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I hate the dealership. What a mess.
July 30th…
I called Spokane Power Sports Suzuki/Yamaha dealership on the 30th of July and set up an appointment for a carb cleaning, resynchronization, valve adjustment and tune up. I can do the work, it just takes a little more time and the shop is, or was more convenient at the time. The service manager told me that if the carbs were taken apart for cleaning that the several parts would need to be replaced. I told him that this wouldn’t be a problem. I had looked up aftermarket rebuild kits and they were only $17-$19 per carb.
August 6th…
I dropped the Katana off a week later on the 6th of August. The service manager told me that it would be done the following afternoon Saturday 7th of August. I had my wife drop me off across town at my Reserve Center for drill and I made arrangements with one of my guys to take me to the dealership to pick my bike up that afternoon. At 3:45, fifteen minutes before the end of my work day, the dealership calls and says “Your bike isn’t going to be ready, we don’t have parts”. Now, a normal, reasonable person would assume that if you call a week in advance and the DEALERSHIP SERVICE MANAGER says you are going to have to replace parts, that the DEALERSHIP would have said parts on hand to do the work. He tells me that they will order the aftermarket carb rebuild kits (same ones I looked at online) on the following Tuesday, the 10th. He tried to get me to hemorrhage out another $200 for Suzuki needle seats that were available in a couple of days, no way, not when four kits were less than $100.
August 10th…
I called to get an update on the parts and he tells me that he will call me back. I waited all day for a call, went to work and checked my messages… no call. I called back on Thursday the 12th and asked for an update again. He tells me that the parts are back ordered and would be available in the next couple of days and he should have them in the next week. I asked when the bike would be ready and he said the 18th it would be done.
August 17th…
I called on the 17th for a status check and he says that they had not received their deliveries and would call me back. No call again. I checked availability on the kits myself on two websites and both had the kits in stock, ready for shipment.
August 18th…
I called on the 18th, the day that he said my bike would be done and he said that they didn’t get the kits in and it would be a few more days, but the Suzuki parts are ready to go for another $200. At this point I asked exactly what had been done to my bike. He says that they did the valve adjustment and took apart the carbs to clean them, ($570+ in labor by this point). I got pretty nasty on the phone about him not returning calls for uspdates when he tells me he will call back and doesn't… I get a bit impatient and angry. He said “Well, I get 25 calls a day on parts…” I told him that if he couldn’t do his job, maybe he should do something different. Of course he got all butt hurt, but he had it coming. I am starting to get the impression that the dealer is trying to force the Suzuki parts on me to make another $200+. I told him that I wanted a no Sh*t date when my bike would be done. He said “by Wednesday”, that would be the 25th.
August 25th…
I called for an update late in the afternoon because true to form, they hadn’t called me. The service manager said he would call back, again no call.
August 26th…
I called Thursday morning and he said he would call back. That afternoon I got a call and he said that the parts would not be available for another 1-3 weeks, but he had Suzuki parts ready to go.
I finally lost it. I told him, quite impolitely that three weeks for basic maintenance was ridiculous and another 1-3 was bullsh*t. I demanded that they put my bike back together and have it ready for me to pick up in an hour. He became very defensive and said he would not reassemble my machine without parts. I asked what he was going to do to make the situation right and he said he wouldn’t do anything. I asked him to discount his oh so readily available Suzuki parts to the kit price and he flatly refused. I told him to put my bike back together again and he refused. I told him box up my parts, bag up my parts, I don’t care how you assemble them, but I am picking up my bike in an hour. I got a trailer and headed for the dealership. I got there, tossed my credit card at him and asked what I owed. He sat there, looking like an idiot, for a few moments and said “we didn’t put it back together yet, I can’t charge you yet”. Too bad for you dumba**. I took my card back and told him that if I don’t owe anything that I wanted my bike and parts immediately. Another of the management staff, I’m assuming the General Manager came out and paced about ten feet back eye F-ing me while I was loading the bike and my parts on the trailer. I am not sure what he thought he would accomplish by this massively ineffective aggressive display. Maybe he thought I was going to cave and take the screwing for another month. Screw them. They screwed me out of the whole month of August, lied to me again and again by setting dates when my Katana would be done and not following through, and telling me “I’ll call you back” and not doing something as simple as that. I now have a box of fully disassembled carbs, my airbox, and tank all off my bike, and the rest of the bike in my garage. Screw the dealership.
One of the guys at the reserve center was following my ordeal on facebook and showed up with the card for the race builder who does all the work for his son. I will be calling him today. I ordered an Ivan’s Jet kit and will be looking for a Yoshi pipe today. I will probable get the kit, pipe and carbs done for less than the stealership would have charged.
