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Some dealerships do have higher costs than others and also may advertise 1 cheap bike and try to get more people in the doors.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
….. Can you match the Bike Bandit, Motorcycle Superstore price?
…… How much to install this tire I bought online?
………. Not bringing the bike in until you’ve already stripped the bolts trying to fix it yourself.
…………..Not telling me what you recently changed, that may have caused the current issue?
………….Bringing in a dirty bike to be repaired.
…………..Arriving 2 minutes before closing time.
………Using our store to get sizes for boots, helmets, gloves, and openly bragging you are buying online.
……….. Telling us how good a racer you are, or your kid is, and you should get free bikes.
……… Calling to ask our mechanics what might be wrong with the bike you are working on.
...... Always calling and asking to talk to the owner.
Most of the dealers I called did not charge the fee. And one of those got my business. Even paying taxes in my own state, it was cheaper than buying my bike from one of the other out of state dealers that wanted to charge the prep fees. Yeah no thanks. Thats their way of padding their profit when they whore them out on cycletrader.
I've gone into a Local dealer & asked for 2 NGK B8ES plugs & the kid behind the counter asks "which bike is that for so I can look it up in the computer" I just pointed to the NGK display behind Him & ask again for the plug!
Happens in the Auto parts supply too!
Went to the get the same NGK B8ES for my 490 Maico & ask the guy behind the counter for the plug & he asked what car it was for & I told him it was for a dirt bike & he said " We don't sell bike parts" the other guy behind the counter said What bike & I told him, he told the unknowing counter guy Datsun B210 & handed me the plugs!
You can or Can't. Say yes or no.
…… How much to install this tire I bought online?
You should have a flat labor rate for changing a tire. Regardless of where it comes from.
………. Not bringing the bike in until you’ve already stripped the bolts trying to fix it yourself.
Time is money, this cost should be passed to the customers.
…………..Not telling me what you recently changed, that may have caused the current issue?
That has to be expected. Some jobs have worst case situations. Some people don't have a clue, thats part of the reason the bike is in your hands in the first place.
………….Bringing in a dirty bike to be repaired.
Again, time is money, cleaning fee would apply.
…………..Arriving 2 minutes before closing time.
Sorry bud, come back tomorrow.
………Using our store to get sizes for boots, helmets, gloves, and openly bragging you are buying online.
This is a hard one to turn around, Im sure it sucks.
……….. Telling us how good a racer you are, or your kid is, and you should get free bikes.
Response: "nothing is free, be glad to help, but our race team and rider support has limited spots, submit your resume and riding video and we would be glad to review and consider your son/ yourself this/next season."
……… Calling to ask our mechanics what might be wrong with the bike you are working on.
Mechanics should only talk to customers bikes that are in house that are being serviced. Or at least limit the conversation if its that big of a deal.
...... Always calling and asking to talk to the owner.
Whats your number, I need to talk to you about this post?
I worked in a high end bicycle shop for 12 years. I know your pain, but having polices in place matched with detailed service charges can curve a lot of wasted time. The customer isn't always right, thats not being a asshole, its just the truth. Now I've always treated people the way I would expect to be treated.
No. This thread wasnt started for that. It was started to list the pet peeves that could EASILY be avoided. IE: brake lines improperly routed
The majority of people posting in this thread are indeed bringing up issues that could be easily avoided.
I see a lot of constructive criticism here.
And just a FYI, dealership owners dont care about employee time with families or ride time. Most floor salesman neither ride and are too young to have families. Being closed on Sun/Mon is related to those days being notoriously slow for business.
Pit Row
Sheesh the bar is set low.
It's a statistics issue. For every 1 guy that honestly is trying to fish/buy over the phone there are 1000+ that would never lead to a sale if you dont get them in the door.
Foot traffic is critical to any type of dealership. That's just the sales game.
Playing devils advocate here but I'm in a non-commission sales position (Odd I know). I will get my ass thouroughly chewed out if something goes out the door too cheap. I wont hear one bit of criticism if the customer and I can't come to an agreement around MSRP.
But a racer buying a bike to race is entirely different than a 55 year-old guy buying a big decked out Goldwing. Putting freight and set-up on a racing bike is stupid. Keep in mind that racers are the last people a bike salesman wants to deal with, unless perhaps they are a racer themselves. Racers usually feel entitled to a big discount. In the dealerships I worked in, the salesmen actively avoided the mx bike section.
When I worked at a shop many years ago, we would allow customers to order parts without payment. We literally had shelves full of shit that customers ordered and then never picked up. So, you either have to try and sell that custom order out on the floor (long lead time) or return it to the OEM or distributor in exchange for account credit. It costs parts counter labor to process the exchange, costs for shipping material, and then the actual shipping charges to get it back to the source. So, yes, the shop was still losing money even on a return.
When the recession era hit awhile ago, their was a policy change with the shop which forced all customers to pay in full before an order was placed. You would not believe how many people were pissed and stopped ordering through the shop, yet they willingly do it online. They couldn't understand why, in tough financial times, the shop wouldn't carry the burden of the cost until they were ready to come in and pay for parts.
I honestly can't believe the shop allowed no pre-pay ordering for so long (decades.) The shop was basically floating each customer a line of credit and many of those customers had no business doing so.
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