Bloody mechanics!

[centaurus]

I have to vent this out. I've been waiting for a few days now, hoping that will pass, but it didn't

More than two weeks ago I took the bike to the shop (one of the biggest and most respected shops in Wellington). I needed a WOF and to diagnose a problem I was having with one of the cylinders. For the cylinder problem, I detailed the problem and what I found out already and asked them to have a look at the carbs (having done already a lot of tests, the carbs were the only thing I wasn't ready to open).

They told me that for the WOF it needed the front tyre and the steering bearings. I agreed to order them (they didn't have in stock even the tyre). It took them a week and a half to come up with the tyre, and afterwards another half a week to actually put everything in and have a look at the carbs.

After two weeks of waiting, I ended up with a considerable bill and the bike wasn't running any better (the mecanic didn't even notice that the cylinder was misfiring).

After a few dozen km's, the bad cylinder died completely and I took the fairings off to have a look. I couldn't believe my eyes what I saw: quite a few screws missing, the left side of the lower fairing broken, cables and wires installed badly inside (one cable was twisted around the chocke lever on the carb, so every time I pulled the choke, I was stretching the wire.

In one word, the bike was a mess. It looked worse than after the first time I opened it (this being my first bike). I was so upset and angry that I couldn't even sleep that night.

the next day I called the shop and I calmly told the service manager what I have found. The only answer I got was something close to "I'm sorry" and that's it.

What the f**ck is this world coming to? If one of the best shops has such a poor service, how can I trust another mech anic with my machine? Am I the only one that went through this or there are other people with similar stories?

[Hitcher]

Everybody has a sub-optimal service story. In the first instance take your issues up with the shop in question, and only have a rave if they don't resolve the matter to your satisfaction. As Allan Martin was want to say, "It's the putting right that counts".

[The Pastor]

yeah take it back, show em tell em fix it.


If they don't then name and shame them.......


well post there side of the story first.

[Nasty]

Totally agree .. they need the opportunity to correct their errors and any problems caused by this - in addtion go through the bill and make sure they did what you asked - question anything you are unsure about - they will give you the answers - if not name and shame.

[riffer]

Again we see this bollocks.

You know, there was a really good post by White Trash about this, which we should really make into a sticky so that people know what they should do in these circumstances...

Centaurus - this forum should not be your first point of call if you are upset. In all service delivery situations the quality of the communications has a great bearing on what result you will receive.

I would suggest you itemise your problems and present these to the shop immediately. Give them an opportunity to rectify these problems to your satisfaction. Be prepared to pay if you want things sorted properly - particularly if you want things sorted that you'd never talked to them about in the first place.

Keep a good record of everything you've asked for - and make sure that the shop agrees with you on what has to be done - the itemised list you have will give you an opportunity to confirm these things.

And only after you have exhausted these avenues should you complain about a shop on the forums.

Good luck with getting your bike sorted.

[Krusti]

Big ups to you though for having the restraint to not name the shop before they had time to rectify the problem. Good luck.

[bert_is_evil]

It's all very well to say they should be given the opportunity to fix it but there's a hell of a lot of people out there who wouldn't recognise that their bike had been arsed up by a mechanic. Some people have never taken their fairings off and never would, they put their trust in the experts because they don't have the expertise to do it themselves (as they should be able to do, that's what they're paying for), therefore them (or anyone) having to do a quality check on the workmanship after you get your bike back from a mechanic is completely unacceptable and defeats the purpose of taking it to a proffessional in the first place. If this is a requirement (which it is becoming apparent that it is) the work should be QA'd by the workshop manager before it leaves the shop.

This sort of service wouldn't be acceptable in any other industry - if you took your TV to be repaired and got it home to discover that there were bare wires hanging out the back that could electricute your and the screen was broken I don't think anyone would dissagree that you'd be justified in having a rant about it, I don't see this as any different.

[MSTRS:Me]

Dunno about posting (or not) but what I thought of was that this is typical of auto mechanics....in that older vehicles are usually given to the apprentice to work on, but you still pay the A grade rate

[centaurus]

Again we see this bollocks.
...
Centaurus - this forum should not be your first point of call if you are upset.
...
I would suggest you itemise your problems and present these to the shop immediately. Give them an opportunity to rectify these problems to your satisfaction. ...

