oldfart Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Today I was refused service by the Yamaha dealership that I bought the bike from! I'm completely blown away by this. I had given them a less-than-glowing review on a survey that Yamaha sent to me by email after my last service there maybe a year ago. I hadn't really thought much of it, they had made a couple of mistakes that had caused me to return to the service department the same day or next day to have them rectified. Nothing safety related, just little things. So when I got the survey, that's what I reported to Yamaha (that I had to return each time to the dealership after my last two services). That was my only interaction with them, honest! Today when I drove my bike there the service writer started to write up my work, but couldn't find any record of me in their computer. (I had been deleted along with any info about my bike, apparently!) So he disappeared for a while then came back to say they couldn't take my bike in for service without speaking first to the General Manager, who was at a doctor's appointment and not around. So there I was, 15 miles from home with my wife in her car waiting to drive me home, and they wouldn't take my bike! Seriously!!!!! I'm going to blaze out a letter to Yamaha's California customer service office and who ever else I can complain to. Who would have thought that if you say something negative on a Yamaha survey about a dealership that they would refuse to do business with you??? I bet I'm the ONLY person on this forum with a problem like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruceintucson Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I [em]Completely disagree[/em] with their behavior but what is happening with these surveys can be blamed not on you but the (stupid) business model that if the survey doesn't get all 10's (or whatever the top number is) then the Dealer fails. It's like getting all 1's or 0's as far as Yamaha is concerned. We were warned about this when Mary bought the bike, and were actually told Yamaha will withhold monies.Same thing when Mary's Mom bought a new Honda CR-V about three months ago. Salesman & GM pleaded to check 10 on each question in the Survey she would be sent in the mail; and believe me they didn't deserve 10's across the board. So reality, these Corporate Companies don't want the truth, just glowing reports for less than glowing service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timg Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 See what you get for speaking/writing the truth! This is absolute bullshirt!! Call Yamaha USA customer service, and start asking/explaining in a civil tone and get as high in the feeding chain as you can, and get some phone numbers etc to keep going back until you are satisfied. Of course go on Yelp, FB, etc or have someone do it - exposure on social media is powerful these days. Burn his arse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted November 16, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted November 16, 2016 Salesman & GM pleaded to check 10 on each question in the Survey she would be sent in the mail; and believe me they didn't deserve 10's across the board. So reality, these Corporate Companies don't want the truth, just glowing reports for less than glowing service. I'm not sure I understand your point. If I don't give the dealer 10s, they don't get a bonus? Why would I want a dealer that provided me poor service to get a bonus? It sounds to me like Yamaha wants the truth, it's just some bad dealers who can't handle that truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crempel Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I worked in sales at a company that used one of these stupid surveys. We actually had a week long training seminar with the survey company, and they taught us how to game the system. I brought that up in class, in exactly those words, and just about lost my job on the spot. They did not want the truth, just a way to brag about great satisfaction numbers. Total Got B.S. Moved on shortly thereafter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crempel Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Btw, it was a 1-10 scale too, but there were not 10 increments in reality. Internally there were only two numbers. 10 and anything else. Anything but straight 10s was a failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlxr Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Glad to be warned of this, not worth filling out those survey cards if the dealer kicks you out of the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizin Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Yamaha with holds part of their funds if they get less than 100%. Alof of companis are doing this crazy shet and it should be illegal. But at the same time, I dont like dealers very much anyways. Why cant we just order bikes directly from the factory? It's 2016, we know what we want and dont need a shet talking salesrep anyways. I don't need "help" picking a car, or a "Motorcycle". This "help" just means that we all end up paying far too much money. And I dont allow dealers to work on my bikes unless its a warranty issue. Dealer mechanics are the worse and lowest paid mechanics there are. They cant keep good mechanics because the pay is so low. Everytime they work on your bike, you have to double check all of the bolts to make sure the kid didnt strip any out or forget to torq em down right. Extended warranties are a complete ripoff. In 30 years of buying bikes and cars, I have Never needed or used one. In fact nobody I know has used an extended bike warranty. Why do we even need dealers? Yamaha FZ-10 Forum Yamaha FZ-07 Forum Yamaha Ténéré 700 Forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DavidS Posted November 16, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted November 16, 2016 I'm going to take a different approach to this. The feedback we provide Yamaha on our experience with the dealer should be shared with he dealer to help them improve. However, they should not provide the dealer with any information about the specific customer(s) who provided feedback. If the sample size is small