Online shopping

[fast1]

  Have never been a fan--till now. Bought a new helmet from Yamaha which I really like and on Tuesday at the B.X. the clip fell off the strap, found it and re-attached it. Fell off again and search as I might could not find it. Went to Yamaha inquiring about a replacement. No part number, we'll e-mail the distributor. Received a call later telling me to pound dirt. Distributor also could not find a number,said no one else had the same problem and because I cut the strap to keep it from slapping me silly at highway speed they refused to take it back. Fumed for awhile then called Chris who is now in sales, told me he'd look into it. Saturday callback got sloughed off so went online and found Zox's website in 30 seconds(which Yamaha should have done) sent off an e-mail and received one back today, very courteous promising to remedy the problem,how hard was that? my reason for dealing locally is service but if that is not what I am going to get then buying online direct from the manufacturer seems like the way to go. From now on unless it's an emergency on an in stock part that is how i'm gonna do it. CHEERS.

[Dennis]

Reluctantly, and for many of the same reasons, I gave up on local shops ... except for Excalibur which is now my first go to shop for Harley/Chopper parts.

The online distributors rely more than local dealers for positive customer feedback.  The feedback is often instantaneous, and readily available to the very people who use the online store.  They don't mess around with trying to satisfy their customers.

Excalibur is different because they are not a dealership, and their suppliers are very well stocked, and I can get parts in just a few days.  I like dealing with them ... they know me by my first name.

Of course there are other great local suppliers if you are not looking for brand specific bike parts; Chieftain (misc.) and Interstate (batteries) are local favourites.

Peace & Parts, Dennis

[fast1]

 UPDATE: Received a call Wed. from Yamaha-a rather terse your part is in. Went to pick it up expecting some sort of apology, instead I got here you go as it was tossed across the counter and then completely ignored. Burnt bridge. Thursday night I wrote a very nice e-mail to Zox helmets thanking them for their quick response, then wrote one to Yamaha, not so nice, telling them they had lost my business forever. Friday their was a message on my machine from Danni asking me to return her call to discuss my review. Haven't done that yet as I am waiting to see if that is as far as they will go to follow up. Done with dealers.

[Dennis]

I think you should return the call and have a frank and polite conversation.  Yamaha used to be a great parts place; the only dealership I would order parts from.  Knowledgeable staff, fair price, reasonable turnaround time on ordered parts.

They have significantly expanded (not just physically but with the huge demand for sleds, side by sides and quads).  Its easy for the big profits from retail sales of new machines to override the importance of their parts and accessories departments.

Peace & Grease, Dennis.

[fast1]

  I plan to, just wanting to see if they are serious about following this up, generally have a go to guy everywhere. Danni is my first choice but she was absent on my last 2 visits. The 3 young guys I dealt with were ingratiated morons who gave me attitude, just wanted their higher ups to know. Not everyone knows to deal strictly with Danni-how many other customers have these peons insulted? CHEERS.

[fast1]

  EPILOGUE: Wed. received a long apologetic e-mail from Danni, sent one back saying thank you and I'll call. Today that's what I did,we had a long conversation and she assured me all her parts guys and her Motovan rep had been suitably reprimanded, said she would have been just as angry herself and she was on vacation when all this went down. Gave her a test to find an over length speedo cable and she passed so went down and ordered it this afternoon. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. CHEERS.