| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
(listen closely) My Dell has been making a nasty noise. I called and got a CPU fan on the way. Last week I replaced it; it was still making the growling noise. Looks like I misdiagnosed which of the 3 fans were growling. I just called Dell and told them that the Power Supply Fan needed to be replaced. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the "front line" taking the case off, looking at things I already had memorized, restarting and holding the phone to the case, so she could "listen", for 30 minutes. The verdict: Sorry there is nothing I can do. The response: So I am to wait until this intermittent growling evolves to a fan not running, a power supply failing and being out of service? The answer: Yes, that's all I can do. I KINDLY AND POLITELY asked to be assigned a Case No. to allow me, in the event the above events came to pass, to make a case for "hey, I tried to tell you" and then KINDLY AND POLITELY asked to be connected to her Supervisor. Next I KINDLY AND POLITELY explained, briefly, the events that got me to her. I explained that the noise was intermittent and that Heather had done her job admirably and I understood she was following prescribed procedure, but that I knew what I was hearing and although it was silent at the moment, there are times I can hear this thing downstairs in the living room. The noise began to crescendo and I had Supervisor Sarah listen. She connected me to Raoul in Dispatch Management Center. I KINDLY AND POLITELY briefed him, KINDLY AND POLITELY allowed him a moment to read the Case file and get on-board. I'll have a new power supply by 10:00am tomorrow. No one got "SOB'ed" . . . no one got the "hey, by buddy has a Gateway and he doesn't have to tolerate..." and nobody threatened to sue anybody. In fact, facts become less significant than the KINDLY AND POLITELY (not to be confused with wimpy and wishy-washy...or less than assertive). KINDLY AND POLITELY is a wonderful tool when you WANT to get someone else WANTING TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM. Just thinking out loud here...... Court | ||
| Bomber |
Court . . .. . good lesson, one that can stand repearting . . . . you will, of course, be sharing the lesson with suppliers as well as consumers, yes? (sorry, couldn't help it) new bumper sticker I'm putting on my 99 Mustang "Ask me about my Ford Custoemr Service Experience" | ||
| Court |
Bomber: I am going to start exercising my domain, so to speak, over this venue for a series of what, to you anyway, will sound like "common sense customer service lessons". As you, relatively new to Buell, don't know yet I've amassed a fairly substantial library on subjects related to "what *IS* customer service?" and just how the heck do you deliver it. How has it changed, what's stayed the same, etc, etc, etc..... It's time. The "crew" at Buell Customer Service has jumped over many hurdles and is emerging as a TEAM that I predict will be no less innovative that the XB. It's not been easy, they've had the "home team" (their customers and NIH thinking) toss most the obstacles before them. Like an athlete, their strength has grown by virtue of the very things they've had to overcome to get here. I suggest it's high time for a discussion on "responsible customering" and I'm betting you know better than to expect a "sit down, shut up and be compliant and complacent" lecture from me. I'll be starting with a glimpse of corporate organizational history in the next week or so. Court | ||
| Bads1 |
Court so what you are saying is the sh#@ didn't hit the fan. | ||
| Court |
 Precisely....I can see you are going to keep me on my toes on this one. | ||
| Josh |
Hey Court, Dell also runs a "User Certification" program. I've got a stack of certs at my desk, along with a pin# that came with them. When a Dell growls, I look up the P/N, call them and order the part under warranty no questions asked. Now if only Buell would do *that*  Josh | ||
| Bomber |
Court . . . .nah, I had a sense of the history (due to thread leakage), and am sure the Buell CS has imrpoved to the point where they are darned near at world class (if they havn't already reached it) . .. . . I was just pokin you in the eye a little . . . .guess I missed (grin) | ||
| Whatever |
Hey Court, Would you KINDLY AND POLITELY give me all of your money ??? Maybe 'cause I am so damn cute !!! Charlotte | ||
| Stormfool |
Just finished my five day training period as a Gateway Service Tech (read phone hack) and just now slogged through my first day in the phone room. Tech is about 07 percent/listening to the customer and letting them know you actually heard and understood their issue is about 90percent (taking smoke breaks and a whiz occupy the missing 03 ) | ||
| Blublak |
Hey, what do ya know.. I've already had a little experiance with the factory CS folks .. Before I bought the bike, I called them.. Spoke to someone about the (IMHO)stickers on the Blue XB9R. That's when they agreed with me about the color and explained about the 'no clearcoat' thing.. and the stickers have been the same size for several years. Hmmmmm.. Thanks gang, changing 'em only cost the price of some new (from an older model) stickers and a little time. I like, my dealer likes it.. very cool approach to their (potential) customers at the factory level.  }}}} | ||
