Nick, at Faster Motorsports -Denver.

[~Barn~]

I don't disagree. But like I told F2, if you're going to call out a business in public, and they return the effort, asking you to contact them to work towards a resolution, you can't turn around and dismiss it, and go on to nit-pick about how entitled you think you are!

Like he said himself, if they wanted to call him they could (and still can). And in turn, if all he wanted to do was blast, he could have called them directly!

It's like men and women.... Wives shouldn't talk to their husbands about a problem they're having, unless they want to hear a solution. If you're waxing about a problem, because you just want us to listen to it, go call your sister. We're watching the game.

[brian38]

Wow....... the insanity of it all.

Fugg it, I'll throw in my $0.02.

Faster has been bagged on lately for poor service especially for regular old street customers and obviously prioritizing their racing business. I personally don't know how deeply into racing Faster is, but from a number of comments that have been made it's obvious that racing/supporting racing/etc. is their number one priority.

As a non-racer I would never take my bike to Faster as I can see that I would definitely be second fiddle to any race emergency that came up. Nick's comment from the first post alone is totally inappropriate from a business owner. He just told a customer that received poor service "Sorry kid, but we got more important shit than you, so don't expect a quick resolution to your problem." From a business standpoint that is 100% wrong! You NEVER, EVER blatently tell your customer that their satisfaction is NOT your #1 priority.

Here's what the folks at Faster have to realize. I have never been a customer of theirs (not for any particular reason, just no need yet), but because of this wonderful thing called the internet I have now formed an opinion (see above) and made a decision about giving them my money. If I ever get into racing, I might sing a different tune.

Don't get me wrong, I realize Faster has always been very supportive of the CSC and the MRA and I think that is awesome and they should be commended for it.

However, they are still responsible for basic business etiquette. All that support shit goes out the window when you ask for a $1000 check from me and don't take care of me as a customer.

For the record I agree 100%!!!

A race weekend is never an excuse to put a customer off.

We support both sides of the motorcycle community and need to take care of all our customers equally. Our roots are in the racing community but our home is on the street. We squeeze in customers from both sides of the fence on a daily basis to try to help out any of our customers in a bind. With that being said, we and I personally appreciate the feedback. Yes, we have already had a meeting to discuss this and are taking steps to improve ourselves in the future. I can't change the past or make it all better with the wave of my wand wish I could. What I can do is take these situations as a learning experiences and try to get better.

We won't learn or improve from our success only our failures.

Thanks again!

Brian

[Dr. Joe Siphek]

I think this is funny...we are talking about a friend of CycleMonkey...he's gotta be a DB.

CM probably talked him into buying a Gixx1K cause they are superior.

[rforsythe]

whiffle dick

Back on topic, I don't know what did or didn't go down to set this off other than what has been posted, but I also know emotions can color any situation. It's possible that Nick had his customer service panties in a bind that day, or that Frank was a little sticker-shocked at the cost. I don't have a penchant for anyone's cock down at Faster but (disclaimer time) they have sponsored both I and this club for a while (including back when they were TK). I've known Brian (and Bart) for several years now, and to a lesser extent the rest of the people at Faster, and Brian has /always/ tried to make things right for customers when things weren't ideal.

This whole thread kinda went downhill quickly, but the fact remains that they're trying to open up some communication and do what it takes. I don't know what their internal meeting consisted of, but I highly doubt it was "hey dude that was sweet, see if you can piss off two in a row next time". More than likely this will remain an isolated incident, just based on what I know of them personally.

Frank, at least give Brian a call and talk about it. You won't know anything until you at least take that step. Keep it human.

[~Barn~]

Keep it human.

[ihavealegohead]

Seems to me that the people who race and/or have a good longer term relationship with Faster love the place to kittens...

And those who don't have a relationship, well perhaps they get the shaft?

Idano, call me an ignoramus (but don't say I suck cock cuz that's rude), but I think he has some right to be a little upset... it wasn't like they just forgot to tighten down his seat..

