Independent mechanic customer service stuck in dark ages.
Discussion
Customer service from most small and medium bike shops/ mechanics is staggeringly bad.
Not a rant, and I’ll preface this by saying I do 90% of work on my bikes myself, in the comfort of my own garage but sometimes there are jobs I don’t have the tools or ability for.
I don’t expect obsequious (and over the top) BMW main dealer service, a spa day, a head massage, or even coffee or doughnuts but a ‘hello, how are you?’, an acknowledgement of you as a customer and the offer of a basic 125cc courtesy bike or scooter.
Is that so hard to achieve nowadays? Those of you who have a good relationship with with a good mechanic hold onto it, and for those who know North Wiltshire, they might be able to guess exactly who I’m talking about.
Not a rant, and I’ll preface this by saying I do 90% of work on my bikes myself, in the comfort of my own garage but sometimes there are jobs I don’t have the tools or ability for.
I don’t expect obsequious (and over the top) BMW main dealer service, a spa day, a head massage, or even coffee or doughnuts but a ‘hello, how are you?’, an acknowledgement of you as a customer and the offer of a basic 125cc courtesy bike or scooter.
Is that so hard to achieve nowadays? Those of you who have a good relationship with with a good mechanic hold onto it, and for those who know North Wiltshire, they might be able to guess exactly who I’m talking about.
I find the customer service at main dealers near me excellent, but you certainly pay for it, and more of an annoyance is they never seem to have availability around here. You have to book jobs in months in advance.
Smaller dealers though are akin to tradesmen in my experience, it's usually implied they're doing you a favour when they take your money. Surly blokes in dirty overalls, who (with notable exceptions) are often condescending, rude, and occasionally say retarded things that make you question their competence in all areas. But you let it go because you find you've on some level accepted this to be the norm, and also you need to have the bike/car ready so you let it go, even though in any other facet of your life you'd tell them to get their attitude sorted or you'd shove your foot up their arse.
I actually was thinking about this yesterday, I cannot wait until I get rid of my new bike (and needing to maintain a warranty) so I can go back to doing everything myself. It's not even the money, I just f
king hate dealing with mechanics. I spent 2 hours on Sunday changing a tyre, so hungover I nearly vomitted when exerting myself, but it was still much better than paying Honda £54 (BMW similar but with Donuts) or go deal with another mouth breathing independent.
Don't get me started on tradesmen either. Useless fking s.
Smaller dealers though are akin to tradesmen in my experience, it's usually implied they're doing you a favour when they take your money. Surly blokes in dirty overalls, who (with notable exceptions) are often condescending, rude, and occasionally say retarded things that make you question their competence in all areas. But you let it go because you find you've on some level accepted this to be the norm, and also you need to have the bike/car ready so you let it go, even though in any other facet of your life you'd tell them to get their attitude sorted or you'd shove your foot up their arse.
I actually was thinking about this yesterday, I cannot wait until I get rid of my new bike (and needing to maintain a warranty) so I can go back to doing everything myself. It's not even the money, I just f
king hate dealing with mechanics. I spent 2 hours on Sunday changing a tyre, so hungover I nearly vomitted when exerting myself, but it was still much better than paying Honda £54 (BMW similar but with Donuts) or go deal with another mouth breathing independent.Don't get me started on tradesmen either. Useless f
king s. There are good ones out there.
My Garage lends me his fazer 1000 when mine is in, is by far the cheapest around and will usually squeeze me in a short notice.
He did fk up once by scratching the frame on my tuono but he laid out several options to make it right and I ended up with a new bike with all mods transferred.
On the other hand the local bmw garage are a bunch of knobs who I'd not bother with.
My Garage lends me his fazer 1000 when mine is in, is by far the cheapest around and will usually squeeze me in a short notice.
He did f
k up once by scratching the frame on my tuono but he laid out several options to make it right and I ended up with a new bike with all mods transferred. On the other hand the local bmw garage are a bunch of knobs who I'd not bother with.
Prof Prolapse said:
I find the customer service at main dealers near me excellent, but you certainly pay for it, and more of an annoyance is they never seem to have availability around here. You have to book jobs in months in advance.
Smaller dealers though are akin to tradesmen in my experience, it's usually implied they're doing you a favour when they take your money. Surly blokes in dirty overalls, who (with notable exceptions) are often condescending, rude, and occasionally say retarded things that make you question their competence in all areas. But you let it go because you find you've on some level accepted this to be the norm, and also you need to have the bike/car ready so you let it go, even though in any other facet of your life you'd tell them to get their attitude sorted or you'd shove your foot up their arse.
I actually was thinking about this yesterday, I cannot wait until I get rid of my new bike (and needing to maintain a warranty) so I can go back to doing everything myself. It's not even the money, I just fking hate dealing with mechanics. I spent 2 hours on Sunday changing a tyre, so hungover I nearly vomitted when exerting myself, but it was still much better than paying Honda £54 (BMW similar but with Donuts) or go deal with another mouth breathing independent.
