Folsom H-D/Buell

[rcbanni]

I own an 07 FLHTCUI that I bought from Sacramento H-D. Recently I had some electrical difficulties that left me pretty much stranded. I decided to have the bike towed to Folsom H-D because it was much closer to home.
It all started on 04/13 when I was on my way to an appointment. I came out and unlocked the bike and put the switch over to acc. and had the radio on while I helmeted up. Hopped in the saddle,turned the swith to run and waited for the f/inj. lamp to go off. I hit start....klunk it went and the bike was electrically dead. I checked all the fuses to no avail. So,being a Monday here in CA I had to have the bike towed home at my expense until the dealers open on Tuesday.
Tuesday 04/14 I had the bike towed again at my expense to Folsom H-D. I explained the issue and they were friendly and coutrteous. They did explain that they were busy with scheduled appointments and that they would get to it as soon as possible. Quite understandable. They did call me on Saturday 04/18 and said it was ready to be picked up. I was unavailable on Saturday and chose to pick it up on Sunday. They did explain what happened and it was a faulty ignition switch that was replaced under warranty.
Well,all was well until Friday 05/08. The same exact thing happened and left my ass stranded once again. It was late and chose to leave the bike at work and have it towed back to Folsom H-D on Saturday 05/09. No worries,had it towed back on Saturday morning. They said they would get to it ASAP being it was a repair return and would call me as soon as it was ready.
On Tuesday 05/11 I get a call from the dealer that they had lost my keys and needed my spares to replace the lost key & alarm fob. I was pretty mad,but ran the spares down there after work. I was thinking...what a bunch of knuckleheads. Now they can work on the bike.
Day after day goes by with NO word from the dealer. Today is 05/26,they have had the bike 18 days and not so much as a call to give me any update whatsoever. So my ass goes to the dealership after work to see WTF is going on. Well,it is still on the lift rotting and awaiting parts. I ask them why no call to let the customer know what is going on......their response....

We do NOT call the customer until any/all ordered parts are recieved. If we call the customer telling him/her that we need to order parts and we have ordered them,they will be calling us every day pestering us as to when the parts will be in and the bike will be fixed. That is our dealership policy.


WTF kind of customer service is that? This is not a $6k Yamaha,it is a $26k high end motorcycle. I have NEVER seen such a thing. Again...WTF! You have to be kidding me! They also have two other dealerships and I can only assume their policies are one in the same. I was a parts manager and a service writer for high end European automobiles some years back. I now work on helicopters and airplanes. You NEVER keep the customer in the dark...especially in this economy. These folks have kept my ass off the road for the last 18 days and also had NO clue as to when the parts would even be there to finish the repairs. What if I was from out of town and broke down. It is under all warranties,but NO warranty is going to pay for 18+ days and not to mention lost wages...etc.
So,I am going to give H-D customer service a call tomorrow and let them know about this dealership and what they are doing. I also plan to contact the CA BBB and the CA Bureau of Automotive Repair and complain. I find this completely unacceptable and will NOT put up with it. I feel I should be compensated for this BS and H-D should be informed of their BS policies. To make matters worse...the parts are under $10 and were most likely damaged from them the first time around.
Yes,I am mad. But I think I have every right to be and should take action. You do NOT treat customers like this.

[rcbanni]

Well,I gave H-D a call on Wed. and had a little chat with a customer service rep. He was a little shocked himself to hear my story and appologized on behalf of H-D. I said it was not H-D's fault but he could not apologize enough. After I got off the phone with him I recieved a call from the owner of Granite Motorsports. I am assuming this is the parent to all three of the H-D dealers I had mentioned. I am also assuming that this call was prompted by interaction with H-D.
Anyway,I was told that they have a crack IT dept. and their custom search engine found this post. He assured me that what had happened was a breakdown between parts & service at the dealer and this was no policy of their's in any of his dealerships and agreed it was bad customer service to be that way. The parts in question were in fact on backorder and he told me they were taking the parts out of a new bike as we spoke and replacing the battery to boot as well under warranty. I was also told that he would call me personally the next day to let me know the bike was done.
As promised,I was called the next day by both the owner and the service dept. to let me know it was done. I was out of town and got the messages on Fri. I went and picked up the bike this afternoon. No problems and the lost set of keys were in the fairing pouch. This is not a usual spot to put the keys,that is why they could not find them. So I got all my keys,all work was done under warranty and everything appears to be fine. The electrical connector on the ign. switch was faulty and the terminals kept backing out of it. They replaced the connector & terminals as well along with a new battery.
I was pretty mad that it took this long for basically nickel dime parts. I'm not sorry I had to contact H-D to light a fire under someone's butt to get the job done. But I guess this is a good lesson on how NOT to treat customers. They were VERY nice when I picked up the bike today and apologetic as well. I just want to put this all behind us and carry on with life. I am willing to give the dealer another chance. I love the location and proximity to my home.
So,forgive & forget. Let's saddle up and enjoy!

[rcbanni]

Well...so much for that thought. It wasn't two weeks after I got my bike back for the second time it started acting up yet again. This time was different, it was intermittent. So, I called my original selling dealer and told them my story. They were more than willing to have a look at the bike. There was NO WAY IN HELL I was going back to Folsom H-D/Buell. I dropped it off last Friday after work. I was called on Saturday with a few questions for the technician actually working on it. I told them to hold on to it to see it act up for them. It didn't take long before it failed for them as well. They went to work immediately on it and did not take them long to find the root cause of the problem. Come to find out they were a bit surprised as well. It was apparent what the problem was. The ignition switch connector locking tab was broken off and the ignition switch connector was broken and there were exposed wires as well. Not to point fingers, but it was debatable whether they actually changed any parts under warranty or not. The workmanship was shadetree at best.
So, this time they actually put in a new ign. switch and repaired the previous wiring damage and put on a new connector as well. They have toyed with the bike for a few days as well and come to the conclusion it was fixed. All the other wiring and connections were also closely examined and no further issues were found. I am a professional mechanic as well and broken or worn out parts DO NOT fix themselves. It is amazing what happens when you actually do the repair(s) and replace the part(s).
So, in short....I myself plan on staying as far away from this dealership as humanly possible and would advise everybody else to do the same if it is service you are after. I was fortunate I did NOT have to pay for the repairs because H-D wasn't initially going to cover it a second time in such a short period until they were told what happened and agreed to cover it. It was NOT the customer's fault this happened. I also plan to let H-D know about this as well.