If you mean Fowlups then no I wouldn't buy from there. Every time I went in there they were more interested in pushing finance then finding out what I wanted/liked. Besides that I have never heard anyone say they got a good deal or felt good about buying from them. Even know people go to Gloucester and Swindon for test rides etc to avoid dealing with them.
If you're buying a new bike surely it's better to go with the best price. As you'll have a manufacturers warranty what's more important is how good the workshop and service staff are rather than the sales staff. I bought my blade new from doble honda nearly 500 miles from me as the salesman at my local dealer promised to knock a bit off then threw some monthly figures at me,and when i sat down at home and worked it out he hadn't taken a penny off. I still use the dealer tho as i find the parts and workshop staff very friendly and knowledgable,and when the time comes for another new bike i will give them a second chance at a price.
I'm not local to Exeter so not going to say any more but understand the reason for going for the best deal which others have suggested. Thing is the local dealer to me has not given me the best deal on the last 2 bikes I've looked at getting from them. So it was more about do I even bother to try them to see if they can give me a good deal WIth the blade it's never gone back to Honda as I've used JHS racing and never had a issue about their service to me. OK their may be a few places that may beat them by a little £ for servicing etc... but as I get a good service thats why I use them for this
I fully understand how they have got to meet margins etc... for making a business run. But this dealer in question I visited with Denzil last year. he had the cash in his back pocket to buy a bike outright there and then and no one was interested in spending the time with him to give any info or help him out. We pretty much got a reply similar to " the price of the bikes are the price, if you can't pay that you don't get the bikes you want". So He bough elsewhere. It's good to haggle and I have had quite a bit of experience over the past 15 years buying cars with family members and also bikes for myself. You get a feeling before buying how it's often going to end Another example was our GT86 Salesperson was great and helpful but for the first time we took up finance as we got another 1k off plus leather seats and a few extras. I explained this was out first time taking finance up but did my home work beforehand. I was amazed how many times the finance guy lied and said I had to keep the finance going. then get call's to try and say we has not agreed upon leather which was £1600 extra. how it would be a 3 month wait if we wanted leather. etc... I explained to the sales guy and finance guy straight that the "keeping the finance going was illegal (against rules) to say to people as they could pay it straight off. Amazing how people back down when they know they have been caught I stuck to my guns and said I either get what I agreed with the sales gun or I get my money back and go elsewhere. Strange but I got the car within a week. And what We agreed upon with the sales guy. Another reason why the car will not be going back to that dealership. But going to take it to another I know of. How many people have kept finance going because they was not aware or had been lied to. But I digress. Everyone has their own feelings about dealerships but this was more about, do I waste my time even bothering with places I have had bad experience with. then again you will only know if you have a good deal if you shop about
There's a fine line, Rich. I admit, I struggle with it as at heart I'm not a people person... I sell, relatively technical kit, but also offer a service using the same kit. We usually offer delivery of the kit, installation, commissioning and training in said kit as part of the purchase price. Which I think is a pretty good deal, especially as the the nature of the product means that, at least half of it is bought by those with a limited understanding of it's operation and showing them how to use it correctly means one less client for my printing operation. This doesn't protect me from being price compared. Far from it, and I'm frequently confronted with, 'I can get the same media shipped from China for half that, and it'll still get here in the same time'. It's the way of the world that we are all more savvy when it comes to nailing the deal these days, and I'm not going to complain about my lot within these hallowed pages, it's way too inflammable to these days, but I do spend a lot of time pondering how much longer I'm going to want to make a single figure margin on a deal and still spend well outside the lifetime expectancy of the equipment providing free support for it. But that's just me.
Depends upon your view of a good deal, mine is that top line price isn't the only thing to consider. Does make my chuckle that people think driving every last penny of profit from the seller is going to encourage them to provide a top service- Good service costs money, businesses are designed to make money. Would I spend two hours with a customer who's telling me they can save £10 down the road, probably not. My wife was telling me last night about her friend who phoned a dealers service department to see how she could save by supplying her own oil for the service, £8 and she did. It wasn't better oil (which I could understand)- £8, WTF surely your times worth more than that! I like a deal, but don't let it consume my life as next week there's bound to be another better one that's come along. Would I buy from a dealer I didn't like, depends how big the receptionists bangers are.
