The caliber of my dealership

[gkamer]

I finally pick up my bike from the dealership today. It was in for its scheduled 28,000 mile service and a few other things. I posted an update on that in another post.

While coming home I heard my cell phone chirp indicating I received a voice mail. I’m not one of those folks who feel compelled to instantly respond to every message/voice mail they receive, so I ignored it until I got home. I tucked my bike away in the storage shed and drove home where I checked my voice mail.

It was from the Tech at my dealership asking me to call him as soon as it was convenient. I called him back and he said he had hoped to catch me before I left. He told me while moving my bike, he dinged the left front fender. He expressed he was sorry and had already put in an order for a replacement fender to be installed on their dime to make the situation right.

Now I did a quick walk around when I picked up the bike and didn’t notice anything wrong. He told me when it comes in they will call me and see if I want to come in then or wait until spring. It was dark by the time I got home so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to go back and check it.

Now I guess he could have just not said anything, hoping I wouldn’t notice until sometime in the future when they could argue it could have happened anywhere but they manned up to their goof and are making it right. I thought that was a pretty stand up thing to do.

I’ll post some pics tomorrow after I check the damage in the light of day.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

It's reassuring that in this time of untold complaints of incompetent, inconsiderate, and lazy technicians there really are some who care. I had one here yesterday. The first tech to come look at my heat pump almost 3 weeks ago was a loser. I talked to his boss who was a total opposite. He got the needed part, came and installed it yesterday, and talked turkey on a competent level about my heat pump system and what the future for it could well be. No up selling whatever. It's 15 years old.

[Bfromla]

Don’t forget the rookies in training * too scared to ask questions & or just there for a discount.

[Mikey]

It's hard to find a place that will stand behind their work!

[Gwolf]

The calibre of your dealership seems to be about 99.9% above the calibre of my dealership.

I was told by Steven in the Service Dept, back in July that he had the washer for the front pulley recall and he had the other parts on order. I called yesterday and and put in the number for the Service Manager. Asked for Steven when they answerd. Voice said, yes, he was Steven. I told him I was checking again to see if the rest of the parts for the recall had come in yet. Told him how long it had been since they were ordered. He seemed totally confused. After a few minutes of stuttering around, not knowing anything about it, he said in July that I talked to the old Steven, and he was the new Steven. Apparently the Service Dept always hires dudes named Steven. He had to go somewhere and check on the parts and he would call me right back. It was several hours before closing time. He never called back. I didn't bother to call back down there because he would be gone to the hospital to see if his wife was having a baby or something.

Been almost 3 years since the recall letters first came out, and 6 months since they claimed to have ordered the parts so they could schedule me in. I guess if they can't get the un-obtainium pulley to do the recall, I will get free replacement front pulleys of the old OEM variety for the rest of my life. I have been documenting every promise and phone call to them, and what they had told me. If they can't get the un-obtainium pulley, they will have to replace the OEM pulley with the temporary fix any time it needs replacement. They're not gonna get the Spyder in their shop unless they have the part to fix it, and it is not gonna stay in their shop for more than a few hours. I know who to call if they refuse to do it, and it ain't the Can Am headquarters.

[gkamer]

I have been documenting every promise and phone call to them, and what they had told me.

That's always a good practice in my opinion. At least document the date and name of the person you spoke with along with a short synopsis of the discussion. I think I have a pretty good dealer, even if they're 75 miles away. At least I can trust they're not blowing smoke up my pants leg. Along with that document I also keep a record of what work was done on my Spyder, the date and the mileage.

[Gwolf]

That's always a good practice in my opinion. At least document the date and name of the person you spoke with along with a short synopsis of the discussion. I think I have a pretty good dealer, even if they're 75 miles away. At least I can trust they're not blowing smoke up my pants leg. Along with that document I also keep a record of what work was done on my Spyder, the date and the mileage.

Yes, I have a log book to document all the work I do on it myself.

I would have to go 3 or 4 states away to get a different dealer. All the dealerships in the tri-state area here are owned by the same parent company.

