Mt Eden Motorcycles: Workshop warning

[Crasherfromwayback]

Highly unlikely

[Elysium]

The customer is always right, no matter how wrong they may be. Important leasson for a business to know and learn.

If a business doesn't look after their customers needs, then they don't deserve to be in business.

If the bike shop in question made no attempt to either communicate or settle the matter then they deserve any public bashing. Of course I would like to hear the bike shop's side of the story if they browse this site.

[Mom]

Highly unlikely

The customer is always right, no matter how wrong they may be. Important leasson for a business to know and learn.

If a business doesn't look after their customers needs, then they don't deserve to be in business.

If the bike shop in question made no attempt to either communicate or settle the matter then they deserve any public bashing. Of course I would like to hear the bikes side of the story if they browse this site.

While the customer is always right, there are also a few customers out there that are downright impossible to please and create some serious issues for businesses especially in this modern world of internet and viral emails. Now I am not for one moment taking sides here, I dont have an opinion either way on this issue but I would love to ask a question.

Mr crasher(whosecoffeeis not that bad) I have seen the shop you work for getting trashed on here and I have seen your responses to some of the threads.

In your opinion what damage do these threads have to a business, and should the businesses attempt to respond? Of course taking it as read that it should never get to this stage in the first place.

[Elysium]

While the customer is always right, there are also a few customers out there that are downright impossible to please and create some serious issues for businesses especially in this modern world of internet and viral emails. Now I am not for one moment taking sides here, I dont have an opinion either way on this issue but I would love to ask a question.

Quite right, though the thread starter doesn't come across to me as an anoying idiot who wants to cause trouble. And I would be vey interested in a response from the shop in question as it's currently a one-sided story, then again that's if they want to comment.

[Maha]

how much do you charge to top up the fluids?

Depends on whos doing the milking.

[Katman]

The customer is always right, no matter how wrong they may be.

Nope. If the customer is wrong then they are wrong.

The trick is knowing how to make them realise they're wrong without fucking them off.

[Robert Taylor]

You didnt actually read and understand did you.
Bike goes into shop with clutch problem.
New clutch fitted, original problem still there.
Did it need a new clutch? perhaps, but if the perch was the root cause why not replace that first and test.
At a guess the service manager, or whatever they are called nowadays, writes down clutch dragging on the job sheet.
Mechanic gets job, starts bike up, confirms clutch dragging, checks cable adj (perhaps) replaces clutch pack.
Reassemble adj cable, yep that works,
Next job
Mechanic could be a dumbass, maybe there is pressure on him to get the work out the door and dont think about it too much, who knows.

As the customer had been riding with a slipping clutch ( that HE had overadjusted ) then frying clutch plates certainly would have happened, and this can often happen quite quickly.
Remember there is only one side of the story and its remiss of a lot of people that have posted to think that EVERYONE including all industry people visit this website forum to see ( among other things ) if they are getting bagged or not. I really cannot blame many peoples reasons for not getting involved nor daring to challenge ( like me ) those involved in a sharklike feeding frenzy ( well thats how it appears )
CLUTCH PERCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are catalogued by part number only! There is no workshop manual stated dimensions for the amount of linear movement that is displaced by a full arc movement of the clutch perch. Very often they can look very similiar or the same but be very marginal in distance of cable pull. It might work fine for well in excess of 12 to 18 months ( as the owner stated ) but theres also 12 to 18 months of wear occuring in the whole clutch and actuating mechanism that will one day tip the balance. As someone else stated you get groove wear in the basket which eventually becomes a problem ( and is VERY expensive to replace ) But an incorrect clutch perch that doesnt provide enough movement will be far less ''accomodating'' of such wear. Seasonal temperature variations also affect clutch drag, the colder mornings we are now experiencing will somewhat bring any lurking clutch drag problems to the surface.
When the fried clutch plates were replaced the clutch may well have been working satisfactorily, on that very day. Perhaps that statement is a little bit optimistic but a salient point remains, if the clutch plates were indeed fried ( caused by the riders overadjustment ) then there is no way he should contest that cost irrespective of whether the clutch drag problem was successfully resolved or not!
Its also not as if there is an abundance of 2002 R1s about in our small country. Anyone including mechanics wouldnt readily pick that the clutch perch is incorrect unless there was another 2002 R1 lined up against it and known to have an original oem clutch perch. THESE SORTS OF ISSUES CAN CATCH OUT THE MOST EXPERIENCED MECHANICS, FACT.

[325rocket]

The customer is always right, no matter how wrong they may be. Important leasson for a business to know and learn.
.

