Holeshot - Salesman of the year

[Supermoto Junkie]

I had a a similar thing happen to me at Holeshot late last week,

Went into Cyclspot Honda (next door) first, had a look at the CB900 hornet and the CB1300 (starting to get some pressure from the wife about having bikes with no rear foot peegs, but thats another story) anyway, after having a good look at cyclespot, I wandered into Holeshot to see what they had in stock, was even carring Honda brochures, walked around for a while and a guy walked up and said "what you got there, oh...cb1300...you need to ride our new Bandit......heres a broshure.......give me a call someday to ride it as it is out on demo" then just walks off......anyway i walk around a bit more then find they have a bandit in the show room, this guy could even point it out to me, so i had a look over it , the guy walks past a few times....says nothing, so i left the broshure on the seat and walked out....along with my business

I can get treated like that at home by the wife....i not need to got the a bike shop and get it

[turtleman]

I had a a similar thing happen to me at Holeshot late last week,

.....anyway i walk around a bit more then find they have a bandit in the show room, this guy could even point it out to me, so i had a look over it , the guy walks past a few times....says nothing, so i left the broshure on the seat and walked out....along with my business

If it's a new bike, then it doesn't leave the shop floor until it's bought! Most dealers have a demo bike in a particular model (or sourced from the wholesaler and shared around a few franchises). This way the demo bike is the one that clocks up the mileage, gets scuffed etc.
I know if I buy a brand spankin' new bike that's exactly what I want - not something thats got a few hundred k's (or more) on it at probably thrash level revs all the way !!
Just my $0.02 worth

[Supermoto Junkie]

If it's a new bike, then it doesn't leave the shop floor until it's bought! Most dealers have a demo bike in a particular model (or sourced from the wholesaler and shared around a few franchises). This way the demo bike is the one that clocks up the mileage, gets scuffed etc.
I know if I buy a brand spankin' new bike that's exactly what I want - not something thats got a few hundred k's (or more) on it at probably thrash level revs all the way !!
Just my $0.02 worth

I totally agree, my point was that here shoved a brochure in my hand and and then walked off and didn't even say there was one in the showroom for me to look at,

I guess Jamie was away that day....

[eliot-ness]

I've bought a few bikes through Jamie, never had cause to complain and when I've pushed hard for bigger discounts he's chatted with Carl and always sorted it to my satisfaction. I always get regular customer discounts on spare parts and gear too. It pays to stick with the same dealer if you get good service.
The Suzuki Fest prices don't leave much room for haggling but it's worth a try. Call in again, you might be surprised, ask for a free helmet, boots or gloves too. I should know, I've got enough spare gear to last till I give up biking

[Northpoint]

I bought my Bandit at Holeshot off Jamie. Was a nice bloke... He gave me lots of advise which came in handy.

[johnnyflash]

+1 for Jamie, Yep we also had brilliant sevice from Jamie, also from carl in parts and the service guys, excellant..

[Wiki Drifter]

Bought my current bike off Jamie too, top dude

[Bass]

in fact, right now they have a bike i really want...

Oh I see!!
Get Mom off the back and suddenly the Sprint isn't good enough!
Traitor!!

Actually, we bought Nicky's bike off Holeshot and there was a problem with the carb. They accepted what I told them and sorted it smartly - actually they didn't even check what I told them but just replaced the whole carb.
Impressed!

[Katman]

anyway i walk around a bit more then find they have a bandit in the show room,

Was it the new 1250 or an old stock 1200?

[Jinx3d]

Yeah, in general m/c sales guys are a bit crap.

Botany honda told me I had shit taste in bikes cos I currently own a suzuki (when I discussed trading)

South Auckland Yamaha said, we dont bother with trades and there is no discount for buying cash. So I'm paying premium AND I have to sell my old bike?

I just noticed that my bike puts out the same torque as an R1 anyway and it about 2000 rpm down the rev range which makes it 20 times easier to ride!!

Sounds like I saved 21,500 bucks to me. I should thank them!

[discotex]

But - he gave them the chance and they let him walk out the door - So I guess he will be off to Colemans (also nice blokes from what I have seen).

Yeah their sales and parts guys are great. Not that I've bought a bike there but I've looked at plenty and talked about options.

Wasn't too impressed with the service dept when told they wouldn't service my bike because I didn't buy it from them. WTF?! I know they were busy (said two weeks before they found it I didn't buy it there) but suggesting I try Red Baron didn't really come across as great customer service.

The irony being that I found Red Baron's service dept extremely helpful and I'll probably go back to them as it's convenient to work. Not as convenient as Colemans but their service dept don't seem to want my $$.

Seems very much a who you get world when it comes to dealers.

[jafar]

I had a a similar thing happen to me at Holeshot late last week,

Went into Cyclspot Honda (next door) first, had a look at the CB900 hornet and the CB1300 (starting to get some pressure from the wife about having bikes with no rear foot peegs, but thats another story) anyway, after having a good look at cyclespot, I wandered into Holeshot to see what they had in stock, was even carring Honda brochures, walked around for a while and a guy walked up and said "what you got there, oh...cb1300...you need to ride our new Bandit......heres a broshure.......give me a call someday to ride it as it is out on demo" then just walks off......anyway i walk around a bit more then find they have a bandit in the show room, this guy could even point it out to me, so i had a look over it , the guy walks past a few times....says nothing, so i left the broshure on the seat and walked out....along with my business

I can get treated like that at home by the wife....i not need to got the a bike shop and get it

Get the CB1300, Honda will rego the bike for 12 months , Suzuki will only put 6 months on it.

[skidMark]

because on a bike sale they make sweet fuck sall and you haggle so much thats they are gunna eventually go nope....

they are running a business not a friendly club...the purpose is to make money...they don't care because somebody else will buy it...for more money....

tell ur mate to not a be a jew.

[Storm]

Yeah they have to make a quid or two, but theres the short view and the long view. The short view says "fuck lowering the price/sweetening the deal, I've got kids to feed", whereas the long view says "look after them now and I get years of repeat business- tyres at x hundred a pop, servicing, etc"
Its all how you ask, ya cant just walk in and try the heavy routine, ask politely, if they cant do the deal you want, wish them a good day and go to the next shop. Never burn a bridge you might need one day

[vifferman]

Yeah they have to make a quid or two, but theres the short view and the long view. The short view says "fuck lowering the price/sweetening the deal, I've got kids to feed", whereas the long view says "look after them now and I get years of repeat business- tyres at x hundred a pop, servicing, etc"

Exactly!
Which is why in the past three years I've spent thousands on accessories, gear, servicing, etc. and not one cent of my coinage has gone to the shop that I bought the bike from. It was not so much a case of "I've got kids to feed" but more like, "We've ripped you off, we don't care that you know it, we've got your money so we don't give a crap!".

FWIW, although I've never bought much from Holeshot, I've heard so many good things about them, and had such good service from them in terms of test rides and so on, that I'd actually like to buy a bike from them.

What I don't get is that there are so many stories of shit customer service about most (probably all) of the bike shops floating around. Is it something in the nature of being in the trade, or the kind of customers they have, that leads some of these guys to be arseholes? Don't they know word gets around very quickly in the motorcycling community?

Something else I'll say is that I've had both very good and very bad service from most of the bike shops I've dealt with. It seems to depend on the person you deal with, the time of the month, phases of the moon, or whatever. Some are mostly good, with the occasional glitch, and some have a mixture of good and bad salespeople. I tend to be a fairly loyal person, and if someone is honest with me, and treats me OK, then I don't care so much about price. I recognise they're in business to make money, so I'm not going to go from shop to shop trying to achieve the best deal.