We've struggled with this for many years. For most of the noughties, refineries were starting to buy more and more Chinese and Indian material, attracted by the significantly lower prices. It seems now though, that the tide has turned somewhat. People have wised up to the fact that metal specifications allow for a fair amount of wiggle. You can get tubes manufactured in India that meet the spec and then get the same tubes manufactured in Sweden and what you end up with bear very little resemblance to each other. Refineries assumed that they'd get Western European quality with the Chinese price but were often shocked by what turned up on site (if indeed it did turn up on site at anything like the agreed delivery date). Seems like the word is out now. Most of the enquiries we get these days are plastered with the words, "All material must be supplied from Western Europe, USA or Japan"
If their not helpful when selling the bike, what chance is there of them being helpful with a warranty claim. I bought mine secondhand from a dealer in North London, he used to own the big bike shop up Edgware rd, City's I think. Bought it and said he would put 12 months mot on it but said come back in 6 months and he would start it then, hadn't passed my test when I bought bike so started Warranty when I passed 3 months later. Battery wouldn't hold charge, told me to by one save travelling back to him and send invoice, told him I went for a dearer Lithium Ion one so I would go half with him, he just send me a cheque for the full amount, nice genuine bloke and his son too who worked there, rather deal with helpful nice people, if you let people run their business like that and still trade they won't change until their till stops ringing. Think he sells Yamaha. Wouldnt have my daughter talk to me or treatment me like that so why should I let a profiting company .
It's part of the message that's been hammered home to consumers by all and sundry in the media over the last 15 years. Back when money was pretty tight when I was younger I used to always try to search out the very best deal on absolutely everything and almost always ended with sh*tty service or a half-arsed job. I read an article about Hotels, recently. It said that if you book through price comparison sites or sites like Expedia to get the cheapest price then they'll likely stick you in the worst rooms. If you want good rooms then book direct with the hotel and pay full price. Like when I went on holiday recently. I was tipping the bar staff and waiters like a Rockefeller, even though I am most decidedly not , and dealt directly with the hotel to book the room and what a difference it made. We got a great room looking out to sea and the staff were brilliant. Smiling, happy and very attentive.
I recently bought a new bike. Found the cheapest deal ib the country, went down to thunderroad and asked then to match it which they did. I would pay extra to bit local. If the bike broke then it's only a short trip.
Don't worry it's not all bad. Cheap bikes discount parts tyres trade accessories, freebies from reps free tickets to NEC/Excel/BSB, trade shows, access to demo bikes for the weekend. Visits to factories/suppliers, access to full fitted workshops, need something when the shops shut just open up. MOT what's one of them. You mean you 'pay' for a service! Helping out forum members with info and some (you know who you are) with a good deals, but others won't find that out. It's not all dealing with idiots who think they know best ( thrown in to suggest a joke, it's not )
So because I seek the best deal I can find I am an "idiot", you have just confirmed what I already thought about sales bods! The "proper job" remark was totally tongue in cheek.
I bought my Blade at thunderroad after my mate in newport pointed me that way. They gave me a good Part Ex on my Speed Triple and I was very pleased dealing with them
I'm afraid I agree with those that think salesmen are only interested in you if they think they are in with a chance of a sale. Try going into the dealer a few weeks after your purchase, the salesperson might give you a courtesy glance or maybe even a "all right?" But the interest is total superficial. If they don't see £££££ when they look at you they won't look at you again. I know there maybe a few exceptions but that's my experience, be it bikes, cars, insurance, pensions even recruitment agencies.
Speak as I find, as soon as the guy who sold me my bike clocks me, he offers me a coffee and a chat. Every time. He's sold my mate two brand new bikes and he's the same. My main dealer has serviced and MOT'd my bike on a Saturday morning at two days notice, and done it while I wait, keeping my mug filled while I do and they've volunteered to keep my bike in storage for a fortnight, no charge, when I've struggled to collect it after they've been working on it before I flew out on holiday. Yes, and it is Bridge. Ive yet been given reason to grumble about them, and before someone says 'give it time', the first bike I bought from them was in 1978. So far so good. It's down to the dude behind the desk. All generalisations are untrue, including this one.
