Ducati Monster Forum

Way back in May

Dealer: sure bring it in!
Me when i get there: Hi, im here for my apointment to get valve guides repaired!
dealer: sorry, we cant do that job right now. come back in late july early august!!
Me: >:(

Situation not so make the beast with two backsed up, since dealer was really nice. The kid who scheduled it was new so he didnt know.

I call dealer up in August.

Dealer: August 5th! come on down, it'll be worked on Aug 6th and you should have it back in 2 weeks.
Droped bike of on Aug 5th.

Aug 19
Me: Ring ring, hey dealer when can i pick up my bike  :D.
Dealer: the Ducati rep just stoped by and approved it a few days ago, we should get the heads of in 3 days and send it out.
Me: [roll]

Aug 22:
Me: sent out yet?
Dealer: Just out today, we should get it back in a week.

Aug 29:
Me: Back yet?
Dealer: no we should get it back after labor day weekend.

Sept 2nd
Me: Back yet?
Dealer: No we have to call them

Sept 3rd:
Me: back yet?
Dealer: yea they dont have the parts to fix it, they said maybe another a week to get the parts to repair it. We asked them if they had the parts they said yes, we have the parts in stock, we could of sent it with your heads.

Who are doing my heads? A dude name Mr. Ferrarchi "himself" so i guess thats FBF.

Recap. Firday would be 3 weeks of Ferrarchi having my heads and not doing anything with them. And ive basically taken a ~200 hit in my wallet paying for metro cards and traveling to dealer by way of railroad. Plus im losing TONS of sleep because my commute on train is close to 1:30 each way not including time waiting for the train (10mins usually, sometimes as long as 30) when its only 40 mins by bike. + depression of not having a ride for a month + frustration. I have new clutch plate, power commander and exahust sitting in my garage waiting for a bike. this is killing me.

has anyone ever had this much problem with getting something fixed? its getting ridiculous.

Call DNA. This is warranty work afterall....

No problem with warranty, work is approved. its just taking way longer then they said they would.

is FBF a shitty place? Sounds kinda excessive to send heads that far to get the valve guides pressed. The warranty shop has the parts to do it, but not the equpment, so they sourced it all the wya out there. make the beast with two backsing sucks. I cant really say anything to them, they have my bike, they did/are doing the work. And ive not given them a single penny. Xpt for belts. They said mine need to be replace. I was gonna use my stock belts though the winter, they said they feel better replacing them, and they dont want to use the ones i bought from cycle cat, and since they werent to fussy about doing my bike, i figured id throw some oney their way and buy belts from them.

the diagnoses of loose vlave guides were one by ECS, a non approved ducati shop. They knew them and the rep knew them so they just signed of on it. (plus i had no exahust pipes on it)

So really, they did alot more for me than the local dealer could ( the infamous one that has mechanics that graduated from back yard mechanic school). This just make the beast with two backsing sucks. I missed last year cause i sold my bike, and i miss this year cause someone doenst wanna do their job. If i dont get my heads by next week, its gonna be ass chewing, and someones giving me some heads  >:( or maybe a demo bike to ride around in.  :P

That's the least they owe you. They knew your bike was coming in WAY ahead of time, knew the work that needed to be done, and knew the parts required for the job. No freaking excuse...

30 days for a shop to have your bike sounds awfully close to lemon law...maybe you should call your local Ducati rep to light a fire.  Just an idea.  [bacon]

T

Will calling DNA help?

Heres the details.

My bike showed up with open udder. Duc rep guy said something but they got him to approve the work.
I brought in my pipes for them to put on.
valves were not adjusted at 6000mi service due to the finding of the guides.

FBF has had my heads since Aug 22ish (they mailed it to FBF so give it 2 days to get there) say Aug24, this week would be 2 weeks of them physically having it. which is the original planned timeline for how long it takes FBF to do the heads. Dealer said friday or monday should be hte "latest" if parts get to them. otherwise next wednesdayish. (1 week from this morning)

So im calling them monday morning to confirm. And i really dont know how to deal with situations like this except to tear shit up. Maybe if thye give me a 20% discount on disc lock. I cant get a demo ride becasue im under 21, and most states wont allow underaged person to ride the bike due to insurance purposes. In florida it was 25. If thye had some nice dainese gear id ask for a discount on that stuff but everything they have on display is crap.

