Harley "Custom" Paint Defect
Good luck.
After Harley-Davidson Customer Service received the pictures of the paint blemish (same pics as thumbnails in first post), a customer service representative left the following message on my machine:
"Hi. This message is for John. John, this is (name) with Harley-Davidson customer service. I'm giving you a call. After reviewing the the pictures John, that were forwarded in. Again we are unable to make a clear determination of what possibly caused this. And again, in speaking with the dealership, the best recourse John is to have the dealership send the part in to the paint vendor to take a look, to inspect, take a look at it and make a decision how they would like to further handle. This is one of our vendor paint sets, so they would be responsible for making that decision. John, unfortunately, according to the pictures, we can't give details of how this happened, why this happened, and we haven't gotten a chance to take a clear look at the tank. So it would need to be sent in to the vendor, ahh, for them to make a decision on how they would like to handle. If you have any questions for me John... (time on machine ran out)
I then called this Harley Customer Service Rep back. I asked her "What does that mean? ...you want to find out what caused this?" She told me that they need to find out the cause now. I asked her if there was an insinuation that I caused the blemish? She replied that they are not saying that, but could not tell me that I did not cause it. She then reiterated that the dealer needs to take the tank off and send it in. I also asked her to send me an email regarding all this. The next day she sent me the following:
10/30/08
John-
To have your fuel tank of the parts & accessory paint set part number
95710-08CSZ on your 2008 Fatboy to be evaluated. Harley Davidson Motor Company
recommends to have the fuel tank shipped to the paint vendor for an inspection
and determination how this should be best handled.
Sincerely,
(name)
Customer Service Representative
414-343-4056
So they are admitting that there is a blemish, but now they need to know what caused it? I can't understand this. Should not the dealership have enough qualified personel available to be able to inform HD that it is more than likely under the clear coat?
I still contend the dealer should order a new paint set, put the tank on my bike, and then work the warranty out with HD. It is a defect.
After Harley-Davidson Customer Service received the pictures of the paint blemish (same pics as thumbnails in first post), a customer service representative left the following message on my machine:
"Hi. This message is for John. John, this is (name) with Harley-Davidson customer service. I'm giving you a call. After reviewing the the pictures John, that were forwarded in. Again we are unable to make a clear determination of what possibly caused this. And again, in speaking with the dealership, the best recourse John is to have the dealership send the part in to the paint vendor to take a look, to inspect, take a look at it and make a decision how they would like to further handle. This is one of our vendor paint sets, so they would be responsible for making that decision. John, unfortunately, according to the pictures, we can't give details of how this happened, why this happened, and we haven't gotten a chance to take a clear look at the tank. So it would need to be sent in to the vendor, ahh, for them to make a decision on how they would like to handle. If you have any questions for me John... (time on machine ran out)
I then called this Harley Customer Service Rep back. I asked her "What does that mean? ...you want to find out what caused this?" She told me that they need to find out the cause now. I asked her if there was an insinuation that I caused the blemish? She replied that they are not saying that, but could not tell me that I did not cause it. She then reiterated that the dealer needs to take the tank off and send it in. I also asked her to send me an email regarding all this. The next day she sent me the following:
10/30/08
John-
To have your fuel tank of the parts & accessory paint set part number
95710-08CSZ on your 2008 Fatboy to be evaluated. Harley Davidson Motor Company
recommends to have the fuel tank shipped to the paint vendor for an inspection
and determination how this should be best handled.
Sincerely,
(name)
Customer Service Representative
414-343-4056
So they are admitting that there is a blemish, but now they need to know what caused it? I can't understand this. Should not the dealership have enough qualified personel available to be able to inform HD that it is more than likely under the clear coat?
I still contend the dealer should order a new paint set, put the tank on my bike, and then work the warranty out with HD. It is a defect.
After reading the email I would say it's very clear. They want the dealer to ship it back for inspection. That's it, cut & dried. Just do it. Even some of the members here couldn't tell from the pictures. To me it looks like a clear defect but I'm sure they want to look at it to make sure someone didn't try to buff out a small scratch & went to far. I really don't think they are being unreasonable & you have a right to be upset but stop spinning your wheels & get it back to them.
Considering how the paint would be applied, and the graphics added, this seems unlikely to be a case where the painter simply "missed a spot". To me, again, just going from the pics, it looks like it was sprayed on by an airbrush. Maybe the painter intended it to be a highlight (which is almost what it looks like to me, as it is on the edge of the graphic). There isn't a way he could have missed a circle spot - half of it on each color. It may have been an accidental airbrush shot...
That being the case, I could see why Harley would have an interest in figuring out exactly what happened there. If they are having quality issues with a particular vendor, I'm sure they'd like to keep tabs on that.
Last edited by MidnitEvil; Nov 2, 2008 at 02:11 AM.
After Harley-Davidson Customer Service received the pictures of the paint blemish (same pics as thumbnails in first post), a customer service representative left the following message on my machine:
"Hi. This message is for John. John, this is (name) with Harley-Davidson customer service. I'm giving you a call. After reviewing the the pictures John, that were forwarded in. Again we are unable to make a clear determination of what possibly caused this. And again, in speaking with the dealership, the best recourse John is to have the dealership send the part in to the paint vendor to take a look, to inspect, take a look at it and make a decision how they would like to further handle. This is one of our vendor paint sets, so they would be responsible for making that decision. John, unfortunately, according to the pictures, we can't give details of how this happened, why this happened, and we haven't gotten a chance to take a clear look at the tank. So it would need to be sent in to the vendor, ahh, for them to make a decision on how they would like to handle. If you have any questions for me John... (time on machine ran out)
I then called this Harley Customer Service Rep back. I asked her "What does that mean? ...you want to find out what caused this?" She told me that they need to find out the cause now. I asked her if there was an insinuation that I caused the blemish? She replied that they are not saying that, but could not tell me that I did not cause it. She then reiterated that the dealer needs to take the tank off and send it in. I also asked her to send me an email regarding all this. The next day she sent me the following:
10/30/08
John-
To have your fuel tank of the parts & accessory paint set part number
95710-08CSZ on your 2008 Fatboy to be evaluated. Harley Davidson Motor Company
recommends to have the fuel tank shipped to the paint vendor for an inspection
and determination how this should be best handled.
Sincerely,
(name)
Customer Service Representative
414-343-4056
So they are admitting that there is a blemish, but now they need to know what caused it? I can't understand this. Should not the dealership have enough qualified personel available to be able to inform HD that it is more than likely under the clear coat?
I still contend the dealer should order a new paint set, put the tank on my bike, and then work the warranty out with HD. It is a defect.
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Considering how the paint would be applied, and the graphics added, this seems unlikely to be a case where the painter simply "missed a spot". To me, again, just going from the pics, it looks like it was sprayed on by an airbrush. Maybe the painter intended it to be a highlight (which is almost what it looks like to me, as it is on the edge of the graphic). There isn't a way he could have missed a circle spot - half of it on each color. It may have been an accidental airbrush shot...
That being the case, I could see why Harley would have an interest in figuring out exactly what happened there. If they are having quality issues with a particular vendor, I'm sure they'd like to keep tabs on that.
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