H-D Needs To Address A Design/Function Defect
18 April, 2013
[Xero, Home Base]
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
3700 West Juneau Ave., PO Box 653,
Milwaukee, WI 53201 41 4/342-4680
Attn: Matt Gartman, Customer Care
Re: 0002026845
We are in receipt of your 8 April, 2013 (enclosed).
We own a 2010 Harley-Davidson FLHX "Street Glide," with a 5 yr. extended factory warranty. Including accessories, apparel, etc. we have easily in excess of $35,000 spent with Harley-Davidson. Up until this LCD Dipstick incident, we have been happy with Harley-Davidson products, sales, service. We expect Harley-Davidson to stand behind its products and to provide service to its customer base.
Your Customer Care representative writes: "We appreciate your support of our company and our products. We understand that this is not the answer your were hoping for and hope that it does not deter you from using our products in the future." Such statements are presumptuous, naive, and patronizing.
Digital Dipstick #63030-09
We understand entirely that this returned item is not covered by warranty. Our 27 February 2013 cover letter to Harley-Davidson (enclosed) stated as much. The issue with this product is one of "merchantability" -- a legal term referring to a product functioning as designed and marketed.
The most cursory search online readily demonstrates that this product has had condensation issues since at least 2006. Condensation in the LCD is a known issue, but apparently Harley-Davidson finds it acceptable business ethics to continue selling this item with all its known design defects, and then refusing to address customer concerns when brought to Harley-Davidson's attention. The product design is defective. Harley-Davidson knows the product design is defective and yet continues to market this item.
Harley Davidson online marketing of this product states:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_product.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524448773727&default=none
"Designed to be waterproof,"
This product is NOT "waterproof" and in fact invariably accumulates moisture in the LCD display. This accumulation of moisture causes the LCD display to blacken and fail. We contend, accordingly, that the H-D Digital Dipstick #63030-09 is fundamentally not merchantable as marketed and is in fact defective in design.
We should have fully expected Harley-Davidson Customer Care to address matters of design defect and merchantability in our first inquiry into this matter. Instead, our inquiry is dismissed as a pro forma "warranty issue" without issues of merchantability and defective design being addressed.
We seek remedy to compel Harley-Davidson to address defective design and merchantability in this product
Please find enclosed a Demand Letter specifying our allegations regarding said product merchantability, our expectations for resolution of this matter, and a date by which we expect this matter to be addressed by Harley-Davidson principals . Failing Harley-Davidson acknowledgment of these concerns and reasonable indication that it is the intent of Harley-Davidson to address the design defects in this product and to reach a fair resolution with us, we shall seek civil resolution either in Small Claims Court or a class action.