Why not call the rep to see what he can do with getting your bike fixed quicker?  Ultimately isn't that what you really want? 

T

first off you should tell us what dealer this is so that we know which dealers are complete crap and can't get work done on time and are incompetent.

some may say taht this isn't fair, guess what they are a customer service business they don't have good customer service people should never go back and tell others not to go.  simple as that.

you do enough bad business other should know and you should go out of business.  harsh? yes, but that is why ducati dealers charge 90-100 dollars an hour of labor.

you want to charge top dollar for work, you better give nothing but perfect service in the process and get stuff done on time and deal only with outsourcing and distributors that follow that same mantra, don't use them if they can't perform and they will go out of business which they should.

yes things happen, nobody is perfect...  but after some time that is when incompetance moves in, if you use outsourcing that continually never hits due dates you derserve all the credit for anger that you get bc you dont' get the work done on time by a customer, like come on.. the saying "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" applied.

My local dealership had my bike for 2 days shy of 1 month. It was to fix and then paint my front wheel which was bent. I was shitty as well but I realized that the shop couldn't conrol the timeline. We had a discussion about communication and that was that. They did give me an hours free labor.Any time your shop outsources something the timeline sometimes stretches out to infinity...and beyond. That was the case with me and appears to be the case with you as well. I feel for you since I've been there as well.

Ultimately, the first 2 weeks was their fault and i let it slide since they told me another week is very possible. another week turned into another week into another week. Its out of their hands right now, its all FBF's shit right now, which is what im going to be pressuring them on. Since i bought belts from them, and im going to get a disc lock from them (xena disc lock ~$120) im gonna push for a 20% discount or something. They guaranteed me 24 hour turnover once the heads come in.

They were so so when i first went in May. It was POURING outside, i must of had 50lbs of water on me soaked. every step i took had water comming out of the water bleed vents in my boots. it was the 696 unveiling and they had a huge 9 foot sub. I went in there talked to the mech for about an hour, they gave me a new tshirt, which inevitably got soaked when i exited the building again.

Worst part was, they didnt offer me a piece of that sandwhich. I was very make the beast with two backsing pissed of as i was hungry as shit and my stomach made it well known. Either way, i rode my ass 35 miles home in pouring rain with an empty stomach and hit a semi on the way home. litterally, he turned without blinking as i was on his right side and i ended up kicking the semis door and making a turn that i thought the bike would almost defintely loose traction on. after the forced right turn, i went to burger king. :/ crap food. if i had that sandwhich i would of never booted that semi.  >:(

Time to start sticking up for yourself.  Don't plan on getting that bike back before Halloween unless you really start raising a fuss NOW.

Get an attorney who specializes in lemon law.  Contact DNA and let them know said attorney is involved.  Trust me, they will make shit happen - they did  for me.

Lemon? How does the lemon law apply?

I don't think it does, yet. In your state it may not even apply to motorcycles. I would look up your states specifics on the lemon law before doing anything else...

The Federal law would.

"To qualify under the federal Lemon Law, you must generally have a product that suffered multiple repair attempts under the manufacturer's factory warranty."

"New York's New Car Lemon Law compels the manufacturer of such a car to make the necessary repairs (usually through the dealer that sold it), refund your money, or replace the vehicle. The law is limited to cars used primarily for personal use and does not cover motorcycles, ATVs, or the living quarters of an RV. A car is covered under the New Car Lemon Law if all of the following apply:"


calling friday, saturday and monday, and im gonna harass them until Monday and give them a Tuesday deadline to get my bike back.

 
Yea, that too. Its not a lemon, they are just taking their sweet time.

I He Man! Check my post. Same thing here in Brazil! But, hey, at least you have other dealers in your country. Unfortunatly I have only one option. Check my recent post asking for a contact in Ducati Spa.

Maybe would be a good idea to have a board about dealer service behaviour (good and bad examples).

Good luck!

FBF does not have a good reputation for customer service, four valve guides and seats recut can be accomplisehed in 1/2 day.

