they even changed the oil at all."

Are they telling me the truth? I really have not reason not to believe them. And I've heard this from more than 1 customer from different parts of the USA. Again, I would hope most dealerships are honest. In a forum like this you're always going to hear the worst of it. But then again. How many people are even able to check? It's an open invitation to cut corners, I am afraid.

[Ex-Rocket]

From all the above reasons this is why I do my own oil changes on my Spyder.

[Baron14y]

One way to eliminate this type of problem is to find a local maintenance shop that works on Spyders (if you can). I am lucky enough to have two such shops. Both do good honest work at a rate about 1/3 less than the stealership.

[BajaRon]

One way to eliminate this type of problem is to find a local maintenance shop that works on Spyders (if you can). I am lucky enough to have two such shops. Both do good honest work at a rate about 1/3 less than the stealership.

True, it does not necessarily have to be a Spyder dealer. Any decent mechanic can do the work. They just need to know the idiosyncrasies of our machines. Which is really true for any vehicle.

[JayBros]

Shoddy service, for whatever reason in any service activity, is what I call another nick in the slide down the razor blade of life. Constructively for the OP, the best approach, IMO, is to first call the dealership and express directly to the service manager why you visited the dealership to have the list of services performed and your displeasure with the service. If the service manager cannot rectify the obviously crappy situation ask to speak with the general manager/owner of the facility and his proposed resolution. If that proposed resolution is not satisfactory, send an email to BRPCare@BRP.com with all the gruesome details and ask for their assistance. Worst case, you might have to find another dealership. FWIW, my preferred dealership 90 miles away but because of the quality of the work I don't mind the trip and I have a variety of routes to get to & from the shop.

[ollicat]

I have an appointment on Saturday and will be addressing these issues with the Service Manager. I don't even have confidence the oil change was done.

[Little Blue]

I have an appointment on Saturday and will be addressing these issues with the Service Manager. I don't even have confidence the oil change was done.

Remember to always be calm. Who ever gets upset looses. Be it you or the service manager. Hopefully you have well documented paperwork on what the Dealer said they did. More is best.
Always be friendly and freely talk about the issue.
Try and keep the Service Manager on your side.
Remember he/she didn't do the job.

Good Luck with Your Mission. Keep the Spyder Forum in the loop.

Stay Healthy. ....

[2dogs]

Remember to always be calm. Who ever gets upset looses. Be it you or the service manager. Hopefully you have well documented paperwork on what the Dealer said they did. More is best.
Always be friendly and freely talk about the issue.
Try and keep the Service Manager on your side.
Remember he/she didn't do the job.

Good Luck with Your Mission. Keep the Spyder Forum in the loop.

Stay Healthy. ....

Well stated Little Blue. And keep in mind that the service manager is your only go-between, between you and BRP. If you pi$$ him off he/she may not go to bat for you with BRP when you really need the support, whether you're in or out of warranty.

[UtahPete]

Ollicat, I'm sorry you had to find this out the hard way, but the BRP dealer system sucks when it comes to service. And, what's worse is they don't support independent shops. I hope you're able to find a reputable independent shop near you to do the needed work if you're unable or unwilling to learn to do it yourself. The good news is you do have such near you in Tennessee i believe.

[2dogs]

Ollicat, I'm sorry you had to find this out the hard way, but the BRP dealer system sucks when it comes to service. And, what's worse is they don't support independent shops. I hope you're able to find a reputable independent shop near you to do the needed work if you're unable or unwilling to learn to do it yourself. The good news is you do have such near you in Tennessee i believe.

I mentioned this not long after I bought my spyder, that BRP's spyder dealer network may very well become their undoing. I live about 60 miles from a large BRP dealer. However, they do not sell spyders, and they WILL NOT touch a spyder. I visited their showroom one day, (nearly the size of a tennis court), and the salesman jokingly told me they had a shotgun over there in the corner for anyone who came in on a spyder. Maybe BRP won't allow them to sell spydes, I don't know.

[CloverHillCrawler]

I mentioned this not long after I bought my spyder, that BRP's spyder dealer network may very well become their undoing. I live about 60 miles from a large BRP dealer. However, they do not sell spyders, and they WILL NOT touch a spyder. I visited their showroom one day, (nearly the size of a tennis court), and the salesman jokingly told me they had a shotgun over there in the corner for anyone who came in on a spyder. Maybe BRP won't allow them to sell spydes, I don't know.

There is a dealer near me in Frederick and I think they have the proverbial shotgun in the corner for anyone that wants to buy one much less come in on one. Stood around in the dealership for almost an hour waiting to talk to someone before I finally gave up. I even had 2 sales people walk by and saw me sitting on the Spyder in the showroom.

They just chuckled and said "you like nice on it" as they kept walking by me to go towards the back of the store and ignore me. Never thought I would see the day where a sales person would turn their back on a possible $20K sale and just walk away from it.

[USAF]

Our Spyder was at our local dealer to get warranty work replacing the front tires, I said to him, so who is the Spyder guy/expert here ? He said None of us are and said we all hate working on them !!! Well that's encouraging to hear ! So I asked just for conversation, what the front lug torque is set at and they said " I dont know ?" They just guessed at it because when I got it back home I checked and it was about 180 lbs !!!!!! I don't trust anyone to work on my Spyder, I would rather skip the warranty and do it myself at this point...

[UtahPete]

I mentioned this not long after I bought my spyder, that BRP's spyder dealer network may very well become their undoing. I live about 60 miles from a large BRP dealer. However, they do not sell spyders, and they WILL NOT touch a spyder. I visited their showroom one day, (nearly the size of a tennis court), and the salesman jokingly told me they had a shotgun over there in the corner for anyone who came in on a spyder. Maybe BRP won't allow them to sell spydes, I don't know.

My local Can-Am dealer just quit selling and servicing Spyders a year after I bought mine. Told me they and the people who ride them are too much trouble (he's a friend).

[2dogs]

I totally understand.

[ollicat]

Ollicat, I'm sorry you had to find this out the hard way, but the BRP dealer system sucks when it comes to service. And, what's worse is they don't support independent shops. I hope you're able to find a reputable independent shop near you to do the needed work if you're unable or unwilling to learn to do it yourself. The good news is you do have such near you in Tennessee i believe.

Does anyone know of any private mechanics or shops within 50 - 75 miles of Memphis, TN?

[ollicat]

Our Spyder was at our local dealer to get warranty work replacing the front tires, I said to him, so who is the Spyder guy/expert here ? He said None of us are and said we all hate working on them !!! Well that's encouraging to hear ! So I asked just for conversation, what the front lug torque is set at and they said " I dont know ?" They just guessed at it because when I got it back home I checked and it was about 180 lbs !!!!!! I don't trust anyone to work on my Spyder, I would rather skip the warranty and do it myself at this point...

This is really really horrible news for someone that dropped over $30K on a bike. How in the world does Can Am let this happen? They should have factory folks out training their dealer techs. This is the kind of news that makes me want to sell my Spyder and get a converted Endeavor Trike GW or something similar.