Global Super Sunday IV "For Jamie" Sept 26, 2010 (SA 10/10)

[Mirage_ZA]

I don't think, however, that one should have to develop a relationship of any kind with dealer so he can heave his shock replaced

[SHIVA]

after warranty that has expired, you 100% need a relationship otherwise why would a dealer go through all the effort to do you a favor? after warranty has expired you are on your own, any good will you may get is purely due to the brand or the dealer wanting to do you a favor, not because they are obligated to do so. so, pick your dealer carefully and be on their good side.

[Mirage_ZA]

If they want to retain customers, they should do their best, in or out of warranty. And this is exactly what is happening, unhappy customer is looking for alternative brand, someone who actually cares.

[SHIVA]

sorry, I don't buy that. tell me Yamaha is going to treat you better after your warranty expires? How about Ducati?

[Mirage_ZA]

I didn't say that, that's why you would change from Ducati or Yamaha to other brand. BMW didn't invent superbike but immediately (as it was great bike) it became best seller. 2 years down the line, with new model pouring out from other manufacturers, would you get 1000RR again if you get cold shoulder on your out-of-warranty repairs or replace it with Panigale for instance. No brainer for me.

[SHIVA]

frankly, if a bike is out of warranty, you are on your own. I don't know nor have I heard of other brands providing better support when the warranty expires. the only time that might happen is if there is a recall that affects all models, even the older ones.

in the US every BMW bike gets 3 years warranty, even the RR or the G450X when it was around. imagine giving 3 years warranty to a dirt bike?

so, this topic to me, is meaningless. I know of many cases in the US where people received "good will" service post warranty. But there is a way to get it. And your dealer becomes the primary point of contact. Normally the dealer, if they know who you are, meaning if you have a relationship with them (you know the sales manager, service manager, owner, you go to their open houses and events, you service your bike there exclusively, you buy parts from there), would go out of his way to keep you satisfy so you buy and service your bikes only from them. in such cases, post warranty this dealer will go to bat for you and will try to win you a "good will."

Good will service is where the brand offers some or full compensation to a service requirement of a vehicle or a product that is out of warranty.

I have been buying only Dell computers and I am on my 4th one. My last Dell had a hardware crash 2 weeks after 4-year warranty expired. Dell would not budge. No matter what I said, they simply stood by their expiration date and said they can't honor any warranty service when it has expired even for a day.

I understood it because I know no brand has such obligation and actually bought another machine from them, at that point in addition to the good prices that you get when buying Dell, they did give me additional $50 off due to my trouble with the last machine.

So, if you like the new Duc or MV or a horse and carriage get it, but don't try to blame buying a new bike on the fact that your previous brand didn't cover your service after your warranty expired. the logic just doesn't stick.

[Mirage_ZA]

Good will service is where the brand offers some or full compensation to a service requirement of a vehicle or a product that is out of warranty.

Exactly - I should be able to have it sorted at ANY dealership as all of them will call mothership to authorize goodwill repair.

[SHIVA]

no way whatsoever. that's just wrong thinking buddy. good will is at the discretion of the brand and is in no way a routine practice. maybe 5-10% of post warranty requests may get good will. and that's only with top brands such as BMW. I don't think Japanese brands would ever consider offering good will (I haven't heard of it). if I were a dealer and someone walks into my door for the first time and asks for post warranty free service I would show him the door and shake my head and think some people are really naive. when the warranty is over you are on your own. no brand offers you post warranty free coverage. as stated this whole discussion is totally illogical and frankly is just a waste of time.

[Mirage_ZA]

We're kicking a dead horse here Shiva - if you think it's a necessity for Biza to develop relationship with a dealer because he is on 3rd rear shock over 50.000km distance - that's fine. I disagree - It is for a dealer to develop relationship with a customer, not the other way round.

[SHIVA]

I did say good dealers. not all dealers are worth this relationship and not all can even pull such favors. but if a good dealer doesn't know you well, it can't do any favors for you. specially post warranty good will, which requires a lot of work on their behalf, since it is really a favor.

as for Biza's shock. the whole situation has been handled wrong by the dealer. keep in mind that BMW doesn't make shocks, so it's not even a reflection of quality of the brand as a whole. so, to say I am moving to another brand because my shock leaks is a bit weird.

look at this situation:

you buy a bike with the best warranty in the business, at least in the US they have the best by far.

your shock leaks while the bike is under warranty? Solution - change shock under warranty. Simple, done deal and happy riding.

For whatever reason that shock was not replaced and it was rebuilt? Why is that? Was the bike not under warranty then? If it was it's a real shame that the bad part wasn't replaced. There is no excuse for it.

If the bike wasn't under warranty when the shock leaked, that's a whole other story, it would then mean that 2 good wills have been already offered.

Assuming that the bike was under warranty and someone decided to be cheap and not do this right. so, the bad part is now "fixed" and of course it leaks a second time. What to do here? CHANGE THE DAMN PART. it's obviously a bad part as fixing didn't work.

But not in this case, not knowing if the bike was or wasn't under warranty we have two results here.

If it was under warranty, again, someone made an awfully bad mistake by trying to fix the bad part yet again. This is actually silly and should have never happened. So, the part gets fixed under warranty, instead of being replaced now for second time.

If the bike wasn't under warranty, the part has been fixed as good will for the second time.

Now it's leaking for the 3rd time. It reminds me of a "3 Stooges" short film.

So, now we got either two good wills performed already, or someone just doesn't get it that this shock is simply not repairable.

this whole story doesn't make sense and I tried to explain to Biza how wrong he is to say that he is going to Yamaha. as if that would make any difference.

And I don't get you at all by backing it, since there is simply no logic whatsoever in this topic...