Waiting is part of the 'Ducati Experience' lay back and enjoy it  ;D

make the beast with two backs the "ducati experience" people want their make the beast with two backsing bikes back.  dealer told me my 6k service would be 2-3 days, 2 and a half weeks later "bike is done come pick it up" make the beast with two backs that!  You should start a royal shitstorm, squeeky wheel gets the grease, yadayada, if you pregnant dog enough, they will give you damn near anything (thats how it is @ my work)

sorry if this post is a lil hostile... [drink] [beer] [drink] [drink]

I think this is complete bullshit. I have never had one of my customers cars for more than a few weeks time, and at that it would be a major engine rebuild or something along those lines. I've done head gasket jobs in three days time and this is on an engine much more comlex than a bike. A machine shop should be able to do seats and guides in one or two days max. What's gets me is that you originally had an appointment for this and its taking so long. You need to get a manager involved at the very least. If that doesn't work then contact DNA.

Called them up, said call back in a 30 mins and well call ferrachi right now.

And???

Well???

I call them back the guy at the front desk of parts says

" We sent the missing valve guides to them, they will get it in 2 days. I don't know what you heard about ferrachi but we have never had aby problems with them except for this little hiccup."

That was the guy who made me come in when they couldn't take me. I yelled at him and he gave me attitude about how I don't know anything about what's going on, and he says its not their fault. I beg to differ. I stop talking to him and tol him to tell the guy who's in cahrge (who I've been dealing with) to call me.

20 mins later he calls me.

" The situation is I purchassed guides in anticipation of your bike but iim missing 1 of the 4 guides. (He couldn't explain why) so ferrachi is ordering parts from ducati. Ducati doesn't have the parts."

I told him this is bs, I've been calm about this when you first missed the 2 week deadline, and every week afterwords and I'm not being comp for thos, not rat bike, no discount, no nothing. So call dna, call a amchine shop, get some guides and put them in. Etc more pregnant doging to them...

He says hell make some calls.

45 mins later

"Yea ferrachi says they have the parts in hand and is starting to work on the heads. Supposely. They order VOR (or something to that effect means they special express ordered it)

So he's onna update me as things happen.

Supposely.

Dude, you're being jerked around. Time to contact DNA. They lied to you about the timeline and the reason for the delay. Unfortunately it's time to find a different dealer IF and WHEN you get your bike back....

You would think that someone like Ferrachi would have at least one valve guide in stock. Stinks to me

FBF is in my area and there is a reason NOBODY that I know takes a bike to them.

Good luck man, and I agree call DNA and start complaining

Tell me what are you stories about FBF? I told the guy, i know 8 guys who have gone to them and they've all said horrible things about their customer service. Good stuff, bad customer service. And like i said before, he was talking to me in the attitude of "you dont know jack shit".

Anywya, got a call from my guy at the shop at 5:44 when I was underground in the train. voice mail said.


"FBF finished the heads and are shipping them out tomorrow, the latest i will get them is wednesdays. Assuming he used priority mail or ground, it should be sooner since PA and NYC are very close. but expect to be able to pick the bike up thursday/friday the very latest."

Ironic? yea... lets do a madden rewind and break it down play by play.

Dealer has my parts in stock, sends it to be repaired cause FBF said they had parts
FBF didnt have parts
FBF didnt know they ordered spare parts......
Dealer phone boy says, THEY sent the parts, and FBF should get them in a few days.
2 hours later, Dealer calls back and says FBF ordered parts and never told him. So did Dealer send out parts? i dont know. Dealer said Ducati does not have parts to send FBF. But somehow they got a shipment today. :o
2 hours later, the heads are done and are being shipped tomorrow.

AMAZING. Perhaps it was because I mentioned the DMF, and dealers know how quickly word spreads online. I mean look at Ducati Soho (for those in the NYC) area. their rep is so horrible, everyone in NYMCC knows about it. but they are the only local shop, i still choose to travel 30 miles away for mine.


As for that kid who got attitude with me on the phone, i have to see his dumb ass when i go pick my bike up, and if he mouths of on me i'm socking him in the face. hes the one that schedule me in the first time, and made my ass ride through treacherous weather (it was rain from the tropical storm that made its way from the Caribbean out to Bermuda) and when i got there, he didn't even apologize, just stared at me and called his supervisor.

make the beast with two backsing AMAZING. 

I got these brand new DS1000 belts, and i need to call them tomorrow to tell them not to put their own belts on (which they'll probably charge me twice what i paid for mine since i got them from sensible people aka chris at ca-cycleworks). just throw my stock belts back on, and ill install these new ones my self.

