timmo Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I loved my XJR1300sp 5 happy years of grunting around with a big smile on my face, I sold it to keep a promise. The promise was a TZR 50 for my son. In May this year the small end bearing failed, the damage was severe but normal. One new barrel, head, piston, rings etc. When we called Doug Dearden Yamaha (Southampton) for prices of spare parts, we were told " we'll give you a price if we can do the work". We were on a tight budget so, bollocks to them! Now my little 6'4" son has a car, so, time to polish the TZR for sale. We need a coolant bottle lid and a pair of bar-ends, so off he trots to ParkRoad Powerbikes (Southampton), he's told that coolant lids come in a pack of 5 at £1.58 ea ex vat AND HE MUST BUY THE WHOLE PACK! £7.90 EX VAT! He's told bar-ends cost around £6-7, the invoice he brought home shows they've ordered "Grip over all" £16.84 ex vat. The total for todays fun filled trip to Yamaha £28.45 incl. He has paid for the parts so that they can be ordered and now I have to pay them a visit to see if I understand this. HAVE THEY LOST THEIR MINDS? Based on the level of service and competence, I guess I'll never ride another Yam again. So to all you dealers suffering in the financial crisis, behave like this and good riddance you lying cheating cowboys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted December 4, 2009 Moderator Share Posted December 4, 2009 I loved my XJR1300sp 5 happy years of grunting around with a big smile on my face, I sold it to keep a promise. The promise was a TZR 50 for my son. In May this year the small end bearing failed, the damage was severe but normal. One new barrel, head, piston, rings etc. When we called Doug Dearden Yamaha (Southampton) for prices of spare parts, we were told " we'll give you a price if we can do the work". We were on a tight budget so, bollocks to them! Now my little 6'4" son has a car, so, time to polish the TZR for sale. We need a coolant bottle lid and a pair of bar-ends, so off he trots to ParkRoad Powerbikes (Southampton), he's told that coolant lids come in a pack of 5 at £1.58 ea ex vat AND HE MUST BUY THE WHOLE PACK! £7.90 EX VAT! He's told bar-ends cost around £6-7, the invoice he brought home shows they've ordered "Grip over all" £16.84 ex vat. The total for todays fun filled trip to Yamaha £28.45 incl. He has paid for the parts so that they can be ordered and now I have to pay them a visit to see if I understand this. HAVE THEY LOST THEIR MINDS? Based on the level of service and competence, I guess I'll never ride another Yam again. So to all you dealers suffering in the financial crisis, behave like this and good riddance you lying cheating cowboys! Sorry to spoil your rant but its not the motorcycle's fault, its a 2stroke and it broke (quell suprise) mine have done it often enough. ALL dealers will rip you off, car/truck/motorcycle christ even mobility scooter dealers (yes my mother in law looked into one) i hear sooooo many times that someone will 'Never buy another Yamaha' why, cos of the dealer. If you had posted on here asking where to get the above parts i bet you would have paid a quarter of that. You may even have had someone stick something in the post they had knocking about. I have NEVER had a good dealer experience so now go out of my way to avoid them when looking for parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wattsy Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Sorry to spoil your rant but its not the motorcycle's fault, its a 2stroke and it broke (quell suprise) mine have done it often enough. ALL dealers will rip you off, car/truck/motorcycle christ even mobility scooter dealers (yes my mother in law looked into one) i hear sooooo many times that someone will 'Never buy another Yamaha' why, cos of the dealer. If you had posted on here asking where to get the above parts i bet you would have paid a quarter of that. You may even have had someone stick something in the post they had knocking about. I have NEVER had a good dealer experience so now go out of my way to avoid them when looking for parts. Hi guys, I actually work for a Yamaha dealership, and an award winning one at that, (Not a million miles from Southampton, but no names mentioned!) and it's a bit of a difficult pill to swallow to hear that neither of you would buy from a dealership! Im not certain, but fairly sure that you dont have to buy the whole pack of coolant bottle lids, but I can only assume that the wrong part was ordered by mistake. If it was a genuine error, then you should be able to get a refund and/or the correct part ordered. Surely that is standard practise for any dealership! I guess that point Im trying to make, is that it's not fair to tar all the dealerships with the same brush! There are a few of us out there that genuinely care, and try our best to promote the fun in motorcycling! I also agree with "Cynic", if you are trying to fix anything on a budget, then try and source used parts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepperami Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 the local dealer i use in Suffolk is not to bad and they try to help as much as they can?? but will give nothing away in the form of knowledge or tips!! (suppose they want you to bring it to them to be fixed).. show me a dealer who will go out of thier way to provide a service ( including coffee for the regulars) and will use thier