Unfortunately, the issue might be that warranty work is done under the expert review of Yamaha so there is little opportunity to get creative with charges as opposed to unwarranted service work for trusting customers who have little choice but to believe them about what needs to be done. Its cynical, I know, but dealer service in the motorcycle industry has a pretty scummy reputatoin.Or am I out to lunch?
That's what I don't get about these so called extended warranties (and f you think the discussion is heated here where we're just talking about Yamaha's EW, you should check out the EW boards over at Edmunds.com!), Yamaha is going to pay them for doing the warranty work, so wouldn't it be better to encourage the customer to take as long a warranty as possible?
If a four year EW is going to guarantee that a customer is going to take their bike in to the dealer to get the warranty work done (instead of the job being a DIYer because the warranty has expired, where they may not even get to sell the replacement part), meaning that the dealer is going to have a more reliable/predictable customer base (read income), then why wouldn't they want to sell these EWs as inexpensively as possible? I mean, it seems to me that by insisting on this huge mark-up (for something that customers are leery about buying in the first place) and not budging, they might as well be telling customers to not buy it and learn to do the repairs themselves (or take it to one of those cut-rate driveway mechanics) instead of them.
I admit I'm rather clueless when it comes to marketing and managing a motorcycle dealership, so correct me if I'm wrong...If it were my dealership I'd want to do everything I could to get the customer to come back - after the purchase and for many years after that - even if the customer just brings the bike in for a diagnostic and it turns out to not be covered by warranty so they don't want me to do the repair, at least they've come in, I might have made a couple of bucks if the diagnostic was one of those particularly time consuming jobs and the customer knew up-front that for that kind of service there'd have to be some charge, I'd had a chance to further/maintain a good-will relationship with the customer, maybe the customer buys some accessory or gives the sales staff a chance to show off the next potential buy, and maybe goes ahead and authorizes the repair since the bike is already there.
But the way it is now: I'm going to charge you a 100% mark-up for processing the paperwork for something you may never use and I really don't care if you bring the bike back once the factory warranty runs out - I'm not going to lift a finger to encourage you to give me the business instead of doing it yourself for less...it just doesn't make sense to my simple mind.
Or am I out to lunch?
I believe warranty work is billed to Yamaha on a "book rate". While I'm not a dealer, I have had the chance to browse a number of manufacturers warranty books and cannot believe how short the allowable time is for some of the tasks. I have a hard time believing that a dealer makes any money on warranty work...unless they cheat the paperwork and add a bunch of stuff that they really did not do. I have witnessed "doctored" work orders in the past.
The high price paid up front might be the only profit a dealer makes on an EW...that's the dealer's issue with Yamaha...not the consumer.
PTP
Twas nutn, picky. B) Up for a victory lap on Daytona Beach 1A as soon as I'm back in Fl? Have to hit the "First Turn" (not sure of the name - uh Last Turn?) for a bite to eat, music and a view of the big pond.
It may indeed be the dealer's issue with Yamaha - the issue being the time allowed for jobs. But even if Yamaha doesn't allocate enough time, the point still is that if the bike isn't under warranty the customer may do the job themselves, so the dealer doesn't even make what Yamaha would pay them. Unless you're saying that dealers actually lose money when doing warranty work because of insufficient time allowed by Yamaha, which would make me wonder then why they'd even sell an extended warranty - they'd be increasing their liability to lose money, and I'm sure there'd be a lot more dealers refusing to do work on bikes they didn't sell.That's what I don't get about these so called extended warranties (and f you think the discussion is heated here where we're just talking about Yamaha's EW, you should check out the EW boards over at Edmunds.com!), Yamaha is going to pay them for doing the warranty work, so wouldn't it be better to encourage the customer to take as long a warranty as possible?
If a four year EW is going to guarantee that a customer is going to take their bike in to the dealer to get the warranty work done (instead of the job being a DIYer because the warranty has expired, where they may not even get to sell the replacement part), meaning that the dealer is going to have a more reliable/predictable customer base (read income), then why wouldn't they want to sell these EWs as inexpensively as possible? I mean, it seems to me that by insisting on this huge mark-up (for something that customers are leery about buying in the first place) and not budging, they might as well be telling customers to not buy it and learn to do the repairs themselves (or take it to one of those cut-rate driveway mechanics) instead of them.
I admit I'm rather clueless when it comes to marketing and managing a motorcycle dealership, so correct me if I'm wrong...If it were my dealership I'd want to do everything I could to get the customer to come back - after the purchase and for many years after that - even if the customer just brings the bike in for a diagnostic and it turns out to not be covered by warranty so they don't want me to do the repair, at least they've come in, I might have made a couple of bucks if the diagnostic was one of those particularly time consuming jobs and the customer knew up-front that for that kind of service there'd have to be some charge, I'd had a chance to further/maintain a good-will relationship with the customer, maybe the customer buys some accessory or gives the sales staff a chance to show off the next potential buy, and maybe goes ahead and authorizes the repair since the bike is already there.
But the way it is now: I'm going to charge you a 100% mark-up for processing the paperwork for something you may never use and I really don't care if you bring the bike back once the factory warranty runs out - I'm not going to lift a finger to encourage you to give me the business instead of doing it yourself for less...it just doesn't make sense to my simple mind.
Or am I out to lunch?
I believe warranty work is billed to Yamaha on a "book rate". While I'm not a dealer, I have had the chance to browse a number of manufacturers warranty books and cannot believe how short the allowable time is for some of the tasks. I have a hard time believing that a dealer makes any money on warranty work...unless they cheat the paperwork and add a bunch of stuff that they really did not do. I have witnessed "doctored" work orders in the past.
The high price paid up front might be the only profit a dealer makes on an EW...that's the dealer's issue with Yamaha...not the consumer.
PTP
