Not a gripe, just saying...

[MDLNB]

First off, I am not griping....just passing on my experience with BRP. Monday morning quarterbacking myself, I can only blame myself for being blind, inattentive or naive.

When I went shopping for a Ryker, I found that the dealers in my area were having a hard time stocking them. So, when they had one in stock I rushed to purchase, not paying attention to my inner self telling me to take it easy and examine the deal. I talked it over with my spouse and she said to go for it, so I pounced, thinking that it was now or never. I decided on the Rally. I offered my Harley for a trade in and they would not even meet the Blue Book value, even with all the extras I had added and the low mileage. They even told me that they could not offer me more and advised me to sell it privately, as it was worth more than they could offer me. I thought that very "honest" of them. They told me that my credit was excellent and that they were going to give a great loan deal out the door. Let me tell you that Florida has very high document fees. I tried to negotiate a lower price but they knew that they could sell this Ryker very easily and told me that the only deal they could give me was on Spiders, not Rykers. Rykers were flying out the door and they did not know if they could get any more until the new 2020 version, which would cost even more. OK, so I accepted their sales pitch with a bit of skepticism, but still signed. They told me that the loan would be NO interest if paid off in the first year. Actually, upon looking at the paper work later, it was no interest if paid off in six months. Then, it turned out to be a credit card with a line of credit. I only use one credit card and that is AMEX, which is paid off every month. Too late, I was now committed but I expected to pay it off early. This story is too long so I am going to shorten it a bit and skip ahead. By the time I went out the door, I owed them over $15K with all the fees, etc. No add ons or extras, just a helmet and T shirt. No big deal. This is not supposed to be about the dealer, but my experience with BRP/CITIbank credit.
When I made my first payment, I added on a thousand bucks, to lower the pay off. I had recently sold something and decided to pay into the loan. The payment is taking almost a month to process, believe it or not. Yes, they have documented the payment. So, I contacted my credit union because they have very low interest loans. Normally it takes a few days for them to process loans long distance. Today, when I was talking to one of the Reps from the credit union, they told me that I should have called them the day of the purchase and they would have expedited the loan and had it to me in one day. Learn a little, huh? Anyway, they said they could do the loan today but they needed a copy of my title with the lien on it. Guess what? BRP/CITIbank told me that they do not give the title out until the loan is paid off, including copies. Seriously? So, I talked to their "manager" and she said she could mail me a copy of the title but it would take 7-10 days. What, no FedEx? So, I told her to just scan it and email it to me as a PDF attachment. BRP/CitiBank told me that they did NOT have an EMAIL account!!!! Are you kidding me? What kind of business does not have an email account? I told her that everyone has a scanner, even me at home. And what kind of business does not have an email account? WOW! They are mailing me a copy.....maybe.
Folks, I will let you be the judge about this. I am not going to bad mouth BRP, but I am stating an experience I have/am having with them. Is this how a professional business operates?
Look, I have been reading on here about problems with the Ryker and parts failing. No big deal as a first year model is going to have glitches to iron out. Accepted. But there are two things that every business should have in order to be successful; good customer service and a professional operations/bearing. Even home businesses have an email account and a scanner. Most have fax machines also, even though that is old time. :banghead::banghead:
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my Ryker. But, I am very skeptical of any promises of warranty, service or stock availability. I find more experts on here than I do in that operation.....so far. I hope that my experience is an exception and the norm. I hope that all of you have great experiences with Can AM. I walked into this being a Harley guy for many years, owning three Harleys and several other brand bikes.
I believe that some of this chaos is my own fault for not taking my time to examine the process properly.
I am not normally a whiner. I am not whining now. I am just pulling my hair out with the amateurs that I have been dealing with.
My apologies to BRP or Can Am if any of this casts a shadow or dirt upon them that is not deserved. This is one incident, so one should not judge them based solely on this.

 

[glennm]

Unfortunately a lot of sales people and businesses deserve the reputation they have as a group been labelled with. There are a lot of good ones out there but unfortunately a number of bad ones taint the profession. I think most of us have been stung at some time. Many times I have caught out sales people blatantly lying. Unfortunately it does sour the whole experience which is very unfortunate. Once the debt with them is gone you will start feeling a whole lot better. I like credit unions better than banks in general as I feel they are more up front and honest regardless of the transaction.

