It's not bloody fair - Long rant, just ignore me, Sawyers do!

[mangell6]

StoneChucker - I have no trouble with the Yamaha dealer in Upper Hutt who has Yamaha 'certified' mechanics, and an owner that is at the shop. Mainly deals in offroad bikes but also looks after sports and street bikes as well.

The dealer that Moto describes is similar to the mine and others experiences with my dealer.

JMHO

Mike

[MD]

So Yamahas need to have their oil and filters changed? That sounds like a design fault. Buy a Honda, ride it for xx odd years then sell it -see maintenance free riding. Simple.
But seriously, some good advice posted above. The staff at all the shops around Wgtn seem like good, bike lovin, blokes to me. When I see how hard the workshop Guys work I feel guilty (but not enough to help). So give them the benefit of the doubt. As for Saywers they are a helpful bunch and I'm sure a quiet word in Brendon's, Barry's (when he returns from sick leave) or Derek's ear will have you smiling again.

[StoneChucker]

Paul, you're 100% right. What I wrote on Sat was just after I realised I'd be stuck inside all weekend. 99% of the time, even if I'm really annoyed, I'm still nice and friendly anyway, so I just posted what I was thinking, mainly.

Hey Lynda, I was watching a little MotoGP yesterday, and I saw Cabarossi (spelling?) was only 9th of something? Maybe you should send him your neck warmer/scarf for good luck

[Paul in NZ]

There was no need to be stuck inside...

You could have come up to Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park with us and cut tracks and planted trees... (I still feel rooted - har har)

Seriously, we could tell you were venting. I'm old and was bought up in the era when you got slapped in the mush and told to snap out of it... These days you would be assigned a shrink and a case worker and an accountant to look after your compo....

;-)

BTW. In case you think I'm a Sawyers fan, I'm not. When they had a tilt at being a Guzzi dealer I booked a ride on a new V11 demo on sat morning. Vicki and I rode in the 50km on the Mk2 in the cold and wet to arrive at our appointed ride time of 10am. All their dealer plates were 'out'. Hmmm! Waited 45 minutes, rain got worse. I was sweet up until I got told 'things have got better since they made those old heaps' (dismissively pointing at my Mk2 and hopefully hinting - you are not gunna try and trade that POS are ya?). My Mk2 might be a lotta things but it aint no HEAP!

About then, we realised that buying a Guzzi (it's bound to have a few issues) off these guys would be a disaster. They didn't like Guzzis or Guzzi riders. I guess because they are all racers Guzzis are notrep etc etc so we buggered off. They never followed up with a call to appologise, I never bought the bike.

After 45 minutes I was getting concerned about blood sugar levels (I explained all this to them) so we needed to investigate lunch. Total waste of a morning. Vicki will never go back. The guy in masterton - different story altogether...

Sure, things have changed now but the bike sales staff are the same and I still get a bit miffed. ie I made a stupid mistake and i got angry because the world didn't go the way I wanted to believe it would.

They had a couple of people come in for a test ride and a bird in the hand was worth it I guess... perhaps i would make the same call?

Let us know how you get on though...

[Motu]

I've seen the other thread,but I'll put this in the bitch and moan thread where it's more apropriate.This is from the otherside of the fence.

I don't work on bikes anymore,but have worked as a mechanic fixing bikes,these days it's just bloody cars.As mentioned,things can tighten up,and come loose,also noted - tighter is always better eh? On some cars these days the oil filler cap has a ratchet to prevent overtightening,same as a fuel filler cap,they can get bloody tight alright,they can break too.Spin on oil filters have been tight to remove from the get go - the first 'red' Holden motor in 1964 I think.Using the customers tool kit? not likely,but I don't think any Lada ever had the oil plug allen key in it's tool kit,13mm was hard to get,and I still have the one I stole.

I got a call from the MTA today - a customer complaint about my workmanship and charges,and the fact I won't rectify the problem.The customer rang last week,then came into see me about the problem,no response from me,so later that day he had someone else ring on his behalf to push the point a bit harder.His next step was the MTA,after that I don't know what he'll do - but I know what I'm doing...nothing.

His car was towed in as a non runner,the battery wound down flat,the battery was put on charge and one of ours fitted.It didn't take me long to diagnose (don't talk to me about how much I get paid for this hard earned skill) spark,injector pulse but no fuel,power at the fuel pump - so I rang with an assesment on price (no quotes from me) he gave the go ahead,the fuel pump was fitted,his recharged battery put in and a road test - next day he fronted up with $800 and collected the car.So he's back a week later with a car that won't start - and he's right,it won't start because it has a flat battery,it's totaly stuffed,and the alt is only putting in 13.5 volts...chicken or egg here,did the old battery overload the alt,or the undercharging alt stuff the battery - anyway,he reckons he brought in his car because it won't start,we obviously didn't fix it right because it still won't start,I'm a right arsehole and he's gunna screw me for all I've got.He may be right about the arsehole part - but if I fix his car again...he's paying again.

As I said in my first post in this thread - expectations and comunication,I have tried to explain it to him,but he can't get around the fact he spent all that money and his car still won't go,he doesn't understand they are totaly unrelated problems.English is not his first language,the MTA is my mediator on this,I hope they can sort it from that end.This is not a one off,it's continuous - the motorcycle shops will have similar stories,it's just part of the game.

Sorry about my little hissy fit,but I thought some input from the shop side would help even things out.

