Dealers do not loose any money by answering parts questions on the phone. The guy you talk with is getting paid to be there and answer questions along with selling you the parts you need.
If they would get a different "attitude" about selling and service, they'd be making MORE money and have happy returning customers. Instead, they choose to be buttwipes and get threads like this one.
Remember, you get more ants with sugar than you do with vinegar. Having a nasty attitude is vinegar.
The parts and service department should have happy and with smiley faces and you'd be more tempted to let them do your work and supply you with parts.
Dealers seem to MISS the point of Service.
I've done business with a HD dealer twice in the last 40 years and both of those times made me remember why I hadn't done business with one.

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I spoke with the parts manager, lionsm13 ....i pointed that out.... hell, they knew who i was! ....they KNEW i bought the bike from them...they KNEW i'd spent over 1500.00 in the past from them...they KNEW that i've done this before and had provided me part numbers in the past, without hesitation.... this wasn't the first time i'd asked for a part number, only to come in, slap it on the counter saying, "i called about these numbers... one is special order, the other you have in stock"

point is, i think, someone came up with a knee-jerk reaction to what bikergirl40 points out as a legitimate problem ....however, bikergirl40, if it HAD been me....and i saw what the customer on the phone had purchased in the past (literally, at the very least, 17,000.00 dollars) i'd give a part number to the guy...feeling completely secure that the only reason why i was doing it was simply because MY guy had taken 15 minutes to search for it and prospective customer didn't want the hassle of playing the waiting and debating-a-part's-existence game, again

and as far as taking it personally...yeah, i kinda do.... i patronize your store, spend thousands of dollars in it, and you can't give me a part number OVER THE DAMN PHONE knowing FULL WELL i'll be there the next day to buy it!

it's not like i was looking for preferential treatment.... but if i make a conscious choice to buy YOUR products, you need to make a conscious choice to make sure my time isn't waisted next time i come in there looking for a part ....hell, when you look at it, all i wanted to do really was HELP THEM NOT WASTE THEIR TIME...nor mine ....and on to the next customer

 

I hear ya loud and clear jsbridgew ! The funny thing is the parts guy is their anyway.. He is their to Help the customer via the phone or the counter. Now if the parts Mgr. had to call the guy in and he punched a clock and got paid the 15 minutes that he helped THEN... I could see this Managers point. But that isn't reality. THE GUY IS THEIR 8 or more hours a dayTO SERVICE THE CUSTOMER! Period!!!

I too am becoming disenchanted with the Harley experience. At the dealer I frequent, I was the one to tell them that the cross bones was out! WTF OVER! Again I was the ones to tell them about the NEW Screamin eagle pro race tuner. this happened yesterday....
The Parts Mgr. knew about it but didn't fill his rank and file in on it. Big F*cking covert secret hand shake secret!
I felt like a sheephead when I mentioned it. I stole the dudes thunder, he wanted to tell his crew at a later time like it was somehighly classified Information. I just don't get why they do that ****.
It is a Retail business. They have every piece of Motorclothes. Just NO PARTS INVENTORY! So everything is a special order. THEN Try to return a little $12.95 part and the have to get approval from the Mgr. What a scam. That's what ya call scapegoatingyour bread and butter. Harley is becomming more and more of an albatross..... My .02

 

I'm gonna buck the trend here and say that I understand their new policy completely. And since it's "new", there was probably a good reason for it. Probably 9 out of 10 callers have no intention of buying the part from the dealer and handling those calls takes away from the time the parts guy spends face to face with customers who take the time to walk into their store. And we can always buy our own parts book and look it up ourselves.

 

That dumb freaking parts a$$! Beech-slap that **** next!

 

you guys want to know what i needed?.... nothing chrome...nothing illustrious and expensive...no expensive decoration thingy...nothing you'd see on ebay....nothing of ANY aftermarket value or worth....




a clutch cover gasket and 2 upper shock mount spacers for the rear shocks

...these guys were worried i'd take the part numbers for them, and buy them at a different dealership!!!!!??????

WHAT THE #$%& is THAT!!

...man, they really burned my *** .....LOL!

 

First off, how busy are the dealerships and parts guys in the middle of the winter?
Times are slow, management is pushing for sales in the slow times.
They run specials all winter because of this!
I go in, they are standing around twidling their thumbs, some up their butts.

Look, I'm a sales rep., I work on commission, I know everyone won't buy from me, but my mortgage payments, utilities, vehicle payments, bike modifications, kids tuitionsand any other living expense I have counts on me being Mr. Helpful Full of Sunshine to any and all potential customers.

The guy who I may have helped, but in the end didn't buy from me, he might one day when he is in a jam. I'm not the Karma type, but it kinda is true in life. What goes around comes around.

Sorry, life is funny, like the old saying goes, " you can do a great job day in and day out, but screw up once, and everybody remembers".

What do you think will happen if you screw up every day?

 

incidentally, anybody got a part number for a parts book?...LOL

2007 street bob

thanks, in advance, if you do

...i see a joke in here somewhere

 

the dealer i get parts from is pretty good but they had an attitude at first. after they found out i knew what i was talking about they got better.
"jsbridgew" got treated like crap and no one can say otherwise.
if the dealership dwont give out numbers but they know his name, they should write his name and the part number down. or better yet, pull the parts or order them so when he comes in, its already handled.
very efficent system, just have to have parts guys who are smarter than the parts

 

Hey man, life is too short to sweat the small stuff. If you don't like the way the dealer is taking care of you, find the part number on line and buy from someone else. Don't get hung up by someones attitude when it's so easy to use the internet to get what you want.