| Author | Message | ||
     Dasxb9s |
I went to get my pucks and took the letter from the mass mailing of the offer... they had no clue! The salesman finally said... "I'll find out cause I want to know" I thought finally a salesman who cares about Buell sales. WRONG! He returns and says... complete a credit application... have it called in and approved... select the bike I WILL BE TAKING DELIVERY OF... they set up a course to ride someplace... I test ride the bike... I sign the stuff to buy the bike... I get the puck certificate. I think once again no one cares about Buell sales at the dealership and/or HD does not give a s*** about the "Buell division" enough to want it to succeed. When will HD realize that the rest of the world wants to try before buying... not the typical buy sight unseen and take delivery at a later time and be tickled it was not a wait measured in months. HD is Buell's worst enemy! | ||
| Daves |
DasXB9S' That is pitiful!  You have to buy the bike first, before you get to test ride or get the puck certificate? I think maybe now, I have heard it all. With your permission, I'd like to forward your post to some friends at the factory. This type of customer treatment and total disregard for the promotion guidelines is completely unacceptable. This dealership should be called out on this. What bullshit. You want a certificate? I'll send you one, after the way you were treated you, at the very least, deserve some pucks. I see from your profile you are from KC. Are you coming up to the races at MidAmerica this weekend? A bunch of the KC Mob guys are coming. Give me a call on Friday at the dealership and I'll get you taken care of. Please don't think all Buell dealers operate the way the one in your post does. God I am pissed! Ride to the edge! Dave HD/Buell Cycle Center Waterloo Ia 1-800-342-7539 ext 14 dave@iowaharley.com www.iowaharley.com When it comes to Buell, We kick ass! | ||
| Dasxb9s |
Dave... Go for it... send away. It is pitiful how Buell is the redheaded stepchild at soooo many dealers I have seen. ...about the "test ride" it also seemed like they meant set something up in the parking lot from how it was worded. Another dealer said after the credit application... an employee had to go with me... my comment was... do you really think you will get one of the salestaff to ride on the back with such a little pillion??? I heard a different salesman laugh. It is bad enough the apparel is special order only... almost never in the dealerships. ...with a bit of focus at the dealerships... Buell sales could soar... and if they introduce new models on a larger chassis with more ponies... like a version with a V-Rod engine or that as a base line for horse power... it could steal jap bike sales. Also.. both Slay the Dragon promotions (last and this year) was about the same... no clue... no displays... and found in an unopened box "in the back"... and this was SEVERAL days after the promotion started. Totally no focus on Buell... which is unbleavable from a parent company which promotes HD stuff not only at the dealership... but at Walmart and pet stores!!! I am just hooking up with the KC MOB... and I have my 13 year old son this weekend so for that reason and since I am flat broke... that trip is out... but I really want to do stuff like that... and Deals Gap... is a dream trip someday. I am meeting more of the KC MOB tonight. I will retire from government service in a couple of years (at 50 years old) and not in my wildest dreams be able to live off the monthly checks. I'd love to work at some dealership and promote the hell out of Buell... as I am afraid the lack of some dealer support will someday cause HD to think Buell is a lost cause... and the machines are too good to let fade away like that!!! Thanks for you ear... Dennis | ||
| Blake |
I nominate Dave Stueve for BadWeB's highly coveted yet never before announced Buell Salesman of the year award! Do I hear a "second"? | ||
| Csg_inc |
Blake I second that....but wish we could just clone the guy and send one to every dealership. Now that would be something wouldn't it...... Dave No not that Dave | ||
| Spiderman |
>>>>>but wish we could just clone the guy and send one to every dealership HEY!!!!  | ||
| Daves |
Dennis, Email me your home address and I'll send you the form for the pucks. I will send your posts, both of them up the food chain tomorrow while I'm at work. Thank you. Does this mean I get a "get out of jail free" card for KC? Not that I would need it but you just never know.  Spidey, I don't think anyone meant to slight the effort you put into Buell!  How does it go, one more vote and the motion carries? I would be honored to be Badwebs Buell salesman of the year.  | ||
| Dynarider |
Spidey would be out of a job if that happened  Hell I vote for Dave, Motion carries!! Next order of business? | ||
| Henrik |
I'm for it. Henrik | ||
| Blake |
Spidey, Sadly, it is a rigged contest; non-sponsors are not eligible.  | ||
| Dynarider |
Sadly, it is a rigged contest; non-sponsors are not eligible Too bad, so sad, look at what you coulda had  Better luck next time spidey dude Maybe get your boss to cough up a couple $$ & then maybe...just maybe, you will be in the running next time. | ||
| Spiderman |
>>>>>Spidey, Sadly, it is a rigged contest; non-sponsors are not eligible. Not saying I wanna be salesperson of the year, just don't wanna be replaced cause I do a damn good job of sellin them and keeping the owners happy. BTW I tried to advertise here, asked a few questions and never got a e-mail back so had to move on to the next project. | ||
| Dynarider |
I do a damn good job of sellin them and keeping the owners happy. Ahhh, so those knee pucks serve 2 purposes then  | ||
| Bigsherm9r |
