Grabd Prix - Lost another customer

[Nick_Ninja]

Pilot buys his bikes from GPMS ----- that should be enough for King Cupcake

[King Nothing]

My Zed originally came from Grand Prix.

[Nick_Ninja]

So take it back and get your $$ from those yo-yo's

[King Nothing]

I bought it from the original owner.

[swademaster]

As far as the thats your job comment-I have no idea what you are talking about....It is not my job to apoligize for an employees actions. It is my job to make sure that the employee does his/her job correctly in the first place. And if that employee does not-I need to see why and if it is a training issue or if it is a lazy or unwilling employee. Then it is my job to see if there is a way to correct the problem for the customer..If it is the lazy or unwilling then I decide to write him/her up or terminate their employment. Dealerships get blaimed for anything wrong but in reality it is the employees issues. Do you think we sit around in training and meetings telling our guys how to screw customers?
Bill

Hey guys,
It is hard to reply so the correct message gets across. I am not putting blaim on anyone and I accept full responsibility for my employess actions. I am trying to reach out to you guys so we can do a better job for you.
It is as simple as that.
Bill

So which way is it? You are the owner. You are in charge. You make the final decision.

I guess when it comes down to the end, you are responsible for your employees and the entire business.

I know it is hard to keep all customers happy, but whatever happened to customer service and "the customer is always right". I guess that your store does not have that motto.

[GRANDPRIXOWNER]

I am not sure why I can not get the correct message across to you. I suppose that no matter what I write-it is going to be taken in a way that makes me look bad. I thought the last statement about me accepting full responsibility for the employees actions would be understood and that you would understand that we are here to try and do the right thing. All of my employess love motorcycles and also enjoy working here very much. Customer satisfaction as always a topic of concern and I assure you that they all try their best. If you read all the threads you would see that I consistantly say I am here to help resolve any issues and that we want to earn your business. I offered to refund a service contract, yet you hammer me for offering to give an unhappy customer his money back. It is the only resolution I can offer that could make the customer happy so he can use the money to have his bike serviced where he wants---If you read the complete thread I also stated that we would like to keep his business and that I appreciate being able to try and do that. As far as stating the number of customers that we serve-I was trying to make a point of the size of this operation. I am trying to do the right thing by responding and getting a solution to any issues raised. I suppose those nuclear reactors must have affected my brain while I was attending Krusty the Clowns College.

[Nick_Ninja]

GPO --- The Bizzzness ----- I believe that's what you're getting from these yo-yo's. I believe that you are attempting to mend broken fences. Some people here just aren't able to give it up and move on. I suppose that I'd give you a shot --- if I didn't live so damed far away. BTW -- I'm lookin for a screamin deal on a ZX-14 Concourse

[Bueller]

Grand Prix is not my favorite dealer, due mainly to limited parts (small stuff) availability, when I need a washer or clip I don't want to hear we can order that for you. But gee wiz this guy is reaching out about as far as he can, he is trying to solve the individuals problems that they have presented, not make a perfect dealership overnight. I have issues with every dealer I have ever gone to, they all make mistakes, just like every other business, the real problem lies with the ones that won't correct them. Bill seems willing to try anyway.

[dapper]

I know it is hard to keep all customers happy, but whatever happened to customer service and "the customer is always right". I guess that your store does not have that motto.

Are you kidding me?

Was the customer who spilled the coffee in her lap, years ago, right to sew McDonald's? She spilled the coffee on herself, to make some quick money. Later, overturned because of swindling actions!





Ladies and gentlemen, mistakes happen, we are all human!
Learning from one's mistakes, taking corrective action and following through is what will become the bottom line.

Bill is making a total commitment to serve the customers and needs our communication. Constructive feedback is what will help, not provoking arguments and personally bashing someone. Yes, some new issues were brought to the surface. At the same time, Bill is showing his actions through this forum by hearing, reading, writing to us. Obviously Bill is the decision-maker that is looking for a solution to win the folks by getting involved. THIS thread, hopefully became the learning experience of the realization toward the need to change course of customer service. Sounds as if going back to basics at least once every year on the techniques and strategies of customer service would benefit everyone. This is what I have made a commitment on too.


Mr. Trump gave Miss USA a second chance! I feel it is only fair to allow someone a second chance to earn your business, (pending how badly they screwed you over) and let the past go. We can't change the past, we are in the present and the future is unknown.

"Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break!"


PS: Bill, if I were you, I would edit 'your' previous posts by removing any negative items, it will be for the best. Let's look at the facts, you will either do it or you won't, there is no -trying- about it. Yes, there is quite the militant attitude with many people on this topic. Emotions flow with money and nobody here volunteers to be the victim. I completely appreciate the attention you have given, addressing these issues regarding your business. Hope your Christmas goes beautifully and happier than ever before!

