Motorbike shop punished for sluggish repair

[HenryDorsetCase]

By "contracting out" I'm really endeavouring to draw the retailer's attention to the fact that the warranty they are promoting is worthless. A two-year, unlimited km warranty may sound nice, but in Aprilia's case, that's where it ends. Seriously. The distributor has no intention whatsoever in honouring it, and that should be a point worth making.

It's a pity that there is no way of communicating directly with Aprilia on these matters.

even if you could, they would look at the stats and go "82 bikes at the end of the earth? fuck em" or whatever the italian equivalent is.

[mashman]

This is where a "donor" bike would come in handy... should probably be law. Some lovely chaps in the Hutt once, nay twice, sorted the Prila out with bits off of one of their shop bikes (parts technically still from manufacturer) whilst ordering the replacement parts from Italy. I guess an engine is a PITA, but still, it woulda got the guy back on the road and woulda caused less hassle.

[Hitcher]

This is where a "donor" bike would come in handy...

Not necessary. Dealers can source a full range of OEM Aprilia parts from AF1 in Texas, just the same as I can. If the largest Aprilia dealer in the USA can get parts, then NZ dealers should be able to source from them. Delivery by UPS within a week. What's wrong with that picture?

[mashman]

Not necessary. Dealers can source a full range of OEM Aprilia parts from AF1 in Texas, just the same as I can. If the largest Aprilia dealer in the USA can get parts, then NZ dealers should be able to source from them. Delivery by UPS within a week. What's wrong with that picture?

Absolutely agree... I stopped ordering through NZ and went straight to AF1 (as you say the warranty was all but useless) and, bar the customs nonsense, it was door to door in about a week. I guess the distributor needs to get his coin coz the difference between OEM and original parts prices is

[Wolf_]

Absolutely agree... I stopped ordering through NZ and went straight to AF1 (as you say the warranty was all but useless) and, bar the customs nonsense, it was door to door in about a week. I guess the distributor needs to get his coin coz the difference between OEM and original parts prices is

I think you guys are missing the point. The whole reason their contracts state stores have to go back to the importer is so they can clip the ticket on every product sold. Getting the product from the USA or otherwise would be parallel importing and would mean the NZ importer would have lower yearly sales etc.

From an importers point of view, why would you want to hold $xxxx.xx in stock for something that may never be bought or could become obsolete? We've just come out of a economic recession so im sure many business would be using a minimal stock strategy. Also need to consider freighting costs. Most likely cheaper if they can bundle the parts with their main shipment which probably would come by boat.

I'm not defending the Aprilia importer and personally would be seriously pissed off being without my bike for three weeks let alone 3 months.

[Robert Taylor]

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

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

What makes you think any of the BMW Superbike riders ( including Choppa ) get distributor help? Its all pretty much independent

[Robert Taylor]

Same old same old with the feeding frenzy. The dealer is in many ways the biggest victim here.

If anyone thinks they can change the attitude of the Italian nation good luck.

Any one of you guys had the opportunity to pick up ( for example )the BMW distribution recently and show all of us in the trade how its done

[hayd3n]

+ italian mail is sooooo slow

[Drew]

What makes you think any of the BMW Superbike riders ( including Choppa ) get distributor help? Its all pretty much independent

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

[Robert Taylor]

If the customer ordered genuine makers parts ex overseas (as I have done with Honda parts) and they come in a genuine 'makers' bag with logo, part number etc printed on it, and the dealer fits them to the bike under warranty, then I fail to see how a warranty could be dishonoured in any manner legally.

Maybe if the previously mentioned dealers started doing this then the importers would get their shit sorted.

Theres a paper trail involved but essentially the warranty parts provided from the distributor are at the distributors landed cost and they will have an agreement in place with the manufacturer to claim reimbursement or will have a set limit per annum. Certainly a distributor / manufacturer is not going to reimburse at a higher cost where the parts have been sourced from another supplier who has made a margin on the parts. And with a freight premium where the costs havent been consolidated with other goods.

There may also be supercessions on the parts and complications in that sense. Im not in any way attempting to justify the long lead times but while all and sundry are having a feeding frenzy on this bear in mind that there is often much much more to this.

Bear in mind that both dealers and distributors do not make money on warranty, they make a loss. Often substanial. So certainly they dont want to incur further losses.

Many years ago I had rectifier / regulator failure on a new XS750. I think that took about 6 weeks at the time because Yamaha were getting a new and improved design of unit made, that takes time. My life didnt depend on it and the sky certainly wasnt going to fall in, so I accepted it.

[Edbear]

Theres a paper trail involved but essentially the warranty parts provided from the distributor are at the distributors landed cost and they will have an agreement in place with the manufacturer to claim reimbursement or will have a set limit per annum. Certainly a distributor / manufacturer is not going to reimburse at a higher cost where the parts have been sourced from another supplier who has made a margin on the parts. And with a freight premium where the costs havent been consolidated with other goods.