Hey, DASXB9S- You hit it on the head. I live in Killeen, Texas, and despite my better judgement, I asked the floor staff at Bell County H-D about the knee puck offer. I have an XB9R and wanted to see what's up for people with a Buell already. Why do I say "against my better judgement?" because every time I go in there, those guys go out of their way to treat me like shit! Seems they don't like the fact that I bought my bike in El Paso, and they remind me of it every chance they get, which is plenty considering the warranty work I give them to do(two snapped belts, speedo failure, wheel bearing recall). The reason I bought elsewhere is because of how rude the Bell County H-D people are... kind of a vicious circle, huh? Anyway, the guy in charge says to me that once he has an approved credit application and downpayment he'll let me test ride, then I can get the pucks. Doesn't really even make me mad anymore, getting this from those jerks... I expect it from them... But is this what Buell wants? I always thought Buell had an agressive testride program to try to get the word out about their bikes...? Like they wanted people to ride whether they bought or not just to spread the word? Hey, Daves, Send this to the factory if you want, in fact, I'd love to be more specific, I'll write plenty more, whatever you think might help. I've got plenty of ammo with these idiots. Sherm | ||
| Daves |
Sherm, I will pass this along to the factory. I agree with you, I don't think this is the way Buell wants customers treated. Was your reason to buy elsewhere based only on their "rudeness" or were there other factors? Please respond to my email at dave@iowaharley.com ,no need to clutter up this thread. Or better yet call me at 1-800-342-7539 ext 14 Ride to the edge! Dave | ||
| Dasxb9s |
I am not surprised at all about the lack of support for Buell sales other than here in KC. It is very sad... particularly since Buell is making a major model change. I know the tubers feel betrayed with the small chassis and lower HP of the XB series (me too as I'd love a White Lightning). There is much hope a better bigger series is next to come to properly evolve through the tuber models... As much as I love the XB9S... I am not over 6 foot or over 200 pounds (at least not yet... and I do not think I will worry about getting taller!!) Sadly... as great as Buell is... it cannot make it no matter how much the models evolve if there is not only poor HD dealer support... but also counter productive attitude towards Buell promos. Dealers... wake up and smell the Syn3... HD sales is slowing... no more multi-month wait for HD models... I see used Harleys setting at new and used car lots... apparently traded in for cages... the weekend HD yuppie riders are moving to other hobbies... if the trend continues... I think in a few years dealerships will be down sizing... or closing... hardcore HD riders (life-long types) cannot carry sales if the hobby riders migrate to other toys, and if dealer trash Buell promotions... the first to go will be the Buells as it could be, that it is no longer to the stockholders benefit to continue to support a line that does't move or shows sales decline. Will they care it is because of lack of dealer support... I think not. I hope I am in a mild cast of over reacting... but I am afraid that is not the case. If I were Erik... and I saw this... I would be kicking in doors to get this fixed!!! Sorry... I will jump off my soapbox now, as riding for me is not and has never been a hobbie over the past 30 years. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I have to give a big thumbs up to Austin, TX Buell. I went on a Saturday to do my test ride. At first the saleswoman said they don't do test rides on saturday because they don't have enough staff. But when I explained to her that I rode 75 miles to their dealership because I despise the dealership in San Antonio(Alamo)she became very cooperative and they pulled a mechanic out of their service bay to go with me. He jumped on a Firebolt and I on a Lightning and off we went on a nice spirited ride through a couple of twisties and a few romps up to 100mph!! Mind you this bike had only 50 miles on it! They knew I really had no intention of buying the bike but they made sure I was treated well. The funniest part was when another (obviuosly HD oreinted) salesman asked me how I liked that X1 and I had to correct him. He offered me a job!!! Good job Austin Buell, you will continue to get my business  | ||
| Blaster420 |
Went to Heartland HD in Burlington, Iowa to ask about the Buell knee pucks.... Took me about 20 minutes to explain what a knee puck was only to be told that I was mistaken. I was then told that I could have a Heartland HD T-shirt if I test ride a Harley. I asked if I could test ride a Lightning, answer... Sure, but I can't let you have a shirt then. Oh, and the Lightning wont be ready for any test rides until it gets set up, in a couple of weeks. You know, I really enjoy my S2, I also know that attitudes like this are not limited to the Buell world it is everywhere. It just upsets me because I would really like to see Buell succeed, it's too bad so many who are supposed to sell and support Buell choose to snub change and stack the deck against us. Ben | ||
| Grim_euphoria |
Would a "BLACKLIST" of crap ass dealers and total boycott of those dealerships help any? & a list the particular employees involved or would that get the bbs sued for liable? Or would making the list become some sort of badge of honor among HD diehards?  | ||
| Dasxb9s |