[Mother Goose]

Idano, call me an ignoramus (but don't say I suck cock cuz that's rude), but I think he has some right to be a little upset... it wasn't like they just forgot to tighten down his seat..

Only DK will say you suck cock, but that's just because he's hoping everyone will be like him and do it like he wants to to MOTHERFUCKINJOHNNYROCKPAGEFORTHEMOTHERFUCKINSUCKIN HISCOCKWIN!!!!!11111

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Doesn't it always go this way, though?!?

Someone gets dealt a bad hand, they express their displeasure to the service provider and nothing gets done.

The disgruntled customer posts on-line, and the service provider acknowledges the disgruntled customers complaint.

Why does it even have to get to that part?!?!?! Do it right the first time!!!!

I run my own business and am embarrassed if I have to "fix" something!!

That's EXACTLY the point frank2 was trying to make. The guys knew there was a problem with the service, that could have resulted in the total lunching of the guys motor from sucking dirt/debris thru the loose intake connections, nothing gets done about it, and it's only when the gripe gets thrown on the internet (that Al Gore invented, remember?) that someone actually cares about making the guy happy? He spent hours putting everything right, and should charge them a couple hours labor at $80/per.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

There are usually two sides to the story. I wonder what kind of customer Frank2 really was.

A very thorough one. I saw the well-written list of data he gave them prior to service, with specific requests, and most were NOT met. AND all this stuff was put back together poorly, AND they denied that there was a problem.

[frank2]

Apparently this has struck a nerve with the group. I posted my distaste with this incident, and felt the lack of communication, between Faster and myself, was weak. Every thing I posted was true. With a witness, if needed. I received a call from Brian, at Faster, today. The only thing I wanted from the start. Communication. He is a very nice and sensible guy. I like him. He asked what he could do to make it right? We came to an agreement. I must admit, I think this has exploded into something quite big. Don't know why or care. I justed wanted someone to admit their fault. Guess this has been done. Now my substance as a person and a customer has come into question. Whatever! Thanks for the input.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I want to first question the credibility of frank2. You say that Nick made a statement "He said, don't forget it's a race weekend." So, I have to ask, what race weekend are you refering to?

I am a sponsored Faster Motosports rider, so take this for what its worth. First of all, there is NO MRA RACE coming up until September 6th. I dont understand how he would blow you off saying its a race weekend, when its not. Another thing, with the maturity that frank2 has expressed thus far, I question really how the conversations there went down. Honestly it seems like he is more interested in bitching behind their backs, rather then getting his bike fixed. Here is Brian, a VERY stand-up guy who does back up his shop, offering to fix things. Take him up on the offer and get your bike fixed. Or if you just want to bitch, then I guess you have succeeded there.

frank2 is a stand-up guy. One of the most to me over the years. And I personally saw the extremely shoddy work. They're your sponsor? 'Nuff said.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I think this is funny...we are talking about a friend of CycleMonkey...he's gotta be a DB.

CM probably talked him into buying a Gixx1K cause they are superior.

What's a DB? Drinking buddy?

I would have, but he already KNEW the Mighty Gixxers were superior!

[Repsol a095]

I've been debating about whether I should post as I have been following this thread for the last couple days. However, here we go...

I moved here from Los Angeles a couple years ago, and I needed to tune my bikes for the altitude. At the time, TK took care of the tuning for my R1 and my FZ1. Long story short, both bikes ran like crap when I got them back. I took them back, and I was told that they ran fine. Also, my R1 had some sort of overspray on it. I had just had the bike polished and now my tank felt like sandpaper.

I posted about this about a year ago and Brian immediately emailed me to try and fix the problem since TK and Faster had merged. While this was really cool, when I got the bike back it was even worse. My wife, who has a limited knowledge of bikes, knew that there was a problem when she followed me home and heard how crappy the bike sounded.

A couple weeks later, I took it to Rybo's house, and he fixed the bike under an hour by simply moving some of the needles out in the carbs.