[mechanic]

you should have talked to the shop staff first.

[scumdog]

I feel you could have allowed your feelings a bit more freedom here and not held back quite so much but I think I got the drift of what you were trying to say, good effort but allow you emotions to front up a bit more next time eh?

[merv]

Mechanic welcome to the forum.

Have you ever done a Kiwi Host or some other sort of customer service course? - it would do you a world of good and allow you to understand the service supplier/customer relationship a whole lot better and half of what you have said above would not need to have been said.

It looks to me like Stonechucker has done the honourable thing and posted the update on the other thread.

p.s. if you work at Sawyers, well done to your boss Brendan for sorting this and keeping the reputation of the shop up.

[rodgerd]

Instead of venting your spleen on a public forum & whinging about how hard done by you were.
people like you make me sick!
you would be f--ked without them & every other unappreciated mechanic out there.

Could you let me know which bike shop you work for in Wellington? Just want to be sure to avoid the right ones...

[Firefight]

you should have gone back to the shop & talked to the service manager or manager to address any issues you had with your bike &/or level of service.
Instead of venting your spleen on a public forum & whinging about how hard done by you were.
people like you make me sick!
sounds like the filter remover being wrong was nothing to have a kitten about.
so they ordered the wrong part.... so what! they put it right & it cost you no more. Shit, even parts people make mistakes! does having a stutter mean you dont need to have any patience?
Your bike stunk of oil?..... so a bit of oil got on the exhaust when it was drained & hadnt completely burnt off.... Poor baby! yamaha designed the exhaust & sump plug lay out, not the mechanic who changed the oil.
engine filler plugs always stick tight. a large o-ring sealing the cap against the clutch cover which expands & contracts every time the bike is started as well as vibrating. what did you expect? would you prefer the thing fell out onto the road? Why were you undoing it if an oil change was just done?
Are you one of those pedantic bike polisher types who spends all his waking hours changing oil that doesnt need to be changed & polishing the stripes off the bike instead of riding it? Have you tried opening the throttle yet?
guys like you are the nightmare of hard working, underpaid tradespeople the world over. you think you are the only person on the bloody planet & the rest of the world is just waiting to carry out your every wish, but that still wont be good enough! FOOL!
going by your most recent posting you owe the staff at Sawyers an opology.
you were not shy or slow when it came to slagging them off in public before you even gave them the chance to talk to you about your percieved problems. Have you got the balls or brains to do the right thing?
How would you know if the mechanics were useless anyway? Fool.
how many years of polytec, exams & study have you done to be in a posistion to judge a good mechanic from a bad one, shit you couldnt even get your oil filler cap undone!!!! yet another backyard grand prix mechanic, who thinks he knows everything, but knows nothing of the amount of work a real mechanic has to do. you should think twice about labelling someone as useless, did you think to count up how many years of mechanical experience were in that workshop? you would be f--ked without them & every other unappreciated mechanic out there.

What a fucked up attitude, you should try running your own business, see how long you last, or maybe try working in PR, why don,t you tell us were you work you shit head .Just remebember you cunt its the customer who pays your wages.

Firefight

[Motu]

Well,I'm happy to see another mechanic on the board,and one who speaks his mind too! It's a really tough unthanked job working as a mechanic - they all want to do the best job possible,but it's just able to be done....between the expectaions of the customer and the boss,covering as much as possible but still turning out a respectable time.It's seldom a customer will make the effort to thank a mechanic - but they sure will come in to bleat and moan,they are all experts and the mechanic knows nothing - just look at the members of this board,they know everything about bikes,much more than the poor underpaid bastard working day in day out on them,they question the knowledge he has built up over years of experiance...mechanics can be surly,with good reason.

After 25 yrs of being told how to do my job by bosses I decided I couldn't take it anymore and became one myself - now I see my industry from a different perspective....I have to keep an eye on my guys so they don't go off doing unimportant work I can't charge for,every job has to be done in a reasonable time,they have to be able to overcomme problems and yet still come up with chargable work.

Sure,we can do a whole lot better job - but will you pay for it...not likely! How do you think that makes us feel?

[gav]

Hmmmm, interesting.... I worked in a Honda shop where we did a deal over the phone on a new XR250 when they were in short supply. This guy had a two year XR250 to trade and was keen as mustard on a new one, agreed to meet him out country and he was travelling up with his bike. Our farm serviceman called up after getting the trade enthusing over how mint this 2 year old XR is, me, so sceptical thinking oh oh, not good. Sure enough it turns up with brand new plastics, but tell tale paint worn frame, engine cases, footpegs etc, but started OK and seemed to run OK. Parked it up on shopfloor, and next couple of days notice to seems to be dripping a bit of oil, hmm, could be loose bung, take it through to workshop and start looking closer, found cracked case around oil bung and after taking sprocket cover off find the sprocket had been welded on!!! Bike was a shitter but what can you do? live and learn, and you wonder why some bike shops are wary

[Marknz]

do you work for Sawyers or Motorad by any chance?

[riffer]

A little lateral thinking would quickly solve the mystery of mechanic's identity.

I wonder just how many OWO1's there are in this country? Would have to be less than 5...

Actually mechanic, can ya post a pic of the bike? I'd love to see it.

[merv]

Only 2 posts and Mechanic has gone all quiet. Maybe he's gone off to take that pic for you celticno6.