| Author |
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Darthane
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 02:46 pm: | 
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I have no intention of bitching to Erik Buell about this. As noted, I'm sure he's aware of it, and I would venture to guess that it pisses him off much, much more than it does us. To him all I have to say is great job, I absolutely love both my Buells, and keep up the good work. To the majority of dealers out there, 
Bryan |
Sickquad
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 03:40 pm: |
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My girlfriend wants a Blast. The closest Buell dealership around is in Pawtucket, RI, Precision Harley.
Don't every go there!!!!
They suck so bad. I knew more about the Buells than the salesman, and I've had my Buell only 3 months.
Then I went to the parts counter and I had to practically beg the person there to open the Buell parts catalog to look up the price of a tach kit for my M2.
I'll take the longer trip to Boston Harley any day. Great service, good looking gal at the front desk and free hot dogs on most Saturdays. |
Court
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:00 pm: |
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Ladies and Gents, a couple comments.
Regardless of what Erik Buell might "love", I can tell you that he has a low threshold for his products being ill represented and has, with whatever influence he can exert given the specifics of the situation, gone to absurd lengths to insure the ownership experience is excellent.
The dealer relationship is a touchy one as any of the dealers here may attest. "Touchy" is not an excuse for poor representation of any product line and is never an excuse for dishonesty.
The good dealers ad dealers ratio is improving for Buell, but at what appears to be a snail's pace.
The best thing that we can do, at the risk of saying the same thing I've been preaching for years, is to be a responsible group of onwers, not tolerate incompetance or lack of Buell expertise and STICK TO THE FACTS and get the information to the proper place.
It places Erik, I'm guessing, as Chief Technical Officer in an odd fix having to rant to the Dealer Relations folks. One of the things you CAN do is to write the HD Dealer Relations Staff. But, when you do, remember stuff like calling someone a "Horse's Patoot" robs you of your credibility immediately. Be factual, specific and clear.
Thank you for sharing your experiences....each one helps.
Court |
Darthane
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:22 pm: |
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LOL..."Horse's Patoot" I like that one. Should I actually write them, I'm quite capable of keeping my sometimes vulgar fingers from typing madly away and being as diplomatic as possible in saying, in essence, "These dealers suck and here's why."
Court, is contact info for HD Dealer Relations Staff something you can post here for everyone's reference? A phone number and/or mailing address?
Bryan |
Mikej
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:52 pm: |
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http://www.harley-davidson.com/hd_main/hd_contact.jsp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_U S
quote:To contact the Motor Company directly, please write:
Harley-Davidson Customer Service
3700 W. Juneau Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53208
To speak with a Harley-Davidson customer service representative call (414) 343-4056.
Sorry, we're unable to receive e-mail at this time.
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Dynarider
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 07:10 pm: |
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with whatever influence he can exert given the specifics of the situation, gone to absurd lengths to insure the ownership experience is excellent.
I know you have attempted to help my cause Court, as has Scott from ATC, but Buell has stonewalled any attempts to rectify the situation & says its up to the dealer & the dealer says its up to Buell.
Personally I think they are simply mad at me because I bitched about basically getting a lemon & not 1 person caring that I shelled out a lot of $$$ & have had an absolutely horrible "ownership experience". |
Crusty
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 09:11 pm: |
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Sickquad, Pawtucket was the dealership I was describing in my earlier post. It's interesting to know that they haven't changed in five years. |
Dynarider
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 02:51 am: |
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and even though Spidey's not a 'salesman' anymore, at least someone would be there that he trusts and can talk to.
Tony, I read this the other day & didnt really think too much of it. Whats up with that? I thought you like being a salesman? Whats your job consist of now?
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Darthane
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 06:36 am: |
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"...and even though Spidey's not a 'salesman' anymore, at least someone would be there that he trusts and can talk to." <~~me
"Tony, I read this the other day & didnt really think too much of it. Whats up with that? I thought you like being a salesman? Whats your job consist of now?" <~~Dyna
I could be mistaken with that statement, Dyna, but I hd thought that sales were no longer his responsibility. Buell, Rental, and Rider's Edge Manager is what I thought his title(s) were now.
In any event, my buddy Dave, the original reaon for this ranting thread, went to go see Tony yesterday and found a used red 2001 Blast that Tony gave him a good deal on, which I hope he takes. Alwys nie to have new riders.
This thread is apparently working its way through the chain, so even though I was just venting, hopefully something good will come of it. I asked my friend to write a letter explaining how he was treated, and he gave me permission to pass it along, so I my even post a copy of it here.
Just thought I'd pass along an update. And Blake, if you're listening, I think a dealer rating area on this board like Dyna and Chainsaw were talking about a little while back would be a good idea.
Bryan
_______________________________________________
What do we want?
Jim - Hot women. 
Bryan - Cold beer. 
Tony - To ride our bikes without being hassled by The Man! 
Joe - TO GET HIGH! 
Now which one of us has his priorities straight?
