I think the forums are a dangerous place for a business to be posting. While I think you are noble for expressing your opinion, as a businessman myself, I would not choose to engage the retail public in controversy. I think your time would be better spent on improving your business rather than duking it out with the retail bike folks on the forum. The point is that you can't win. "Fortunately there are a ton of choices for everyone and I will be the last person to say I want everyone's business just like I am sure you dont want to do business with just anyone either. (remember, it work both ways, have I stressed that enough????)" To state this as a dealer on a public forum lacks discretion on your part. The problem here is that emotion rather than facts often guides responses. What you write doesn't always mean what you meant to say. And then people take it the wrong way. As a dealer, why would you want to center yourself in controversy? You are in business to provide excellent service and quality product and make a profit doing it. If you are trying to attract business, I think you are going about it the wrong way.
No good deed goes unpunished. I don't know how many times I've been helped by BMWAtlanta on tech and sales issues on this forum. Is there another dealer as active in this forum community? Many times, without BMWAtlanta's input, we are reduced to speculation and rumors BMWAtlanta is not here to market or "duke it out with the retail public" but as an enthusiast. It is interesting to me that you see the retailer and the public as an "us/them" situation. I find BMWAtlanta's direct, unfiltered responses refreshing and helpful.
Well this is going to start something I'm sure but... So let me get this straight, people can sit here and bitch about dealers all they want, and the dealers can sit there and take it as long as they don't offer any reasonable explanation for their actions and their business practices. This isn't a win-lose situation. this is a learning situation. Here we have a dealer willing to step up to the plate and offer solutions and a bit of insight into the dealer side of things and you'd rather carry on in the dark, only knowing one side of the equation. I don't see anything controversal in anything he's posted and I for one welcome the insight. Isn't this the level of care and attention some people have been complaining about? Isn't this what we'd all like to see from our dealers? How many dealers out there even know Advrider exists, let alone are willing to engage in a fair discussion, not arguement, about dealer practices?
I was just commenting on the current topic and did not look deeper into their technical contributions. I applaude their enthusiasm and contributions from a technical standpoint, but I stand by my position with respect to them entering into controversial subjects about dealer/customer dynamics. I just don't see the upside for them (BMWAtlanta). I never stated "us/them", I think this is a conclusion you reached after reading my post. I understand what you are saying, but each group has performs a function. We buy and enjoy the bikes, accessories and service and they promote, sell, support and profit from it.
Please tell me how is the following statement is beneficial for BMWAtlanta? How does it add to his revenue and profitability? What did it buy him? What did you learn from this insight? "Fortunately there are a ton of choices for everyone and I will be the last person to say I want everyone's business just like I am sure you dont want to do business with just anyone either. (remember, it work both ways, have I stressed that enough????)" My point is that it serves no valid purpose except that a prospective customer of that store might question whether or not he would be a valid customer for them. Or maybe I am just too damn sensitive and am reading way too much into this. It just comes off to me as a dicey comment with an edge, i.e. "have I stressed that enough????" I just can't figure out why someone in business would place a potential limiter on themselves. Flame on...
I understand and agree to a point. Dealers entering this discussion open themselves up to criticism because as you know you can't please everyone. What I mean by this not being an arguement is that this isn't a 'screw dealerships' thread, or @ least I'm not taking it that way. The initial topic struck me as stupid and foolhardy and didn't seem to address the real issue, finding a reputable dealer and how to go about it. I think BMWAtlanta has given us things to think about when selecting a dealership. I don't think this falls into a win-lose situation for the dealership or the consumer but it gives both sides a more informed playing field.
I see your point but I think you'd have to read his entire posts to see the validity of that statement. Profit = 0 and it bought him nothing. What I learned. Nothing. But it confirmed something I've always believed. It's a two-way street in this world esp. when dealing with dealers.
I think that it is implicit in any successful business relationship that it is a two way street, I agree with you. But I just don't think BMWAtlanta, as professional dealer, gains any strategic advantage letting us know that he thinks that publically.
