I hope this doesn't turn out to ranty but I've got an issue with the local motorcycle dealers and hope to share my experience.

The first bike I bought was a non running Yamaha YZF600 which needed a lot of work to make street worthy. I started by visiting Mission Motorsports in Mission Viejo, CA and their parts department made me feel like *** for buying a "worthless" bike. Their counter guys gave off the vibe that I was wasting their time since I wasn't buying parts for the latest supersport. Years later, I decided to rebuild my engine and again experienced crap service from those guys. I needed help figuring out which bearing colors I needed to buy and it was obvious that the guy behind the counter had never rebuilt an engine before and knew less about it than I did. I decided to go to Hahm Motorsports in Anaheim which is over 20 miles away. These guys started off well but they've taken a dive as well.

Before my Utah road trip, I stopped in and ordered a sprocket retaining plate for my KLR650. Three days go by so I call them and they say the parts are in. I come and pick it up - not a big deal. A month later, a girl calls and says my part is there and I can come get it. Again, it's not a big deal. Two weeks ago, I went there to buy a water pump gasket. When I walk in, the counter guy and manager were in the process of making fun of a customer because he didn't know what brand quad he was buying parts for, he just knew it was a "1997 Warrior". As I get to the counter, the computers crash and the manager starts freaking out in front of everyone. He begins by sending a most of his staff to lunch and telling them that he doesn't need them there since the computers are down. A few minutes later, he yells out from behind the counter to the customers waiting for the computers to get fixed, "does anyone need help with anything?". Since he didn't address anyone in particular, no one replied. Sarcastically he says, "I'll take that as a no". When the computers come back up, I order the part and bounce. On my way out, he's arguing with another customer about something.

Two weeks have gone by and I haven't received a call about my gasket. I stop by today and there is one customer milling about the showroom and two guys working in the office. The parts area is closed so I ask them if they can unlock it and see if my parts are there. Without looking up from their computers they say its closed. Can't they just help me out by going up and looking in a bin to see if the part I've paid for is there? Again, without looking at me, they say, It's closed and I'll have to come back. I tell them that it's a $5 part that I've paid for, that their customer service sucks, and that I won't come back for the part and that I'll take my business elsewhere. The guy's reaction was that if I didn't get a call, it's because the part isn't there and that I should come back tomorrow.

In this economy, paying customers have a choice when they need to buy something and these two shops have lost sight of this fact. They rant and rave about people who don't support them by buying online. Frankly, I'd rather buy online because I don't have to deal with the counter person telling me what I need when he's never rebuilt an engine, i don't have to deal with poor and untimely communication, I don't have to waste my time driving to the shop twice (once to order, once to pickup), and it's not like the dealer stocks the part I need.

From now on, I'll order OEM parts for my three motorcycles online. The prices are equivalent to "dealer" prices, they notify me of my order status and let me know if a part is going to be on extended back order from the MFG, and shipping is less than what my time and gas is worth.

For the other parts and gear, I'll continue to support the guys at Terra Powersports (near my office in City of Industry) who have gone out of their way to source parts. If they had a tire changing machine, I'd cut the dealership out of all my business.

[/RANT]

 

It seems like it is universal, dealerships are shitty places to conduct business. Seems like the norm.

 

Amen.

Funny thing is, some of the best service I have had getting parts for my Husky is from smaller family owned shops. I still have to order online or over the phone though as none of them are local to me. Most of the factory dealers around here are just as you have experienced which is a shame.

 

I haven't experienced the "look-down-their-nose" attitude at Temple City Powersports. Their staff is pretty knowledgeable and friendly. I used to hate the place because they had a few incompetent employees, but since the place went under new management/owners, it's a lot better.

They're good people to talk to about anything - usually motorcycle related, but not necessarily.

Sorry you've had such bad experiences with your local dealers Duy. You should move to San Gabriel and get some REAL asian cuisine.

 

thankfully, my local dealers are all pretty decent when it comes to the parts department staff. the folks there are knowledgeable and very helpful. one even has a deal where if you order online and pick up in store, you get a 10% discount... which usually makes them very competitive with online retailers once shipping is paid.

for me it comes to buying bikes from them. the local dealer usually wants at least a grand over msrp and, because they are a low volume dealer, they hardly ever negotiate. there is another dealer about 30 miles away that sells A LOT of bikes, and their willingness to negotiate on price reflects that.