What a mess.
July 30th…
I called Spokane Power Sports Suzuki/Yamaha dealership on the 30th of July and set up an appointment for a carb cleaning, resynchronization, valve adjustment and tune up. I can do the work, it just takes a little more time and the shop is, or was more convenient at the time. The service manager told me that if the carbs were taken apart for cleaning that the several parts would need to be replaced. I told him that this wouldn’t be a problem. I had looked up aftermarket rebuild kits and they were only $17-$19 per carb.
August 6th…
I dropped the Katana off a week later on the 6th of August. The service manager told me that it would be done the following afternoon Saturday 7th of August. I had my wife drop me off across town at my Reserve Center for drill and I made arrangements with one of my guys to take me to the dealership to pick my bike up that afternoon. At 3:45, fifteen minutes before the end of my work day, the dealership calls and says “Your bike isn’t going to be ready, we don’t have parts”. Now, a normal, reasonable person would assume that if you call a week in advance and the DEALERSHIP SERVICE MANAGER says you are going to have to replace parts, that the DEALERSHIP would have said parts on hand to do the work. He tells me that they will order the aftermarket carb rebuild kits (same ones I looked at online) on the following Tuesday, the 10th. He tried to get me to hemorrhage out another $200 for Suzuki needle seats that were available in a couple of days, no way, not when four kits were less than $100.
August 10th…
I called to get an update on the parts and he tells me that he will call me back. I waited all day for a call, went to work and checked my messages… no call. I called back on Thursday the 12th and asked for an update again. He tells me that the parts are back ordered and would be available in the next couple of days and he should have them in the next week. I asked when the bike would be ready and he said the 18th it would be done.
August 17th…
I called on the 17th for a status check and he says that they had not received their deliveries and would call me back. No call again. I checked availability on the kits myself on two websites and both had the kits in stock, ready for shipment.
August 18th…
I called on the 18th, the day that he said my bike would be done and he said that they didn’t get the kits in and it would be a few more days, but the Suzuki parts are ready to go for another $200. At this point I asked exactly what had been done to my bike. He says that they did the valve adjustment and took apart the carbs to clean them, ($570+ in labor by this point). I got pretty nasty on the phone about him not returning calls for uspdates when he tells me he will call back and doesn't… I get a bit impatient and angry. He said “Well, I get 25 calls a day on parts…” I told him that if he couldn’t do his job, maybe he should do something different. Of course he got all butt hurt, but he had it coming. I am starting to get the impression that the dealer is trying to force the Suzuki parts on me to make another $200+. I told him that I wanted a no Sh*t date when my bike would be done. He said “by Wednesday”, that would be the 25th.
August 25th…
I called for an update late in the afternoon because true to form, they hadn’t called me. The service manager said he would call back, again no call.
August 26th…
I called Thursday morning and he said he would call back. That afternoon I got a call and he said that the parts would not be available for another 1-3 weeks, but he had Suzuki parts ready to go.
I finally lost it. I told him, quite impolitely that three weeks for basic maintenance was ridiculous and another 1-3 was bullsh*t. I demanded that they put my bike back together and have it ready for me to pick up in an hour. He became very defensive and said he would not reassemble my machine without parts. I asked what he was going to do to make the situation right and he said he wouldn’t do anything. I asked him to discount his oh so readily available Suzuki parts to the kit price and he flatly refused. I told him to put my bike back together again and he refused. I told him box up my parts, bag up my parts, I don’t care how you assemble them, but I am picking up my bike in an hour. I got a trailer and headed for the dealership. I got there, tossed my credit card at him and asked what I owed. He sat there, looking like an idiot, for a few moments and said “we didn’t put it back together yet, I can’t charge you yet”. Too bad for you dumba**. I took my card back and told him that if I don’t owe anything that I wanted my bike and parts immediately. Another of the management staff, I’m assuming the General Manager came out and paced about ten feet back eye F-ing me while I was loading the bike and my parts on the trailer. I am not sure what he thought he would accomplish by this massively ineffective aggressive display. Maybe he thought I was going to cave and take the screwing for another month. Screw them. They screwed me out of the whole month of August, lied to me again and again by setting dates when my Katana would be done and not following through, and telling me “I’ll call you back” and not doing something as simple as that. I now have a box of fully disassembled carbs, my airbox, and tank all off my bike, and the rest of the bike in my garage. Screw the dealership.
One of the guys at the reserve center was following my ordeal on facebook and showed up with the card for the race builder who does all the work for his son. I will be calling him today. I ordered an Ivan’s Jet kit and will be looking for a Yoshi pipe today. I will probable get the kit, pipe and carbs done for less than the stealership would have charged.
What a mess.
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