[rforsythe]

PS: Bill, if I were you, I would edit 'your' previous posts by removing any negative items, it will be for the best. Let's look at the facts, you will either do it or you won't, there is no -trying- about it. Yes, there is quite the militant attitude with many people on this topic. Emotions flow with money and nobody here volunteers to be the victim. I completely appreciate the attention you have given, addressing these issues regarding your business. Hope your Christmas goes beautifully and happier than ever before!

Why? He spoke his mind, there is nothing wrong with that. Whether you like what he has to say or not, at least he's up front about his position on things.

[Gramps]

Also tells me that he see's my wife and I in there all the time. I told him "Yeah, we used to spend a lot of money here"

Any sales guys, parts guys, service guys from Grand Prix read this board? Hope so. It is a shame that follow up after the sale has ruined a pretty good relationship.

I have one question, Did you try to resolve the problem with the owner/manager before you posted all this on an open forum?

I know the argument that you shouldn't have to, and I don't disagree. I just think from your statements,"good relationship", you should have tried a little harder to resolve the dispute in house. You would have also probably gotten better results and still had your good relationship.

I look at it this way.

Any relationship is a two way street. It takes work from both sides.

[Devaclis]

Tried on separate occasions. Resolution needs to be assisted by both parties. I was willing to wait a little longer. I was willing to go back multiple times. I did not get any indication from them that they were willing to do anything.

[GRANDPRIXOWNER]

Unfortunatly I knew nothing or did my sales manager about this. The parts manager was aware but explained that he told the customer that the shield was on backorder, he was under the perception that everything was o.k. (obiviously not) We did drop the ball here, however the last post about getting to a manager or owner is why I started responding to this thread. That goes for any motorcycle shop that you guys wish to do business with. We are here to help, not take advantage of customers. I found out about the problem after this customer reported us to the BBB, Dealer Board and first post. This could have been a very simple issue to handle. However I will say that my employees are reading all and we had a meeting last night about these issues raised, customer perception and satisfaction and I think that we do need to do a better job. By the way, the shield was delivered to our shop on Wednesday by UPS(Blizzard Day) and I hand delivered it to the customer at 5:30pm and explained that we were truly sorry for the screw up and that the sales person did not intentionally lie to them.

[Bertha]

Grand Prix is not my favorite dealer, due mainly to limited parts (small stuff) availability, when I need a washer or clip I don't want to hear we can order that for you. But gee wiz this guy is reaching out about as far as he can, he is trying to solve the individuals problems that they have presented, not make a perfect dealership overnight. I have issues with every dealer I have ever gone to, they all make mistakes, just like every other business, the real problem lies with the ones that won't correct them. Bill seems willing to try anyway.

/agree...

I'm not a huge fan of GP, BUT to see that Bill has come onto the boards and TRY to fix the problem...

King... You're an asshole and mom should have swallowed you when she had the chance...

[The GECCO]

I've never shopped at GP, but NO shop is perfect and at least Bill is here trying to make it right.

[hcr25]

/agree...

King... You're an asshole and mom should have swallowed you when she had the chance...

Thats some funny shit....

[reddeth]

Alright, first of all, I'm going to say that I like Grand Prix, they are close by and when compared to Fay Myers at the very least the guys at Grand Prix arent a bunch of total assholes cause I'm only 18, so kudos to them for hiring guys that work well with customers.

I am not on this forum to make any excuses and I can only state the facts as I understand them.

But it gets tough when a customer posts a lie or simply does not understand the situation. This usually comes from miscommunication.

I'm sorry, saying a customer is lying is an excuse. Miscommunication or not there was an error performed, instead of looking to place blame, try to fix the situation.

Even if there was miscommunication I do not understand how a customer can be upset at a shop over availability of a part

Now, I want any of the posters to correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems from reading this topic, that availability of the part was NEVER the issue. Rather, the issue comes from the fact that despite the parts being unavailable the customer was told, 1-2 weeks delivery time. Granted, you say that availability of the parts was communicated differently and thats an issue to be resolved yes, but instead of sitting there saying "Oh, its not MY fault because the customer was told differently" you need to just say "Theres been a mistake by someone, how do we fix it?" (and yes, I think you are doing a standup job of making an effort to fix the situation).

As far as the guys lying-as stated before they did not intentially lie but they were apparantly lazy and did not provide you with the correct answer to helping you resolve this issue...I hate apoligizing for an employee that does a poor job and there is no excuse for their laziness.

I am not on this forum to make any excuses and I can only state the facts as I understand them.

It is not my job to apoligize for an employees actions.

