Poll:Best Motorcycle dealership features

[bikrbabe]

I'm just doing some research on what is most important to customers when shopping at a dealership, any input is really appreciated! And please, definitely list your good and bad experiences at a dealership (you don't have to mention which one, just eperiences...lol).

[Supa Dexta]

customer service for sure... When I bought my last bike, I went in shopping had a good experience, they were helpfull...etc. I told them I was just starting my hunt, but interested in a bike or 2 there and I may be back.. That was on a saturday.. I went back in monday after looking around and decided to go with one of their bikes.. I walked in and no one looked at me this time.. I walked back and forth for over 25mins, while several people, including the guy who dealt with me before, never even looked at me.. I was getting pretty pissed off, but was set on that bike. He finally got around to comming over, kind of just passing by.. "oh, your back.. blah blah, help you with anything..?"

Well yes you can, I'm gonna take this bike..

Then things changed, when you take 10k out of your pocket, people start to get friendlier, sad but true.. Ever since then they are sure to help me out as soon as I come in the door for the most part.. seems to be the way it goes, in most shops, gotta build up that rep a bit first with them...

[Aleannex]

I go where the price is best.
I couldn't give a crap about anything else because it doesn't matter who you speak to at a bike dealership, they're all out to scam you one way or another.
The sad part is that Calgary is a city full of money, that dealership personel, service and pricing is all out to lunch compared to other cities in Canada or the US...Mostly because if you won't give them your money, someone else will...They don't care, why sould I?

Sorry, just my 2 cents...

[bikrbabe]

lol, that's good to hear. see, that's one thing that I want to have changed... in the next few years, hopefully the industry will start to see some positive changes. But price is one thing that has to stop being so high up in the list (that's the thing that will turn a dealership into a take-a-number and wait for poor service)

[Supa Dexta]

Friendly and helpful employees and Excellent Customer service are one in the same...

[bikrbabe]

not necessarily... you can have prompt service with miserable employees...lol

[old&slow]

Originally posted by Aleannex
I go where the price is best.
I couldn't give a crap about anything else because it doesn't matter who you speak to at a bike dealership, they're all out to scam you one way or another.
The sad part is that Calgary is a city full of money, that dealership personel, service and pricing is all out to lunch compared to other cities in Canada or the US...Mostly because if you won't give them your money, someone else will...They don't care, why sould I?

Sorry, just my 2 cents...

Exactly!!!!

[bituerbo]

Yeah, friendly employees and good customer service are pretty much the key things I factor when I need to go shopping.

[kevie88]

I added one thing to your poll that you forgot!! haha

This could turn out to be a useful thread for me too...

[kevie88]

Originally posted by Aleannex
I go where the price is best.
I couldn't give a crap about anything else because it doesn't matter who you speak to at a bike dealership, they're all out to scam you one way or another.


They don't care, why sould I?

Sorry, just my 2 cents...

You might be surprised. in the last 15 years I have NEVER EVER tried to scam anyone, in any way.. Some of us just want to help you find exactly what you want at the right price, and most of us are riders too!!

[bituerbo]

I've had awesome experience at Walt Healy... just an FYI. :thumbsup:
Great experience at Bow Cycle. :thumbsup:

Less than great experience at Blackfoot. :dunno:

[Graham_A_M]

Ebay, if your after really hard to find bikes like a RZ350 or a NSR250..... ebay is the best thing. Just make sure you buy from a reputable seller and your set. I'm looking for a super-motard & street legal CR500/RM500 (etc) on ebay currently. Thats the kind if thing you dont see too regularily on Calgary streets... so where else other then ebay?

[Neons4life]

I guess my big thing is price...if I get a better deal somewhere then I will always be buying from there regardless of customer service. I get great service now that I always go to one shop, and the deals seem to get better and better.

[old&slow]

Originally posted by kevie88


You might be surprised. in the last 15 years I have NEVER EVER tried to scam anyone, in any way.. Some of us just want to help you find exactly what you want at the right price, and most of us are riders too!!

your the minority!

[eclipse00]

Originally posted by bituerbo
I've had awesome experience at Walt Healy... just an FYI. :thumbsup:
Great experience at Bow Cycle. :thumbsup:

Less than great experience at Blackfoot. :dunno:

Same for me, I do most of my shopping there and have bought 2 bikes so far, the third will be in the spring. They treat me good and I have a good relationship with the sales guys (Wone is great) and the accessories guys as well.

I've never done much shopping at Bow but I know that their parts guy is pretty kick ass from what I hear.

Havent bought a thing at Pro-Am, which I think that this is where you work isn't it bikrbabe?????

Blackfoot has gone down hill in the last few years. Customer service there involves only talking to your friends and cphuk the other people.

GW is also another good place, always been treated fairly there too.

So for me its service first and then price.

[Luke 96 T/A]

Price and service definitely score the most points for me...

