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View Full Version : Acceptable service?



disenfranchised
21st July 2008, 14:56
I just had some work done on my front end....new bars, brake lines etc.

I was happy with the work, and the price for it all initially..but then the problems started.

I noticed later on the day I picked it up that some of the dash lights weren't going.....the indicator errr indicator, and the backlight on the fuel gauge.
I dropped it back in a couple of days later, and asked them to sort it. I figured that it must have been their fault for bad wiring etc
Instead they tell me that the two bulbs were blown, and charge me for those plus an hours labour....
The entire job initially only took 1.5 hours!!!

Now I've found that my headlight, and all instrument backlights keep turning off.
Seems to be the switch, as wiggling that causes it to go on or off.
The halfway setting for backlight/ park light doesn't work at all.

Now maybe some of this might be down to the fact that it is a Hyosung...but shouldn't the shop have tested that it was all working when they reassmbled everything....and told me if it needed some other parts?

Do you reckon I've got any chance of getting them to fix it (for free) as correcting their mistakes?

NOMIS
21st July 2008, 15:13
I just had some work done on my front end....new bars, brake lines etc.

I was happy with the work, and the price for it all initially..but then the problems started.

I noticed later on the day I picked it up that some of the dash lights weren't going.....the indicator errr indicator, and the backlight on the fuel gauge.
I dropped it back in a couple of days later, and asked them to sort it. I figured that it must have been their fault for bad wiring etc
Instead they tell me that the two bulbs were blown, and charge me for those plus an hours labour....
The entire job initially only took 1.5 hours!!!

Now I've found that my headlight, and all instrument backlights keep turning off.
Seems to be the switch, as wiggling that causes it to go on or off.
The halfway setting for backlight/ park light doesn't work at all.

Now maybe some of this might be down to the fact that it is a Hyosung...but shouldn't the shop have tested that it was all working when they reassmbled everything....and told me if it needed some other parts?

Do you reckon I've got any chance of getting them to fix it (for free) as correcting their mistakes?

After working for a car dealership ( holden ) wont say what one.. You wont get unless you bitch and moan about it. The more you bitch and moan the more you get . trust me on that. Unless its a backyard workshop they should care about the image and your complaints it help if you do it in front of other customers.

mstriumph
21st July 2008, 15:50
take it back
tell them straight [but gently] it was fine before they had their mitts on it but not afterwards and it needs putting right

finish off with "and you won't be charging me for that.... will you" with your best Paddington Bear hard stare

truth is, if you compain they may fix it
if you don't, they won't. :(

good luck with it

Gubb
21st July 2008, 15:53
I'd be kicking up a stink.

HenryDorsetCase
21st July 2008, 16:03
I had a problem with my indicators too: it would come on for a few seconds, then turn off, then come on again. Wiggling the switch on the handlebar seems to fix it temporarily but when you touch the switch the same thing happens. I am at my wits end also. ........

Grub
21st July 2008, 16:18
I just had some work done on my front end....

Hmmm, since those are cash transactions they probably don't come under the consumers guarantee act. I don't think you can blame her if her spiked heels got caught in the wiring.

F5 Dave
21st July 2008, 17:58
. . .
Do you reckon I've got any chance of getting them to fix it (for free) as correcting their mistakes?

I'd hate to work on bikes or cars for a living. Once you touch something you become the scapegoat for other problems. It is so hard to say if it was their work that caused the issue. If the switch failed when they replaced the bars or whatever, is that their fault? I mean unless they brutally pulled the wiring but had to move something if it was dodgy or badly designed & failed, should they have to fix it?

Of course std practice here is to blame first ask questions later.

St_Gabriel
21st July 2008, 18:07
I had a problem with my indicators too: it would come on for a few seconds, then turn off, then come on again.

Ahh correct me if im wrong, but isnt that what they are meant to do? :bleh:

AllanB
21st July 2008, 18:08
It sounds like something got a bit f-ed up in the switch block when they changed the bars if it was working fine before as all the faults are with the lights on the left switch?

Could be as simple as a touchy earth.

I'd have a chat with them clearly stating it was fine prior to the changes that they did and you understand that their work is guaranteed. Please correct at their expense before you receive a hefty fine for faulty lighting by Mr plod.

Be nice as you are bound to be back there and they will remember.

Also you stated you noticed on the day you collected it - in a case like this even if you cannot get back there immediately phone to let them know of the issue and drop back promptly so they can have a fair chance to fix it ASAP.

there is nothing more annoying that a customer coming back and saying 'hey three months ago you changed my oil - I noticed yesterday its dirty, WTF did you do?'..............

CookMySock
21st July 2008, 18:52
Usually things work fine until they get taken off and put back on again for unrelated reasons. This isn't really the bike shops fault. Thats just what happens when you pull cheapo things apart and put them back together again. I don't think you should make it the bike shops proplem, and if were my shop I would explain the above to you. It's also not fair to just dis them because you feel aggrieved. We all feel aggrieved by circumstances sometimes, but theres no point looking for someone to blame and hold accountable - it won't make you feel any better or fix anything - it will just force someone else to pay for it.

Get ya bike sorted and go ride it. Soon you will feel better.

DB

CB ARGH
21st July 2008, 18:59
Get that Mitre 10 Mega dude with the big arms to stand behind you as you tell them what's what. Make him fold his arms and wear dark shades and leathers for extra brownie points :2thumbsup

bahaha

Gubb
21st July 2008, 20:01
Usually things work fine until they get taken off and put back on again for unrelated reasons.