- no. 1: I haven't posted this message asking for help. I was just venting (as stated in my initial message) and wanting to know if I was an isolated case or if this happens to a lot of people in the first place.

- no. 2: If you would have read my post attentively, you would have seen that I had already contacted the shop and they agreed to replace the "dud" spark plug and nothing else (I didn't know about the broken fairing at that time). So I was left with the payed bill and the bike worse than it was before. The guy told me something like "I'm sorry to hear that" and hinted that there is nothing he could do.

- no. 3: bert_is_evil is absolutely right: they shouldn't have messed up things in the first place. fixing up things at the end does not make them even, it's just their way of showing their good faith trying to repair THEIR mistake. What if I wasn't knowledgeable and I would have ridden the bike like it was, breaking it completely after a few weeks? Who would have covered for that? Definitely not the shop.

- no. 4: this is not bollocks, this is my waisted nerves for two weeks and a half, a considerable amount of money waisted (would have been more wisely used even on alcohol and women ) and me missing which could be the last few sunny days before winter (after having my bike dismantled all the summer due to another shop's great parts ordering and delivery system)

Today I went to the shop to replace the bad spark plug and told them about the broken fairings. They accepted to fix them for free.

I'm not gonna name them because of the service manager's attempt to make things right (replaced the spark plug and will - hopefully - fix the fairings, but didn't do anything about the bill or the "unfixed" bike), but I sure as hell am not gonna take my bike at them ever. Their honda mechanic is the worst mechanic I've ever seen (if he actually is a mechanic, which I doubt)

[The Stranger:Me]

We are talking about a motorcycle, a screw up could kill you.
I am aware of one instance where a mechanic's screw up caused a serious bin and another where it is highly likely that the accident was caused by a screw up (well actually a loose one).
I wouldn't (and didn't) take too kindly to mistakes of this nature either.

[Paul in NZ]

What age is your NSR?

Not getting at you but - if I look at my vehicles and particularly my bikes which are all aging 'wierd harold' shit - I have every expectation that I'll be doing it all myself because a bike shop is not going to touch em with a 10ft pole and if they did - it would be a disaster.

Sorry - this is modern living. The bike shop has overheads and gets by on doing basic servicing work. Anything tricky thats going to take time is possibly beyond most of them now. Certainly beyond what the vehicle is worth in $$ terms as far as major 'brand' shops are concerned.

Prick of a situation but I don't think it will be changing soon...

Paul N

[Dooly]

Dunno about posting (or not) but what I thought of was that this is typical of auto mechanics....in that older vehicles are usually given to the apprentice to work on, but you still pay the A grade rate

Oi.......just like signwriters?

Some of us mechanics have pride in our work and achieving customer satisfaction.
We can be a dying breed.
Like it in most trades I guess..........

[jonbuoy]

I think they don't like touching older bikes because you can get a knock on effect - eg trying to remove fairing - rusted out screws, indicator wiring plug brittle and breaks off plastic on the fairing not as flexible as it once was. When you start working on older kit everything becomes a bit of a mission. They might be good mechanics but there is no way they can charge out the hour or more they spent trying to get the fairings to look like they were to start off. And thats before they start disturbing other things and working on the original problem. Still the wiring wrapped around the choke levers a bit dodgy. I don't think bikes are made to last these days (nothing is).

[MSTRS:Me]

Oi.......just like signwriters?

Some of us mechanics have pride in our work and achieving customer satisfaction.
We can be a dying breed.
Like it in most trades I guess..........

Hey, it's Friday...

[Storm]

Still the wiring wrapped around the choke levers a bit dodgy. .

I'd agree with your other points, however, baltantly dodgy/lazy/incompetent work has no excuse. Sure, sometimes -in any trade- there is the standard way, a quicker way(that is still up to scratch), and the "just bung it in any old way/rough as guts, who cares" way.
The wiring situation isnt the first two