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[Unbalanced]

Don,

I hope he paid with a credit card and will dispute the charges based on the repair that you documented for him.    Also who is the dealership others might want to know to Steer Way clear of this place.

[dlaws01]

You titled this thread as "A simply unbelievable service episode". I was expecting to read that the H-D service department treated their customer with respect and diagnosed the problem through sound troubleshooting, made the repair correctly the first time and only charged him what it should have cost.  I think you should have left the "un" off of unbelievable and then I would have agreed.

[grc]

You titled this thread as "A simply unbelievable service episode". I was expecting to read that the H-D service department treated their customer with respect and diagnosed the problem through sound troubleshooting, made the repair correctly the first time and only charged him what it should have cost.  I think you should have left the "un" off of unbelievable and then I would have agreed.

 

Sadly, you have hit the nail squarely on the head.  The norm seems to be lousy service; the only time Harley service is noteworthy seems to be the rare times when one of the shops actually gets it right the first time.


Jerry

[Twolanerider]

Don,

I hope he paid with a credit card and will dispute the charges based on the repair that you documented for him.    Also who is the dealership others might want to know to Steer Way clear of this place.

He did pay with a credit card.  And that is one of the avenues he is going to pursue.  I was asked not to specifically name the shop he dealt with until he finds out whatever he might from HD.  Since it's his deal and not mine I'll go along.  I don't necessarily agree but I'll go along. 

[HogBreath]

This sort of service I find to be common with most businesses, not just HD. If you don't think so, think about your past experiences with the medical proffession (typically the most well educated and trained professionals out there). Diagnosing a problem can sometimes be tough..It takes a certain sort of mind to be good at it. Anybody can change parts. Not trying to take the dealer's side here...quite the opposite. He has to use people. People mess up. Thing is, he should take responsibility for mis-diagnosing the problem and at a bare minimum credit the costs of the parts that were wrongly used. Asking for a 100% refund isn't totally unreasonable either, but, good luck with that.

Recently the sound on the Zumo on my 2011 went nuts. Nothing but static blowing through the sound system. It was terrible to hear. Sometimes, the sound works fine. So, I turned the volume to zero. Loaded the bike on a trailer and dropped it off at the dealership, explaining the situation on the Zumo and the other items that needed attention. I asked for a brand new Zumo. About 2 hours later, they call and the bike is ready..Wow..that was fast. I go back the next day to retrieve the bike..trailer in tow. When I ask what they find with the Zumo...the inform me they turned the volume up.  Makes a guy want to show his azz. I simply chuckled. Checked it..the sound was fine.  . I figue down the road, it'll go nuts again. Just after the warranty expires. And you know who will be paying for a new one...

[Unbalanced]

He did pay with a credit card.  And that is one of the avenues he is going to pursue.  I was asked not to specifically name the shop he dealt with until he finds out whatever he might from HD.  Since it's his deal and not mine I'll go along.  I don't necessarily agree but I'll go along. 

Don,

No problems with that, it was just a hope we might steer some unsuspecting person away to avoid another episode of the same.   Hope it works out for him as this is really a travesty all the way around.

[Jerry/MD]

It never ceases to amaze me how supposed 'service experts' don't pay a lick of attention to the symptons they are given. Truly unbelievable. 

BTW Twolanerider...nice job diagnosing and fixing what was an obvious electrical problem.

[murphy]

Sorry, I totally disagree with the title of the thread... Unfortunately it is 100% believable.

[porthole]

It never ceases to amaze me how supposed 'service experts' don't pay a lick of attention to the symptons they are given. Truly unbelievable.  

BTW Twolanerider...nice job diagnosing and fixing what was an obvious electrical problem.

Funny. I just had a problem with my truck, HVAC blower went out. On vacation pulling an 18K pound trailer with two Golden Retrievers who were not pleased with the lack of AC.
Did some checking and found the blower relay was real hot. Thinking it was bad I swapped it with an unused relay (DEF heater), no help.

Took 4 Ford dealers to find one that was willing to help "travelers" 600+ miles from home, half way through a 2 week trip.

My point, the Dealer that fixed it took my preliminary testing and passed it on. I needed a blower motor but the first line on the service order was the tech confirming the customer's find.
Sometimes they really do listen.

[Twolanerider]

Don,

No problems with that, it was just a hope we might steer some unsuspecting person away to avoid another episode of the same.   Hope it works out for him as this is really a travesty all the way around.

Hopefully someone won't have to be totaly unsuspecting.  Enough of a description in the first post to narrow the options down.  It's still just (another) terrible example of what's too often done.

[ultrafxr]

Hopefully someone won't have to be totaly unsuspecting.  Enough of a description in the first post to narrow the options down.  It's still just (another) terrible example of what's too often done.

Let the guessing begin.  Hmmm, could it be the dealer who owns multiple H-D shops and multiple automobile dealerships whose last name is the same as the well known (now deceased) advice columnist?

[grandpadoc]

Let the guessing begin.  Hmmm, could it be the dealer who owns multiple H-D shops and multiple automobile dealerships whose last name is the same as the well known (now deceased) advice columnist?

...and sounds like ??

[Twolanerider]

Got a call a few minutes ago; he'd had another "breakdown."  Could tell by tone of voice a little chain yanking was going on though.  On the way last night "riding home from bingo" (god I hope that's a euphemism) he had a flat tire.  Not a big deal though.  Plugged and portable compressor and he was home only a little later than expected. 

From what he's said before this isn't a terribly uncommon thing.  Some of the small roads in the area are apparently used by lumber or logging companies regularly and their debris is hard on tires.

[Midnight Rider]

This sort of service I find to be common with most businesses, not just HD. If you don't think so, think about your past experiences with the medical proffession (typically the most well educated and trained professionals out there). Diagnosing a problem can sometimes be tough..It takes a certain sort of mind to be good at it. Anybody can change parts. Not trying to take the dealer's side here...quite the opposite. He has to use people. People mess up. Thing is, he should take responsibility for mis-diagnosing the problem and at a bare minimum credit the costs of the parts that were wrongly used. Asking for a 100% refund isn't totally unreasonable either, but, good luck with that.

Recently the sound on the Zumo on my 2011 went nuts. Nothing but static blowing through the sound system. It was terrible to hear. Sometimes, the sound works fine. So, I turned the volume to zero. Loaded the bike on a trailer and dropped it off at the dealership, explaining the situation on the Zumo and the other items that needed attention. I asked for a brand new Zumo. About 2 hours later, they call and the bike is ready..Wow..that was fast. I go back the next day to retrieve the bike..trailer in tow. When I ask what they find with the Zumo...the inform me they turned the volume up.  Makes a guy want to show his azz. I simply chuckled. Checked it..the sound was fine.  . I figue down the road, it'll go nuts again. Just after the warranty expires. And you know who will be paying for a new one...

Ken...don't waste your time with the dealer on this, unless it's the NIM.  Mine had the NIM problem, so I had the dealer replace that after explaining to them how it worked and what it was doing to let them know it was NOT working as designed.  They replaced it.  However, the Roadtech started doing something similar to what yours did a month or so later.  The dealer would have sent it to Garmin for me, but it would just have delayed the process.  I called Garmin myself and got the unit replaced...they won't give you a "new" one in the box, but a "New" refurbished one.  Took about a week for the exchange.  The Garmin tech support will just make sure you've got the latest firmware update in the unit (I did) while on the phone with them, then they'll make it right.  Mine was doing the static thing, plus it would emit this ear piercing tone from time to time.  It's all Gee-Hawing together now...

[HogBreath]

That's my next plan of attack Terry. But for now, it seems to be working.