About 4 weeks ago I ordered, from a dealer who shall remain nameless (for now), and innocuous item, a yoke protector, to stop my keyring waering the paint off the top yoke. After being assured it would 'be here Friday, mate. We'll give you a call' I waited until Friday and phoned them. 'Sorry, mate that should definitely have been here. I'll check on Monday and give you a call' No, they didn't. Another week goes by and in getting ready for a fortnight off, I forgot all about it. In the ensuing two weeks I still hear nothing, and then this afternoon, I need to go to Toolstation which just happens to be around the corner from the dealer in question so I nip in, go up to the parts dept and say....'A while ago I ordered a yoke protector for a 2002 FireBlade. I don't suppose it's come in yet?' After a search under the counter a packet is produced and the guy says 'We've had this one here for a while now but it's for a CBR900 2000 to 2004'. Is it me? In isolation things like this are irritating but I'm about to make a third call to the company I bought my snow foam gun from because the fitting has developed a leak and I need to know whether I can replace the fitting or have to buy a new unit. I'm not complaining to them, I'm not asking for anything from them, I've already told them that it's out of warranty, but after promising twice to call me back with the answer, I've heard nothing from them. If I can't get the answer a customer wants I'll let them know. Keeping them in the loop keeps them off your back while you do what they asked you to. It's not rocket science. There. A bit non 'Blade and ranty, but I feel better now.
I think I may have been a bit too specific with the geography. At least I didn't say anything libelous.
You should warn others IMO Ken .. The dealer i bought my bike from treated me like they're best ever customer when i was looking for the bike, they even made me feel extra special after the sale probably knowing i would be back for the run in service but after that when i didn't want to buy a 400.00 alarm of them as i was saving and looking for an exhaust which they did not sell they became really short with me. when i signed the finance papers they told me i would get 20% off any thing i purchased from them for 1 year so i thought i would take advantage of that and save some money on tyres so i ordered a set of Sportsmarts and took my wheels in loose to get them fitted. I reterned on my lunch brake and went to pay the bill which was 285 bucks . 265 for the tyres and 10 per wheel for fitting , I said " oh i have 20% discount as i purchased my bike new here 2 months ago " I was told that i do get 20% but not on tyres , Everything but tyres ? They did not make that very clear and i could of had them fired for 255 at another store . 2 weeks later i called in to buy some oil for the bike and the Separate Honda dealership was empty. I went into they're Suzuki showroom and they said they have lost the dealership from Honda and are now just a Suzuki and Yamaha Dealer. Again this was not made clear , the main reason i purchased from them was because it was local and i wanted all honda stamps in the service book from the Honda dealer i purchased the bike from. No apologies but at least Honda uk sent me a letter to say sorry and gave me a list of the nearest official dealers i could use for servicing . Sorry to rant guys but i just felt a bit used to get rid of the last hondas they had and after i couldn't go back on the deal they didn't give a crap.. Cheers JT's , I feel very supported
I must admit, the people I had my little whinge about have an excellent reputation around here and although I never bought a bike from them I always went there for my Ducati. Now I know I expected to pay big bills for this bike but they once had it for a month tracing a misfire and I only ever got an update from them by phoning them and asking what was happening. In the end it turned out to be an o ring in the carb, which took another fortnight to turn up (bear in mind that there is a Partco almost opposite them, how specialised can an o ring be). I then had a bill for nearly £400. I'm not doing the '£400 for an o ring' rant here because I know there's more to it than that, but it was moderately hard to take on the chin. They had it for another three weeks for a fork seal and so after today, good reputation or not, I decided that dealing with them hasn't been worth it. On the other hand, a quite prestigious dealer about 100 yards down the same road as them (Andy's not even going to break into a sweat working that one out), the people, in fact that I did buy my 'Blade from, suffer from one of those 'Buy your bike there but don't go back there' reps have, so far been as good as gold. I pitched up there to one of their 'bike nights' not so long ago and it was packed. I was in the car so there was no chance of them recognising the FireBlade. The salesman that sold me the bike found me in the crowd, slapped me on the back, called me by my first name and asked if I'd put the Akro can on the bike yet. I know it's only a little thing but it makes you feel just a little bit special to be remembered. Not difficult, is it.
its the little things that count mate. In work my colleagues spot the people that come in regular but never buy and choose to ignore them as they see it as a dead sales pitch and therefore avoid these people. One thing i like about working in sales is that I'm talking to people all day and i have made some great contacts over the time iv been doing it for all types of things so when customers come in i make eye contact , Greet them and ask if they are ok? need help? or point out the latest tech we have had from Apple and have a little chat, A few customers i am on first name terms with and even thou they where not buying the first 3 or 4 times they came in , i was showing them the latest upgrades , making rapport with them and then after a few visits they 9 times out of 10 head for the familiar face being me and say " iv done my research , i love what you showed me last week and can i have that 2 grand laptop lol It may sound cheesy but i do have the highest sales figures in our store and it is only me and the manager that work this way but it is also only us that get emails to head office complimenting on how well the customer was looked after when they came in to purchase they're machine. After 3 years working there i regulary get customers coming in and asking " who is daniel as my brother/sister or friend etc said you would sort me out" Word of mouth keeps a business going in my area and if customers left unhappy then they would not tell they're friends and family and we would not be making much business
Kpone, I knew it was sp a mile off! Don't get me wrong I've brought 3 bikes from there. They are all good as gold, give you a good price for your trade in etc, BUT they are a bit devon! It takes a while sometimes for them to order stuff etc, But i have always had great service from them. At Bridge I find them not so friendly and a bit corporate, But thats just me! I have brought gear from them but no bike. I just get on with the guys at sp better.................
You've hit the nail right on the head mate, they are great guy's. My problem is that in my dealings with them I've always been just that bit let down by the experience. It's like having a favourite route but you keep getting caught in the traffic. After a while you just start to avoid it. I think my biggest issue is not being kept in the loop. I'm in the service industry myself and I know that the best way to keep the punter happy, and therefore off your back, is to keep them informed. Even if it's bad news, it stops them fretting. It's not much, and it would certainly stop me wandering down the road.