I hate to sound totally negative... as I am accused often of being a pessimist... and I always respond I am a realist... seeing or realizing what many do not... or do not want to see, (denial) the most common reason in many cases. People want to be positive and see the good when surrounded with bad ... I guess... TO THE POINT... I think the "blacklist" would be so long it would be pointless! Seriously! If we want to do something more constructive... as these dealerships apathetic to Buell do not give a rat's a** about Buell... I am sure they would also not give a rat's a** about the list they were on... put together by a bunch of squids... (assuming Buell riders are compared to the tank top and shorts wearing... shower shoed jap bike riders) ...side note... I was once in a HD shop and a couple of HD life long riders were leaving... and the 50+ woman spoke in disgust about a Firebolt near the door, refering to it as a bike for yuppies! (I thought a yuppie bike was a four year old Road King with everything chrome... 1500 mile on the speedo...never left out over night... never been in the rain... addicted to chrome polish... and trailer trained.) I think we would be better served to add a section on this board exclusively to list the dealers who support and promote the Buell. That way we can have a source to locate the nearest dealer to go for service or our next Buell. | ||
| Gravedigger |
Dennis, While I support your theory on trying make this a positive list, I think that we must also warn our fellow Buellers of the poor ones. Why reward a poor dealership with any of our hard earned cash or let fellow badweb member go through the same headaches that we have had with a certain dealer. I am not trying to be completely negative towards Buell/Harley dealers. There are many fine Dealerships. Many of those dealerships are represented on this forum in some form. I have ordered parts from SPORTTWIN and they treated me very well. Though I have not dealt with them on a business level, it appears that SPIDEY and CYCLONE1 try thier hardest to promote and take care of our riders. DAVES does a GREAT nice job promoting Buell in Waterloo. I personally order (and have shipped) anything I need from him (instead of giving one dime to my local dealership which could care less). Would I recommend that others do business and spend thier money with these fine gentlemen. "YES!!!!!". I have also dealt with the same dealership that BLASTER420 spoke about above. I took my X1 to Heartland HD to have my TPS reset. (I traveled the hour and a half because my local dealer told me it would be 6 weeks before they could get me in for a 10 minute job, imagine that!) Upon arriving at Heartland HD they took the bike in as was scheduled, I went to breakfast, upon my return they informed me that they couldn't figure out how to do it. you can imagine my reaction. I walked back out to my truck, got the info I had printed from here on badweb. Gave it to thier tech and walked him through it. The service manager tried rush me out the door and bill me for 1 1/2 hours. I handed them a $20 and was nice enough to leave them the printed instructions. I have to give the tech credit he was generally nice and concerned (even apologized for my trouble) just not properly trained. The service manager on the other hand was a complete and utter D*CK! Would I recommend that others do business and spend thier money with them. "NO!!!!" I can not tell you whether or not my local dealership is honoring the puck giveaway properly or not. Stopped in for the "Slay the Dragon I & II promotions" and they acted like they didn't know anything about it. Why should I waste my time walking in thier doors. Would I recommend that others do business and spend thier money with them. "NO!!!!" This is the reason I truely believe that we should create some form of dealer rating. Both good and Bad. That way we reward the Good Dealerships (and thier personel) with our hard earned cash and do not give it to the ones that could care less about us or our bikes. I realize that the list of bad dealerships will be extremEly long but why reward any of them with one dime. I PREFER TO GIVE MY MONEY TO THE ONES THAT DO CARE! Just my opinion Keith} (Message edited by gravedigger on May 24, 2003, %time) | ||
| Tripper |
How about something like the system in use on EBay where you can leave feedback? I'm sure Josh and Blake could whip up something. | ||
| Dynarider |
Heres a website where you can post your comments regarding a dealer, been around quite a while. They keep the comments for a yr then they get archived. http://www.hawgeye.com/sd.htm | ||
| Gravedigger |
Dyna, Its a nice concept, but this site speaks of mainly Harleys not Buells. There is a large difference in sales and service between the two. I still think we need some type of rating sytem here on this site. I really like Trippers suggestion on setting it up like they do on EBay. I think we should take it one step further and setup a seperate page for highly recommended dealers and sponsors so that we direct our business towards them and reward them for doing the great job that they do! you could name it "Badweb members opinions on dealers" That would help keep the liability of comments from affecting Blake directly. What do you say Blake?? Keith p.s. Cyclone1, thanks for the puck info!! (Message edited by gravedigger on May 25, 2003, %time) | ||
| Prof_stack |
Got pucks?  I got these from the two displays on a couple of XB's on the showroom. That was after I test rode a V-Rod. Go figure. (I much prefer the XB9S to the V-Rod) ![:]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Dynarider |