There may also be supercessions on the parts and complications in that sense. Im not in any way attempting to justify the long lead times but while all and sundry are having a feeding frenzy on this bear in mind that there is often much much more to this.

Bear in mind that both dealers and distributors do not make money on warranty, they make a loss. Often substanial. So certainly they dont want to incur further losses.

Many years ago I had rectifier / regulator failure on a new XS750. I think that took about 6 weeks at the time because Yamaha were getting a new and improved design of unit made, that takes time. My life didnt depend on it and the sky certainly wasnt going to fall in, so I accepted it.

I had one of those, the Special model. Lovely bike!

[HenryDorsetCase]

Same old same old with the feeding frenzy. The dealer is in many ways the biggest victim here.

If anyone thinks they can change the attitude of the Italian nation good luck.

Any one of you guys had the opportunity to pick up ( for example )the BMW distribution recently and show all of us in the trade how its done

I know how to make a small fortune in the "Boys toys" industries (expensive pushbikes, motorbikes, audiophile etc). Its absolutely foolproof. First, start with a large fortune then, let nature take its course....

[scracha]

Same old same old with the feeding frenzy. The dealer is in many ways the biggest victim here.

If anyone thinks they can change the attitude of the Italian nation good luck.

It's not really about the Italian manufacturer. They do a shitty job with MV Augusta and Triumph. A disti's job is to maintain a reasonable supply chain....perhaps by partnering up with other disti's or obtaining parts from other unofficial sources. Clearly Beckarse can't manage that.

"Not the local bike dealers fault?" - No different from any other industry. As a dealer in another industry, there are many brands I won't sell due to shitty disti/manufacturer aftercare and/or product build quality. A motorcycle dealer has to pick and choose what disti's they partner up with and what brands/models they sell. If the disti/manufacturer partnership is shit, then the local bike shop has to take some responsibility for not doing their homework and selling that brand. If after a few weeks (not 3 bloody months) the disi isn't coming to the party then the local bike shop has to deploy some customer care and either take the hit (refund or offer another bike) or parallel import the parts and face the consequences if the disti finds out. I know for a fact that some of the dealers selling Japanese bikes obtain parallel parts .....I dunno if the official disti turns a blind eye or if these activities happen but it's generally for the reason of parts availabiliity, not price.

I've said it before, I'm amazed local bike shops aren't simply parallel importing these beckarse brands....there's clearly a better margin in it for them and no compelling reason to use to official supply.

[Robert Taylor]

It's not really about the Italian manufacturer. They do a shitty job with MV Augusta and Triumph. A disti's job is to maintain a reasonable supply chain....perhaps by partnering up with other disti's or obtaining parts from other unofficial sources. Clearly Beckarse can't manage that.

"Not the local bike dealers fault?" - No different from any other industry. As a dealer in another industry, there are many brands I won't sell due to shitty disti/manufacturer aftercare and/or product build quality. A motorcycle dealer has to pick and choose what disti's they partner up with and what brands/models they sell. If the disti/manufacturer partnership is shit, then the local bike shop has to take some responsibility for not doing their homework and selling that brand. If after a few weeks (not 3 bloody months) the disi isn't coming to the party then the local bike shop has to deploy some customer care and either take the hit (refund or offer another bike) or parallel import the parts and face the consequences if the disti finds out.

I've said it before, I'm amazed local bike shops aren't simply parallel importing these beckarse brands....there's clearly a better margin in it for them and no compelling reason to use to official supply.

I respectfully suggest then that you test run your cures to these ills. Im not justifying for a moment the long lead times and as an importer myself I often share such similiar frustrations. But I also steadfastly maintain that the dealer is the biggest victim, they incur the loss and the biggest frustration.
Also was the bike essential transport or was it discretionary transport?

[mashman]

I think you guys are missing the point. The whole reason their contracts state stores have to go back to the importer is so they can clip the ticket on every product sold. Getting the product from the USA or otherwise would be parallel importing and would mean the NZ importer would have lower yearly sales etc.

From an importers point of view, why would you want to hold $xxxx.xx in stock for something that may never be bought or could become obsolete? We've just come out of a economic recession so im sure many business would be using a minimal stock strategy. Also need to consider freighting costs. Most likely cheaper if they can bundle the parts with their main shipment which probably would come by boat.

I'm not defending the Aprilia importer and personally would be seriously pissed off being without my bike for three weeks let alone 3 months.

For sure there's an entire industro-system that needs to be fed and it's amusing to see these people cut off their noses to spite their faces by tying themselves up in red tape to protect their position. Tis shit and silly for all concerned.

True... that's why I suggested the idea behind the donor bike as buying a little bit of time and keeping all happy.

It's no fun waiting for bits n pieces... fortunately mine have only ever been cosmetic or replacement parts, touch wood (ooooo).