| Blake |
I'm not following you. What are you talking about? | ||
| Court |
I assume you are talking about changing the stickers on an XB....give us the details, pictures, etc. Glad to hear your experience was a good one and welcome to the group! Court | ||
| Blublak |
Thanks Court.. it looks like I'll make some good friends here, It's now a new home for me on the web. Blake. Court was right, I did change out the stickers on the XB. What happened is I liked the bike, but didn't like the hunter orange stickers that came on the blue model. I phoned Buell, asking about other color options. The gentleman I spoke with was really helpful, he told me that there was no clear coat on the bike since they use molded in color. He also explained that Buell has been using the same size logo (tank stickers) for several years and I could choose a color of my liking from any model in those past years. I chose the 'Black Chrome' .. With a little heat and patience, off came all the orange stickers and on went the black. It looks really cool IMHO. I felt that this was a great display of how much Buell appreciates it's customers and are willing to assist in any way possible. That is better than a lot of other marquees out there. Later, Blu&Blak | ||
| Blublak |
Oh.. and pictures will follow once I get my Digi Camera fixed.. some sort of goof in the 'transfer' portion (from camera to computer etc.) | ||
| Court |
Buell has exhibited an unprecedented willingness and continuing tradition of providing creative, innovative and "outside the box" customer service since 1987. The association with Harley-Davidson has provided some challenges as the Buell "mobile, agile and hostile" tactics are integrated with HD's corporate structure and the concomitant bureaucracy. Pundits abhor and point to the rigid bureaucracy; don't buy it. In an organization the size of HD there is a requisite redundancy that is not to be mistaken as "fat". In addition our litigious society demands the realities of corporate liability (as in "why can't I install my own warranty parts?"  be respected. Harley-Davidson's top executives have exhibited, in private perhaps less than public, an exuberance and support for "the Buell way". They know that EXCELLENT service is, other things aside, simply good business. The concepts and procedures that CAN be migrated to HD are, ditto the converse. Buell has received tremendous benefits from the HD CS system. Several years ago, HD added Roger Roeszler and Randell Hendricks to the Customer Service staff. Roger (a Land Speed Record racer) and Randell (a serious long distance rider) had brought technical competency and Buell enthusiasm to the staff. Within the past 30 days I have witnessed a member of the Buell CS staff arrange to have a part overnighted in, worked on Saturday (no OT) and got the part back to the customer to accommodate a vacation schedule. Can this happen ALL the time? Perhaps no…but, I submit, moving from 0% incidence to 10% to 17% is better than sitting on the launching pad. Some processes simply don't scale and Buell has the ability to recognize and address "special cases". Many folks here can attest to that. In summary, welcome to the Family of Buell Owners. I've been here for something better than 15 years and met thousands of Buell owners around the world and in the 44 states I've ridden Buells in. Buell is the only marques I am aware of where disaffected former owners bought other bikes, but built a website and prefer to discuss their prior Buell experience. You can expect to meet many wonderful people, ride many glorious miles, enjoy an exciting experience and be witness to the growth of a wonderful company. Ride safe, lean much and smile more.... Court | ||
| Hans |
Blublak: "Digi Camera fixed.. some sort of goof in the 'transfer' portion (from camera to computer etc.)" Try this one and its follow ups: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=5241033 The Buell service is unsurpassed.  Hans | ||
| Blublak |
Ok, here's the first attempt.. I think I've gotten it all straight.. Thanks Hans, that was helpful..  I'll post some more in the pics section.. I hope.. | ||
| Hans |
Ha Bublik: Coming closer. You almost got there. Most common faults: 1. Pic file too big. Have to shrink it till below 45 Kbytes. Nifty and fast, one step, FREEWARE program to view and resize is Irfanview: Downloadable from www.irfanview.com. Is a must have goodie. Xat.com partly freeware, can shrink the pic more when still too big. 2. Impatience: After posting the message you have to wait till Badweb gives you the chance to browse through your files and pick up the wanted picture file. You can take any picture: The picture will be renamed to the name between the brackets in your message. Hans | ||
| Blublak |
Pic was too big.. Have to get that Irfanview and shrink it down.. Oh well.. I was almost there.. | ||
| Blublak |
Ok, trying again..  | ||
| Darthane |
Oooh...a sparkly. Me like. Personally I'm just going to ter all the stickers completely off my 'bolt when I repaint it this winter. Perhaps have some version of the logo painted in, perhaps not. The Blast has already had all the logos removed, one of which graces the window wall in my kitchen...been there for 15 months and counting. The shadow it casts on the wall in the morning is pretty cool. LOL Bryan | ||
