Things Dealers tell Customers

I did similar. I went to a nearby indie and asked if it'd be cheaper for me to buy a tire online and hire him to mount it or buy from him in a combo deal. He said he'd always beat the discounters in price / mount, but he'd charge his standard $12 to mount / balance (wheel off) if I bought elsewhere.

I now buy all my tires from him. For all I know, I ended up spending an added $.20 sometime along the line but the local guy gets the job, the job is always done well and I can afford risking the $.20.

A dealer once told me they dont mount tires purchased elsewhere because if it is damaged or defective they will end up responsible for a tire of possibly questionable origin. Seems reasonable considering what some on line sellers do.

Some folks have said they have walked out of a dealer never to return based on the words or actions of one employee , IMO, it would be more productive to talk to the manager/owner before throwing them under the bus. Also some dealers prefer to have their sales staff wait for customers to approach them so as to not give the impression of being high pressure.

I think you're right on this. If nobody's approaching you then ask a salesperson for help. I'd rather work with a non-pushy type salesperson myself.

how about a "hey can I help you with anything?"

if they say no

"if you need anything please don't hesitate to ask"

Babbitts! Had I only known of such admirable and wondrous pricing prior to dumping a wad at the stealership for OEM parts! Thanks to you I don't ever have to visit that den of greed again! You, sir, deserve a pint!

This is proper customer service. The idea that high-pressure sales generates more revenue is a figment of managerial imagination. First rule of sales: don't badger, annoy, or piss-off the customer.

So would I, but I still think a salesperson should at least greet you when you are looking at bikes on the sales floor.

I think the salesman recognized the signs of petticoat rule and figured you wouldn't be "serious" until your wife was behind you nodding her agreement.

Sorry dude - Couldn't resist!

I get that a MC dealer's cost on tires is a bit higher because thay have to hold a stock - and some will not be fast moving. Still, one of my local dealers got to know me and offered me a "deal" on a set of Tourances for my GS. They were going to order the tires for me so I eagerly waited while the parts guy figured the cost, including my big disount. It was going to work out somewhere upwards of $400, mounted. At that time, I could buy a pair of tires on the internet for $200 and get them mounted at an independent shop for $30. Needless to say, I turned down the offer. I liked the shop and would have been happy to let them make $50 off me - but $200+ - No F'ing Way!

I remember back in the late 80's driving my rusty old Triumph (car) to an Audi delaership looking at a late model Quattro turbo. The salesmen wouldn't even talk to me and weren't interested even when I said what I was looking for. Went back a few weeks later in the sports car I bought instead of the Audi. When they saw me pull up and look over a quattro, they were falling over themselves trying to get to me first. I got a test ride in the Sales Manager's personal demo. I and thrashed the hell out of that car for about thirty miles: Jumps, four wheel drifts and bouncing off the rev limiter, etc. When we pulled up back at the dealership, I told them that I didn't want it and why. The salesman who had been white-knuckled, digging his nails into the dash for the last twenty minutes or so was quite pragmatic, and said "Well I guess we asked for that one, didn't we!"

I worked in the (auto) parts business for over 15 years. I think I have a realistic tolerance level for counter employees when I visit an establishment, because I have truly "spent a day in their shoes". When I bought my KLR, one of the first things I did was visit the local dealer to get a second key for it. This particular dealer also sells BMWs, so you'd think they would be a bit better in the customer service aspect.

Oh no.

I had the gall to interrupt a conversation between the two parts geeks, the one who waited on me obviously dealing with the aftermath of a late night out. The blank key of course had to be ordered (not surprised) but appeared to be such a tremendous annoyance to the parts guy I doubted I'd ever want to come back. The guy was so rude I'd have fired him on the spot had he worked for me. But I order my key and come back a week later (they did actually call to tell me it came in) and gave them a second chance, figuring one hungover employee may not be the way to draw a conclusion. Nope, no better the second time. The key in it's bag was all but thrown at me onto the counter by an equally rude asshole who apparently believed anything less than a sport bike wasn't worth his time (this based on conversation I'd overheard during my waiting for them to notice me). While being rung up, I listened with some amusement as a guy next to me struggled to get them to supply a taillight bulb for his BMW...a bulb he could have bought at any auto parts store for a couple bucks, but he wound up paying over $5 for while getting equally indifferent service by people who could hardly remove their butts from their stools.

Do I bother to tell the dealer management? No, because subsequently I find out this is SOP for the place and has been such for a long time. The owner of the place sits at his desk mere feet away and has to know what is going on. I cheerfully drive 20 minutes in the opposite direction to be treated with a smile by another dealer's parts staff.

buying tires is a joke anymore, when I bought mine last month, I knew what I wanted, called 5 different dealers/parts houses , and of course got 5 different prices of ranging from $300/set to $500/set for the same tires. Needless to say I went with the $300/set. But, the dealer I bought mine from, while being the most expensive for the tires was the cheapest for mount/balance when I took the bike to him (was having other work done). Buying online wasn't much cheaper, in fact was about the same in price as the shop I bought them from.

