so far not had, and hope never

 

Stealerships regardless of vehicle type, are like people, some are OK but most suck, that one of the reasons why I buy vintage and work on it myself

 

Being the owner of a custom shop myself here in Huntington Connecticut(VS Customs<shameless plug ) I have many scenarios and experiences in H-D customers coming to me to install bolt on accesories,general maintenance and repairs as well as total custom builds because of the terrible customer service and general un-trustworthy atmosphere they have had at area dealerships here in Connecticut & upstate NY.

Just recently Bridgeport Harley Davidson(located on lordship blvd. in Stratford CT) closed it's doors entirely and declared bankruptcy.Many of it's former customers have come to me EVEN While They Were OPEN -simply because of the horrendous service , blatant arrogant attitude and atmosphere & general ignorance on the part of management and staff.
They had some FINE tech's working for them,but the Mgmt. were 1st class Scumbagz only looking at the $$$$ and they could care less about the customers needs,wants,budget or taste as long as a sale was being made for even the smallest item.

The warranty policy instituted by H-D was so blatantly abused and ignored-or terribly exaggerated by this dealership that many of it's customer base would go to Danbury H-D 45 miles away (I dont know of any bad experiences there to speak of).They were literally seeing a 60%total drop off of customer traffic~and they were like a ghost town due to the greediness of mgmt.
Not to mention(but I will) many scenarios where they couldn't KEEP the good techs(they literally would quit after a few days) so they hired hacks with a toolbox to service or install accesories and other necessities,and try and "smoke" their way around warranty service,repairs and replacements.I knew that this was a recipe for disaster for the dealerships longevity~but I admit surprise that it didn't happen sooner.

A friend of mine had a 2006 softail custom that he purchased NEW at
Brothers Harley Davidson in Branford CT.He's bought 4 Previous NEW H-Ds from them in the past despite the horrible atmosphere,blatant arrogance & ripoffs that have occured there to him and others(I guess he's a masochist huh...?)
The 06 softail he bought there new was involved in an accident(he laid it down to avoid a deer on rt.34 in Seymour CT) resulting in Minor sheetmetal damage to the tank and front fender and oil tank scratches ,blinkers on the right side,front brake lever, R.mirror Air cleaner scratches and rear brake foot control arm.
I went over this bike with a fine tooth comb prior to his bringing it to Brothers H-D because of HIS insistence and not trusting them to replace ONLY what was needed(he had a check IN Hand from his Insurance to cover the cost(s) based on the damage appraisal from MY Shop).
Well he takes it to Brothers because he thought he'd be treated fairly since he bought the bike new from them(I tried to talk some sense into him suggesting Danbury H-D) but he insisted he'd go where he bought the bike.......big mistake.
They shook their heads,yes'd him to death and looked at the bike for about 24 seconds and took his insurance check AND wheeled the bike into the service dept.The check was for about $4,460 if I remember correctly-and it covered parts AND labor rates according to the book.
He went to go pick up the bike after about 4 weeks and they said to him:
You owe us another $3,027 to cover the stuff we replaced along with your original estimate for damaged parts & labor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say this dude almost hit the floor in a siezure/coma while asking the Service mgr. to repeat the info once more.Yep.....they changed tires(from AVONs he bought new from Me) to stock tires,replaced the swingarm and ALL the wiring harness and ALL blinkers and headlight and a bunch of labor on top.This guy SOLD the bike the following week.

I've seen many more instances from Brothers H-D but this one was so blatant and lowdown-underhanded I just wanted to share the story.
Needless to say...my friend Bought a brand New BIG DOG PITBULL which is 4 times the bike his softtail was and is a much better motorcycle than any H-D offered in the past 40 years.

 

I had motorwork done at hotshot motor works. Oh my god!!! I had nothing but problems, one after another, heads were not machined properly, motor put together incorrectly, cost me a lot of money, owner not willing to help. ended up trading bike in after spending $7000 on it... Horrible experience, will never deal with Hot Shot Motorworks again and I recommend nobody uses them ever
HotShot Motorworks Stay away, do not use them.......

