raclow
Well-known member
A few weekends ago, myself, my wife and another couple had gone to a restaurant to eat breakfast near this dealer and as we were leaving we had to pass by this dealers business. Our friends and my wife are looking for a bike and they wanted to stop in and see what was in stock. I had talked with the owner of this dealership before I made my purchase of a very little used FJR out of Minnesota, a 2005 with 129 miles and I purchased it in October of 2005. The reason for prior conversations with this dealer was because he had a customer trying to sell a 2005 FJR in the area. Remember, there was a time you had to order these bikes and I had a decision to make...get on the list or find another bike.
As we walked into the store, my wife and friends took off to look at bikes and I thought I would introduce myself to the owner because he had tried to help me in the past. During some brief conversation, after the introduction, I happened to mention the recall on the TPS. This is were it all went south from there. He went into this fit about how he didn't want my warranty work and how Yamaha didn't pay enough for the time involved to do warranty and by the time they got finished with completing the warranty they were at half the rate Yamaha paid them to do the job. I continued to listen to him explain his Yamaha problems to me, which had NOTHING to do with me. These were issues he needed to take up with Yamaha. On top of this, I only asked him if he was getting many recalls into his shop for the TPS. I wasn't going to bring my bike to him for the recall and had already arranged my recall with a closer dealer which has NO problem taking care of me...RICHARD's Honda/Yamaha in Little Rock, AR.
This dealer went on to tell me that he didn't come out on warranty on the bikes he actually sold and that he did the warranty as a service because he made money on the original sale of the bike. I was floored that he would light into me about his personal problems with warranty and Yamaha. After he finally shut up, I looked at him and asked him "If he knew what he had just done? Did he really understand how he had just turned me off to his dealership, him as a person and SO CALLED business person?" His response was " I didn't PR you right". My response "I have my wife and two other potential customers with me. They WERE looking at bikes but with all of his ranting they stopped to listen to him make an *** out of him self". There could be several reasons for his problems like...under qualified technicians, lazy, or continuing education on the product. No matter what the issues are....We didn't need to hear them. Without going into this further... think about the rep that calls, or doesn't call, on this dealer. Maybe he could help them.
Here is my moral of the story....Be careful out there with the dealers you do business with. Some of me can understand where this guy is coming from. These dealers make most of their living from the selling of new units. Warranty is a service they provide and thank GOD they do. Some dealers, like this one, may not be willing to help you if you didn't purchase your bike from them originally. I understand all of us are looking for the best deal possible for our money, including the dealers when they make a purchase, and that is why we might go to other dealers, outside our areas, to get a great deal just to be faced with a dealer issue like the one I have explained.
Yes, there are great dealers in your area that will probably help you with your warranty issues even if they didn't make the original sale of the bike. For those dealers......THANK YOU FOR CARING ABOUT BUSINESS, present and future. See, since I made my bike purchase I have purchased four riding jackets, two pairs of gloves, and all maintenance items from Richard's Honda/Yamaha. I know the margin on textiles and service items is far better than the margin on a new unit. The number isn't as great because of the price point but the margin points are greater.
This is for the dealers, if you know a local person is leaving your area to purchase the same bike you have on the floor....match the other dealers price. This keeps your local customer close to you to make additional purchases. Don't think that the dealer this person is going to isn't going to try and sell them everthing they can while they have them in their business....jackets, helments, gloves, extended warranty, top case,.....you know the drill.
I hope none of you have to go through this type of experience and consider it when making your purchase.
As we walked into the store, my wife and friends took off to look at bikes and I thought I would introduce myself to the owner because he had tried to help me in the past. During some brief conversation, after the introduction, I happened to mention the recall on the TPS. This is were it all went south from there. He went into this fit about how he didn't want my warranty work and how Yamaha didn't pay enough for the time involved to do warranty and by the time they got finished with completing the warranty they were at half the rate Yamaha paid them to do the job. I continued to listen to him explain his Yamaha problems to me, which had NOTHING to do with me. These were issues he needed to take up with Yamaha. On top of this, I only asked him if he was getting many recalls into his shop for the TPS. I wasn't going to bring my bike to him for the recall and had already arranged my recall with a closer dealer which has NO problem taking care of me...RICHARD's Honda/Yamaha in Little Rock, AR.
This dealer went on to tell me that he didn't come out on warranty on the bikes he actually sold and that he did the warranty as a service because he made money on the original sale of the bike. I was floored that he would light into me about his personal problems with warranty and Yamaha. After he finally shut up, I looked at him and asked him "If he knew what he had just done? Did he really understand how he had just turned me off to his dealership, him as a person and SO CALLED business person?" His response was " I didn't PR you right". My response "I have my wife and two other potential customers with me. They WERE looking at bikes but with all of his ranting they stopped to listen to him make an *** out of him self". There could be several reasons for his problems like...under qualified technicians, lazy, or continuing education on the product. No matter what the issues are....We didn't need to hear them. Without going into this further... think about the rep that calls, or doesn't call, on this dealer. Maybe he could help them.
Here is my moral of the story....Be careful out there with the dealers you do business with. Some of me can understand where this guy is coming from. These dealers make most of their living from the selling of new units. Warranty is a service they provide and thank GOD they do. Some dealers, like this one, may not be willing to help you if you didn't purchase your bike from them originally. I understand all of us are looking for the best deal possible for our money, including the dealers when they make a purchase, and that is why we might go to other dealers, outside our areas, to get a great deal just to be faced with a dealer issue like the one I have explained.
Yes, there are great dealers in your area that will probably help you with your warranty issues even if they didn't make the original sale of the bike. For those dealers......THANK YOU FOR CARING ABOUT BUSINESS, present and future. See, since I made my bike purchase I have purchased four riding jackets, two pairs of gloves, and all maintenance items from Richard's Honda/Yamaha. I know the margin on textiles and service items is far better than the margin on a new unit. The number isn't as great because of the price point but the margin points are greater.
This is for the dealers, if you know a local person is leaving your area to purchase the same bike you have on the floor....match the other dealers price. This keeps your local customer close to you to make additional purchases. Don't think that the dealer this person is going to isn't going to try and sell them everthing they can while they have them in their business....jackets, helments, gloves, extended warranty, top case,.....you know the drill.
I hope none of you have to go through this type of experience and consider it when making your purchase.