resourses to get hard to find parts and i will be a loyal customer. i would rather go to a shop and buy there and then than wait by my letter box waiting for something to come through the post that i have sourced via the net. with the net you are never sure that you are going to get your goods. that said the net can be and is a damm site cheaper than some dealers think you should pay for parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acid drop Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 timmo, you should have gone to Deardens at Holbury, friendly bunch of guy's there and you won't get ripped off. I don't like Park road Powerbikes very much, so I alway's go to Deardens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted December 4, 2009 Moderator Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hi guys, I actually work for a Yamaha dealership, and an award winning one at that, (Not a million miles from Southampton, but no names mentioned!) and it's a bit of a difficult pill to swallow to hear that neither of you would buy from a dealership! Im not certain, but fairly sure that you dont have to buy the whole pack of coolant bottle lids, but I can only assume that the wrong part was ordered by mistake. If it was a genuine error, then you should be able to get a refund and/or the correct part ordered. Surely that is standard practise for any dealership! I guess that point Im trying to make, is that it's not fair to tar all the dealerships with the same brush! There are a few of us out there that genuinely care, and try our best to promote the fun in motorcycling! I also agree with "Cynic", if you are trying to fix anything on a budget, then try and source used parts! Welcome Wattsy, sorry mate you may be a fabulous dealer but i'm afraid i have been burned buy 2 car dealers, one for my Range Rover (not a Land Rover dealer) and the other for our nissan. They were great when you were buying something nice and shiny and expensive, then when i had problems with both it got expensive and brutal real fast. Same with motorcycle dealers i have dealt with. So untill i'm shown different i will avoid them like flaming hot anal probes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 There are a few of us out there that genuinely care, and try our best to promote the fun in motorcycling! Oh, indeed. There's a very nice chap called John round our way. He used to work for a dealer. He got fucked off with so many people complaining, so he went off and opened his own independent parts shop. Best in town!! Our options are: Dealer - Risk getting ripped off, slow delivery and wrong parts anyway. Hein Gericke - Limited, variable quality and not really worth it at all. Independent bike mechanics - Best in the county. Does mean you'll get what you pay for, but you'll also pay for what you get. Independent parts shop - Best ever. Just have to fit the parts yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas up - Let's Go! Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 is that it's not fair to tar all the dealerships with the same brush! I'll second that. Up here in the damp north (just damp now, it actually stoped rain the other day, for an hour or so anyway) the dealers have a good old monopoly, the local Suzuki and Triumph dealers are to be avoided, assuming you can actually get them to do something for you, then it will be assumed you are going to buy from them. there is also alot of attitude issues. Honda, on the other hand are very good, very efficient but they belong to a group, and this is reflected in the costs - but you get's what you pays for. Yamaha, now these guys are just right, nice and proffesional but also independant. I've had nothing but good service from these guys, they have helped me out no end. I would certainly recommend them to anyone. If you are on a budget, then anyone charging £25 an hour is going to seam expensive. Remember these guys have lot's of costs to cover (building, staff - support as well as technical, insurances, stock, etc etc) so they aren't going to do things for nothing. That's why there are places like these, so you can ask questions, find out where to get stuff cheaper and have a go yourself. Me, I do a bit of both, for the new bikes (08) I take them along to the dealer for service stuff, and to keep the warranty hassel free, for the dirt bike I do this myself and take it along for a safety check once a year (just before the MOT). As for car dealers, I find these a little more frustrating, I too had a Landy, and after being presented with a bill for £500 for a simple service, I ditched that and went to a different brand, the costs are much better, even from a dealer. If I had a 10 year old Ford Escort then I'd probably do the work myself (and join a ford escort forum!) One last thing, people deal with people. I don't suffer fools at all, that's why I have issues with the Suzuki/Triumph dealers, I tend to be fairly straight, to the point and state my requirements, I'm also confident in what I want and will research things first (mainly so I don't look an idiot) so that I know if the cost is high - if it is, I go elseware! This I think is why I have a good relashionship with the Yamaha guys, we both understand straight talking, without getting personal. One of the great things about biking, you have the choice to do what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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