 

Sorry about that duy... But To be honest dealerships and indeed parts departments have always been elitist. It's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with less educated and more adrenalin based people.
we're spoiled because we've always had an inside into parts with Honda because of scotty and others, but we're nothing more that another customer to these knuckleheads.

It seems like the only time you are respected is when you are about to buy a new bike.

 

I can say as someone who has worked retail for many years, when people rant, I stop caring.

 

Providing good customer service goes a long way. The couple of dealers up here in SB are pretty lame...it's really hit or miss when it comes to having helpful staff. Santa Barbara Motorsports (local Honda/Yammy dealer) has OK service but they charge an arm and a leg for everything in the store. Kawasaki of SB has a great parts department but I would never recommend anyone buy a bike there.

The best shop in town is Honda of Santa Barbara. The owner Al has been there for somewhere around 40 years and has been riding since the 1930's. The mechanic Jack does amazingly clean work and up until a month ago was only charging $60/hr in labor. You can guess where I bring my business.

 

Its that kind of attitude that pushes consumers to businesses that know what they're doing.

 

Generally, people rant because the service is lousy...

 

That is a pretty ignorant comment.

 

Hate 99.9% of motorcycle dealers and refuse to deal with them. Only had one dealer I trusted though the other one I hated the parts/sales department but service in all honestly tuned my superhawk up great! I typically get stuff from motorcycle race shops and have any work done that I can do there. Aka my bent forks, or getting my suspension built. Everything else I work on myself or order offline from various websites or connections on speedzilla, rogue, wera, etc...

 

same here.

i dont let dealers touch my bikes. order all my parts through my buddies shop who gives me discounts or find deals online.

 

Dealers touch my bike? Hell no. Trusted race shop that I know, yes. But very very few things would I ever have to actually take my bike in to get worked on at this point.

 

Man I am so glad I am not the only one that gets treated like a piece of trash at the dealership. Its not even that hard for the parts dept. I have the freaking part number just order the damn thing!

Sadly the only guy in town that had GREAT customer service is no longer in business. I guess no one wants to buy Hyosung motorcycles.

 

surprisingly the "largest dealer in the midwest" Chicago Cycle (pretty huge showroom) is decent in parts from what I have ordered.

they rip people off in gear and bikes but I dont buy that from them.

I ordered stuff from ron ayaers before and after shipping and the long wait times (1.5 weeks) the part is expensive and wastes my time.

the dealer orders it from kawasaki and they usually air mail is within 2 days and they dont charge extra for shipping.

the kawi distributor is in michigan so not that far from here.


but i ordered a choke lever on thursday evening and just got a call today that its in. would have been sooner if it wasnt the weekend in between.

ron ayers said 5.95, but after shipping would be 13. i paid 7.50 after tax. cheaper and faster to get.

 

I'm not defending some lazy employee-but you always get more flies with honey. Local stealership went out of business here, I think mostly due to slow bikes sales, they were all about paying sticker.

At the end of the day they got your money, so I'm not sure about what you've proved to them. If the parts department is closed thats the way it is, come in when its open. Considering you've seen enough bad service, I can't understand why you ordered it from them. Seems like some gasket paper and razor blade could get the job done for chepaer.

 

WOW.

 

If I wanted flies, I'd just throw down a pile of ****. It works better than honey and is cheaper. The honey didn't work because I didn't want flies, I wanted service. Since all I was getting was flies, I started flinging ****.

 

hahaha

 

Problem is, as soon as a parts guy is knowledgeable enough to know what he's doing, he's too valuable to leave stuck behind a parts counter all day.

Just like anything there's good dealers and bad ones..

 

A couple of you flamed him but he's got a point. I used to work retail too. I understand the "customer is always right" thing, but some people take it to a whole other level.

The local Kawasaki dealer here stopped stocking new units because of the slow economy, you can order whatever you want though.

 

You guys aren't the only ones who've worked retail. I bagged groceries for 5 years between high school and college and some customers were insane but I never "stopped caring". In fact some of the worse customers ended asking for me by name after I figured out what they really needed and made sure they got it before they asked for it.

 

Hope the nurses/doctors at hospitals near you don't have the same mentality as you, cuz karma's a b*tch

 

I've put my time in retail also and I've also done time in private industry and government. Jerks who think they are always right are not exclusive to retail. Also, if a 'customer' has paid for something and, in doing so, indirectly paid your wages (as the rant stated), they have a right to expect service without the attitude. And I still think honey is a less effective way to attract flies, if flies is what you want.