My Holiday Ultra Service Woes From Dealer
#1
01-03-2012, 02:39 PM
My Holiday Ultra Service Woes From Dealer
Made the mistake of trying to get a new tire between Xmas and New Year's at my local dealer. Would be long post so check it out on my blog at http://swriding.blogspot.com/
#2
01-03-2012, 03:02 PM
Extreme HDF Member
Here it is so you won't have to look it up:
(plus that type font is extremely hard to read)
Harley Davidson Service Woes!
My 2008 HD Ultra Classic
My dad was a mechanic so naturally we grew up around cars and servicing vehicles. One of my dad's cardinal rule was never buy a car that rolled off the assembly line on a Monday or Friday. That was back in the day when we would typically special order the car you wanted. Another "rule" that I've learned along the way is to never take your vehicle in for service right before any holiday. Well, I violated one of my cardinal rules and took my Harley Ultra Classic in for a new rear tire.
I dropped the bike off on Wednesday afternoon, December 28th. I use Metzelers and made sure they noted that. The Serviceman recommended doing the 40K service since I was approximately 1,200 miles short of the 40,000 mile service interval. So I said sure, and while he was at it he might as well do the state inspection, put the nostalgic type grips on, replace the brake fluid cover since it was leaking, a warranty issue, and either fix my battery operated oil dip stick which went south soon after I bought it, or replace it with the stock item.
He said that the bike would probably be ready by Thursday afternoon. I called on Friday morning asked if bike was ready and was told, "yep" just finishing it up now. Of course, we all know that's code for, "he hasn't started yet". So I said I'd pick it up before their 6pm closing time. While I was on the phone he mentioned that everything was okay except the nostalgic grips were not available for the TBW (throttle by wire) bikes. I politely mentioned that I had asked the service guy if those were compatible with the TBW bike and, of course, he had said they were.
My wife drops me off at about 3:30pm and the guy at the counter asks me if I had already paid for the tire as he's tallying up my invoice. I hadn't paid for it and said so, adding that it must be a New Year's complimentary item. He says well it's not on the invoice expecting me to understand what that means. He then starts a phone conversation with someone back in the Parts Department and after a while finally decides to go look at the bike. When he returns he says that they hadn't put the tire on. I just dejectedly say, "that's the only reason I brought the bike in for". He wondered out-loud if it could be done before 6pm as he looked at the serviceman that worked on my bike. He got one of those blank stares that says, sure it can be done by 6pm but what fool do you think is gonna do it. In reality, he never spoke. After another longer wait the counter guy tells me that the Metzeler is not in stock and it would take a week for it to come in. By this time I'm trying not to be an SOB just two days before New Year's Eve so I just tell the guy to get my bike because I wasn't wanting to leave it for more than a week. I really wanted to ask why they didn't check to see if the tire was in stock when I dropped it off, but figured that would only frustrate me even more so I didn't ask the obvious.
By the time I get home I notice that they didn't fix or replace the brake fluid cap as was on the work order or the dipstick. So then for the "coup de grace" I decided to look at the state inspection sticker, you guessed it, no new sticker.
Like Timmy said in the movie "Sandlot", 'I blame myself for underestimating the beast and going about this all wrong'.
Of course, I didn't get out of there without paying about $440 for the 40K Service. Now the constant question that gnaws at me is, 'what are the odds of they actually doing what's on the checklist for the 40K service?' Gotta admit that the odds are heavily tilted towards the 'no way' side.
Now I must admit that I'm just letting off steam; all in all my dealer is good and I must admit that they, especially the Service Manager has gone out of his way to make things right and I'm sure this won't be an exception. Let's just chalk it up to holiday blues and better days will come my poor bike's way. Anyway, Happy New Year!
(plus that type font is extremely hard to read)
Harley Davidson Service Woes!
My 2008 HD Ultra Classic
My dad was a mechanic so naturally we grew up around cars and servicing vehicles. One of my dad's cardinal rule was never buy a car that rolled off the assembly line on a Monday or Friday. That was back in the day when we would typically special order the car you wanted. Another "rule" that I've learned along the way is to never take your vehicle in for service right before any holiday. Well, I violated one of my cardinal rules and took my Harley Ultra Classic in for a new rear tire.
I dropped the bike off on Wednesday afternoon, December 28th. I use Metzelers and made sure they noted that. The Serviceman recommended doing the 40K service since I was approximately 1,200 miles short of the 40,000 mile service interval. So I said sure, and while he was at it he might as well do the state inspection, put the nostalgic type grips on, replace the brake fluid cover since it was leaking, a warranty issue, and either fix my battery operated oil dip stick which went south soon after I bought it, or replace it with the stock item.
