Yamaha customer satisfaction surveys

[HaulinAshe]

My point is, what is the sense of having people fill out a customer satisfaction survey if you can't post negative responses without fear of retribution from the dealership?

+1 Gunny!!!

BTDT, Filled out the Yami survey because I was treated with blatant disrespect by the Service Mgr., who at the time, already had my bike in "custody" to finish the warranty work. I know better than to bite the only hand holding my baby from falling.

Got the bike back just before the Yami survey results were returned to the dealer. Next visit buying parts, and every subsequent visit until that guy left, regular comments about how "we wouldn't want anybody to trash us to Yamaha" and such. Made me very bitter toward Yamaha who obviously disclosed my identity to the dealer. Yami survey said nothing about anonymity one way or the other.

My vote is with you Axeman. Yami needs to suck it up and do a better job of compiling and reporting those results, or ditch the survey. In its present form, retribution from the dealer is inevitable.

For those of you preaching about "take it elsewhere"... Please remember that may be a lot easier to do where you live. Yamaha dealerships can be hundreds of miles apart in rural America, especially if you select only the ones that have ever seen/sold an FJR.

 

[BladeRunner]

I basically live out in the middle of nowhere.

I would rather take my bike to D&H and camp out or fly home until it was fixed than take it to a dealer I cannot trust.

You never know about things such as vengeance or vindictiveness.

Being out on the road in the middle of nowhere and have my bike fail me due to "selective" service quality is not an option.

I have seen it (most notably with cars).

I have read about it.

And I will not knowingly provide opportunity for it.

Period.

Dos Centavos por favor.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Honestly, good for you all standing your ground about substandard dealers. I think everyone tries to take a stand for standards.

I do remember vividly my Daddy saying, "Be careful saying what you will NEVER do. Life has a funny way of proving you wrong."

So I'll say that "I avoid substandard dealerships whenever possible. I try NOT to support them. But I have avoided responding to any Yami surveys since being nearly burned by my first one last year."

 

[TechJunkie]

The last time I got a customer satisfaction survey after having my bike serviced I actually took the time to fill out the questioneer and send it back to them. Today I had to call the dealership that I bought the bike from to get them to make a decision on whether my 2nd ignition failure will be covered under the YES warranty or not. In the conversation, the service manager alluded to the fact that the last time they worked on my bike I gave Yamaha such a negative feedback about their shop and their employees that their rating "fell from a nine to an eight" (whatever that means in the whole scheme of things) and implied that their decision may now be affected. I mean WTF is the point of a customer filling out a customer satisfaction survey if they are going to provide the shop with the name, address, and phone number of the responder?? Now I feel like I am going to get blackballed for filling out the form honestly. Wouldn't it make more sense to provide the dealerships with the results of the surveys without throwing the customers under the bus? Am I missing something here?

I have to agree with you 100%. The point is the dealership is making you responsible for giving them a bad review, and seem totally oblivious to the fact that if they had provided the service you expected they would have received a good or possibly a great review. Where does the responsibility lie for customer service and competency? I don't believe the customer is always right, but I do believe that if a dealership strives to provide excellent customer service and competent and skilled repairs, customers do not generally complain very much and it shows in their customer satisfaction surveys. If they don't it should show in their customer satisfaction surveys and dealership management should be worried if they receive negative reviews. They should call the customer and be very proactive in trying to understand what went wrong and why. They may find they could never perform at a level the customer would find acceptable as the customer has unrealistic expectations (No sir I cannot rebuild your bike in two days as it will take a week to get all of the parts). On the other hand the dealership may find that there is a bad apple or apples in the organization that need to be thrown out or retrained.

I can't stand it when a dealership acts like they have you by the gonads and have the power so you had better shape up or they may not help you. If I was in this situation I would NEVER go back until after the problem was fixed by another dealership. I would enjoy my next conversation with the service manager the next time I dropped by for a filter riding my repaired bike!

 

[STC10]

This has turned into a revealing thread. As I stated in previous posts I think alot of the problem is the arrogance caused by the never ending supply of kids buying new bikes and parts to fix the damage from the last "stoppie" that went too far. The car biz has been transformed significantly in the last 10 years due to the internet and the fact that you can pull up any and all info on the car you want to buy including dealer cost. People can (and do) shop entirely online, and only go to the dealer to pick up the car. This has forced many dealers to focus on customer satisfaction to build and keep clientele.

Yamaha is not used to dealing with a "premium" bike. The FJR is only a small % of the total sales for them.And, in a way, they do have many of us by the gonads. Although venting here may bring lively discussion and sympathetic support, I would humbly suggest that the disgruntled send their comments and specific experience ( and perhaps a link to this thread) first to the owner of the dealership and then to Yamaha customer service. (maybe with a sidebar about how close the C-14 has come in recent reviews )

 

[BladeRunner]

I do remember vividly my Daddy saying, "Be careful saying what you will NEVER do. Life has a funny way of proving you wrong."

Hmmm, echoes of my own dad.

Achem, ah, point well taken. :blush2:

I promise to do my best

to do my duty...

Thanks Ashe

 

[phil]

On the other side of the coin, I completed the Yamaha survey last week, and was compelled to mail it along with a letter of commendation for Renton Motorcycles in Renton, WA. They put me in front of a 30-day waiting list for service, because I was broken down 2000 miles from home. No other dealer I contacted in the Pacific Northwest was willing to do the same. Renton had me back on the road in 6 hours! There ARE vast differences in Yamaha dealers. phil

 

[W.M.-Millman]

It's really sad that something like this has to happen. I didn't know the dealer got your name on the survey (although mine was a good experience). I most likely will not fill out a survey again. But I guess you got to look at it this way if I were a dealer and got a bad review I would want proof of it. But like it was stated before, it should be a learning tool, but not when money is involved. It comes down to the almighty dollar.