A Yukon version of “service”
Many businesses in the Yukon say that they don’t understand why there are so many people like me who do a lot of their shopping Outside. Here’s today’s example of why we do it.
When I decided a few weeks ago to get a motorcycle, I expected to buy in BC or Alberta, and did my research. When I decided on the right bike, a 2009 Yamaha V-Star 1100 Classic, I wrote down the deals available across both provinces on both new and near-new machines, and took it into Yukon Yamaha to see what sort of deal they could come up with (the next Yamaha dealer is at least 1,000 miles away).
Yukon Yamaha had exactly the bike I wanted and they quickly knocked the right amount off the basic price. However, when I said “and the $1500 factory rebate comes off that amount?” the salesman said that the rebate didn’t apply on that model. “Oh yes it does!” A few minutes on the computer and in a manual confirmed my research and a much less happy salesman conceded the new price. He said they’d pull it into the shop and make sure that everything was perfect for when I came back at 4:30 to pick it up.
Yamaha Canada has a pre-delivery checklist that has to be gone over with the customer. Yukon Yamaha couldn’t find it, but took me out and explained some basic stuff on the bike (maybe everything that’s on the pre-delivery checklist, I have no way of knowing that). At the end of that presentation, the guy who did it said that I’d be getting a survey from Yamaha Canada, and he’d appreciate it if I wouldn’t mention this little issue of not having a proper pre-delivery check. I thought that very odd, but “whatever”.
So off I go on my spiffy new bike, loving the experience. For nearly half a mile. Then the bike started bucking and stalling, and within a couple of blocks it died! I coasted into Philmar RV’s driveway and tried everything I could think of to get it re-started, with no luck. Cathy had dropped me off to pick the bike up, and when I disappeared from her rearview mirror she eventually came looking for me. Back to Yukon Yamaha we went. I explained the problem and the salesman said he was sure that it was out of gas!! I spend $11,770.50 and the bike doesn’t come with gas. And the pre-delivery checklist guy doesn’t tell me to put it on the reserve tank so at least I’ll have enough gas to make it to the closest gas station!
By the time the serviceman got out to the bike with a jerry can of gas and I fired it up, it had started to rain, so the ride home didn’t help my mood any, but I’d been good and hadn’t said a bad word.
When the survey that I’d been told about came from Yamaha Canada, I wasn’t going to lie about the experience I’d had with their dealer, so I just threw it away.
Okay, so now I’m putting lots of miles on my shiny new V-Star. I love the bike but there’s this little nag that it vibrates more than a big cruiser should. When I took it in for its first service, I mentioned the vibration. The response when I picked it up was that the carbs were a bit out of synch but the mechanic thought that the amount of vibration was reasonable for an 1100 Classic.
The more I rode it the more I was sure that the vibration was not normal, and I started doing more in-depth research about the issue. As well as carbs out of synch and wheels not balanced, some riders report that improper tire pressure can cause a bad vibration. This morning I got out my tire pressure gauge and discovered that the front tire had 25 pounds of air instead of 33, and the rear had 32 pounds instead of 36. I fired up the compressor, rectified that, and headed out the highway. Lo and behold, I have a new bike! The vibration is almost gone until about 55mph, when I suppose the stuff hanging off the bike (windshield and saddle bags mostly) causes some turbulence-vibration.
The more I enjoyed the ride, the madder I got about the “service” I’ve received from Yukon Yamaha right from the start. I stopped in, tore a strip off the salesman I bought it from and stormed out. As I was stopped for gas about 15 minutes later, the General Manager called me on my cell phone. I don’t remember exactly what was said but at one point I told him to “stop trying to blow smoke up my ass” about what was going on, and a minute later I hung up on him. I ignored his subsequent attempts to phone. About the bike running out of gas less than a mile from the shop, he did say that they always put “4-5 liters” of gas in every bike. The reserve tank holds 4.5 liters, so it should have been turned to “Reserve” and so noted in the pre-delivery talk (yes, we certainly would have had a discussion about them not spending 10 bucks for fuel in a $11,000 machine!). And what would have happened if the engine choked less than 1 minute sooner, while I was pulling onto the Alaska Highway – across one lane of traffic and into a fairly tight space at high-speed rush hour?
I’ll be phoning them tomorrow to cancel the work I’ve got schedule for next Tuesday (installing a driving-light system), and looking for a new shop. I’m also going to be calling Yamaha Canada to get another copy of that survey I threw away.
When I was in Kelowna 3 weeks after buying the bike I saw its twin in a dealer showroom for $1,200 less than I paid – a dealer than I hadn’t checked during my research. Oh well, I was okay with what I paid so that’s immaterial, but worth a note.
It’s sunny, so now that I’ve vented I’m off down the highway again!!
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