R.I.P. Barney's Dealerships

[Musashi]

For many years there was a small, family-owned chain of Can Am dealerships on the West Coast of Florida named Barney's. They were highly recommended. The company was recently sold and is now re-branding as Rockstar Powersports.

I first dealt with the dealership last winter just as the deal was being inked. And my Spyder is there now. I will pick it up next Tuesday. My experiences with their Brooksville, Florida, location have been the worst of all vehicle dealerships (including boat and RV) I've dealt with in my 40+ years of driving motorized things around this planet from dirt bikes to submarines. I'll spare y'all the details, but I put my Spyder in on January 17th for a brake bleed and reset that SHOULD have been done the last time it was in the shop there a year ago. I told them to do it if it needed it. Their Spyder tech said it was not needed then. I rode it about 300 miles and the brake system failure warning reactivated. I've been lied to repeatedly, over-quoted by about $2000, and played more phone tag with about 4 totally unsupervised and unprofessional employees than I care to admit. I finally got something resembling normalcy and common sense into the equation when the receptionist...on a hunch...called the company controller on her day off at home and asked her to call me because she sensed something was wrong. She's a nice lady with a good attitude, but she apparently has no real clue what is going on with the customer-facing operations of the dealership. And her boss, the GM, hasn't been there (according to her) for over 2 weeks now. So, the 17th to the 31st for a brake bleed and reset. The Svc Mgr called today after I emailed the Controller and asked where in the heck my Spyder is. He said it's been ready to go for 10 days, but he had copied my phone number down wrong or some lame excuse. Like I said, I'm sparing y'all the gory details. But that's nonsense.

Anyway, I felt compelled to let the Spyder community know about my experience with what USED TO BE a very well-respected chain of Can Am Dealerships in FL. They are GONE. Their replacement, Rockstar Powersports (same locations) is one I would warn anyone to steer clear of if I were asked.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

For many years there was a small, family-owned chain of Can Am dealerships on the West Coast of Florida named Barney's. They were highly recommended. The company was recently sold and is now re-branding as Rockstar Powersports.

I first dealt with the dealership last winter just as the deal was being inked. And my Spyder is there now. I will pick it up next Tuesday. My experiences with their Brooksville, Florida, location have been the worst of all vehicle dealerships (including boat and RV) I've dealt with in my 40+ years of driving motorized things around this planet from dirt bikes to submarines. I'll spare y'all the details, but I put my Spyder in on January 17th for a brake bleed and reset that SHOULD have been done the last time it was in the shop there a year ago. I told them to do it if it needed it. Their Spyder tech said it was not needed then. I rode it about 300 miles and the brake system failure warning reactivated. I've been lied to repeatedly, over-quoted by about $2000, and played more phone tag with about 4 totally unsupervised and unprofessional employees than I care to admit. I finally got something resembling normalcy and common sense into the equation when the receptionist...on a hunch...called the company controller on her day off at home and asked her to call me because she sensed something was wrong. She's a nice lady with a good attitude, but she apparently has no real clue what is going on with the customer-facing operations of the dealership. And her boss, the GM, hasn't been there (according to her) for over 2 weeks now. So, the 17th to the 31st for a brake bleed and reset. The Svc Mgr called today after I emailed the Controller and asked where in the heck my Spyder is. He said it's been ready to go for 10 days, but he had copied my phone number down wrong or some lame excuse. Like I said, I'm sparing y'all the gory details. But that's nonsense.

Anyway, I felt compelled to let the Spyder community know about my experience with what USED TO BE a very well-respected chain of Can Am Dealerships in FL. They are GONE. Their replacement, Rockstar Powersports (same locations) is one I would warn anyone to steer clear of if I were asked.

Thanks for this info ... I feel your pain ..... Finding good / competent workers is getting harder and harder ..... My Ins. co. sent me a REGISTERED letter ( in December 22 ) I received it two days ago .... The letter informed me that I had not paid my last Home Owners policy. .... and therefore they were CANCELING my policy ( I have been with State Farm for over 40 years ) .... The US post office said OOP's we're sorry .... and the kicker is I had paid State Farm on 12/27/22 using their " on-line " payment service. ...... so I actually had already paid State Farm that bill ..... good luck with your issues .... Mike

[Musashi]