I'm sorry, as the owner of a business establishment, it IS your job to apologize for an employee making a mistake. Thats why we have managers, you are 'crowd control'. You represent your business and as such its employees, at least if I was in your shoes I'd be appologizing because a wrongdoing on your employees part represents you poorly (as you have seen)

Look, I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business, I'm an 18 year old kid and my 'experience' in sales ammounts to a paintball shop I worked at for a year. But I'm just saying, stop appologizing and just fix it, finding fault is not as important as making a customer happy (And dont give me that 'the customer is always right' BS, its a load of Americanized bullshit that takes any power away from the business owner to stand up to bully customers that push them around, not that anyone in this topic is doing that, I'm just saying)

[R1chie]

I found out about the problem after this customer reported us to the BBB, Dealer Board and first post. This could have been a very simple issue to handle.... Do you think we sit around in training and meetings telling our guys how to screw customers?
...

If you are saying that you would of handled this issue differently had you known about it, the communication problem is in your store. Why would a salesperson, counter person, or manager not have told you about an irate customer who did not get what he was suppose to in a timely manner?

I live in Colorado Springs, I called your store in 04 when I went to purchase my sports bike (looking at the zx10 and R1) your salesperson was indifferent and had a did not care attitude. When I called to purchase my 04 yz450 your salesperson was rude. When I called about buying my 06 yz450 I was quoted full retail price, I mentioned it was the end of the season and that other places in Denver were discounting the price, I was told, go buy it there then.. and I did, I drove all the way to Coyote on the north side of Denver. I called your store first because it is the closest to where I live(I assume you own the county line road store). Because of the way I have been treated on the phone, I have not stepped into your store. You may not care that you lost sales for 3 bikes over the last 2 years due to poor communication skills of your sales people over the phone but you may want to consider the problem is on your end.

I am not going to burn my bridges with your store, someday I may call and you have the right bike for the right price but after reading the issues people have had here and your response I feel wary. The fact that you resolved the issue with Devaclis is good, the fact that he had to go to the BBB to do it is not good. You should treat special orders with the highest of priority. It appears from the 2 posters, your people dropped the ball big time. I have seen this at other shops as well, to the point if they don't have it in stock, I order it over the internet where I can get a tracking number and monitor it myself. I believe it is lazy parts people that cause this in not just your business but other bike shops that force people to shop at superstores that have all the accessories in stock or to go online where you have control of your credit card and the tracking number.

Indifference to customer orders and indifference on the phone give your business a black eye (I have seen this in other stores as well so don't think I am singling your bike shop out) and cause people to go elsewhere. This is my experience. You may think differently but if sales are not so good, then you have the knowledge to fix it, if sales are good, then you know they could be a lot better if you fix attitude problems and what appears to be a lack of consideration to people who order parts from you. You cannot please everyone but if you continue to let down your customers who have purchased bikes from you that later trust you to order parts and you fail them, they will not be back to buy bikes or parts an you will have to depend on the ignorant to purchase from your store.

I worked in car sales when I was younger and yes they sat around in meeting talking how they could get full boat for cars and methods of how to rip the lips off of customers. I know this happens at some dealerships and though I am not saying they your business is run in this way, I do know it happens.

It is your job to apologize for the misconduct or mistakes of your employees.

[konichd]

David,
Again-if you want to do business elsewhere that is your choice. We could never keep every customer happy. But I know a few facts. Currently we service over 10,000 customers and are one of the largest dealerships in sales and service for the manufacturers we represent. Our employees are trained in customer service and I am here to take care of any issues. I can not fix things through email statements or replies. I understand that a customers perception is reality...the comment about having to go to parts to get your tire...think about this for a minute. The tire is stocked in parts not service, the customer needs to go to the parts dept. so we can be assured that you are getting the correct tire that you want.. Do you think it is the service writers job to pick out your tire? They can get it installed but they can not know which tire you need. Thats why we have a parts dept. You keep referring to Tracy--whom is now an assistant manager, My advice to everyone is if you find an employee at a shop that you are comfortible dealing with then deal with him/her.
I can not help with issues that have occured in service....those issues need to be brought to a managers or owners attention when they happen. If you have an issue in parts then let Chris or Tracy know so we can fix them. You do not have to do business with us but at least let someone in charge know that there is a problem or there is no way we can fix the problem. I actually appreciate these comments-again without knowing-we can not fix the problem. We hate to lose you as a customer but it will help us better ourselves by reviewing your comments with the parts, sales and service depts.
There are no 07 6rs available from Kawasaki as far as we know.
Again my offer stands to terminate your service contract so you are not tied to us.
Thank you,
Bill

If I call ahead and specify the tire I expect both the parts and service department to work together. The tire was exactly the same as the one that was took off, since you combine the tickets anyway I don't see what the deal is for service to contact parts and have them get the tire?