Don't get me started on tradesmen either. Useless fking s.
You are precisely the reason tradesmen get fed up with the general public. I imagine you turn up with a 'fix my bike now ,dirty peasant' attitude. Smaller dealers though are akin to tradesmen in my experience, it's usually implied they're doing you a favour when they take your money. Surly blokes in dirty overalls, who (with notable exceptions) are often condescending, rude, and occasionally say retarded things that make you question their competence in all areas. But you let it go because you find you've on some level accepted this to be the norm, and also you need to have the bike/car ready so you let it go, even though in any other facet of your life you'd tell them to get their attitude sorted or you'd shove your foot up their arse.
I actually was thinking about this yesterday, I cannot wait until I get rid of my new bike (and needing to maintain a warranty) so I can go back to doing everything myself. It's not even the money, I just f
king hate dealing with mechanics. I spent 2 hours on Sunday changing a tyre, so hungover I nearly vomitted when exerting myself, but it was still much better than paying Honda £54 (BMW similar but with Donuts) or go deal with another mouth breathing independent.Don't get me started on tradesmen either. Useless f
king s. Simple. Treat people how you expect to be treated.
moanthebairns said:
Personally I'd rather have cheaper prices than a loan of a st 125cc I'd ride a few miles home and leave in the garage till I pick my bike back up.
How do you get home once you've dropped your bike off? t 125cc I'd ride a few miles home and leave in the garage till I pick my bike back up. My local dealer doesn't do loan bikes and it is a royal PITA to leave a bike with them.
TT1138 said:
there are jobs I don’t have the tools or ability for.
And your mechanic has spent thousands on tools, training and experience, to dig you out of the hole you inevitably created when you bit off more than you could chew. Would you take a loan bike if you pay the insurance and exess on it ? And would you treat it with the care you treat your own bike with ??
fred bloggs said:
And your mechanic has spent thousands on tools, training and experience, to dig you out of the hole you inevitably created when you bit off more than you could chew.
Would you take a loan bike if you pay the insurance and exess on it ? And would you treat it with the care you treat your own bike with ??
Strange reply. Not that it usually happens that I bite off more than I can chew, but have absolutely no issue paying for someone to fix or replace anything I can’t do myself. It would just be appreciated if they weren’t so utterly backward about customer service. Would you take a loan bike if you pay the insurance and exess on it ? And would you treat it with the care you treat your own bike with ??
I just don’t particularly enjoy being patronised, or spoken down to, or told that it’s my fault that they didn’t book it in the diary, and a bit of basic politeness and customer service skills wouldn’t go amiss. They might even get more of my business if they did as their pricing and standard of work is good, but I just can’t bothered with them treating me like they're doing me a favour.
And yes happy to pay a small charge for a loan bike, as it would let me get home, rather than having to book a taxi to and from the garage.
Pravus1 said:
There are good ones out there.
My Garage lends me his fazer 1000 when mine is in, is by far the cheapest around and will usually squeeze me in a short notice.
He did fk up once by scratching the frame on my tuono but he laid out several options to make it right and I ended up with a new bike with all mods transferred.
On the other hand the local bmw garage are a bunch of knobs who I'd not bother with.
Agreed, and the small family run garage I use when I’m up near the family is great, but unfortunately the two independents in the town I live in are completely unwelcoming, rude and hard to deal with. My Garage lends me his fazer 1000 when mine is in, is by far the cheapest around and will usually squeeze me in a short notice.
He did f
k up once by scratching the frame on my tuono but he laid out several options to make it right and I ended up with a new bike with all mods transferred. On the other hand the local bmw garage are a bunch of knobs who I'd not bother with.
Is there just a general shortage of bike garages? The few by me require so much notice to do a job. 2 weeks to get my fork seals done just last week when I called. Yes I could do them myself but I've just had the engine out and just dont want to be messing again.
Another one said his diary was booked up for the next 7 weeks when I called about an oil leak on my previous bike. I know it's mainly seasonal, but is there any other reasons why in my area at least (west Midlands) that bike garages are few and far between considering the demand?
Another one said his diary was booked up for the next 7 weeks when I called about an oil leak on my previous bike. I know it's mainly seasonal, but is there any other reasons why in my area at least (west Midlands) that bike garages are few and far between considering the demand?
fred bloggs said:
You are precisely the reason tradesmen get fed up with the general public. I imagine you turn up with a 'fix my bike now ,dirty peasant' attitude.
Simple. Treat people how you expect to be treated.
I see what you're implying, but won't be offended because it's categorically untrue. Simple. Treat people how you expect to be treated.
I'm not a pushover, but conversely I do believe in treating people as you wish to be treated (the "golden rule") and as a result am exactly the sort of bloke who ends up with a good deal on most things because I am so far removed from what you are implying. Even if I was
inside, being nice to people, pays.Unfortunately however in my experience, it simply is often not reciprocated in most instances with tradesmen or smaller garages. When I find a good one I treat their business card like it were made of gold I can assure you, because it's only acquired after wading through all manner of gormless
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