I've had horrible experiences with Blackfoot (took it in for an oil change, they scrathed my tank, and forgot a screw on my fairing)...
Had it in to them 3 times because it wouldn't downshift properly..

My buddy had his clutch adjusted improperly by blackfoot during initial setup on his new R6 (according to Walt Healy and Yamaha), but blackfoot won't own up to it. $1000 out of pocked on a bike bought 2 months previously, with less than 2500km on it..

One of my biggest peeves is not being able to GET The bike in for service - if i have to wait more than a week for an oil change, that's too much...

eitherway, just some ramblings...
I have also had some bad experiences at ProAm as well - being mostly ignored by their sales team when we came in to buy bikes... after 10 minutes, we walked out, bought bikes the next day at Blackfoot.. (also didn't like that at the time, no prices were marked at Proam)
Also been ignored looking for jackets there...

Have always had awesome experiences with Walt Healy... friendly, attentive sales teams, great service people.. just wish they carried Honda!!
At this point, the ONLY reason I'd shop at Blackfoot or ProAm is if they carried something I couldn't get elsewhere, or had a blowout special...

[Supa Dexta]

ever been to bow?

[Graham_A_M]

back in the day, years ago I used to go to Andy, at Rock central cycle.
http://www.rockcentralcycle.com/Default.aspx?PageName=Home

You can buy and consign used bikes from him (mainly dirt bikes) but its probably the best place to go for servicing. ALL my bikes, two strokes, street bikes, quads, trikes... everything really: Ive taken to him over the years, and have never had a single problem with his service. He will tell you straight up of how long it would take to get your bike in for servicing, and he will stick to that too. He also sticks with his estimates, and is totally honest. Probably the most honest mechanic I know of towards everything in general. So I just thought Id pass on the good word. :thumbsup:

[MrSector9]

I ddin't vote since you cannot pick multiple things. To me what is important is:

decently priced/ not ripping people off on things they do not need.

quick service depending on peak season and also if an appointment is made. yes most places are that busy in peak season that it does take a week since others have called previously and made an appointment.

Knowledgeable/friendly/helpful staff. it isnt just enough that they are friendly but they SHOULD know what they are talking about. it isn't very hard to even learn the basics but some people refuse to do this and it makes me very angry.

As for pricing the prices are not THAT much higher then elsewhere in canada. I do agree they are more.. but not THAT much more.. not as insane as the housing market.

[kevie88]

Originally posted by MrSector9
Knowledgeable/friendly/helpful staff. it isnt just enough that they are friendly but they SHOULD know what they are talking about. it isn't very hard to even learn the basics but some people refuse to do this and it makes me very angry.


Again you'd be amazed at how difficult it really is to learn the basics of this business.. most parts/accessories people in this game need to learn the literally hundreds of thousands of pages of products available from a dizzying array of suppliers.. (drop by sometime and I'll show you the stack of catalogs I have at my desk haha).

It's not like working for a single line dealer where you sell maybe 10 different vehicles, most of these dealers are multi-line, multi product dealers. Honda alone has probably 1000 different bikes (with all the variants) over the last 20 years alone! Even when a product carries over to the next year, you must take into account the minute changes from year to year. It's not an easy thing to learn at all.

Hell, if it's so easy to find good people maybe I would have had at least ONE response to this thread haha:

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152938

We've advertised with every newspaper, every trade magazine, and even many forums, and I haven't recieved ONE resonable resume.. Finding a good parts/acc person in the motorcycle industry is like finding gold.

[Supa Dexta]

Do you know of a grant that worked there for a bit? I don't think he stayed long though, pm me if you knew of him.. Maybe a yr, yr and a half ago?

[cosmo]

Best customer service I get is at Rev, but then again that was years ago before they got big, I haven't really gone there in a while. Gotta love the cappucino's and the smokin hot duc's. They've even given me something special in my cappucino.. ;)

Next is GW.. and Walt Healy.

BF used to be good when Wone worked there.... and we'll leave it at that.

And I guess I wasn't talking to the right person at Pro-Am. Haha.. right? Nudge nudge....
Oh well. No biggie.

[bikrbabe]

Originally posted by Luke 96 T/A
Price and service definitely score the most points for me...

I've had horrible experiences with Blackfoot (took it in for an oil change, they scrathed my tank, and forgot a screw on my fairing)...
Had it in to them 3 times because it wouldn't downshift properly..

My buddy had his clutch adjusted improperly by blackfoot during initial setup on his new R6 (according to Walt Healy and Yamaha), but blackfoot won't own up to it. $1000 out of pocked on a bike bought 2 months previously, with less than 2500km on it..

One of my biggest peeves is not being able to GET The bike in for service - if i have to wait more than a week for an oil change, that's too much...

eitherway, just some ramblings...
I have also had some bad experiences at ProAm as well - being mostly ignored by their sales team when we came in to buy bikes... after 10 minutes, we walked out, bought bikes the next day at Blackfoot.. (also didn't like that at the time, no prices were marked at Proam)
Also been ignored looking for jackets there...

