Sounds like you were visiting my dealer. I was just wondering the other day if my dealer even has a telephone, or if they do and their monkeys have been trained on how to read the work order and dial the customer's number to update on ongoing work. I have never received a call from them to tell me they were done.

My latest round, they trailered my bike after doing what they do best, which is nothing. The driver would not stick around long enough for me to have a look at the bike to make sure there was no damage. A couple of days later while cleaning it, I found a dent on the top of my front fender which seemed to line up with the fork bag on my bike. After I let them know what happened, it took 3 calls from me over the span of 3 weeks, along with one visit to the dealership to talk to the service manager, before I was told to bring in the bike so they could fix the damage. Now it has been one week, and even though I asked them to call me when they knew how long it would take, I still have not heard from them.

Typical customer service, and that is why they will never see my bike again after this.

 

Sounds like a fuc*Ed dealer

 

I have not had good luck or should i say service from either of the dealers in my city.So i bought a service manual and will do my own wrenching.

 

Eagles, at least you confirm the bad service in Calgary. I personally only have experience with one, but know others that have nothing good to say about the other dealer.

I have also bought my own manual and plan on doing the work myself.

 

After reading this, I think my own dealer is tremendous. They call me about EVERYTHING! So much so, that at times I wish they'd leave me alone and let me call them. lol. Sometimes, I find things frustrating at my dealership, as not everyone is well-informed and I tend to get a lot of wrong information. But, overall, everyone means well, and I don't think they mean to give me bad info.

One of the biggest reasons I switched over to Harley was because every other store acts just like your Harley store. The Harley people will actually greet you at the door here...I guess I just thought most were like that.

Sorry to hear about your experience. That is just horrible. Honestly, I'm not sure how much that survey will help to change things, but it is a start. I would probably write another letter to the dealership. Customer service is a HUGE part of business. If one customer has a bad experience, count on at least 10 of their friends hearing about it. In this case, possibly hundreds. People are not that inclined to buy a bike from a bad dealer. Bottom line.

 

it can take 6 hr for all that. on the 1 k they are to check all the bolts to be sure none are loose and the dyno tune can take up to 4 hr to do it right

 

Good & bad, we know. Seems like my H-D shop is doin'me just fine. I get friendly greeting, called by name, & seems like good advise to my dumb questions. Very helpful employees. But, the main thing is take good care of my bike. Example, I had a scratched primary cover when there for other maintenance & mechanic replaced it on his own at no charge to me. I axed him & he has a couple left overs when folks upgrade their covers & he likes to help folks out. Don't want or need no a## kissin' but really appreciate "TAKE GOOD CARE OF MY BIKE." They do so far.

 

I've been doing my own service for the most part since day one. Initially it had more to do with saving money than anything to do with bad service. Over time I have learned that it was the best thing I could have done for myself because whenever I have had to rely on them for anything, there is a 50/50 chance that things will go REALLY wrong. I will spare everyone the stories since we have all been there before at least once.

What is sad to me more than anything is that I have come across some really nice and helpful individuals who may work at any of the several dealerships that I have tried to work with. I have a feeling that if these thoughtful and professional folks ran things their way, the experience of going to a dealership service department would be way better. On the flip side, it makes it look bad for these folks when the dealership as a whole fails to provide good service.

Anyway, to the original poster of this thread; I think given the continuing nature of events means that the dealership in question needs to iron out some things to help you along but you also have to try to really evaluate what is their fault and what isn't. For example, if they order you a part and they get sent the wrong item or the item is damaged in shipping then maybe it really isn't on them. But one thing that I would not excuse is for them to not be thorough and not pick up that phone and keep you abreast of what is going on in order to make sure you are not wasting your time.

As for feeling that they are holding bad feelings towards you for calling them out? I would give the place some time. If things continue that way then to heck with em and look for service elsewhere!

 

1st! Absolutely (like so many others have already emphatically stated) buy the factory service manual! At least then, If you bring your bike to someone for work, you'll have an Idea what they have to do to accomplish what you are unable to do, ie. lack of tools, time, whatever. 2nd, harley dealers are a last option, there are to many hours of diatribes on Harley dealerships Complete Lack Of Competence here to even bother with them, just learn from others mistakes, and use all the resources that this forum has to offer you. Enjoy
Layne West

 

I had a dealer quite like this one take three-four weeks to actually place my order that I called in for them to place four weeks earlier. Called them and told them to go ahead and keep that part, that I already got the part from a website that was ordered and shipped within a day. Lesson learned, use these forums and talk to the dudes on this forum, they and this forum have helped me out more then any dealer ever could.