A month ago I took my wife's GS500 to Faster because it was having trouble idling. I was told that it was a clogged pilot jet, and it would be diagnosed within a couple days. After a couple days, I called and I was told that it had not "made it to top of the list" yet and it would be looked at in the next day or so. After a week, I called back, and I was told that they were busy and the bike would not be looked at for another three weeks.

I asked what it would cost if it was a clogged pilot jet, and I was told it would be four hundred dollars. When I asked about the amount of time it was taking, I was told that this was expressed to me when I dropped off the bike. When I told the service rep that this was not expressed, he told me,"Oh, well I should have told you."

Needless to say, I took the bike home and replaced the jets for six dollars. While I like a lot of the guys who work at Faster, I will NEVER take a bike back there.

In fact, I would love to open my own shop that actually cares about their customers. I understand that mistakes occur, but the need for professionalism should be the utmost of importance, and honestly, as nice as Brian and all the guys who work there are, Faster is a mess!!!

[~Barn~]

Damn... All these stories suck to hear. I guess either I'm just the luckiest dude with these guys, or I'm the biggest asshole that they just want up and out of their shop!?

Applehans:
When he worked at Morse, I took him lowers for painting... Pow. Delivered (he met me to drop them off no less!) in about 1 week and a day as they approximated.

Brian:
Has worked on my newest R1 doing SS brake lines, pads etc. Did it while I waited, as he said he would, and out the door with a smile. Granted he did splash some brake fluid on my windscreen and tarnished it... But 1 call is all it took to get me ordered me a new one the day I mentioned it. Also did some other run of the mill stuff, and if he ever overshot the delivery date that I pressed him for, it wasn't by more than a day. He even fronted me a new Shark faceshield at R2SL, when mine ripped off in a freak incident. I paid him a couple days after, once we got back into town (Denver.)

Bart:
Has worked on my bikes on several ocassions. Changed out my chain and sprocket, re-geared it. All done while I waited. Did a dyno brake-in over the course of a few days, no problems. Valve adjustments on a couple of ocassions. All completed in the time promised +/- a day at worst.

It's just weird to hear, that's all. All these stories are just un-relatable to me I guess. Brian, Bart, Mike... I either owe you all 'sorry' for being a micromanaging pain-in-the-ass customer, or I owe you a big 'thanks', for just being good guys, and keeping your word, and always fixing things if I ever bitched. Which was hopefully infrequent!
=)

[pilot]

Having BTDT (as a Director of Customer Service for a Fortune 500) I would suggest a reconciliation event.

Perhaps Faster could put on a pancake breakfast. This would be a chance for all parties involved to thaw the ice over a cup of coffee and hotcakes. Besides, many of us could use a good meal as the soup kitchen has been kind of lean on maple syrup of late.

[rforsythe]

Faster already threw down a kick ass breakfast for the parade riders, just FYI.

I don't really see the need though. The vast majority of us have had great experiences there. I know it's impossible to have a 100% success rate, and I'll certainly appear for a free breakfast when motorcycles are involved, but I'd rather see whatever few cases of reconciliation are out there be handled by direct communication between those involved.

[DevilsTonic]

Whatever disputes you have with any business are best handled directly with the business rather than getting into an internet flaming war over it. I personally have had nothing but great experiences with faster and I am always referring people to them when they ask about a good place to take a bike for service, to get parts or whatever.

Keep in mind that though they are a business they are only human, people make mistakes and they can't fix it unless you talk directly to them to resolve whatever issues you're having.

The guys at faster have never steered me wrong. They've made some minor mistakes, but were quickly resolved after I mentioned it and without delay. I will continue to recommend them to anyone that asks.

Thanks, Mike, Brian, Bart and all the rest of the staff at Faster! for all that you do.

[pilot]

Faster already threw down a kick ass breakfast for the parade riders, just FYI.

I don't really see the need though. The vast majority of us have had great experiences there. I know it's impossible to have a 100% success rate, and I'll certainly appear for a free breakfast when motorcycles are involved, but I'd rather see whatever few cases of reconciliation are out there be handled by direct communication between those involved.