So it was working when he took it in. Is it unrealistic to expect it to be working in a similar fashion when he picks it up?


Thats just what happens when you pull cheapo things apart and put them back together again.

This happens when you put it back together INCORRECTLY, why would a component work, and then not work once you put it back together again if you pout it back exactly the way it was?


This isn't really the bike shops fault.

It was working when he dropped it in there.....


I don't think you should make it the bike shops proplem, and if were my shop I would explain the above to you.

If it was your shop, you'd say that "Your cheap components don't work the way they did when you brought it in, we pulled it apart, and put it back together, but it couldn't possibly be our fault"?

You wouldn't be in business long. Wasn't it not so long ago that you said that you check over your bike top to tail while still in the store (Source 1) (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1616883&postcount=41), and if the mechanic gets offended about it, that's their problem because they should have done the job properly?


It's also not fair to just dis them because you feel aggrieved. We all feel aggrieved by circumstances sometimes, but theres no point looking for someone to blame and hold accountable - it won't make you feel any better or fix anything - it will just force someone else to pay for it.

He wasn't "dissing" them, he was asking if he had grounds to complain. No shop or mechanic was named, and there is a point in finding someone to blame if the job hasn't been done right. (Source 2) (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1616384&postcount=31) You seem to be contradicting yourself left, right and center.

What about the hypothetical mechainc that was gonna feel your wrath because he didn't tighten your wheel nuts properly, and your son died to to the wheel flying off? (Source 3) (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1616679&postcount=37)

[ /rant]

Squiggles
21st July 2008, 20:29
I'd just trace the wires myself, find the fault. With the switchblock, ping it open, clean contacts, then trace the wires back, it'll have most likely been there before, where the cables bend around the steering to come up to the switchblock, and shown up now with the bars having altered the position of the wiring

If they were to check over all the electrics up front, make notes of what did/didnt work, then fit new brake lines and clipons, then check all that worked before still works... it'd probably take longer than 1.5 hours

disenfranchised
22nd July 2008, 08:31
The problem has gone away for now.

It was far to dingy and dark to ride to work this morning with no headlights...and I didn't fancy not being seen by morning commuters.....so I had a look at it myself.

Seeing as it worked when you wiggled the switch, I knew it had to be the contacts inside the switch.

Took it apart and lo and behold....rusty as!!!
After a clean it's working again...

Now I'm not gonna blame the bike shop for that..that's just silly....but in a strange way they did actually cause it.

I never move the switch at all...headlights stay on day and night.
By turning the lights off they moved the rusty (but working) contacts and probably spread some rust across the patches that were connecting.

What I would expect from them is that they test everything when they put it back together.
I'm guessing that for this job, the electrics were only moved...not reconnected, so they probably just assumed they'd be the same as before.

I'm mostly sore about the previous fault with the blown bulbs.
A 2 second check before they bolted it back together could have saved me an hours labour charges from them.

Ah well....given I've had the bike 2 years, and don't own a garage, I spose its not too bad.....especially when these are the only problems I've had.

F5 Dave
22nd July 2008, 09:38
Good on you Disen for finding the problem & being honest about the cause. Bling to you. I think this is a good example of it being an honest fault & not 'that damn bike shop' victim mentality people are keen to spout.

And PS it's been a long time since I took a bike to a shop for more than a WOF.

awayatc
22nd July 2008, 10:00
I'm with F5 Dave......

Say Bikeshop does check and fix everything NOT related to job done....it will have to charge for this.....and people will complain about that to..., so it's a no win situation for the workshop.
Same as borrowing something from somebody and it shits itself while you got it.......
You didn't cause it, BUT the owners sort of thinks you did.....so you sort of feel obliged to sort it out....

$0.02
:scooter:

Badjelly
22nd July 2008, 11:04
...why would a component work, and then not work once you put it back together again if you pout it back exactly the way it was?


Took it apart and lo and behold....rusty as!!! After a clean it's working again...

...

I never move the switch at all...headlights stay on day and night.
By turning the lights off they moved the rusty (but working) contacts and probably spread some rust across the patches that were connecting.

Who'd fix bikes for a living?

CookMySock
22nd July 2008, 11:15
Who'd fix bikes for a living?All cheap things are like that - disturb them and they freak out. It's no ones fault except for the person who didn't spend enough money on it to begin with, but we are all guilty of that also.

Ya pays ya money and ya rolls ya dice.

DB

orographic
30th July 2008, 19:43
So it was working when he took it in. Is it unrealistic to expect it to be working in a similar fashion when he picks it up?

This happens when you put it back together INCORRECTLY, why would a component work, and then not work once you put it back together again if you pout it back exactly the way it was?



one possible, in a nutshell is static burn.
Electronics ( specifically CMOS technology IC's) really do not like static, and will burn out quite easily, without any external signs of this. If you work with these, you learn how to handle them correctly without frying them, but even then mistakes, and stuff ups happen, and its nearly impossible to tell until the component fails.
And to make it worse, it doesn't always fail right away, it can simply "age" a component, making it more likely to fail sooner...

This is of course assuming the problem is electrical in the first place, rather than mecanical ( swtich contacts etc) so .. thats my 2 centidollers :P