Not always. As mentioned by others, there are some people out there that are wankers. You will never make these people happy. They seem to live just so they can screw people over. When dealing with customers I apply an 80 / 20 ratio. Im willing to bend 80% if my customer will bend the other 20 (if / when required). this has worked well for me over the past 10 years and I figure if you are not willing to 'go the extra mile' then you deserve to fail. That said, I am amazed at the apparent venom some suppliers here spit out at potential customers. Thank god for niche markets aye.

[Robert Taylor]

My god do you guys blatently blame customers for everything don't you?? Mt Eden Motorcycles are WELCOME to come put there story up here. I have stated FACTS, with a couple of assumptions...which are clearly stated, so how on earth is that defamation? Get a life will you.

Regarding frying the clutch, it had a total of about 2-3 mins of riding like that (with it adjusted out) pretty quick to know the clutch is slipping...eh...Mt Eden Motorcycles is then about 1-2 mins ride depending on lights for me.

They didn't even put the adjustment back on the clutch, how do I know that? I asked them what the story was, guy basically said "Well, I took it for a spin and it was slipping, so it got replaced" said about the fact I had told them I had that adjusted out, he just said "well, it was on my worksheet that clutch needed sorting, it was slipping so I replaced it" and that was that.

Absolutely not, if we make a mistake we are the first to put our hand up. Its just all too easy to bag a dealer and I think some of your argument is a bit thin, Ive elaborated about the mechanical whys and wherefores elsewhere in this thread.
What also riles me about this forum is theres a hardcore with an ''us and them'' attitude. Big bad dealers against poor downtrodden motorcyclists. Its not generally like that, far from it.

[bogan]

What also riles me about this forum is theres a hardcore with an ''us and them'' attitude. Big bad dealers against poor downtrodden motorcyclists. Its not generally like that, far from it.

as far as I can tell you are one of the worst for this, every thread you come in on the dealer/industry's side, perhaps its not just the customers that need to get rid of the us vs them attitude.

[Robert Taylor]

You should try that, get back to us with your results.

What we have here is a customer who is very unhappy with the results and your immediate reaction is to "read between the lines" in order to attack him.

Personally I think you should leave it up to the shop in question to respond.

I am not attacking the customer! Im refusing to 100% believe the full story. Ive taken the trouble to explain the issue with clutch perches etc. Yes thats starting and as you say not stopping. Had you thought of that scenario of providing an explanation of why the problem is still there? What did you offer other than automatically assuming the dealer is 100% at fault ???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Katman]

as far as I can tell you are one of the worst for this, every thread you come in on the dealer/industry's side, perhaps its not just the customers that need to get rid of the us vs them attitude.

How often does someone in the industry initiate a bitch thread about a customer?

[Robert Taylor]

I dont begrudge that, but there are many threads in this forum bleating about how much things cost, as there are about fuck up's.
Im sure if the airline industry could only charge what a mechanic can, there would be a lot more aircraft falling out of the sky. If the repair industry could charge as much as the airline industry, there would be a lot more to spend on training & diagnostics & when it does turn to shit, there would be some in kitty to pay for the setting right.
As long as clients are price driven there will be a higher percentage of fuck up's.

Exactly, and has the problem been created by a previous owner who was price driven to purchase a cheaper but ulytimately unsuitable clutch perch?

[Headbanger]

I am not attacking the customer! Im refusing to 100% believe the full story. Ive taken the trouble to explain the issue with clutch perches etc. Yes thats starting and as you say not stopping. Had you thought of that scenario of providing an explanation of why the problem is still there? What did you offer other than automatically assuming the dealer is 100% at fault ???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've assumed nothing, nor have I imagined a back story or scenario to support my non-assumptions. Nor have I taken a side.

You have done all of these things with a vengeance.

[Smifffy]

Absolutely not, if we make a mistake we are the first to put our hand up. Its just all too easy to bag a dealer and I think some of your argument is a bit thin, Ive elaborated about the mechanical whys and wherefores elsewhere in this thread.
What also riles me about this forum is theres a hardcore with an ''us and them'' attitude. Big bad dealers against poor downtrodden motorcyclists. Its not generally like that, far from it.

In this case the business in question has lost a customer, the same business lost another customer according to another recent thread. Whatever the reason, if this is a representative sample then it's not looking that great long-term. The OP on this thread had another thread asking for advice on dealing with the workshop a few days back. He received a bunch of advice, I don't recall whether you offered any pearls of wisdom on that thread or not.

Some of the advice (mine included) was quite detailed, and involved a LOT of extra time and effort. Clearly the OP has decided it is time to cut his losses and move on. Can't say I blame him.