Finding good / competent workers is getting harder and harder ..... My Ins. co. sent me a REGISTERED letter ( in December 22 ) I received it two days ago .... The letter informed me that I had not paid my last Home Owners policy. .... and therefore they were CANCELING my policy ( I have been with State Farm for over 40 years ) .... The US post office said OOP's we're sorry .... and the kicker is I had paid State Farm on 12/27/22 using their " on-line " payment service. ...... so I actually had already paid State Farm that bill Mike

Whoa! That's a much bigger deal than my Spyder. State Farm and the USPS have fiduciary duties in this case. You should contact the insurance regulator in your state and the US Postal Inspector for redress. The insurer can back date when the failure was 3rd party (not you). There are also grace periods and what not. Sorry this happened to you. You pay extra for premium insurance from a presumptive carrier. You should get premium service. We recently left USAA (the other presumptive carrier left in the USA) over ILLEGAL insurance transactions and the absolute gutting of what was a stellar customer service experience (replaced by "AI," ). I'm sure we could both go on and on and on and on and on... It's over. Now we just watch it all fall apart and try to keep the personal fallout to a minimum.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Whoa! That's a much bigger deal than my Spyder. State Farm and the USPS have fiduciary duties in this case. You should contact the insurance regulator in your state and the US Postal Inspector for redress. The insurer can back date when the failure was 3rd party (not you). There are also grace periods and what not. Sorry this happened to you. You pay extra for premium insurance from a presumptive carrier. You should get premium service. We recently left USAA (the other presumptive carrier left in the USA) over ILLEGAL insurance transactions and the absolute gutting of what was a stellar customer service experience (replaced by "AI," ). I'm sure we could both go on and on and on and on and on... It's over. Now we just watch it all fall apart and try to keep the personal fallout to a minimum.

Thanks ..... My insurance Dealer (local) contacted State Farm and got the whole mess corrected (with no penalty for me & an apology. ) ..... I doubt I'll get anything from the P.O. ...... Mike

[Musashi]

Good. That's exactly what should have happened. The USPS is just sad.

[Captainmal]

There is/was a Baneys in Bradenton, Florida. Went there a few times for clothing and curiosity. Always friendly.

Thanks for the alert on the ownership change. Though close to me I try to avoid those nasty urban rides and traffic. Figured the Can Am dealer in Bradenton, and the far one in Lakeland will do now.

[Tourer]

It’s a shame to loose good dealerships. There are so few of them. I also could post about horrific experiences. The lack of qualified personnel in all service industries is dwindling.
This is why I do all my own repairs and maintenance.

[Peacekeeper6]

Used to live in Inverness and work in Hudson YEARS ago, so I'm familiar with Barney's.

Thanks for the heads-up on the current dealership. It's always good to have knowledge on dealerships that deliver shoddy workmanship and unprofessional service.

[old Timer]

That's sad to hear. I started dealing with Barneys in 1967 while teaching Flying at the St Petersburg Airport. Bought a brand New '68 BSA Lightning from them in '68. Lots of great memories from that time. Ray Hempstead, Royal Sherbet and I were running buddies and road raced at the track in Dade City.

[SLICE]

There is/was a Baneys in Bradenton, Florida. Went there a few times for clothing and curiosity. Always friendly.

Thanks for the alert on the ownership change. Though close to me I try to avoid those nasty urban rides and traffic. Figured the Can Am dealer in Bradenton, and the far one in Lakeland will do now.

When I went shopping for my RTL the Bradenton staff were down right rude. I wouldn't whiz on that place if it was on fire!

I take the hour ride up to Tampa Bay Powersports, the staff are all very friendly and courteous (parts people also, along with the service dept). The salesman spent an hour with me going over every function on the RT-L before I left... even though I assured him it was not my first Rodeo....

[bikerbillone]

Oh my, I did not know Barney's had sold the business, I have used the one in Brandon and was satisfied. Guess I'll look for something else, nothing worse than a dealership that drives you nuts.

[Wahrsuul]

That sucks. I was just at the Barney's across the Gandy Bridge from Tampa in early Dec 22 - I was looking at the two Spyders and two Rykers they had, and not one salesman spoke to me.

[mandytuning]

I bought mine at West Coast Powersports. Nice people to deal with, don't know about their tech guys, but I'm a tech for last 32yrs, I will deal with whatever shows up unless it's something expensive. Already had a bad experience with Skypowersports and my Can Am X3 that I ended diagnosing and fixing that involved opening the engine. Here I am with another BRP product.