Seacoast HD service dept. : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

chriscalabro · 05-25-2009, 03:28 AM

I for one have always viewed dealer service skeptically. I have worked with some of the most highly regarded independents in the industry and frankly I have found them to be wanting. Sometimes I believe that your reputation can produce such a high demand for work that the qaulity begins to suffer. That being said I decided to give Seacoast HD in New Hampshire a try. I started slow with a drop for tire balancing, which you would think was a small item except my indy could not seem to get it right.Seacoast did it right and free when I dropped the wheel off. While I waited. Hmmm. So then I gave the bike to do a SE comp upgrade while I waited. 2 hours later it was ready as promised and on budget. Pretty good. So then i decided to go for the gusto. I was leaving town and scheduled the bike in to put in the Baker DD7, and repair a stator oil leak. I also mentioned that my chrome inner oil plug was stripped and touchy so to be careful. I gave them the greenlight to replace it and any part that they felt would casue me to return this season while they had it apart.

I was concerned as I all of this was supposed to be done mid week before memorial day and based on past experience I have never had work meet schedule.

Wednesday afternoon while travling in Indianapolis I get a call. Bike is ready. ON TIME. I tell them that I will come Friday. Expect a huge overage from estimate due to all the open items I left.

Came in, bill is exactly as quoted. Oil seal repaired, primary RETAPPED and fitted with a new plug install done. Unf'ing believable. They actually fixed the bike and did not charge me for labor since they had it apart anyway.

AND they gave me the 20% discount that Baker was offering for the part under their economic stimulus plan.

Meanwhile. My engine builder, who I personally like very much, has yet to call me back with a quote after 2 weeks. No question that Indy's are important and I would tend to patronize one whi has delivered in the past. But dealer service often gets a bad rap, usually for good reason. Seacoast HD delivered beyond promised and under budget on time. That is a first for me.

Highly recommended

OldMsocko · 05-25-2009, 06:36 AM

You are correct. There are several HD dealers out thre that are great for service. My son and I was at Cox Northern Tier HD in Mansfield Pa. on May 9th. We were talking to the owner about my Tri Glide and the haet issues I was having with it. He noticed my oil cooler was full of bugs from our trip up there. He had me pull my bike into the service area and had one of his techs blow out the oil cooler. Thats what I call service. No charge. He certainly made a friend and when I am in the area and need something I will be sure to stop there.

moosh · 05-25-2009, 07:33 AM

good to know..

elamey · 05-25-2009, 10:29 AM

I've been VERY pleased with the service and parts department at Buds Harley Davidson in Evansville. I've had a flat rear tire fixed immediately as I wait. I had a front tire put on a few weeks ago and asked them, while the wheel was off to see if I needed brake pads. Came back and they said the pads were ok. How many dealerships would do that? Not many at all. I REALLY appreciated that. When i've scheduled work, their estimates are accurate and the work is done when they say it will be.

Yes, dealer service is more expensive, but time is money and I think of it as buying time. I want to make an appointment, drop the bike off on a schedule and get it back on a schedule so I can ride! I'm not going to let my bike sit in an indy shop for two weeks to save a few bucks.

Buds has been very accurate and timely in getting work done and back when they say it will be back.

osolow · 05-25-2009, 12:46 PM

This is good to here!
i get so sick and tired of people calling them stealerships and grouping them all together

there are good service departments at dealerships out there and it good to hear about them.

Its like my local dealership is a good one in my opinion i have had a couple of problems with them and when i talked to them about it they resolved the problem to my satisfaction.

chriscalabro · 05-25-2009, 05:18 PM

frankly I can't ignore the apparent respect for my time. I have tried a few local Indy's on the Northshore of Mass. All seemed like nice enough guys and I am sure they are good at what they do. What galls me is when you call and no one answers the phone, you leave a message and you never get a return call, when your forced to drive out to get an answer.
When I called about having a local Indy install the Baker DD7 I asked when they could schedule the install. I was told that next week was good. So I asked "if I dropped it off Monday when could I plan to pick it up. I was open to any date based on when they scheduled the work. The answer I got was " we will try to get in done in a couple of days".

WTF is that. This was an elective upgrade and I made it clear that my number one concern was to schedule it so that I did not miss any weekend riding time, so I was flexible. Yet given a schedule which by their own admission included a "couple of oil changes" on schedule for the whole week they could not commit to a time to work and complete the job. That is horsebleep customer service.

I run a $120M business and have very talented people. I can't fathom anyone handing out an answer that lame.

Kudo's to those who make customer service a priority and getting the job done right and on time.

strokerjlk · 05-25-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elamey

I've been VERY pleased with the service and parts department at Buds Harley Davidson in Evansville. I've had a flat rear tire fixed immediately as I wait. I had a front tire put on a few weeks ago and asked them, while the wheel was off to see if I needed brake pads. Came back and they said the pads were ok. How many dealerships would do that? Not many at all. I REALLY appreciated that. When i've scheduled work, their estimates are accurate and the work is done when they say it will be.

Yes, dealer service is more expensive, but time is money and I think of it as buying time. I want to make an appointment, drop the bike off on a schedule and get it back on a schedule so I can ride! I'm not going to let my bike sit in an indy shop for two weeks to save a few bucks.

Buds has been very accurate and timely in getting work done and back when they say it will be back.

A woman I work with was on her way to the dragon.
her friend had changed her oil for her the day before.
they were coming up on the rest area on 64 outside of Evansville when someone rode up and said your spitting oil all over me. She thought the worst and called buds. they came and got the trike (high dollar custom). She left it with them and continued on as a passenger. There was several causes discussed and she told them to do whatever it takes to fix it.
she stopped on the way back and they told her OIL TANK WAS OVERFILLED! Now they could have done and charged anything they wanted. But they did the honest thing and cleaned the trike also.
There are several good dealers still left out there!