I still have no reply4 weeks later from the owner of my local dealership. The following is a letter that was forward to him.I'm sure he received it , as he emailed to let me know he would look into it and get back with me. (See below)


I'm just curious on what others think he should do.




Kelly,

I apologize in advance if this letter should be sent to someone else at Boswells. If so, please forward to the appropriate personnel.

With that said, let me explain the purpose of this.

February 27th brought my bike into the Rivergate shop for a rear tire change and cables lubricated before my ride to Daytona Bike Week.

I picked the bike up that afternoon and once I returned home and parked in my garage, I started to do my after the ride ritual of wiping the old girl down when I noticed that my right switch cover was not completely shut. After closer inspection, I found that the piece had been broken at the screw threads. It looked as if they tried to pry out the cables (plier marks in the cable housing) and cracked the housing.

I returned to your Rivergate branch the next day and spoke with David who stated that the mechanic was not there to ask if he broke it. I thought “you got to be kidding”, but he later called me and informed me that the mechanic, Zack, said he did not notice if it was broke before or after he worked on it. Well, I then assured David that it was not before and asked for a replacement of the broken half. He stated he would call me back after speaking with Mark. He held to his word and informed me that “Boswell’s was not in the habit of just giving out parts” which I’m assuming came from Marks conversation. He then offered to meet me at my house in Gallatin to pick up the bike and trailer it back to Rivergate for a look see. This made absolutely no sense to me, plus the fact that I would have to leave work myself drive 40 minutes one way to meet with them. I offered to bring the part in, which I was again told that “We are not in the habit of giving out parts”, I told David to forget it and that I would take care of it myself.

I then purchased these Parts, 3 which I did not need but only came in a set, from C & S.

Well this is not the end of it; remember the rear tire change I mentioned above. Well, I’m running thru Atlanta, Saturday the 3rd, with my wife on the back, bags loaded up and two other couples riding in formation behind me at 75 - 80 mph, when all of a sudden the tube pops and the bike starts fishtailing wildly. I get my bike slowed and to the side of the road (Across 3 lanes) and after pulling the seat from my rump, I attempt to repair the tire with my tire repair equipment. No such luck (found out later hole was too large).

[font=tahoma][size=3]After about 1 hour, a man and his wife stopped by and after another attempt to air the tire up with no success, they offer to go home and picked u

 

Not shure what you should do, But tell me more about installing a tube without powder...........I've changed about 12 tubes over the years on my ride and have never herd of this. Alwaws put mine in dry. I'm very curious

 

well, youll probably never get a responce, unless you owe them money inwhich time you will be hounded till the end of time!

When I bought my Dyna in the winter of 04 the dealer misplace my contract, after not reciving any statments or making any payments for 3 months I called my salesman and asked whats up, he called me back a half hour later and told me that it was all taken care of. Well it wasnt. 15 months went by and no statments or payments, I was like oh well Ill just keep on keepin on.

then last spring they figured it out and the owner and the sales manager started to seek me out
I couldnt belive the level of urgency they used to find my, calling all my old emplyers and such.
and then the wanted my to pay for there mistake and pay all the back payments (3900$)to make the loan current! I told them to pound sand! and that I was going to talk to my lawyer!
I asked if they just wanted the bike back and they were like "Oh heavens no Mr. D".

After my attorny and I went over the contract, He said you can do whatever you want, they can call the loan to be paid when ever they want! and that it was written in such a way that they can never breach it!

Needless to say I still have the bike, and I still have the original contract, and I got the dealer to pay for there mistake! and Ive just barley started to make payments!

I have also found out recently that the dealer has done this to other people since then! Icluding one of the parts counter guys who bought a Road Glide!

So, If you in SO Cal and looking for a deal on a bike, PM me and all tell you where to go, You might end up getting yours for FREE!!!

 

I have never used any powder in my wheels. I just make sure that the tube. is not rolled over or kinked. Thye lackof powder is not the problem it was a folded over tube. Go get em..Mark...ps hope you still have the tube

 

I would go there for a "face to face". Its too easy for them to ignore you if you are not there.

 

In matters such as these, you have but two choices. One, you can elect to let it go, move on, and be done with it. Or two, you can make the determination to take the appropriate steps necessary in order to garner acknowledgment, disposition, and ultimately restitution/resolution for the manner in which a particular business has handled a service-oriented situation.

Were I in a similar situation whereby my written communications were not responded to in a timely fashion by either senior management or the ownership of a particular establishment, I would do the following:

1. I would afford them one final opportunity to respond to me by issuing a follow up (second) correspondence. This correspondence would be sent by two methods: I would send an e-mail and copy both myself, my attorney, Harley corporate,and the local better business bureau. I would then hardcopy the e-mail and send it via registered mail requiring a signature. On the hardcopy, I would also CC: (send a conventional copy) tomyself, my attorney, Harley corporate, andthe better business bureau.

2. In said follow-up correspondence, I would advise them that I have been waiting patiently for the past 4 weeks to what I hope would be a workable solution toward the problem at hand. I would go on to state that in the event that I had not heard anything from them within a period of 5 working days, that I would take that to mean that they had no intentions of addressing this issue at this juncture. And as a result, would leave me with no alternatives but topursue addition avenues of resolution above and beyond the local dealership.

3. I would do a little legwork and find out as much information about the ownership as possible. Fairly easy to do. I would also send any and all correspondence to whatever addresses (both personal or business) I since discovered.

4. If, after sending out said correspondence, I had not heard word from anyone within the requested time, I would personally visit the dealership and insist (in a polite fashion) upon meeting with someone in senior management and/or the owner if possible. Even if you don't get that opportunity, rest assured, the message will be relayed to them that there is a customer out there who needs to be addressed.

5. If this didn't work, then I would file a formal complaint with the better business bureau.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 until such time that you find yourself seated before the owner. Trust me, you will in due course.

*7. If you REALLY want to gain their attention as a result of their not addressing you at all, then pick up the phone and contact your local news station. Every station has a 'consumer type' reporter. They love sshit like this. Tell the reporter that you had an issue with the Harley dealer which you feel could have resulted in your having would could have been a fatal accident. Go on to tell him that any and all efforts toward getting this matter resolved have fallen upon deaf ears. Ask can he help?

In two shakes, he'll do an initial follow-up. And in about two more shakes, your phone will be ringing.

Another suggestion, in your correspondence to the dealership, it would be my advice that you accentuate the negative in terms of what could have transpired as a result of their negligence. Dealers don't like hearing that any of their service work could have resulted in a possible fatality.

Yes, the above takes a bit of time, a bit of inconvenience, and some determination. And again, you either make the determination to proceed or let things be. There is no in between and such a process should be taken seriously and not administered in a half-azzed fashion. Good luck.

 

It seems you are starting off on the right foot, the only thing that I would do, is to get a statement from the shop that repaired your rear tire, as to what they found, if it is not on the recipt already, and forward a copy of it on to the dealership. This to me would justify your claims.

I had a shop do some work on the wifes car many years ago, and they forgot to tighten a tie rod end and it wore the tiressmooth out, I took the car to a different shop and they found the problem and noted it on the invoice, I took the invoice to the previous shop and they reimbursed me the cost of the new tires, and the repairs to the front end.

I hope they step up and do whats right.

Be Safe