If you'll take a look at my signature somewhere on a posting at the top of the page. I am speaking personally and I list my name and what I ride/own in order to give some insight as to who is typing, not my position as I am the JR of the owner's. You can take what I type at face value, or read into the context at which it was derived, either of those may not get you to the real message unfortunately. As for my efforts,.....today is Monday, a day we are closed and I am taking a few breaks during my tedious de-leaving of the yard with my day off. So yeah, perhaps I'd rather be here bashing things out and creating controversy,....naw. I am just throwing it out their to those "in the BOX" thinkers and encourage them to pull a jack in the box instead. So to anyone who wants to flame and cant have the decency to identify themselves, your type is just that. I could put my energy into alot of things and I quite frankly spread myself thin from the shop to my home and friends along with keep up on all my hobbies. To those of you who get it,....thanks its nice to know some realize there is another side to this and it doesnt have to be personal or "business suicide", take it or leave it, it is MY opinion and not that of the entire BMW dealerbody or even that of "BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta (now Vespa and Piaggio too!!)" Back on topic, how many are going to go an tamper with their bikes on purpose now? thats what I'd really like to hear, fess up. As for the spark plug question, BMW doesnt make the spark plug another manufacturer does. In some cases the BMW part is actually and NGK plug
I am not sure why you are being so defensive. My point was that I didn't understand why a dealer would engage in commenting about customer/dealer dynamics. Then I stated my opinion about your comments, it wasn't meant as a personal attack, and I am sorry if you felt that way. From a business point of view, I did attack the strategy and the wisdom behind the comments. Just to be clear then, do you represent the thoughts and sentiment of BMA Atlanta? Or are you speaking as an individual?
I am an individual for sure and it would be hard to comment the thoughts of all 15+ of our employees in one posting, so I would hope the individual would be conclusive. I'm not taking it personally, but you did question in relevance to the benefit. I would take from your comments that one should keep a lid on any and all opinions that does not go with the majority, I however always go against the grain. There really isn't a business gain to be had. I will make friends and supporters as well as foes and whiners, but I'd rather shoot straight then under breath. So the gain and loss will balance out and then it really makes little difference if I had just kept my mouth shut in the first place and thats no fun,.........and I am all about telling it like it is and mostly the FUN part. Dont take it so damn seriously. Question it if you like, just dont get your feathers ruffled if it doesnt make sense to you.
whew what a thread. Let me jump in here with a "yes, I tested the dealer" story of a different kind. I had had a great realtionship with the dealer I bought my Kawasaki 750 from back in the MidWest before the military sent me to california, and so I naturally took it to the Kaw dealership nearest when I got the household goods shipment and found it had a minor problem. The owner was the biggest jerk I;d ever seen in any motorcycle business, and I took off without having anything actually done. At home, I checked, found no other dealers within a reasonable distance, and made a list of multi-brand dealers to try. At one I walked up to the open shop door and looked in, helmet in hand, and one of the mechanics asked if I needed some help. When I told him I had a minor problem I'd like looked at if they had time, he set down what he was doing and came out to see. Fixed it on the spot, and told me it was too simple a repair to charge for. This was not the owner, but it WAS the head mechanic. The owner had no problem with the no charge thing when he was told. Could I have fixed it myself? Oh, sure, but I was in the middle of unpacking and setting up the office and all that, and besides, I did want to see how it would be handled. Anyway, I traded in the Kaw for a BMW from that shop, and never went anywhere else for anything after that. And it was 40 miles away. I never found the mechanics to be anything but professional, helpful, full of advice and suggestions if I asked a question, all around good, helpful, guys. It was one of them who figured out a cheap fix when I started having trouble with the cold slipstream against my hands in winter rides at speed in the everlasting California winter rain, for example. Much harder to deal with than nice relatively dry snow. (no, not heated grips) I wouldn't bollix my bike to check up on someone, but I would use a problem that appeared like that again, and I might go in to a new place and just chat with a mechanic for a few if he had time, or wander around the place looking various things over and doing the same with the sales staff when they were not busy and ask to have a quick look at the shop (from the door if necessary). You don't waste their time, but there is nothing wrong with looking for a good fit between customer and dealership staff.
Purposefully messing something up to see if your dealer/mechanic catches it is, IMHO foolish. My dealer is tested every time my bike goes in for service. Did they do what they said they did? On my GS it's pretty easy to see. Not a lot of plastic covering things up. Did they recommend doing stuff that I already knew it was almost time for? And here's the kicker for me: Did I have to bring the bike back to fix the fix? When I moved to Denver I took my bike to one dealer. Had excellent service. Always took my bike there. Then a little over a year ago I had 3 very bad service experiences in a row. (clutch service that took 5 weeks, 2 shop visits and badgering from me to finally correct, fuel pump installed UPSIDE DOWN, fuel filter marked as replaced but plugged up less than 200 miles from the dealer on the same tank of gas) They failed the test. My bike now goes elsewhere for service. They new dealer does what they say, they keep me informed. The previous dealer USED to do that. Something changed, which is a shame and part of me hopes that they correct their service problems. The down side for them, is that there are 2 other dealers in the area. I will have to get bad service from both of them before I consider going back to the first. At my rate I go through the 6K, 12K, Annual, and a set of tires every year. They've lost about $2000 of service per year. On the bright side (for the dealer I now visit anyway), my current dealer now has gotten $5000 out of me this year (abs unit failure, final drive failure, plus all the routine stuff).