| Author | Message | ||
     Elster |
I had taken my bike into Peninsula Harley in Redwood City, CA for the harness upgrade. When I went to go pick up the bike, the employee that brought the bike out to the parking lot accidentally dropped the bike. The service manager said they would replace or give me parts credit for the parts that were damaged. To top it off, the mechanic took out my cargo net from the bike and forgot to replace it before giving the bike back (which I didn't discover until I had strap something on to get it home). I have since learned that the dealership has closed down. I have not gotten my parts, credit, or cargo net. After several weeks of messages, I cannot seem to get in touch with the General Manager or owner of the dealership. I've tried to talk to Harley corporate, but they say they are unable to help in this situation because the dealership is independently owned and operated. Anybody know if there's anything I can do? Or am I SOL? | ||
| Crabby |
SOL probably. HD dealers are dropping like flies. Contact Faultline HD, their moving to Oakland. | ||
| Dannybuell |
I'll bet more than a few dealers are hating HD's big fancy showroom policy. The big fancy showroom is too much overhead for this economy. | ||
| Froggy |
I too lost a local dealer that recently was forced into the big fancy showroom. Not sure what to say about the situation with your dealer though. How bad is the damage? Filing an insurance claim might be your best bet if it has a good amount of damage, but that would hurt your record. | ||
| S21125r |
You might try logging a complaint with Better Business Bureau or your states Attorney General's office. If that doesn't work them maybe small claims court. In the Detroit area we have a couple of local news channels that love to do investigative reports like this (the hall of shame) - as soon as a mic/camera are shoved in their face they'll find a way to make it right with you. Good luck. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Too bad. I feel for the dealer... they invested everything (at corporate gunpoint) and are now paying huge prices for it. The local harley dealer owner here was found dead at his kitchen table shortly before the dealership went bankrupt. I don't know the whole story, but it sure wasn't good. | ||
| Dmhines |
The dealer that I bought my 1125CR from and the XB12 I currently own was bought from closed down about 6 months ago. Actually they consolidated with another HD dealer about 30 minutes further away. Now they are almost 2 hours away if I need any warranty work done. | ||
| Gofastalot99 |
Don't waste your time with the BBB - they are the most useless pass-through complaint organization in the US. Go to the AG of your state. That may or may not do anything but at least the AG has some real power, whereas the BBB does not. Good luck! | ||
| Jng1226 |
The local harley dealer owner here was found dead at his kitchen table shortly before the dealership went bankrupt. Holy Crap! NOTHING is worth that. Condolences to the family. | ||
| Bads1 |
Froggy no dealer was forced. But they did push them to do so. | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
yeah the BBB can be helpful when the biz is still open AG small claims etc is the way to go. | ||
| Dmhines |
Big Fancy showrooms, sales girls with big hooters, and 2 Million dollars in Bike and accessory inventories was forced by HD from what I was told. There ain't no Mom and Pop dealers. I can't imagine what monthly sales and service has to be at the HD dealers just to break even ... it's mind boggling. | ||
| Bads1 |
There ain't no Mom and Pop dealers. Sure there is. Racine HD Buell,another in the Dell's. They are out there. Racine's is a family friend. HD wanted them to build bigger. He told them NO and that was that. | ||
| Jaimec |
Sounds like what BMW was trying to do with their dealerships a few years back. | ||
| Froggy |
http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews/LATEST+NEWS/R eggie-Pink-Harley-Davidson-Shuttered/ArticleStanda rd/Article/detail/665678 It was my dad's preferred dealer. They were more than "pressured", as they would of lost their dealership rights if they didn't expand. | ||
| Bads1 |
Like it reads.. pressured. Racine HD is my local dealer. The owner was approached by HD to expand but he refused. There was nothing HD could do about it. Not only that Racine HD took HD the company to Court and won over territory rights that included Ukes HD and won. | ||
| Xbniner |
I believe the store in the Dells is just a gift shop. No bikes or service, just T-shirts and dog sweaters. | ||
| Court |
They had the choice to either build or surrender their franchise. It's as simple as that. There were a couple, Lombardi's comes to mind, that were able to successfully escape by pointing to the "local lore" behind their location. They had a time frame to comply if they were to continue getting shipments. They did the same thing by forcing Buells on dealers . . take them or loose your 100th Anniversary allotment. | ||