I'm glad to hear Tracy was promoted, he is the best guy there and is a model for other people to follow. If you had more guys like Tracy that cared for the customer and were eargerly willing to help, you'd be much better off. I can't say enough good things about Tracy and I hope the rest of your support team will follow from his example. Tracy was always glad to help me and look in a catalog for my needs, other staff seem like your twisting thier arm or are some kind of nuscence

Would I purchase another bike from Grand Prix? Yes I would. Now would I spring for the service plan? More than likely not. I've had a problem everytime I've came in for service or warrenty work and quite frankly I don't have the time to wait around for mistakes to get corrected.

Since your so eager to re-imburse me for my service contract, I will take you up on that offer and will stop in this saturday to resolve that issue. Hopefully you will take my criticism as constructive and make the necessary changes to your business so that it can prosper. I've just had about all I can take from a customer standpoint Bill.

[Kim-n-Dean]

I worked in car sales when I was younger and yes they sat around in meeting talking how they could get full boat for cars and methods of how to rip the lips off of customers. I know this happens at some dealerships and though I am not saying they your business is run in this way, I do know it happens.

While I've never actually worked in sales, I've seen this philosophy taught at many places I've worked. It's very, very common and always denied!!

Why do so many counter/parts people act like they're doing you a favor by taking your money?!?! Even the people at NAPA have HUGE attitudes. Havana Machine Shop is the same way. They all act like they're doing me a favor by taking my money and giving me shitty service. Most gun shops appear to be the same way. I told Kim this when we went shopping one day. After visiting six gun stores, she was convinced. Only one store, Dave's Guns, was full of really cool peeps.

[GRANDPRIXOWNER]

I understand- a few comments though---the comment about calling customers lyers---sorry but customers do embellish, whether you call that lying, stretching the truth---whatever. And it is also seen the other way around just as Devaclis saw the situation. There always seems to be two sides to every story when there is an issue and somehow we have to find the truth in between. I have fully accepted responsibility for my employees. The comment about its not my job to apologize is being read incorrectly. I apologize for actions as needed, what I should have written is --my employees are expected to do a better job than they did---I do not like apologizing for them as they are men/women and should stand up and apologize to the customer themselves-not hid behind a manager. I NEVER stated "OH its not my fault because the customer was told differently". I came on the board trying to help resolve an issue for Devaclis and also to own up to the fact we fooocked up. I did try to explain why sometimes things get mis-communicated--thats all. Our fault for mis-communication?--ALWAYS I guess the point I am trying to make is we are going to screw up-we can not help it when so much is going on----I am here-on hand, along with my managers to help resolve any issues you need resolved. I do not know very many shops in town that have an open door policy direct to the owner. I have given out my direct phone number and managers names and phone numbers so hopefully in the future this will not happen to any of you guys that shop here-thats all.

Thanks for all the PMs. I know alot of you guys personally and appreciate the feedback. Now can we get on with the new year.....Merry Christmas and everyone stay safe this year.

Bill

[Sortarican]

Bill, you seem to be honestly trying to resolve this sutuation which is good to see. And yes, things like this will happen.
I've done business with GP since they were down on Santa Fe and can say most of my experiences have been very possitive.

I've known Dana and Linda pretty much since they moved to Colorado and can assure you that they are very tolerant people. They've gone way beyond due diligence as a customer and are not "fishing" for some special treatment.

It's a good thing that you clarified some of your statements that I took as a bit insulting to my friends.

Follow up and resolve this issue with them I think you'll find that they are any companies dream customers.
Drop the ball and I guarantee you'll not only loose them, but also their many friends inside and outside the CSC as customers.

[swademaster]

All I am getting at is first you don't want to apologize for your employees and later you take full responsiblity for their actions.

I don't have a problem or did I say that I had a problem with your shop and have done business there many times. It is just that you seem to contradict yourself at times. If I ever need to do business with your shop again, I will not be scared to stop by.

[konichd]

I just talked to Bill and Tony this morning at Grand Prix and they both took great effort in restoring my customer satisfaction. Bill refunded my the balance of my service plan with no questions or complaints and assured me he is doing everything he can to correct the problems member's of our club have experienced.

Bill I appreciated your time this morning and for dealing with my problems "First hand" which you don't get from a lot of owners in bigger dealerships. I also appreciate the fact you took the time to correct these situations with your employees to assure customer's are satisfied with the level of service provided by your dealership. It was nice to see your addressing customers comments and implementing changes accordingly.

I'll be looking forward to my phone call when the 07 ZX6R's come in Februrary.