Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

We always hear about people getting shafted by dealers and/or distributors. I thought I'd change the trend....here's a story about a good one!

My friend Kieran bought a new BMW R1200R in December from a dealer in Townsville (285 km away) and was very happy with it.

In January, he took the bike back for its first service and all appeared well. On the way back home, he stopped for a pee, went to restart the bike and…. Nothing! The bike refused to start. Clutch in, clutch out, in gear, in neutral, tongue sticking out left side of the mouth, tongue out of the right side. Nothing helped.

The dealer showed up with a loaner bike on the back of a ute 3 hours later and took the recalcitrant vehicle home.The problem was traced to a possible problem with the imobiliser circuit.

Three weeks later, the bike stopped again, and this time was taken to a BMW dealer in Mackay. The same problem was recognised and supposedly fixed. Bike eventually arrived back in Airlie Beach.

Fast forward to last Saturday, the 1st. Kieran is out riding, stops at a bar in Proserpine to quench his thirst and find the bike has developed the same problem AGAIN. At this point, Kieran’s patience is growing thin as he calls the original dealer in Townsville at about midday.

The dealer in Townsville agrees that this bike may be a lemon and is not acceptable to BMW. After a call to a honcho at BMW Motoraad, he arrives in Airlie Beach with a brand new R1200R (that he personally pre-delivered, test rode and put on the back of a ute) at 6:00 P.M. that evening. He then picked up the other bike and took it back to Townsville.

That is customer service.

If you are ever near Townsville and want a bike (BMW or Kawasaki) call in and see the guys at Pickerings Kawasaki/BMW. I know where my next bike will be coming from!

Cheers,
Pete

Thats a great story, and goos to hear some bike dealers in Oz work this way, although if it was the Kwaka franchise having this prob, I doubt the help would've been so forth coming, let alone a loaner, and no chance of a replacement.

Name and reputation go a long way

Poyda wrote:Thats a great story, and goos to hear some bike dealers in Oz work this way, although if it was the Kwaka franchise having this prob, I doubt the help would've been so forth coming, let alone a loaner, and no chance of a replacement.

Name and reputation go a long way

I'd rather have the shitty dealer service with the reliable motorbike, than the great dealer service with a bike which fails continually!

the after-sales service is great, but the myriad stories that abound of Bimmers continually failing will ensure that I *Never* purchase anything from Bavarian Motor Works (occasionally)

Strika wrote:
I'd rather have the shitty dealer service with the reliable motorbike, than the great dealer service with a bike which fails continually!

Not bitter are we Strika?



Cheers,
Pete

plane wrote:

Strika wrote:
I'd rather have the shitty dealer service with the reliable motorbike, than the great dealer service with a bike which fails continually!

Not bitter are we Strika?



Cheers,
Pete

Nah not bitter Pete! Just wary...very wary!!!!

Bloody Marvel it Works

I wonder if the dude that lunched his Bimmer on the way bak from the Supers got the same service.

Moral of the story. If someone comes at you with a BMW for sale, run away....very fast.

Admittedly the service the guy has got is brilliant, just a pity the bikes are so poor.

Glen wrote:I wonder if the dude that lunched his Bimmer on the way bak from the Supers got the same service....

yeh, it sucks to be him !!! poor bastard, that shitheap smelt really bad, and the smoke was starting to belt out as I went past him.......wonder if his mate out the front playing silly buggers with Marty and WattyWorld got an SMS at the sausage-roll stop ???

Bavarian Money Waster
Break My Wallet
Bash My Wallet
Bring More Wads (of cash)
Bike May Wallow
etc

I'll keep you all posted on the progress of the new bike to see if it was an isolated incident, or whether it is indicitive of the marque.

The whole point of the story was the excellent customer service (regardless of brand) offered by this guy. When it comes time for my next purchase, I'll be going to see him first. He does have a nice black 14 in the shop at the moment........

Cheers,
Pete

plane wrote:I'll keep you all posted on the progress of the new bike to see if it was an isolated incident, or whether it is indicitive of the marque.

The whole point of the story was the excellent customer service (regardless of brand) offered by this guy. When it comes time for my next purchase, I'll be going to see him first. He does have a nice black 14 in the shop at the moment........

Cheers,
Pete

I agree Pete, the dealer is obviously more customer focused than average and that's worth supporting. I have a horrible feeling though that if your mate was riding a Kawasaki that had the same problems (I know, it wouldn't ever happen, but humour me here) the dealer wouldn't be able to offer the same sort of service - at the end of the day the dealer is representing the marque, and BMW are really the ones taking the hit for this, not the dealer. I think the dealer is being a good advocate for his customers, but at the end of the day the marque is honouring the warranty, not the dealer.

What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine? The porcupine has the pricks on on outside

Well done to BMW, it helps to have good customer service when your bikes are so un-reliable.

The problem was not the dealers, but the dealer sounds like a top bloke to go out of his way to fix it !!

Awesome...

Hell all I want from a dealer is for someone to actually take me seriously if I have a problem with something that they have done/sold for/to me.