enough that the dealer could figure out who it is, Yamaha should withhold that information. I would contact Yamaha and tell them what happened to you and that the dealer refused to service your bike. I'm guessing they will want to have a few choice words with the dealership. (Both on their customer service, as well as the way the attention to detail when they delivered your bike) If it was me, and there is another dealership nearby, I would switch. Of course, I do almost all my maintenance by myself, because I worked in a dealership many years ago, and I saw first hand what happens in the back. I know not all dealers are run that way, but I don't know which ones do and which ones don't, so unless I really can't do the work myself, my dealer doesn't see my bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trokarr Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 The only reasons I would go to a dealer to buy a new bike rather than buying online is to: A) see the bike in person to see its features, fit and finish, etc., B) sit on the bike to see how it fits my build, and C) demo the bike. However, most brands won't let you demo a bike except for special Factory sponsored ride days. I could see forgoing A & B completely if there was a Motorcycle show in your city every year that had all the new bikes from the major brands. I just bought my FJ09 about 4 weeks ago and can't remember if I gave the dealer all 10's or not on the survey. I had no issues with the dealer, even though they had a lot of bad reviews on their website. I went into the dealership in the morning, looked and sat on the bike on the showroom floor, haggled a bit and then signed the contract. I picked up the bike at 1 PM that afternoon and it was fully serviced and cleaned. The dealer covered everything they were supposed to on the Yamaha New Bike Checklist that I signed and was provided to me. They were the only ones in the city that still had 2016 FJ09s left in stock, so I really had little choice in dealership, but no regrets so far. It was probably the quickest sale for the salesperson in a long time, but I knew exactly what I wanted after doing much research on the web. In the future, however, I will only get the break-in and major service done at the dealer and will do all my own oil changes and other service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timg Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 But at the same time, I dont like dealers very much anyways. Why cant we just order bikes directly from the factory? It's 2016, we know what we want and dont need a shet talking salesrep anyways. I don't need "help" picking a car, or a "Motorcycle". This "help" just means that we all end up paying far too much money. Why do we even need dealers? Tesla has tried selling directly to the public, and has not been allowed to in many states in the US. Old time laws and present day lobbyists have maintained the system this way since there were once a lot of car manufacturers in the country and each one having a store front was a mess and inefficient. Not necessary today, but..... POLITICS! Ya gotta love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfart Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 As the original poster (let's say, "victim" here) I want you to know I did call Yamaha's customer service number, spoke to a real person very quickly, and I do believe Yamaha will act in some capacity or the other against the dealer over this. The customer service rep was very sympathetic. It is just inexcusable. My appointment had been made more than a week in advance and if they were not going to do business with me, they had ample opportunity to notify me before I had ridden over there with my wife following in the car (15 miles each direction). I also wrote a new review of them on Yelp, which they won't like. The general public (us) have many more opportunities to be heard via the web and social media now than we had a few years ago, and I intend to use them all. Sure, I'll likely never set foot in the dealership again, which will cost them more than it will cost me (my next closest dealer is about 35 miles from my house so its not prohibitively far away). And that's a shame because up until now I haven't hesitated to recommend them to potential buyers. Oh well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duhs10 Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Also, if there were not dealers there would be no negotiating... so MSRP would be what everyone paid. '15 FJ-09 w/ lots of extras... Fayetteville, GA, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crempel Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Much as some dealers are bad, we do want dealers. The bigger the company you are dealing with is, the less they will care about you. Who would you matter more to, a small town dealer who sold 2 FJs this year and a bunch of other stuff for a grand total of 35 bikes, or Hondyamazuki Davidcyle who sold 1,000,000 bikes around the world this year? Who MIGHT know your name? duhs10 makes a good point too. Do Apple products really need to cost as much as they do? They're the same wherever you go too. How they don't get nailed for collusion is beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timg Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Much as some dealers are bad, we do want dealers. The bigger the company you are dealing with is, the less they will care about you. Who would you matter more to, a small town dealer who sold 2 FJs this year and a bunch of other stuff for a grand total of 35 bikes, or Hondyamazuki Davidcyle who sold 1,000,000 bikes around the world this year? Who MIGHT know your name? duhs10 makes a good point too. Do Apple products really need to cost as much as they do? They're the same wherever you go too. How they don't get nailed for collusion is beyond me. Not to hijack the thread, but I think other small side discussions should be acceptable, kinda like real life (MHO) - crempel, Here is an interesting article regarding Apple pricing - http://www.macworld.com/article/2024257/how-apple-sets-its-prices.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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