I purchased my 16LTD along with the dealers ESP (5Years). Getting ready to expire and I followed the advice of this forum and bought the Discount ESP for another 5 years. 3500Mi. Road trip and found oil under my bike the day of return with 3 weeks left on the original ESP. Went to 3 dealers in 3 states close to me and found that none of them will accept “any” 3rd party plan. I thought my first one was a HD plan and Discount promised me it would be accepted at any dealer. Be careful out there folks. Thankfully I could dump Discount and get my money back. Yes I know many of you are happy with them but I’m sharing my experience.

 

All the service center has to do is call the ESP number with a work quote before (Super important) they start the work and if Discount ESP will cover it, they pay the service center directly or you pay the bill and they reimburse you.
Kinda like having your rich uncle pay for something... I'm sure the service center accepts money no matter who is giving it to them.

Anyway, I guess. That's how it worked for me. Pretty easy.

 

Curious, was your original ESP the Harley plan and, had it expired?

When was the new plan scheduled to start - was HD cancelled.

Finally, how was the matter resolved

 

I thought all those plans only required that the work be done by a certified Harley service dude.
I think you might be saying the dealers you went to would not submit a work claim through anything other than a Harley service plan. In other words, if they were to submit a claim, the ESP would pay it if you got the work authorization prior to start of work.
It's kind of an underhanded way of trying to rip you off. If the work is done in accordance with an ESP authorization, they would be limited to what the plan would pay for the specific job. If you are footing the bill, the shop believes you wouldn't know what the standard would be for a specific repair and run the clock up on you along with additional charges, like shop overhead, expendable material, I.e. shop rags, clean up fluid etc.
It might do us good for you to tell us who those dealers were so we can avoid them or be aware of their practices.

 

The Harley branded ESP is a third party warranty! It's not sold by Harley Davidson it's sold by CNA.

 

The original plan was Extra Ride Power Sports Sold at Rommel in Annapolis. The plan was willing to pay and was still active. They would not call the dealer or help me find a participating dealer with their plan which was their suggestion to me.
The Harley Plan is by CNA but according to my dealer is the only one they accept. Something about not getting paid in a timely manner or at all.
My dealer would not call the Active provider.
I understand how it is supposed to work but in my case it did not. LP
Winchester , Va , Williamsport , Md. , Chambersburg , Pa are the three dealers that gave me the same answer.
The leak ended up being minor and was taken care of for no charge while doing my 25K service.
My original plan was still in effect and the new one would have picked up the day it expired. I did my homework .

 

I call BS, Dealers are really liking getting paid over the phone with a credit card, the mother ship has no say on coverage with these other companies , CNA yields all the power to HD on coverage including cancelation for minor BS, I can say Extended has paid out well over 4K in repairs for me and dealers excepted payment with a smile.

Dealerships make a nice profit selling you CNA coverage and they also get to control what you can and cant do with your bike, once you buy this coverage they have you hooked into buying HD SE Garbadge or else. Respect to those that throw out the big FU to HD and start upgrading immediately using after market parts.

 

By threatening to cancel ESPs or warranties on new bikes, Harley Service Managers are admitting that the bikes are quite fragile and cannot withstand most aftermarket products.
From the application of a car tire on my 2016 RGU, several service managers told me the CT would damage the drive train on the bike and repairs would not be covered by the warranty of ESP. I wrote a letter to the HD engineering department at Milwaukee asking what damage a CT would do to the drive train of my RGU. Their secretary called me about three weeks later. Told me they passed my letter around to the engineers and none of them could see how a CT would do damage to the drive train. I asked her if HD ever put out a warning to SMs about application of a CT on the touring bikes. Nope. I told her what several SMs had told me and asked her why they would tell me that if there was nothing generated from HD. She said they didn't know what the SMs were basing their statements off of but they wish they would stop doing that.
In light of the HD trikes using two CTs and the same drive train, sorta says the SMs are talking out their butts and trying to impose their safety ideas on riders through canceling warranties or ESPs.

 

YES, the part is bold IS super important. Reason is, not all ESPs are equal, as far as Harley dealers are concerned. Now here's the real issue I have with the ESPs you buy that aren't sold by Harley dealers: The customer doesn't know UPFRONT about how they work. They are TOLD that they work "just like" the Harley-sold ESP. But they aren't! The actual procedures between how a Harley ESP works and how an "off-brand" ESP( As my dealer called them ) works are completely different. And that is deceptive selling by the ESPs, in my opinion. (And don't say read the fine print. How many of us really do that? )

Dealers have had to handle the off-brand ESPs differently because of too many bad experiences about getting paid. I don't blame them. With the Harley ESP, only in rare instances is work help up because of an "approval" process. That step right there can cause delays in getting the bike fixed. And on a trip, that can wind up costing the customer extra money and time.

Here's where Forums like this are worth their weight in GOLD. We as a group can help folks find the ESP companies and agents that have good plans. I have only used the old ESP plan sold by Jim Palmer before he went out on his own, away from that dealer that went into bankruptcy protection. It paid my one and only claim, but it took over a week to get my bike back, and that was on a job that took less than a day to fix. Under the Harley ESP, I would have gotten the bike back the next day, BUT, I would have paid TWICE the price for the ESP from Harley. SO, you have to weigh PRICE vs. SERVICE TURNAROUND TIME.

 

The fact that there are 3rd party’s selling ESPs, should be an indication of who is really making out on ESPs.