Motorbike shop punished for sluggish repair

[Crasherfromwayback]

They are in the best position to go back to the supplier and tell them that their underhanded tactics are damaging their brands reputation and putting off potential buyers.

It's one of the many reasons we stopped doing Triumph years ago.

[White trash]

They are in the best position to go back to the supplier and tell them that their underhanded tactics are damaging their brands reputation and putting off potential buyers.

It's one of the many reasons we stopped doing Triumph years ago.

Same reason we're not Aprilia dealers.

[AllanB]

So we have one of the most popular brands of m-bike (Triumph) and one of the desirable Italian brands being let down in aftersales servicing by the NZ importer?

Heads should roll!

I do feel for the bike shops - as noted above WTF can they do? Changing brands won't help them if they have a product that is popular, they will only reduce their sales. Farking importers need to wake up.

[Katman]

The fact that the dealer is getting all the bad press in this instance is quite simply shithouse.

And for every story like this one there's probably 10 stories about customers who expect to be allowed to pay off a $2000 bill at $20 a week.

[White trash]

So we have one of the most popular brands of m-bike (Triumph) and one of the desirable Italian brands being let down in aftersales servicing by the NZ importer?

Heads should roll!

I do feel for the bike shops - as noted above WTF can they do? Changing brands won't help them if they have a product that is popular, they will only reduce their sales. Farking importers need to wake up.

Yeah but in fairness, it's not ALL the local importer either. The fact is, Italian manufacturers do things when they're good and god damned ready and by Christ you better not rush them if you ever want your parts.

I spent a good few years handling the freight forwarding requirements of various big Oil & Gas companies. On occasion, there are parts or systems that need to moved from Italy. As soon as the purchase order came through, if I saw an Italian address I started shitting bricks. It meant dealing with not only an Italian supplier but also and Italian forwarder at point of origin and you just KNOW shit aint gonna get done any time soon.

[HenryDorsetCase]

The issue here is that any franchise dealership is bound by their contract with the distributor of whatever line they're selling. It's the manufacturer that's covering the warranty on any new product and it's the manufacturer causing delays with replacement parts. Aprilia parts are well documented to be abysmal in terms of supply and backup within New Zealand, ask Hitcher how long he waited for warranty parts for his Shiver.

The fact that the dealer is getting all the bad press in this instance is quite simply shithouse.

No, it isn't. The only point of contact the punter has, and his contract (particularly in this MVDT arena) is with the dealer from whom he purchased the vehicle. If I am the punter, I bought the bike from YOU, I expect YOU to fix it. Your shitty service you get from YOUR suppliers is simply not my problem. I care not (and neither do the Courts) about your problems, you sold it, you fix it.

Is there an argument that the multiple layers of manufacturer-distributor-retailer-customer model is rooted in the 19th century, not the 21st, and that even if it was ever relevant it is relevant no longer? sure there is. But in this arena it does not matter.

It always amuses me when I see threads like this and peoplbe going "Waaaa" importer waaaaa. I can get vintage Honda parts (pretty much anything you can think of) from David Silver Spares in the UK within a week if I really have to.

Cheaper, friendlier and online.... the service is twenty times better than any Honda franchise dealer I have ever been to in NZ, except Ashburton Honda who arent even a roadbike dealer.. maybe thats the trick.

[HenryDorsetCase]

And for every story like this one there's probably 10 stories about customers who expect to be allowed to pay off a $2000 bill at $20 a week.

a canny business man would say, absolutely, and take security, would draft an appropriate credit contract, and would make that $2000 liability into a $3600 asset. Everybody's happy.

[Katman]

a canny business man would say, absolutely, and take security, would draft an appropriate credit contract, and would make that $2000 liability into a $3600 asset. Everybody's happy.

That's why you're a lawyer and I'm a mechanic.

[HenryDorsetCase]

That's why you're a lawyer and I'm a mechanic.

you could possibly build it into your terms of trade: a heading along the lines of Credit terms, make it really unfriendly, allow you to front end load a crapload of costs to it and a credit card style interest rate. You could end up owning a bunch of bikes and being able to on-sell them. The trick would be not being second charge on a bike on drip, and repossessing the thing if they default. But you could also make it cover "All present and after acquired personal property" so you can take all the rest of their shit as well when the bailiffs show up.

[Hitcher]

Only three months? Luxury!

This is an example of Aprilia New Zealand (Triumph NZ) at its almost finest. I had to wait over 9 months for an $80 part to arrive for my Shiver. And the job was only ever completed because I let them know that if my bike was unwarrantable (which it would have been in the absence of the part in question), then they were going to repay me in full. They tried to divert me back to the dealer who sold me the bike, but I had read the law and advised them that it was their problem to fix. Things moved a bit more quickly from that point, although they still did their utmost to fuck me around. There is still a warranty claim outstanding on that Shiver which Aprilia/Triumph New Zealand never resolved.

Based on that experience, when I needed parts outside of the warranty provisions, I dealt directly with AF1 in Texas. What a joy those guys are. Parts delivered to specification within 5 working days. I presume that Aprilia dealers in New Zealand are not allowed to enter into such arrangements.

Would I own another Aprilia? I am seriously lusting after the new Caponord. However any purchase of a new machine would be on the basis that the dealer contracted out of the two-year "manufacturer's warranty" for a discount of at least $2,500. The way Aprilias are marketed in New Zealand, that warranty is worthless, because the distributor will sit you out if you make a claim.

[Paul in NZ]

WTF is the world coming to....

[HenryDorsetCase]

.... However any purchase of a new machine would be on the basis that the dealer contracted out of the two-year "manufacturer's warranty" for a discount of at least $2,500. The way Aprilias are marketed in New Zealand, that warranty is worthless, because the distributor will sit you out if you make a claim.

I havent researched it but I am not sure that they can: if you are a "Consumer" then they can't contract out: certainly that is the case under the fair trading act because it prevents the fine print in the contract including an all purpose contracting out provision.

edit: to clarify: you are referring to the Consumer Guarantees Act , whereas the OP has listed a case resolved under the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal. Both (along with the Fair Trading Act) are very powerful and fairly user friendly pieces of consumer protection legislation. The MVDT costs bugger all for an applicant so thats why they probably used that track, vs Court proceedings for the other. Having said that it is in the Disputes Tribunal arena too: they go up to $15k now I believe. /edit

Not that I am giving any excuses but part of the problem is that we are a wee boat containing 4.5M people, sailing off the edge of the world: no one in Italy or Hinckley or the US or Japan gives two shits about this market. 82 bikes a year? they're hardly making money out of that are they?

[pritch]

I did hear that the same importer may be adding BMW to his stable. There was concern about that importer being able to offer a sufficiently rapid level of service. (His reputation preceded him?) Apparently he assured BMW that the new agency would be different. Yeah right!

Hopefully, for those of you riding Deutchland's finest, this did not come to fruition.

[Drew]

I did hear that the same importer may be adding BMW to his stable. There was concern about that importer being able to offer a sufficiently rapid level of service. (His reputation preceded him?) Apparently he assured BMW that the new agency would be different. Yeah right!

Hopefully, for those of you riding Deutchland's finest, this did not come to fruition.

Oh, well that'll see those out of our Nationals superbike grid.

Wouldn't be worth the potential fuck around for a racer.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I did hear that the same importer may be adding BMW to his stable. There was concern about that importer being able to offer a sufficiently rapid level of service. (His reputation preceded him?) Apparently he assured BMW that the new agency would be different. Yeah right!

Hopefully, for those of you riding Deutchland's finest, this did not come to fruition.

It's a done deal mate. They're already doing it now.