| Elster |
I spoke to Faultline Harley since my CR fell victim to the stator issue, and the service guy there said that they were moving and taking over another dealer that is going out of business. According to him, both Peninsula and Bob Dron were closing because the owners were retiring. He said it was a big coincidence that they were both closing at around the same time. Not sure I believe that Peninsula closed because of a retirement, since one of the employees told me that they were only given 4 days notice before the closure. Faultline doesn't seem to be hurting from the economy though. The service department schedule was completely booked for the next two weeks. | ||
| Elster |
The damage to my bike was pretty minimal. From 3 feet away it would be hard to notice any damage, but the cost to replace the damaged parts worked out to a few hundred dollars. Would have been nice to have the credit for some parts for my track day coming up... | ||
| Kirb |
You are kind of screwed if they went bankrupt. In my state you have to stand in line to get any kind of settlement after assets are sold. Not the same if the dealer was taken over and moved, but it varies from state to state. You can say that HD didn't 'force' the dealers to go big, but the tactics they use are hard to be seen as anything but. HD, like most companies, were very short sighted and went for the short dollar. They are paying for it now. | ||
| Noone1569 |
You are not screwed, necessarily, even if they went bankrupt. You are now a creditor. Personally, I would just go down to the small claims court and file a suit. Easy as pie. The clerks will walk you through. Make sure you find out who the registered agent is via your secretary of state's website, or just call them. You want to ensure you serve notice on the registered agent. If you need help, PM me. | ||
| Bigevildoer |
Sounds like what BMW was trying to do with their dealerships a few years back. Sounds like what Aprilia is trying to do right now too. My local dealer kicked their entire product line out the door because of their strong-arm tactics. The dealer was told to order 8-10 new bikes at a cost of about $100-125K or suffer the consequences. Didn't matter that the dealer already had 5 high end Aprilia's in stock which were just sitting there. He had enough, blew his remaining Aprilias out the door at just above cost and took down the big Aprilia sign in front of his shop. Now he deals in Ducati, KTM and Moto Guzzi for the most part. Fantastic service department.... | ||
| Kirb |
The Aprilia dealer near me is ~trying~ to blow out '07 bikes. This market blows. Trying to force product is only going to hurt everyone. | ||
| Firstbuell |
Aprilia is just plain stupid - in CA we have mebbe 4-5 times the number of Ape dealers than we have Ducati dealers No Ape dealers sell enough of em to even dent Ducati sales, & none of em stock tipover parts, either [grrr...] thank G-d Apes're reliable !! | ||
| Crabby |
Faultline is indeed moving to oakland. their service department and sales team are amazing. | ||
| Johnnys999 |
No wonder many HD dealers could care less about the Buell if in fact HD forced the brand on them. Its like a bruised ego. Aprilia would be nuts to force any kind of expansion ideas in this climate. However, they are in Italy and they just won the WSBK title and arguably make the best sport bike in the world right now in the RSV4F (amazing bike). Caution before they outrun themselves, they have had one foot on a banana peel before. | ||
| Stirz007 |
It sounds like, at best, you have a 'my word against theirs' claim, if you can prove you have a claim at all. My guess is that you are SOL. From what you described, you have no actual documentation that this ever happened. The local TV guy isn't a bad idea - they have one of those here, too - embarrassment is usually better than threat of a suit. I agree, bag the BBB and the AG (they have better things to do than chase a VERY minor claim). Best bet IMO, is to track the owner down, get his personal phone or address (shouldn't be too hard to find), contact him and ask him to make it right as he had agreed to do. If that doesn't work, you can also try small claims court. If he's broke, you will have to stand in line for payment. Be prepared to move on, unless your time is not particularly valuable and you are willing to spend a lot of time and effort getting your money/parts. Best case scenario is that he has your parts, but is busy trying to keep his house, so you haven't been a high priority. Sucks - good luck - I hope you get lucky on this one... | ||
| Ratgin |
He had enough, blew his remaining Aprilias out the door at just above cost and took down the big Aprilia sign in front of his shop. Now he deals in Ducati, KTM and Moto Guzzi for the most part. Fantastic service department.... Guzzi and Aprillia are owned by the same group. Piaggio Group Americas, Inc |