[gkamer]

OK, well I went to the shed and examined my bike this morning. Looking first at the left fender I could see nothing amiss. So I thought maybe he meant the right fender. I looked at it and all I could see was a little paint chip mark as if from a bit of gravel kicked up, not much bigger then the period at the end of this sentence.

So I looked again at the left fender and finally noticed a scuff mark right along the leading edge of the fender close to the tire at the bottom. It is maybe an inch, inch and a half long and barely noticeable. It took me two close examinations and I knew what I was supposed to be looking for to spot it. But if the dealership wants to give me a whole new fender on their dime, who am I to argue. I tried taking a close up pic but they kept coming out blurry and from a distance you couldn't even see it.

[BajaRon]

That is excellent! There are good, honest dealers out there. Support them whenever you can. We need more of them.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Your RT is a 2018, right? That means it's coming up to 6 years old. Any vehicle that age can be expected to have a few cosmetic faults. I think you should let it be. But call the dealer and tell them you'll live with it and don't want them to be out the time and money for such a small blemish. That way, IMO, you will show them you are a quite reasonable customer and very cooperative. The goodwill you garner by doing that may possibly come back to you in spades later when you have a real problem.

It's kind of like when I sold my house in Louisiana. We agreed on a price of $181,000 so I went to the computer to write up the agreement. I brought it out and they saw I had cut $1000 off the price. Was I being altruistic? Not really. I figured if I cut a grand right off the top, and later banged up a door casing or punched a hole in the sheetrock while moving out, they would be a whole lot less likely to raise a fuss about it after I had given them the $1000 off.

[Fat Baxter]

My local dealer can't even change the rear tire without damaging the machine.

[ned64]

I ride about 3 1/2 hrs. to my dealer for service. About 200 miles. Doesn't bother me to ride that far for service. It's a good ride along the Columbia River. Sometimes takes couple hrs. more to get there as we stop at different places. Stay overnight and have Spyders at dealer first thing in morning. They service it or both and we ride home. The $150 hr. is what hurts. 1 Spyder is out of warranty so I will change its oil. Mine has part of a year left in warranty and then I will be changing its oil. We're both retired so the trip to dealer don't matter if we get there quick or take our time. Have ridden there and back on the same day. But 2 days is better, no riding in the dark. Seems that our dealer takes good care of my Spyder.

[Knizar]

I ride about 3 1/2 hrs. to my dealer for service. About 200 miles. Doesn't bother me to ride that far for service. It's a good ride along the Columbia River. Sometimes takes couple hrs. more to get there as we stop at different places. Stay overnight and have Spyders at dealer first thing in morning. They service it or both and we ride home. The $150 hr. is what hurts. 1 Spyder is out of warranty so I will change its oil. Mine has part of a year left in warranty and then I will be changing its oil. We're both retired so the trip to dealer don't matter if we get there quick or take our time. Have ridden there and back on the same day. But 2 days is better, no riding in the dark. Seems that our dealer takes good care of my Spyder.

I'm glad you have such faith in the dealer you work with, but I fail to understand why you take your ride in for an oil service job only because the rest of the cycle is under warranty. Your warranty isn't effected by doing your own service.

It's your ride and you must have a good reason for forking out the extra cash.

Merry Christmas, Bill

[2dogs]

When I bought my ride, the dealer was soso. Not the owner him/herself but the employees. Had to take it back for a warranty issue and all went well. Had to go back because the warranty repair didn't solve the problem. At that point, the relationship went straight into the toilet. The service manager was a young A$$H@!E who refused to do any further regarding assistance. I went directly to the tech and conferred with him, and he told me he was sorry but couldn't help. A couple of years later the dealership sold and I had a small repair issue. A service department person came out and took my ride off the trailer himself and told me to come back the next day. I did and the same employee put my ride back on the trailer and tied it down himself. I called the owner later and gave him kudos for his employees. He was very thankful. Since then, his master tech has left and has his own business and is a very helpful and personable guy. $100/per hour, but the first 20 minutes are free for whatever the issue is. I always give him a 12 pack no matter what.