Its a nice concept, but this site speaks of mainly Harleys not Buells. There is a large difference in sales and service between the two. There is nothing stopping anyone from commenting on Buells on that site tho. Its simply which dealers are good & which ones suck. Why would it matter that its primarily a Harley site? You can only buy a Buell from an "official" Harley dealer so what better place to post it? You have to remember that this site has X amount of posters & putting it just on here that Joe blow Harley in the state of confusion sux wont really matter because most of us already know who the shitty dealers are. Its the general public..actually the guy or gal who is interested in a bike & is considering buying one from a shmuck dealer that should be forewarned. Most folks..not all..but most dont come to sites like Badweb or ATC, etc until after its too late & they have already bought the bike & dealt with the shitty attitude or will deal with it upon their first scheduled service. I dont really have the proper answer on how you warn people. The only way I know of is letting your friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc know about your experiences both good & bad with your local stealers. I know there are quite a few folks in my local HOG chapter who wont buy any bikes or parts from the sponsoring stealership. Word of mouth has kept a good amount of $$$ out of this dealers pocket. Is it enough to hurt him? Not really, there are always 10 other folks who dont care if they get screwed. | ||
| Gravedigger |
Dyna, When you quoted me you missed the third sentence, which was the most important sentence in that paragraph. "I still think we need some type of rating sytem here on this site." "Why would it matter that its primarily a Harley site? You can only buy a Buell from an "official" Harley dealer so what better place to post it?" My point is that many of these dealers treat Buell owners differently than they do Harley owners. You would have to agree on that point. I will post on that site in regards the dealers I have been unhappy with. That in no way makes it unreasonable to request that this community has a dealer rater. "You have to remember that this site has X amount of posters & putting it just on here that Joe blow Harley in the state of confusion sux wont really matter because most of us already know who the shitty dealers are." Some of us don't know who all these dealers are and some of us are still searching for a decent dealer that is not a 4 hour drive away. I think that you should also take into account that the demographics of Buell owners has changed somewhat since the introduction of the xb bikes. There are quite a few new members to this site since thier introduction. We should be looking to help out these individuals also. "Its the general public..actually the guy or gal who is interested in a bike & is considering buying one from a shmuck dealer that should be forewarned." I agree and I will post on that site so that those people are informed. Why should we not also inform the members of this community? We are the ones that are looking to have our bikes serviced or purchase parts. "Most folks..not all..but most dont come to sites like Badweb or ATC, etc until after its too late & they have already bought the bike & dealt with the shitty attitude or will deal with it upon their first scheduled service." Guess I was the exception to your rule. I came to Badweb initially (lurked for a very long time) because I wanted to learn more about the bike that I was interested in purchasing. I decided long before I purchased the bike that I wanted a Buell. Wish I had bought when I first started looking as I would have purchased the 98 s1 and not the 99 X1. I could have avoided alot of the 99's FI problems. I am still pleased with my purchse though. Also why should the people of this site not be able to comment on thier local dealers and inform others of thier findings? "I dont really have the proper answer on how you warn people. The only way I know of is letting your friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc know about your experiences both good & bad with your local stealers." I agreee, Word of mouth is the best place to start as you have stated but this seems like a logical place to do the same. "I know there are quite a few folks in my local HOG chapter who wont buy any bikes or parts from the sponsoring stealership. Word of mouth has kept a good amount of $$$ out of this dealers pocket. Is it enough to hurt him? Not really, there are always 10 other folks who dont care if they get screwed." there is the same situation in the area I live. I agree with you that it probably is not enough to hurt. They probably make enough off chrome accessories and t-shirts to keep the doors open and make a hefty profit, but it is enough to help the dealers that truly want to be Buell friendly. My point was to reward the good dealers. I really don't want to get drug into a long pointless argument in regards to this matter. I was simply asking if a rating system was possible so that the members of badweb could have a reference to good dealers and bad. THAT WAY WE COULD REWARD GOOD DEALERS WITH PURCHSING ITEMS FROM THEM AND NOT REWARD POOR DEALERS BY HAVING TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM OUT OF NECESSITY. those are some sharp looking pucks!!! Keith (Message edited by gravedigger on May 25, 2003, %time) | ||
| Dynarider |
I agree with you & I dont think it would hurt one bit to have something on this site. I know Blake has the thread about rating your dealer but its long & drawn out & tends to wander. Would be nice to have an alphabetical listing so you could come in & look up the dealer you are considering & see if anyone has posted anything about them. I dont know if Blake would go for it tho. Its his call to make. | ||
| Gravedigger |
I agree with your above comments. maybe we should open this discussion in the appropriate area, "suggestions for a better Badweb", that way this discussion continues with its original purpose. Keith | ||
| Dynarider |
Sounds like a plan..go for it. |