 

[my friend Bought a brand New BIG DOG PITBULL which is 4 times the bike his softtail was and is a much better motorcycle than any H-D offered in the past 40 years.[/quote]
i dont deny your friend problem but it sounds more like you are trying to sell us on BIG DOG rather then his problems with dealer. he did a lot of things wrong on this deal so part of this he only has himself to blame.
if there were more charges on the bike then the insurance co. would be on the hook. having a little trouble with this story

 

i dont deny your friend problem but it sounds more like you are trying to sell us on BIG DOG rather then his problems with dealer. he did a lot of things wrong on this deal so part of this he only has himself to blame.
if there were more charges on the bike then the insurance co. would be on the hook. having a little trouble with this story[/quote]

Nope- I'm NOT trying to sell you or anyone else on a BIG DOG PITBULL (or any other fine Model Motorcycle they make) and I agree with you 1000% that my bud did alot of silly/Stupid things as well-like giving Brothers H-D the go ahead to do the work AND handing them a check beforehand from his insurance Co.
The dealership insisted that the "added" repairs were necessary and because my bud DID authorize them to fix the bike he was giving them carte blanche to go ahead and do ANY work needed to get the bike back to 100%.
No mention was made to him beforehand that he was going to be charged ABOVE the agreed upon amount of the insurance co.check to cover anything *they felt needed to be replaced* so he kinda let THEM be the judge ~ and as a result was put on the hook for the added expense.
He DID talk to a few attorneys that wouldn't persue the added cost of repairs to the bike because he said to them:Fix It-heres the Insurance check(he trusted them-he's very gullable and didn't really expect to be raped) but thats the way it went down dude.

 

Black Hills HD in Rapid City, SD ( If you've been to the Rally then you know this place)

My Dad and I go in to purchase a 2010 1200XLC in Merlot/sunglo, all we got when we signed the finance papers on it was x-small t-shirt ( for the wife) and a gas card... worth $500. Wife honestly wanted some riding gear, not a gas card. After 6 hours of trying to the gear, the sales manager gives us the shirt and gas card to shut my dad up. It worked, but only to get him focused on the pi$$ poor set up done by the service dept. nuts and bolts were loose, and we kept sending the bike back to have this and that fixed. and the the sales manager snaps at us to "STOP FINDING STUFF WRONG WITH THE BIKE" . My dad was getting cranky about being there for 13 hours at that point.... Needless to say, when my brother in law bought his fat-bob, he was told by his sales guy to "go shopping!" in the parts department ( he walked away with almost 3k in goodies) Will be going to gillette, WY for all my service work from now on... its further, but the ride is scenic!

 

Caliente HD in San Antonio TX. Friend bought a new 2011 UC. Had it in for service. Picked it up a noticed scratches on the left saddlebag. The dealership tried to buff them out. After a "conversation" with the owner a new bag was ordered.

 

i agree with the repair all the loose bits, as far as "only getting $500 gas card, thats huge to what dealers give here, Vancouver BC, some give nothing, one being Trev Deeley, you get a gift from ,parts(battery tender),service(cant remember what it was),clothes( free $40 gift i think it was) and a couple other small thing, ok, but not $500 gas card. So count your blessings, what do you get when buying a new car other than a full gas tank?

 

Bought my bike from #1 Cycle center in Centre Hall Pa.

They kinda rubbed me the wrong way in the dealing mysteriously 700 bucks more appeared when it was time to close the deal & basically they tild me tough $h!t take or leave it they will sell the bike either way after they couldnt give me an accurate out the door price until the order was placed?
How can they be unable to give that info?

After that the parts dept gave me a price for pipes and a sissy bar when my wife stopped to pick them ( after I paid them ) they charged her 30 extra bucks? The counter guy told her prices went up since the they were ordered but if I join some buyers club they would take care of it.

Obviously i called them immediately & they did take care of it & make it right but WTF? My time dealing with stupidity is free...

Not sure if I should try their service dept???