Have always had awesome experiences with Walt Healy... friendly, attentive sales teams, great service people.. just wish they carried Honda!!
At this point, the ONLY reason I'd shop at Blackfoot or ProAm is if they carried something I couldn't get elsewhere, or had a blowout special...

That's too bad you feel the same way about Pro-Am as Blackfoot... :( lmao, Cosmo's got a good point, guess you weren't talking to the right person!

(Hee hee, thanx cosmo! we gotta go out and cause trouble again soon! - I'm back at Pro-Am again :P couldn't let a good thing go to waste)

and Kev, really, u should add me to that poll then ;) j/k but it's good to be back in the industry, who knows.... maybe a new dealership will open up thanks to yours truely :D

[eclipse00]

Originally posted by bikrbabe


That's too bad you feel the same way about Pro-Am as Blackfoot... :( lmao, Cosmo's got a good point, guess you weren't talking to the right person!

(Hee hee, thanx cosmo! we gotta go out and cause trouble again soon! - I'm back at Pro-Am again :P couldn't let a good thing go to waste)

and Kev, really, u should add me to that poll then ;) j/k but it's good to be back in the industry, who knows.... maybe a new dealership will open up thanks to yours truely :D

Good to hear! I want a 07 R1 for next year, how much?!?

[cosmo]

Originally posted by bikrbabe
Hee hee, thanx cosmo! we gotta go out and cause trouble again soon!

yeah!! This upcoming Saturday!! Did you get my voice msg on the weekend?

oh... Didn't mean to digress... umm... to stay on topic... uhhh.. yess... customer service... bike shop... right... talk to bikrbabe!!! :D

[MrSector9]

Kevin,
I do nto mean knowing everyhtign ina catalogue although that woudl be helpful but I mean some places the parts people have no idea about basic items.

I have called dealerships and have had to explain where to find a certain part ona bike (one comes to mind is a rewind spring off a TRX500) a parts person shoudl have some idea whata rewind spring is.

More or less what i mean is you can kind of explain a part to a parts person and they should have an idea of what you are looking for, i do not expect them to turn exactly to the right catralogue/page but understand the difference in sweep and rise of a set of handlebars say.

I am not attacking you sicne I have no idea what you offer but what i find with alot of spots is the offer to get a good parts person is the offer of wage and such. I knwo of other dealerships personnaly (won't say what one) but for what the parts people get paid I do not blame them for not caring.. I do think they should care but I know to alot of people they do not care about helping people but it is all about the $$$.

I wouldn't mind a job in parts BUT i do not think I would get the correct offer of wage unless it was for a parts manager sorta deal.

[ScottysZ]

Price is probably the most important thing to me unless the guys there are real assholes (cough cough blackfoot cough).

I like bow cycle and always get everything from there since the guys are helpful even if youre just looking around. Walt Healy is good too, in the summer I went in in my dirty construction clothes and work boots and they were all over me to 'look at this one' 'this ones new this year', etc. .:rofl: Like Alleannex said, theres a lot of new money in calgary and most of these dealerships know what kind of people are gonna be dropping money on toys.

[Obscura]

I bought my scooter at Bow and am buying my new motorcycle there when it comes out. Best customer service I've found regardless of who I talked to.

Blackfoot ignored me and my questions when I was i the market last year and when they found out I was looking at an '08 that they didn't have yet they moved to someone else.:dunno:

Most of the guys at Walt Healy are great but the one guy I dealt with there made it seem like it was a waste of time to deal with me last year.

Two friends are now buying their new motorcycles at Bow because of my referal.

Customer service goes a long way.

[TurboMedic]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
Friendly and helpful employees and Excellent Customer service are one in the same...

I agree....and put friendly helpful employees as my #1....Its great to walk into a place and have the ability to look at whatever, ask whatever, and really be valued as a customer.....I never get respect when I walk into any dealeship

[hjr]

im not much of a bike-trader-iner, meaning that the bike im using has been around for about 6 years (2001), and as such, things pop up that need to be done. outside of the buying experience which is minimal if your keeping the bike more than a few seasons, the warranty/parts aspect of the dealer is the MOST important. you dont want hassles about the warranty (nothing makes a person feel disrespected like a dealer being a dick on a warranty item). After that, knowledgeable people behind the parts desk coupled with a good selection of parts ON HAND. Not accessories mind you, but parts. its nice to have accessories, and i understand that huge money is made for the dealer in that respect, but for me (ME), phoning up and getting a sprocket and chain, or tires, or anything, THAT day its so valuable. (The same goes if your having hte dealer do the work, have the stuff on hand so it goes quickly, not holding the bike for 3 days waiting on parts)