Just thinking it might be a good once a month start point for a few rides--good for the staff and friends to just sit and mull life over before the day of ridin' and wrenchin' starts. My .02. Hell, It would be well worth it to pay 3-4 bucks to cover the cost of cakes, bacon and coffee. Riders pay more than that for Go Fast and Starbucks at the corner gas station.

[McVaaahhh]

There's an old saying in business/customer service:

"Do a GREAT job and the customer will tell 1 person. Do a BAD job and the customer will tell 10 people."

This is especially true in this day and age with the internet. How many people have read this thread now?

Let's face it, when a shop or any business handles things well you don't say anything about it. Why? Well, because that is what they're supposed to do. Most people don't feel the need to go post accolades because the shop got their bike done on time and with quality. That's their JOB, that's what you're paying them to do.

Maybe it doesn't happen enough, but I have seen posts about a shop going above and beyond what you expect. Like Barn getting a borrowed shield posted above, or Leah getting in last minute for some tires. Those are great things and they show that the shop cares about their customers.



What I personally want from a shop is that they make me feel like they give a shit about me and my business. Take my last experience with Fay Myers, I went in there on my lunch break from work because there was an air bubble in my front brake line and I had no braking (read: zero ability to use the front brake). I ran over there and practically begged them to help me bleed the lines and all I got was that they were too busy. That's their call to make, but I will NEVER EVER EVER go there for service. The tech in that instance made it perfectly clear to me that he could give a rats ass about my bike and my safety.

This thread blew up a bit, but maybe that's a good thing. The guys at Faster see the problem and have rectified it. Maybe this is an isolated incident, or maybe they'll make some (possibly) desperately needed changes at their shop because of this. It's a good thing that we as a community let the people that serve our sport know when they've wronged us and when they've wowed us, and to let others know as well.

[fullgrownbear]

Whatever disputes you have with any business are best handled directly with the business rather than getting into an internet flaming war over it. I personally have had nothing but great experiences with faster and I am always referring people to them when they ask about a good place to take a bike for service, to get parts or whatever.

Keep in mind that though they are a business they are only human, people make mistakes and they can't fix it unless you talk directly to them to resolve whatever issues you're having.

The guys at faster have never steered me wrong. They've made some minor mistakes, but were quickly resolved after I mentioned it and without delay. I will continue to recommend them to anyone that asks.

Thanks, Mike, Brian, Bart and all the rest of the staff at Faster! for all that you do.

+1

And I myself had a great experience with faster today. They were the only shop around town that had the tires I wanted - in stock. Mike and Brian did a great job of helping me, and even gave me a killer deal on a brand new Taichi jacket.

All in all a good experience, as they were very attentive to my needs as a customer. I will be back.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Ok, a couple things:
1. f2 took them a well-written, extensive list of the tests already done by him and a Electrical Test Engineer we both know here at WG.
2. He clearly communicated what he did (tests) and didn't (Power commander hooked up) want done. What was done wasn't close.
3. He called frequently to get updates and give any info.
4. When he saw the shoddy work, he called Nick and got: "Nope, I made sure everything was perfect when it left here, blah blah, blah". It wasn't, and he refused to believe there was any problem. So f2 DID try on numerous occasions to deal with the shop, got told it wasn't their problem, and it was WEEKS from the start of it all that he posted this here. so he game them many chances to just admit they screwed up and make it right. That's all he wanted.
5. I SAW the completely pinched and nicked (almost thru) battery gnd cable. And, f2 went for a ride over the weekend, noticed his bike was getting hot and the fan didn't come on.....and got home to look and find the fan connector was not attached.
6. I've known the guy for at least 4 years, and will stand by everything he said.

f2 has been much happier dealing with Brian, so thanks to him for stepping up. so, there's that. But I want everyone to know that f2 was not BS'ing on any of this. Plain fact, he had a legitimate problem with Faster, and they weren't copping to any of it. Period.