Another Dealer Rant...

[Motorcycledave]

Dealers & Service ???

Having been in the automotive/motorcycle repair & service business for over 40 years....
I often wonder why any dealer would treat their customers that way...

ALL dealers weather selling cars, bikes, trucks etc. DO NOT make that much money
selling them, they make the big bucks $$$ in the service and parts dept.
you buy a bike or car every few years and they make a small profit on it. then you come
in for service and repairs often, that is where the money is... so why would you make an enemy
out of the cash cow " not calling anyone a cow" in the service dept. You want them to come back
often and buy service parts and accessories you want them to tell their friends what a great
place to have service done, not bad mouth you all over town. I have not stayed in business this long
by treating people badly. When you take your vehicle in for service and or repairs ask the "SERVICE MGR"
what the work load looks like and when will you really get yours back, pin them down... are the parts on back order
do they have a light crew because of vacations or sickness will they start on yours today or when?
Get the answers you want then you decide if you want to leave your ride there or go to the dealer down the
street. They all get their parts from the same places so what they have to offer is SERVICE and only SERVICE
enough said
Dave

 

[boborgera]

Funny is it a Spyder thing??:dontknow: I've been buying toys since 1983 from this dealer in Honesdale PA., Without exaggeration 2 hundred thousand$$ plus, He sells every Japanese make, In early 08 after tripling the size of his store he took on the Spyder line. I Would take any bike to him for service, We were on a first name bases, But i realize the Spyder was a problem for him, And in turn for me. The last time they had to repair the Spyder, 45 Days in the shop and 2+ grand. I took it out drove a half mile down the road to a Harley/ Polaris dealer and traded it in for a Tri-Glide.
Since then i added to the Tri-Glide a bike and a Side-by, But not from the from the dealer that i bought from exclusively since 1983. I think that if most of what a dealer sold were Spyders that's where you'll get top service. Just my thoughts yours might differ. :dontknow:

 

[bruiser]

My view is this; from what I've seen with this dealer and a few others around here, their primary sellers are four wheelers, PWCs (jet skis), and jet boats. I know never to take our Spyders in for anything a week before Memorial Day, July 4th or Labor Day weekends. It will not get worked on. Last September I took BBs Spyder in to have the rear tire changed prior to going to Lamonts BBQ. I took it on on the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend. We had an appointment but it never got wrote down. The head tech asked me if I brought the cover for it. When I asked him why he said " It ain't going to get worked on until Wednesday or Thursday of next week". I told him I needed it before Friday. He laughed and said "Don't you know what weekend this is? It's Labor Day and the last chance for people to get their jet skis serviced". I was pissed. I talked to the service manager who is also a co-owner (family run business) and mentioned to him the amount of money I spent there purchasing two Spyders. He said he'd see what he could do. The bike was done on Thursday.

Anyway my point is this, they don't make enough off Spyders or Victorys (what this dealer sells) either way to make a profit. So they're going to give the profit makers more time and effort. As an aside, I'm not saying this about all dealers, just the ones I know of. I'm also not putting any fault on BRP as I don't feel they have much control over aftermarket service. And as far as I see it a Spyder only dealer would never survive. Even Harley dealers sell other brands.

So, I'll be taking my business 95 miles north to another dealer and see if the service is any better.

 

[Buttsy]

Just to quantify I am the biggest BRP fan to walk the earth...........had ATV's, Seadoo's and now my Spyder. I love their product and please I am not bashing them but if everyone takes a deep breath and looks a little more objectively at this is it really always the dealers fault?

I personally think BRP corporately needs to take an in depth look at what they have out there for dealers and create a strategy to improve their "service quality". Now are they totally responsible............no but they have some responsibility in this IMHO? In Canada they have made a real push to have BRP only dealers that sell the complete line of BRP products and only BRP products. If given the choice I think this is their desire .............but a couple of questions they need to ask themselves:

Are they "guiding" and "professionally developing" their dealers enough? Do they have enough "district managers" out there calling on their dealers (on the road physically not just on the phone) to make sure of compliance? It seems at times they just want to be a "manufacturer" and leave it to someone else to look after their service issues, well guess what it will not work that way?

Why is it you constantly hear on this forum..........I took my Spyder in because "so and so" wasn't working and the dealer told me they have no idea what is wrong they will have to call BRP? I know they have "Spyder School" but is cost inhibitive for the dealers to send a tech? Do they operate enough of these classes to satisfy the need? Do they need to complete more regional training as an example "one day seminars" to try and get to the source of the knowledge gap? I appreciate there are good shops and good techs and also bad techs and bad shops...............but I always hear "they have to call BRP"? Huh.........

And last point............if you build "the hottest product" that everyone wants, dealers will want to represent you. In several segments BRP (ATV, Seadoo, Skidoo) are in fact cutting edge and have to be considered market leaders. If you have something someone wants I believe they can control their dealers much better. But they almost seem afraid of their dealers and I just don't understand that?

Having said that I have a BRP all inclusive dealer to die for. They get it, I work with them and have patience but this is largely because I know they do everything to get me in and out as quickly as possible and are reasonable with their fees.

 

[bruiser]

Good post Buttsy. I appreciate your comments.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

DEALER ISSUES

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