 

[ARtraveler]

The story about the HD was really that they did not want to mess with it. They were trying to drive the trade off by the lowball price. That would have been the point where I walked out the door and went elsewhere. Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware)

 

[MDLNB]

I certainly hope that this is not indicative of common business practice. I want to utilize the local dealerships and not have to worry about what appears to be either inexperienced employees or blatant lack of good customer service. I have read of good experiences by others on here, so I am hopeful. If I have a problem I can't handle myself, I sincerely hope that the dealerships have experienced and amicable personnel working there. I am in no way diss'ing the salesman that worked with me. He was a good young chap and looked fairly new, and I wanted to give him my business. Most of my less than positive experience is based on the credit folks, not the actual dealership.
Anyway, I REALLY like my Ryker and have already started customizing it. I am in the process now of trying to make a simple but removable luggage rack for the back, which can also accommodate some simple leather saddle bags. My luggage rack will allow me to use bungee cords to strap something on the back temporarily to cart purchases home, but still be able to easily remove in case I wish to attach the rear seat.

 

[ARtraveler]

I certainly hope that this is not indicative of common business practice. I want to utilize the local dealerships and not have to worry about what appears to be either inexperienced employees or blatant lack of good customer service. I have read of good experiences by others on here, so I am hopeful. If I have a problem I can't handle myself, I sincerely hope that the dealerships have experienced and amicable personnel working there. I am in no way diss'ing the salesman that worked with me. He was a good young chap and looked fairly new, and I wanted to give him my business. Most of my less than positive experience is based on the credit folks, not the actual dealership.
Anyway, I REALLY like my Ryker and have already started customizing it. I am in the process now of trying to make a simple but removable luggage rack for the back, which can also accommodate some simple leather saddle bags. My luggage rack will allow me to use bungee cords to strap something on the back temporarily to cart purchases home, but still be able to easily remove in case I wish to attach the rear seat.

:congrats: on the Ryker.

 

[Sarge707]

I have used BRP (Sheffield Financial ) every Spyder and Ryker purchase and they process every payment within 2 hours. Title always came within 10 days of payoff.

 

[poli]

MDLNB, if you are going to use bungie cords and want to easily remove it -- just go old school!

 

[MDLNB]

MDLNB, if you are going to use bungie cords and want to easily remove it -- just go old school!


View attachment 175725

 

[mrNewt]

I like that idea! Of course, I would have to paint that milk crate BLACK to go with my Ryker.

Or get the blue panels to match the milk crate

 

[MDLNB]

Or, maybe use one of those OLD wooden milk crates that's varnished and make my Ryker into a woody?

 

[Peteoz]

Thanks for taking the time to post this MDLNB. Sorry this happened to you, but it is a timely reminder to others not to be hasty when buying......and we nearly all are, as some point. I know that I have been, to my detriment. Sales people are masters at putting pressure on, and you just have to be prepared to walk away and have patience if things are starting to sound a bit fishy, even if the “thing” that you desperately want is sitting there, right in front of you, just waiting.

At least you have what you wanted in your hot little hand. Here’s hoping things lookup for you from here on. :congrats:

Pete

 

[MDLNB]

Thank you. Like I said, I love my Ryker. My experience was less than stellar, but I also know that my experience could be an exception.

On a side note, my wife has relatives in Australia and one of my bucket list items is riding a cycle around your country. It was to ride a Harley about, but that is no longer going to be an option. Maybe I will be able to three wheel about if I ever get down there. I have wanted to visit since I was just a kid but when I finally got offered a job a few years before I retired, in Canberra I turned it down, knowing that if I retired from down under, I would probably want to stay. Never been there, but it's been calling me for a long time. Maybe some day.

 

[jaherbst]

There is an old saying we should all be aware of "Let The Buyer Be Ware". Everyone should be skeptical when buying anything. There are too many ways to fleece the buyer these days and one should balance there emotions with good common sense. Power Sports and Car dealing is the worst!