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Krelian
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:36 am: |
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Hello, this is my first post on this forum. I am Bryan's friend Dave...the one that was put off by the lame salespeople at HD, started to consider a Ninja, etc. After talking to Tony, I think I am going to go with a Blast through him. The e-pinions ratings for a Ninja 500r were generally more positive than for a Blast, but I am looking forward to learning how to maintain and tweak a bike, not just zip around and look cool.
I was very dissappointed by the lack of interest that the dealers had shown me, but I was never angry. I am a former salesperson myself; I sold computers at CompUSA, and I never turned a customer down, even if they were buying a $200 under-cost computer. The most successful salespeople are those that think about future returns, not immediate commission. I recall that in the span of a month, I lost probably $150 on a customer that walked away with a package that was way-under cost but gained it back when the customer came back to purchase a high profit-margin digital camera and printer, complete with *very* high margin cables and consumables.
So my concern with the way I was treated is two-fold. 1) the attitude of the salespeople was a terrible reflection on the company and 2) I can not believe that the actual sales-skill and forethought on the part of the people with whom I spoke was as low as it was. You always ask a customer questions, you *always* offer as much information as you can without overloading the brain, and you *always, always, always* let the customer upsell themselves, as I FLAGRANTLY did in speaking with the guy at Motor City HD.
So this is my little rant and first post. Perhaps it is not an appropriate one but I thought, after reading some of the previous comments in this topic, that I would kind of give a run down on my current attitude towards HD/Buell. Bryan has a letter I wrote with the details of the experience that he told me he would post, so I would bother with that.
Perhaps I will be a member of the Buell community by the end of the week, despite the best non-efforts of a couple of chumps :-P
-Dave |
Blackbelt
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:37 am: |
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what about me?
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Darthane
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:43 am: |
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What about you? LOL...you live in BFE and get lost in the shuffle, that's what about you.
And welcome to the board, Dave. Be sure to check out the THUMPer Forum and bug EZ...he'll talk (type?) your ears off about Blasts.
edited by darthane on June 04, 2003
edited by darthane on June 04, 2003 |
Spiderman
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:52 am: |
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Welcome to our little dysfuncktional family Krealin!!
Dyna,
Always have been always will be a salesman but that isn't my major responsibility.
Number one on my list is making sure all things Buell are takin care of in this delaership form service to sales and all in between. I help the sales dept. in selling Buells But I don't get paid on commision like our sales staff does so I am like a sales leazon <sp> I do sell a Buelll all by myself every once in a while but I can not be on the floor all the time because I am also the Riders Edge program Manager and the Rental Manager. As you can imagine my plate is full. |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 03:43 pm: |
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Dave:
Thank your for sharing your experience in a factual and level headed fashion. This type of information can prove valauble as Buell continues to implement change in methods and processes.
The company has demonstrated, going from the "recall era" to producing a bike well on the way to being the most reliable motorcycle EVER made, a keen sense of responsiveness and willingness to listen to it's owners, learn and respond.
You'd be a welcome member of the Buell community. I've been here for a bit and continue, each day, to be more pleased with the direction of the company and the nice people I meet. Get your Buell and come join us in Bonneville!
Welcome aboard...let us know what you decide on.
Court Canfield |
Darthane
| | Posted on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 08:49 pm: |
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Update:
-=sigh=-
Well, Dave goes to American. Spidey gets him a great deal on a used (<500 miles) red Blast, 2001. Plenty of cosmetic damage from Rider's Edge. Bent headlamp brackets the only true thing wrong with it from initial inspection. Goes on a test ride, comes back and decides to buy the bike.
Inside, things get lined up. He's told to contact his insurance company to get insured before he can take the bike off the lot. Calls and the insurance company (State Farm) will not insure without a registration. See the problem here? The salesman at American even talks to them and explains the normal procedures (basically just a fax exchange) and they refuse. I meanwhile have been waiting in the service department for upwards of ten minutes waiting to be helped. Finally, disgusted that no one even acknowledged me, I left, came back out to find him on the phone with Harley Insurance...apparently for too long. He got frustrated with the wait and decided to leave. Who am I to argue? It's his choice. We take off. He is mad because virtually every aspect of this whole buying a bike thing has been a horrible and/or frustrating experience. He basically takes this as the last straw and a true "I guess it just isn't my time to own a motorcycle" moment. I feel kind of responsible, since I got him interested in the first place, but nothing that happened was my fault. -=shrugs=-
I go back home, start getting the 'bolt ready for the trip tomorrow, and he shows up to return the cover I'd given him for the Blast. We chat for a little while, and he tells me the only thing he really regrets is that Spidey went out of his way to help him and basically got nothing in return.
Ahh, well. One of these days he'll get a motorcycle. Until then he can ride my Blast, unless Spidey chases him away.
I'd like to point out once again that his walking away from it had nothing to do with the service at American. It was the only place he was treated the way a potential customer should be.
Bryan
edited by darthane on June 05, 2003 |
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