This sounds a lot like my experience in getting my FBF slip-ons from them (Ferracci) in late 2005. 

The short story is the carbon fiber pipes I ordered were not in stock but they were expected at the end of next week, then next week, then next week etc...

After about 6 weeks they offered me the more expensive and in stock titanium slip-ons instead.

How do they not know when their OWN product is going to be in stock?

Cause its really relabeled termis that are (that word for something that is not of quality, like those white t shirts packs for .50cent that have a bad stitch etc).

A letter to the owner of the dealer about the guy you dealt with will do a lot more than you giving him a piece of your mind while there (or a piece of fist  for that matter) ;D

There's a line between being a customer that gets everything they want by being the squeeky wheel, and a customer that is just a pain in the ass and one that the dealership doesn't want to bother with anymore anyway.

you are in a great bargaining position with the dealership, but it's got to be a calm negotiation, not a frustrated tirade.   calmly point out how their miscomunication and/or screwups have cost you, laid out chronoligically, and how he's got to understand that you are worried about doing future service or sales there because of what happened.  Ask what he will do to fix it.

I have never seen threats of negative publicity work in the long run.   If comes across as a threat, and if someone were to threaten me with bad press unless I did something for them (even if I was supposed to do it originally) they get escorted out of the office.

discussions of good publicity work well though.  "look, I'd like to keep sending people this way and all the guys online allways ask where the good shops are because it's hard to find, but how can I do that if you think how this happened was ok?   how can we get back to both being happy?"

there's no right or wrong way...just offering up my own suggestion.   If your scenario were at my local place, I'd expect to have a demo bike while I waited for mine, have the labor for the belts done on their dime (with the belts I brought in), and have little promo shit like some Ducati sidestand pucks for my friends (DNA just sent a bunch out to dealers a few weeks ago).

good luck.   deap breath.

I asked for a demo bike, they said, we would love to but insurance wont let us.
They wont put my belts on because they dont know the condition of it, even though i told them they are new. I already told them to put my old belts back on so i can install them myself. And i doubt they would give me any promo stuff, they wouldn't even give me a piece of a huge 6 foot long sandwich on their 696 debut day.

I also pointed out everything that has happened and how this has ended up costing me money and pointed out that i was not getting comped for anything. shop said "unfortunely, theres nothing we can do."

As for the piece of fist, its strictly reserved for the phone boy. just talkinig about it makes his voice ring in my head "whoa waho there buddy, we've been dealing with ferrachi for over 5 years and you're the first one to get slipped like that, so dont talk about someone you've never personally delt with" If he starts shit with me

Honestly ,i just want my bike back and no nails in the tire or low oil.

one thing i noticed when I went to go see my bike, they took the horn of for some reason (i have a stebel mounted onto the left side of the frame) no idea why they took it of, but if i dont get it with my bike and they dont have it, im going to rip someones throat out and use it to clean my chain.  >:(

On Friday, September 5th, they said, the very latest that they (the shop) should get my heads back is on Wednesday.

As of 6PM Tuesday night they have not received the heads.

Oh look at that. Ferrachi said they shipped it Saturday (dont know how that is possible unless they shipped 2 separate boxes with the slowest way possible via USPS since FedEx and UPS are closed). So I guess they LIED becasuse it should not take 4 days of travel time + delivery time to get from PA to NY, you could drive that distance in less than 4 hours.

Another Note: There is no tracking number available....

We'll see tomorrow. They said they usually get shipments around 12-3pm. So I will call them at 3pm, and if they do not get the heads by then, I am threatening them with a law suit to get my bike done by Friday. And lord, if I need to do that, I will make them pay for my lawyer fees and get some sort of comp for time lost.

Any suggestions? I'm calling DNA on Thursday to file a complaint since thats the only day i have a good amount of time to do anything.

FBF uses SILL moto pipes with a different badge. They are all about selling new bikes but just have this air of arogance about them.

good luck man, I think you have a fight on your hands...but honestly....I would be declaring war if I was you.

but I'm a dick like that

Honestly, I have never heard a good thing about FBF. I have heard TONS of bad things....

no you won't.    sorry.

Fine, ill throw a brick through every window in the middle of the night.

