dirkterrell
Fri Feb 16th, 2007, 11:05 AM
I have been following the thread/poll on various area dealerships and had an experience at the Colorado Powersports Boulder (henceforth CPB) location yesterday that you all might be interested in. First, some background on myself. I've been riding since 1984 when I bought a 500 Interceptor new. I still have the bike and it is in great shape. Over the years, I have added other bikes to the collection. I take care of my stuff.
Last year at the end of May, I saw a 2005 20th anniversary edition GSX-R 750 on the floor at CPB and I really liked the paint scheme on it. I didn't have to be sold on the capability of the machine itself. I hadn't bought a new bike since the 500 Interceptor and I decided that it was time I rewarded myself with a new toy. Negotiated a good price and took it home. Road it the rest of the summer, even riding it to work several times per week. When the weather turned colder in November, I wasn't riding it to work as much (but I was riding it every weekend) and one week went by when I didn't ride it at all during the week. I went to start it on the weekend and the battery was obviously discharged. At first I thought maybe something was draining it. I charged it back up but I could only get it to crank a couple of times before it was too weak. So, I stopped in at CPB and talked to Aaron (service manager) about it. He said that manufacturers claimed that if you went a week or more without riding or charging, that the battery would do that. I was incredulous because I've had bikes for quite a while and I have never had a problem with a battery because I didn't ride the bike for a week. But I took his advice and left it on the charger all the time (it charges periodically). The battery just got worse and worse until last weekend when I took it off the charger and it wouldn't crank at all.
So, I took the battery in on Saturday and Aaron said they'd put it on their charger and check it out. Went back yesterday after work to pick it up. I went back to the service desk and stood there for at least ten minutes in plain site of at least two people. Finally Ace happened to come by and see me there. He obviously knew that I had been there a while because he made a kurt comment to the two people that should have assisted me when I walked up about their lack of attention to a customer. One of those two made a comment to him that I couldn't quite make out but it was obviously counter to his correct assertion that they weren't doing their job. I talked to Ace about the battery and he said that Suzuki wouldn't cover it and I needed to buy a new one. I thanked him and proceeded to talk to the manager, Kurt Finley.
I told Kurt that I thought I was being fed, and I quote, "a load of horseshit" from the service guys for telling me that a battery could fail catastrophically if I didn't ride the bike one week or if I only rode 40 minutes a day to and from work. Now, I may have a bit of a southern accent (grew up in South Carolina) but I didn't just fall off the turnip truck as we say back there. For the record, I have had a grand total of three different batteries in the 500 over the 23 years I've had it. Kurt explained the situation with batteries and that Suzuki wouldn't replace it, so a new battery would mean that either he paid for it or I did. My response was that I had laid down $10K for a bike from him and less than 6 months later the battery failed. And that in December, I had just bought another brand new bike (the new Interceptor). In the last nine months I've spent about $25K there. He offered to split the price. I declined, stating that on principle he needed to take care of this. I don't care what Suzuki's policy is. I bought the bike from CPB, not Suzuki. That battery was defective and I was a good customer asking him to do the right thing.
To his credit, he agreed to give me the battery. He is out the cost of a battery but by doing the right thing, I will remain a customer (assuming I don't have to wait ten minutes at an empty counter everytime I come in) and it is a good business decision for him. I am a big believer in supporting the local businesses and I am happy to pay a little more for things if I have a shop I can go to and be treated right. I am disappointed that it was such a struggle for a manager/owner to do the right thing for a good customer who had a legitimate complaint. As a former business owner who started, built, and eventually sold a business for which customer service was the yardstick of success, perhaps I am a bit spoiled. But I don't think so. I'll give them the opportunity to have my business. Let's see how they do.
Dirk
Last year at the end of May, I saw a 2005 20th anniversary edition GSX-R 750 on the floor at CPB and I really liked the paint scheme on it. I didn't have to be sold on the capability of the machine itself. I hadn't bought a new bike since the 500 Interceptor and I decided that it was time I rewarded myself with a new toy. Negotiated a good price and took it home. Road it the rest of the summer, even riding it to work several times per week. When the weather turned colder in November, I wasn't riding it to work as much (but I was riding it every weekend) and one week went by when I didn't ride it at all during the week. I went to start it on the weekend and the battery was obviously discharged. At first I thought maybe something was draining it. I charged it back up but I could only get it to crank a couple of times before it was too weak. So, I stopped in at CPB and talked to Aaron (service manager) about it. He said that manufacturers claimed that if you went a week or more without riding or charging, that the battery would do that. I was incredulous because I've had bikes for quite a while and I have never had a problem with a battery because I didn't ride the bike for a week. But I took his advice and left it on the charger all the time (it charges periodically). The battery just got worse and worse until last weekend when I took it off the charger and it wouldn't crank at all.
So, I took the battery in on Saturday and Aaron said they'd put it on their charger and check it out. Went back yesterday after work to pick it up. I went back to the service desk and stood there for at least ten minutes in plain site of at least two people. Finally Ace happened to come by and see me there. He obviously knew that I had been there a while because he made a kurt comment to the two people that should have assisted me when I walked up about their lack of attention to a customer. One of those two made a comment to him that I couldn't quite make out but it was obviously counter to his correct assertion that they weren't doing their job. I talked to Ace about the battery and he said that Suzuki wouldn't cover it and I needed to buy a new one. I thanked him and proceeded to talk to the manager, Kurt Finley.
I told Kurt that I thought I was being fed, and I quote, "a load of horseshit" from the service guys for telling me that a battery could fail catastrophically if I didn't ride the bike one week or if I only rode 40 minutes a day to and from work. Now, I may have a bit of a southern accent (grew up in South Carolina) but I didn't just fall off the turnip truck as we say back there. For the record, I have had a grand total of three different batteries in the 500 over the 23 years I've had it. Kurt explained the situation with batteries and that Suzuki wouldn't replace it, so a new battery would mean that either he paid for it or I did. My response was that I had laid down $10K for a bike from him and less than 6 months later the battery failed. And that in December, I had just bought another brand new bike (the new Interceptor). In the last nine months I've spent about $25K there. He offered to split the price. I declined, stating that on principle he needed to take care of this. I don't care what Suzuki's policy is. I bought the bike from CPB, not Suzuki. That battery was defective and I was a good customer asking him to do the right thing.
To his credit, he agreed to give me the battery. He is out the cost of a battery but by doing the right thing, I will remain a customer (assuming I don't have to wait ten minutes at an empty counter everytime I come in) and it is a good business decision for him. I am a big believer in supporting the local businesses and I am happy to pay a little more for things if I have a shop I can go to and be treated right. I am disappointed that it was such a struggle for a manager/owner to do the right thing for a good customer who had a legitimate complaint. As a former business owner who started, built, and eventually sold a business for which customer service was the yardstick of success, perhaps I am a bit spoiled. But I don't think so. I'll give them the opportunity to have my business. Let's see how they do.
Dirk