This whole saga reminds me of a scene from the movie of the late 1980s "Lost In America" where the Tom Hanks character and his wife want out of the California rat race, sell off all their assets, take their $400,000 "nest egg" and a motorhome and hit the road to see America...only the wife loses the whole nut in one night of obsessive gambling in Las Vegas. The Hanks character, formerly employed in an advertising agency, gets a meeting with the casino manager to try to talk him into "giving the money back." It is hilarious, but also so desperate. Hanks feverishly pitches an ad campaign he calls "The Casino With A Heart" where the casino, out of the goodness of its heart and a profound sense of fairness, returns the money to the nice couple, then makes that the linchpin in an ad campaign. Of course, the casino manager listens politely for a bit, then tells him to f**k off.
The difference here is that Yamaha, for $10K or much, much less - not $400,000K, though they act like it - could have become known as "The Motorcycle Company With A Heart" and actually earned all the public relations and customer relations benefits the Hanks character pitched to the casino management.
Unfortunately, it is now seen as the arrogant corporation that cares zip about customers. How many members of this forum? Yamaha could have made a highly positive impression with this important and influential group of customers for about 10¢ each. Someone in that company has blown the whole corporate image thing badly.
, but I will quit bothering the customer service rep and the the local dealer.