 >:(

War starts tomorrow. But i wouldnt know how to start a war like this. My course of action is to threaten the use of lawyers and see where it geos from there since ive never ran into a problem like this before.

Is the bike at FBF?

The bike isnt at FBF, the bike is at a shop that sent the heads to FBF to be worked on.

Shop doenst open till 10am, and i need to be out of the house in about 30mins to get to school. will update you guys around noonish.

I see no reaason for bagging on FBF, are you even sure that's where your heads are?

This is a standard machine shop job. Mine also were replaced and it took about a month.

Even if it is FBF's fault the dealer repairing your bike should have either told them send the heads back and had them done locally or done something for you in the interest of customer service. You are their customer, and what happens between them and their vendor should be seamless to you.

It's likely they either did not send out the heads, lost them in shipping, or something else.

Poor service any way you look at it.

Good luck and find another dealer.

It's way past noon. What's the word?

heads arrived as of 1:30pm. I asked them if i could get them on tomorrow, they said possibly. I asked them to please call me at 6 (they close at 630), they said they will. No call from them. I called them, no one picks up.

So the "promised" 24 hour turnover, will probably stretch to several days. I cant pick it up on friday since i have class all day. So probably saturday.


We'll see tomorrow. i have a 7 hour gap between classes, and it takes about  2 hours each way.

If you have to stay overnight, give me a call.  I'm about 45 minutes from FBF. 

Sorry about your situation.


I am glad I have used bikes, out of warranty, and a great independant mechanic that is an hour from my house and charges 40$ an hour.

Hell, Team Pegram has used him as a consultant, so he is a good mechanic.


Good luck buddy.

Good luck he man, you and me need a post warranty repair celebration ride when you get that thing back!!

I did buy the bike used, but it was still in warranty at the time.

Called the dealer today, apprently they only got the heads rebuilt today, reinstalling the desmo system + shimming the guides etc. So he wont say when I can pick it up, i asked him to call me before closing today (yea right, like hes gonna do that one) or perhaps leave a msg while im in class so i know its ready to be picked up tomorrow morning ( i have mornigns free, class begins at 2pm)

I hope they dont expect me to the tip the mech or anything. Cause thats the last time i'm gonna go there. Bikes warranty expires in Janurary 09, after that point any issues i cant take care of myself, goes to Steve and Jay at ECS.

Man you still didnt get the bike back yet! when I spoke to you on the phone it was supposed to be that week and that was like 11 days ago :o That really sucks call the BBB that might work.

Yesterday, they said, we'll be ready after 3-4 hours of touch up work. So you should be able to pick it up around 12 or 1 pm. Ill call you earlier in the morning to let you know the progress, but we wont know anything until after i take it out for a spin.

No call as of 1:30pm. I have class at 2pm (actually at the school computer lab right now). So again, they really have issues with their timing.

And now?

OKAY, the bike is ready to be picked up, But i get out of class at 5pm, they close at 630, takes about 2 hours from the momment i step out to get there. So no go. Tomorrow is suppose to be decent weather, not raining like today. If its raining, ill just leave my bike and use them as storage for a bit just to piss em off.

Hopefully, they didnt screw anything up and go "umm give us another few hours" I will be there first thing tomorrow morning at 10am.

I would be waiting for them before they open....

He Man, I understand your pain. My old 695 was in the shop for just under 3 months for warranty work. The shop spent all their time waiting on DNA to authorize each little thing they did. It was a real cluster. And I didn't get a loaner until a month and a half into it. Then as I was driving away from the shop on the loaner with my ex on his bike, the throttle would suddenly kill then half a second later come back on at full strength (terrifying for a new rider). After threatening to Lemon Law the bike, DNA gave me a $1000 gift cert. for parts/accessories.

Keep on them and I hope you get your bike back ASAP. 

 [evil] [evil]

GOT HER BACK.

Lots of notes on the bill ($43 for bolts,screws and new plugs)

She rode pretty good. I need to lift her tank up and fix some of the wiring issues (all over the place, since ive been adding a bunch of stuff on to her)

Im gonna go clean her up right now since FBF neglated to clean up the oil stains that were left from the leaky valve guides.

Ummmmm, why are you paying for olts and screws on warranty work?

I doubt he is but they list the cost of everything on the receipt