| Grndskpr |
Randell (a serious long distance rider) had brought technical competency and Buell enthusiasm to the staff. Thats an understatement, if you could indulge me a moment, since i have made some negative comments in the past i fell it is my duty to also post the posotive, Randell has on more the one ocation help numerous individuals, during his off time, done it with no thought for being paid or expecting anything but a thank you, it has happened to me, on one ocation, and eventhough he was unable to fix the problem, he was able to point me in the right direction, and ad a touch of class with his ability and knowledge, my hat goes of to him, and if the is a Buell Award for CS, he deserves it, many times over Roger | ||
| Court |
Roger to that....er, Roger. Randell is pretty much the cat's meow in terms of a customer service dude. He is technically capable, has a keen ability to listen and diagnose even the most elusive problems. He also has wonderful people skills and, on a handful of occasions, has fixed gratis bikes that fell victim to owner problems. I'm confident the goodwill he has brought Buell has made him one of the most valuable customer service assets Buell has. He has it all. Well, except my macho chiseled good looks, sharp wit and worldly wisdom. Court (who is decidedly technically INEPT) | ||
| Road_thing |
Well, OK, but does he know where the good dumpsters are in NYC?? r-t | ||
| Phillyblast |
And Randell gives great directions from LaCrosse WI to East Troy. He gave me a guide-in on my way back from the Buellganza last year. Great guy. Especially considering I was cold and tired and hadn't had coffee when I talked to him and he never once (best I could tell ) mocked me. | ||
| Court |
>>> but does he know where the good dumpsters are in NYC?? My fine "R" slurring freind...you have confused "art" and "skill". My parking was SKILL, The dumpster was ART. Time for you to come see us again! Dave: if he hasn't mocked you yet, he will. He called me loud mouthed and arrogant...go figure? In all seriousity he does one heck of a job. Court | ||
| Amazing_sponge |
Hello everyone, after 7 bikes in a last few years, I finally decided to buy an XB9R. Bought it last saturday at Stubbs Cycles in Houston in battle blue and rode it home for $5600. The motorbike is super, the service is horrible. There were several parts missing on the bike and when I went to order those I was redirected to the "buell guy" by the HD parts people who sport a derogatory expression on their face. Real turn off but so predictable. Darhane When you decide to paint your bike, will you let me know what paint you are using? Everyone I am looking for a Buell dealer outside TX who can provide me with the Buell race kit for XB9R with some sort of discount? I have been looking around Houston and elsewhere as well. Almost everyone out of TX offers deals but I am looking for someone who you have a personal experience with - positive experience. I talked to Brian at Tiley's HD about the Drummer and was very impressed with the dyno runs and his customer service. But....after a hard thought I would prefer to keep my stock muffler. The only way to do that is using the Buell race kit which actually compares alright with the Drummer. Please, let me know and thanks for letting me post here! Amazing Sponge/Tanya  | ||
| Buelliedan |
Sponge, Brain at Tilleys or Dave at Waterloo HD can both hook you up with what you want. | ||
| Easyflier |
Tanya, the Buell race kit muffler is not the stock muffler. Or did you just mean that you wanted to stick with factory parts? Brian would be happy to sell you the entire kit with the race muffler I'm sure. So would Dave out in Waterloo for that matter, you can't go wrong with either one of them. You will still have to find a shop local to you to reset the TPS when you install the ECM that comes with the race kit. | ||
| Amazing_sponge |
BuellieDan, Easyflier The thing about the Drummer is that you send your stock muffler over to Brian and he and his friend modify it big time (lighten it, shorten it and repack it with their packing) and send it back to you. It's very competitively priced. However you end up with just one pipe (your modified stock). Where if you opt for Buell race pipe, you keep your stock as a spare and put the Buell race can on. The Drummer gives about 3 horses more and about 3-5 footpounds of torque more in the 2000-4500rpm range more then the Buell race pipe. But I'm a sucker - all I want is better low end torque, decent sound and the BEST value there is. The TPS is another scare - I already have goose bumps about that. When I picked the bike up, I was promised full service with cleaning, oil/oil filter change and other obvious services you should receive. Oil filter wasn't changed - I was told "oh, they look at the oil and if it's clean, they don't change the filter". We just stood there fabergasted - this guy can't be serious. But he was. The bike was filthy and the tire pressure was front/26PSI and rear/28PSI. I fear what's going to happen when I start shopping for someone to do the TPS adjustments. Question: Can I actually ride the bike with the Buell race pipe without putting the race ECM on? If yes, for how long? Is the bike just going to run lean or could it even damage the bike? Thanks, Sponge/Tanya |