He said that the bike would probably be ready by Thursday afternoon. I called on Friday morning asked if bike was ready and was told, "yep" just finishing it up now. Of course, we all know that's code for, "he hasn't started yet". So I said I'd pick it up before their 6pm closing time. While I was on the phone he mentioned that everything was okay except the nostalgic grips were not available for the TBW (throttle by wire) bikes. I politely mentioned that I had asked the service guy if those were compatible with the TBW bike and, of course, he had said they were.
My wife drops me off at about 3:30pm and the guy at the counter asks me if I had already paid for the tire as he's tallying up my invoice. I hadn't paid for it and said so, adding that it must be a New Year's complimentary item. He says well it's not on the invoice expecting me to understand what that means. He then starts a phone conversation with someone back in the Parts Department and after a while finally decides to go look at the bike. When he returns he says that they hadn't put the tire on. I just dejectedly say, "that's the only reason I brought the bike in for". He wondered out-loud if it could be done before 6pm as he looked at the serviceman that worked on my bike. He got one of those blank stares that says, sure it can be done by 6pm but what fool do you think is gonna do it. In reality, he never spoke. After another longer wait the counter guy tells me that the Metzeler is not in stock and it would take a week for it to come in. By this time I'm trying not to be an SOB just two days before New Year's Eve so I just tell the guy to get my bike because I wasn't wanting to leave it for more than a week. I really wanted to ask why they didn't check to see if the tire was in stock when I dropped it off, but figured that would only frustrate me even more so I didn't ask the obvious.
By the time I get home I notice that they didn't fix or replace the brake fluid cap as was on the work order or the dipstick. So then for the "coup de grace" I decided to look at the state inspection sticker, you guessed it, no new sticker.
Like Timmy said in the movie "Sandlot", 'I blame myself for underestimating the beast and going about this all wrong'.
Of course, I didn't get out of there without paying about $440 for the 40K Service. Now the constant question that gnaws at me is, 'what are the odds of they actually doing what's on the checklist for the 40K service?' Gotta admit that the odds are heavily tilted towards the 'no way' side.
Now I must admit that I'm just letting off steam; all in all my dealer is good and I must admit that they, especially the Service Manager has gone out of his way to make things right and I'm sure this won't be an exception. Let's just chalk it up to holiday blues and better days will come my poor bike's way. Anyway, Happy New Year!
Last edited by Texas Fat Boy; 01-03-2012 at 03:05 PM.
#6
01-03-2012, 03:21 PM
Unless you want to never do any of your own work, you should get a service manual and do your own checks. Fro the most part, there's a whole bunch of looking at stuff and of course, changing all the fluids. Save your loot. As to the rest, I would have a serious talk with the OWNER of this place. Wouldnt waste my time talking with the service manager.
#7
01-03-2012, 03:25 PM
I took my Ultra in to an indy for the 40K service. He called and said my back brakes were about shot. I had not changed them in several years so I told him to go ahead and replace the pads. Asked when it will be done. Now I dropped it off on Tuesday, was told it would be ready by that afternoon.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
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#8
01-03-2012, 03:32 PM
I took my Ultra in to an indy for the 40K service. He called and said my back brakes were about shot. I had not changed them in several years so I told him to go ahead and replace the pads. Asked when it will be done. Now I dropped it off on Tuesday, was told it would be ready by that afternoon.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
#9
01-03-2012, 07:11 PM
I took my Ultra in to an indy for the 40K service. He called and said my back brakes were about shot. I had not changed them in several years so I told him to go ahead and replace the pads. Asked when it will be done. Now I dropped it off on Tuesday, was told it would be ready by that afternoon.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
I called the next morning and was told they had to go to Harley to pick up the pads and were waiting on them to come in. Should be done by that afternoon (Wednesday) Now the problem with this is that the local stealer is 1/2 mile from the indy.
Call Thursday morning and was told then that the bleeder screw hole in my caliper was stripped out and I would need a new caliper. I asked how it just got stripped out and was told "it just happens sometime". I told him that I have never had nor heard of a stripped out hole that wasn't either over tightened or cross threaded so it was on them to replace the caliper. Of course they refused. I told them my bike had better be rideable by Friday or I would contact the BBB as well as spread it throughout our group (our riding group has spent several thousand dollars there).
They called Friday and said it was ready. I went to pick it up paid for the service asd pads ($485.00) and left. I got home and found that all they had done was to drill and tap my caliper and put a bolt in it with loctite. I checked the oil and it had not been changes nor had the filter. They didn't even bother to clean my air filter.
I called and complained and was told the work was done and I couldn't prove otherwise. Well, the oil was black, the filter was scrappes where i had dropped it when I changed the oil myself last time, and there was a rusted bolt in my caliper.
I currently have called the BBB and have filed theft of services charges against the owner.