Jack

 

[MDLNB]

First off, or maybe I am just adding to my experience with BRP. Am I being unreasonable when I expect better customer service than I am getting? Let me explain:

Let me caveat this "gripe, complaint, tif" with the fact that I really/REALLY like my Ryker Rally. That said, I am VERY disappointed with the customer service I am getting from BRP and am on the verge of making my complaint with Better Business. I admit that half of the situation is my own fault for not being more attentive. I understand that sometimes the service Dept cannot get the recall parts delivered when they wish them to arrive. I know that. I have been calling every week since the recall on the wheel nuts was released and I was the first one to mention it to the service Dept of my dealer. I was told that I would be the first to be called once they arrive. Every week they tell me that the parts will be in the following Monday. OK, so they can't get them. I get it. I am being patient, well as patient as one can be when they recommended that I don't use my Ryker until the wheel nuts are replaced. OK, nuff said about that.

When I purchased my Ryker, they were hard to find in my area as they were selling as fast as they could assemble them. I even had to look for a place to do a test ride. Once one was available, I pounced on it and was going to trade my Harley in as a down payment. I was talked out of it because they could not offer me what it was really worth, not even Blue Book value and it has less than 10K miles on it and has lots of extras. So, my spouse told me to go ahead and finance the cycle and worry about selling the Harley later. I did that because I knew there would be very few available before the 2020 models came out. The dealer told me that since my credit rating was EXCELLENT (something like 800) that I could get a great rate by financing it with them. I made the mistake of trusting them. Since I haven't financed anything in a long time, I was not being diligent in examining the paperwork in detail. I was told that I would have a very low interest rate and that I would not pay any interest in the first year, if I paid it off within that time. Great! So, I signed the paperwork and they handed me a BRP credit card with a line of credit. If I would have paid attention (my bad) I would NOT have gone through with the deal. I do not do credit cards, other than ONLY one that we pay off at the end of every month. I should have seen the writing on the wall, or at least on the documentation. So, I took my Ryker home and then I contacted my credit union to see if I could get a better deal because I do NOT trust credit cards (just my thing). They offered me a much better deal so I decided to refinance the vehicle. Now for my complaint:
My credit union required either a copy of the title with lien on it or a "Lien and Title Information Report" in order to finish processing the loan. I contacted BRP and made said request and they at first said they did not send a copy of the Vehicle Title out and then when I talked to a "manager/supervisor" I was told that I would receive it in 7-10 days. That was over a month ago and I have been calling every week since, requesting a status update on where my requested report might be. The answer has always been that it will be there in 7-10 days. I called today and the representative that I spoke with said that it was "sent" on the 17th. Once again, I informed them that it had been over a month and I still had not received anything. She finally said that the computer told her that it had been sent on the 17th and it should be here in "7-10 days."
Am I getting impatient in my old age, or am I expecting too much when I assume that businesses encourage good customer service? Is that a gullible view today?
I plan to pay off my loan once I sell my Harley. My spouse thinks I should keep it, but I am looking at two operations in my clutch hand and a near future knee replacement. My two wheel days are looking a bit like they are past history, or to be limited in the future at best. I still like the freedom feeling I get on a cycle, even if it seems to have training wheels. I have a GOOD day when I am riding and the Ryker is my GOOD day.
Sorry if I blathered on and on, but it does feel better getting this out. I just hope that others are more alert when it comes to doing business with folks that do not seem to believe in good customer service. The product is great, but the service is wanting. At least in my experience with them. Don't let it stop you from doing business with BRP, just be wary of shoddy business practices.
I sincerely hope that my experience is a rarity, and not the norm. I reiterate that most of the fault is my own doing.

 

[wingit3611]

I went thru a similar purchase of a car on that one year free and then a good interest rate (prime) on the credit card. since it was for a grandson who was making the payment. He was going to take longer than one year. The interest rate was not Prime as in the paper. When I called them I got this answer "We set our own Prime". Not only read it all but also question it all. I payed it off and he payed me back in payments.

 

[KC61]

I always use my Credit Union for vehicles and have the financing arranged before I even go shopping. Dealer financing is always a bad idea. And on a side note, the market is flooded with used Harley's, no one wants them.