How pissed should I be?

[stopintime]

I've considered opening a bike shop before.

I don't know if I hate myself enough yet.

Do it with a friend  You'll hate each other instead...

[ducatiz]

Do it with a friend  You'll hate each other instead...

lol

[hbliam]

For warranty work I go to Ducati Newport Beach, for all else it's goes to Motoservicio. Never had an issue with cost, time, lies, or any other BS at either shop. In fact DNB sends a guy to pick up the bike up at my house and drops it off when it's done. So, it's not a motorcycle shop issue, it's a poorly run motorcycle shop issue.

As far as airing this stuff out on the net. I think it's the right thing to do AFTER you have given the vendor the opportunity to do the right thing or after they cross the line of professionalism. Then, especially in a community such as this, it's our duty to alert our fellow riders/friends so they don't suffer the same treatment.

[Skybarney]

The business environment is the States is not all that easy.  I have a great balloon business that was five star (now 4) rated on Yelp.  I took some Groupons and ran into some of the worst humans I have ever tried to do business with.  As such I tell a percentage of them to go get their money back as I won't take them flying.  They then go one star me.  Those we decide to take flying love the experience we deliver and we usually get five stars reviews from those we fly.

However, if someone is rude or pushy they will not like me.  I have had people demand to fly on a day that is outside the limitations of their coupon and they will threaten me with a bad review if they don't get it.  Needless to say I tell them I am done with them and I won't take them flying under any circumstances.  They one star me.........

I imagine that is not dissimilar to a motorcycle shop.  Riders by nature are AA personalities, some of these personalities will clash without even knowing why, it is simply nature.  When the owners get involved with the customers the chances of a beef with the business actually increase..... 

I like to know when a business is pissing off a disproportionate number of people.  No matter how hard you try you can't make everyone happy....... 

[DRKWNG]

As far as airing this stuff out on the net. I think it's the right thing to do AFTER you have given the vendor the opportunity to do the right thing or after they cross the line of professionalism. Then, especially in a community such as this, it's our duty to alert our fellow riders/friends so they don't suffer the same treatment.

This. 

[scaramanga]

As far as airing this stuff out on the net. I think it's the right thing to do AFTER you have given the vendor the opportunity to do the right thing or after they cross the line of professionalism. Then, especially in a community such as this, it's our duty to alert our fellow riders/friends so they don't suffer the same treatment.

This.

+1

you work hard for your money........they should work hard for your money also.

[suzyj]

I'm a relative newcomer to motorcycles and after a few bad experiences with my local dealer I stopped using them.  <Snip>  Other than how quickly auto dealers can get parts, is there some functional difference that keeps moto dealers from emulating their process?  

I think the key is how easy motorbikes are to work on yourself. My bike has never been to a dealer. I bought it, they said "see ya in 1000km" and I thought (but didn't say) "yeah right". A thousand km later I changed my own oil.

My car is different. Recently (actually in January) the clutch throwout bearing discombobulated. I knew it was the throwout bearing and figured I'd just fix it. So I dove in, over a period of about four weekends. I skinned knuckles, swore, cut perfectly good spanners up to get them to fit in ridiculously cramped places, and eventually gave up when I realised that if I ever did get the gearbox free, there's just no way on earth I could lift it. So I put it back together, and next week (once my tax return comes in) will arrange for a mechanic to collect it.

See on my bike everything's easy. It's right there in front of me. And because its easy for me, it's easy for others too, which means places like this exist where we share knowledge and help one another out. Which only makes it easier.

Then of course there are lots of really smart independent guys (many of whom are here) that pick up the harder work for knowledgeable people. For those in the know.

So the dealers end up with the shit work and the dumb customers. Boring oil changes and servicing, prepping new bikes, diagnosing "my bike won't start" issues on badly neglected bikes. How are you going to keep a decent mechanic motivated with that? Of course the standard of work is gonna be low. How could it not be?

[DRKWNG]

I've considered opening a bike shop before.

I don't know if I hate myself enough yet.

Do it with a friend  You'll hate each other instead...

Why do you think I chose not to Izaak? 

[Betty]

discombobulated

I thought I was doing well using that word in the office yesterday.

But to use it on the Monster forum to relate a busted Peugeot in Western Australia to a thread about a bad dealer experience in the US ... that takes some talent. Well done young lady.

[ducatiz]

Why do you think I chose not to Izaak? 

Chicken.

And I found a great space in NE.

[Real Recognize Real]

Chicken.

And I found a great space in NE SE.

Fixed it for you

[DRKWNG]

Nice place in SE?  No such thing.

[duccarlos]

I've been lucky enough to be able to find some awesome dealers. Only 2 were disappointments, both North GA. The dealer I bought my Monster from folded within a few months of me buying it. The other place bought out the original dealer's stock, but they mostly sold rice burners. They had to hire someone that could service the Ducs. The guy was always too busy and his work suffered for it. I trust 5 places total in the SE to even look at Ducs. Depending on whether it's performance work or more warranty related, but I've felt very lucky to have that level of service so close. Now, if they would only be cheaper.

[angler]

Wow. I go away for a weekend and look at all this......

Thanks everybody.

I just want to reiterate this was a gut check. I've used them before and been happy. This time, not so much. To those who think I should wait until this is resolved before venting, I also want to reiterate that it is resolved as far as it can be. They can't do anything else for me. Or rather my bike will never spend another minute in their shop again. They offered to send me an ECU flashed the way they promised and, regarding the other items, there really isn't anything they can do regarding the dropped balls and crappy service.

[angler]

Well I'm here to report that a new ECU arrived yesterday with the DP tune and the immobilizer disabled (or so their note says).......

Their note also says I'll need to come in and have the TPS reset and the trim fiddled with before it will run right. Since I didn't get Ducatidiag set up before it got shut down, I'm not sure how I'm going to get this done as I'm not going back out there for anything.

I am still finding things they should have caught. I have BoomTubes, which they don't like, and on the first couple of rides I found it to backfire like mad when decelerating in gear. Like shoot flames bad. While trying to reroute the oil lines they routed funny and to reattach brackets they left dangling, I discovered both exhaust pipes so loose at the head I could wiggle them. Now I'm not blaming them for loosening them, but shouldn't that be the first thing they checked when it backfired like mad on their test ride? It was almost the first thing I checked. 10 minutes with a 10mm wrench later and no backfire.......