Customer service , I've gotten to the point of where if they won't at least acknowledge me when I walk in the door, I won't bother asking them for help. My friends mother does "secret shopping", one of the stores she regularly hits is Best Buy. Her last visit 6 months ago, she rated the store and management so poorly, they turned the entire staff within 2 months.

With all these horror stories, I'm starting to think I could make some serious money opening up a dealership. I've worked sales with a "take every deal" policy for quite awhile.

Now if I can find a dealer website with stupid stuff customers say, lol...

A long while ago, I saw such a thread. It may have been on this site too. I'm not sure. It was hilarious and they have many more valid complaints about us than we do about them.

I put myself through undergrad school by selling real estate. The one thing I took from those years is that, "Buyers are liars".

BMW/Harley dealership sales lady in Colorado Springs via the phone (I have a loan set up and cash for a down payment on a new GSA)... "I don't really know anything about those bikes, I've only really sold Harley's"

Case closed.

What has happened is dealers have tried to turn parts and service into big profit centers, 10-20% mark up over MSRP on parts, $100/hr labor rates, specials they want the service department to push, whether the customer needs it or not.

Then they wonder why their customers disappear. If they would realize service and parts departments create LOYALTY, and are their BEST salesman, things will be different.

They would rather drive customers away after the sale and then spend MILLIONS in advertising to get new ones.:huh

You want a good dealer, he is the one that is busy but NEVER advertises, the dealers that advertise out the wazoo, do so because they can;'t keep current customers happy.

Used to go to a "local" dealer for parts, HD/BMW. Never bought a bike there, but it felt good when I could go in back to the parts counter and the parts guys not only knew my name, but what I was riding and sometimes asked how something I'd done in the past was working out. That dealer lost at least one of the franchises over some shady dealings.

My buddy came to visit me in WI. He wanted an oil change as it was due on his GS. The HD shop had the oil grade he needed and was on the way, but wouldn't do the change b/c it was a BMW.
I was surprised because this was a HD, Buell and Ural dealer and they have always treated me well.
The owner is a great guy and following the Golden Rule (he who has the gold, rules) my buddy bought the oil and we did the change in my garage.
My thinking is that the techs don't know BMW so the shop can't guarantee the work? Not sure, but that is my guess.

Dont see a real problem with that, when a dealership sells more than one line it is common to have salespeople who know one line or the other. At least she was honest and didnt try to feed you a bunch of bs. You should have said you wanted to talk to the bmw salesman.

This happened several years ago, but judging from some of the entries here, it could have been yesterday. No moto content though.

My wife got some inheritance money, and wanted to buy a new car. Choices were limited where we lived at the time, so we ended up on "Auto row" in Riverside, CA.

The typical encounter with sales went like this;
We'd walk up to the sales guy, or he would greet us next to some car or another.
I'd say "She's buying a car, I'm just here for the ride".
Then he would proceed to address me...

My wife would explain what she was looking for and they would say something like "we have a lot of cars out there, let me know if something catches your eye".

At one place, the Izuzu dealer, I think, we were looking at a model neither of us were familiar with. My wife said "what can you tell us about this car?"
They guys response, "The wheels go around".:huh

My wife is short, so ergonomics are an issue. The suggested solution from several of these guys? "Just get a pillow and you'll be fine". Ehh no, for spending $xx,000.00 I want a car that FITS me.

This went on for the full day. We took a break for dinner, she was frustrated, mad and disappointed, ready to go home. I suggested one more try, we hadn't been to Toyota yet, even though it was high on the list.

We eat, get to the dealer after dark. The salesWOMAN comes out and we start the drill;
"She's buying a car..." From that point it was as if I had vanished into thin air.
My wife told her what sort of car she was looking for, and she listened and steered us toward a Corolla twincam-16.
She explained the features of the car in a straightforward way, with no BS.
She listened to the concerns about ergos and addressed them, by demonstrating the driver's seat and control adjustments, and explaining what was possible beyond that either in that car or others. Then she made sure it was a comfortable fit for my wife. And, said nothing that involved the department store bedding section.

At that point, I knew the car had just been sold, all the other stuff, test drive, figuring out the price etc. was just window dressing. We went home in two cars that night.

One hole to take the old oil out and another hole to put the new stuff in. Any HD tech who couldn't handle that shouldn't be playing with sharp objects, let alone wrenching on $20K motorcycles

How'd he get the filter w/o the tool?