| Author | Message | ||
     Nick |
My dealership won't like this...... Waiting for a bike (CityX) I ordered 3 weeks ago. Buell sent the wrong one across the water so I'm told, and the correct one is supposed to be on it's way. No sign yet, and the dealership has no firm date for me. I'm getting annoyed, so I called BuellUK to see if they had a date for the shipment. Their advice.......try another dealer! What???! I didn't even tell them the dealership I'm using! Is this Buells stance worldwide? This has already tainted my relationship with Buell, even before the bike has arrived. It better be good, very good indeed. | ||
| Glitch |
This has already tainted my relationship with Buell, even before the bike has arrived. It would have tainted my relationship with that dealership for sure. Not sure what Buell could have done any differently. All they can do is ship bikes per request. If Buell UK said try another dealer, that's what I would try, or, tell the dealer that's what Buell UK told you to do. Very politely of course. It better be good, very good indeed. If you mean the bike, I'm sure you will be. Best of luck, keep us up on how well things go.} (Message edited by glitch on October 11, 2004) | ||
| Johncr250 |
If you think your having problems buying a Buell you should see how many problmes you`ll have when its time to get it repaired. I would politely ask for my deposit back and tell Buell to call me when they have a bike and they want to sell it. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I think what is being said, is that there are bikes to be had there at other dealers. Or that Buell UK is telling him that the dealer he is working with isn't really doing what they are saying to him they are. Without the word for word convo its difficult to tell. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I think Buell may have been trying to tell you where the problem is, as politely as possible. Read between the lines... If you told them how long you were trying to get the bike, and they know that the only way it would take that long is if the dealer is screwing a lot of stuff up and not trying very hard, they don't have to know which one you were at to know that it is good advice to tell you to go to another. I love my 9sx. It is very good indeed  Johncr250... Want some horror stories about Honda, either local dealers or Honda of America corporate? Bad dealers suck, regardless of the brand. And regardless of the brand, I would make sure I have reasonable access to a good dealer before commiting to it. I had absolutely no problem buying my Buell, nor would I have any problems at all getting it repaired if it needed it. All I had to do was find a good dealer, which I did (Thanks F&S Buell in Dayton, OH). | ||
| Bcordb3 |
Nick, I don't know where you are, but Arrowhead Harley in Peoria AZ has 3 XB's in their naked see-thru splendor on the floor just waiting for someone to abuse them through the mountains and canyons | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Nick is in the United Kingdom AKA England/Great Britain. Personally I refuse to walk into Arrowhead after the way I was treated the last 2 times I had to. | ||
| Glitch |
Bad dealers suck, regardless of the brand. My old Suzuki dealer/service changed management, went down hill fast. They are no longer in business because of it. Good thing though, it's what got me looking at other bikes, and the Buell. | ||
| Bcordb3 |
Flesh, I hear ya on that one. They have a long way to go as far as customer service. I find the staff not as knowlegable as they could be. It is a shame when a customer has to explain what a part is used for and how to find it in the parts manuel. Or even worse has to bring in a part number! Then there is the wait until its ordered and received. I try not to let personalities get in the way of business. My point is that if I need it and they have it I will get it. Being on almost the extreme west side of the valley its more difficult to go to any of the other shops. How are the repairs to your bike coming? | ||
| Buelluk |
Nick , Where are you in the UK, this isn't Black Bear that you are having trouble with is it. | ||
| Rocketman |
Nick, the way it works in the UK is HD \ Buell UK import the bikes themselves. The dealer is allocated Buells between what's ordered and what's available and on related performance. Further, it's common over here because of the demographics involved that dealers swop bikes amongst themselves as our stocks are more limited than say those in the US. Like John sez, I would politely ask for my deposit back and tell Buell to call me when they have a bike and they want to sell it. Rocket | ||
| Reepicheep |
Rocket... if the dealer he is dealing with is not taking the time or effort to swap around to try and get the bike he wants, how is calling "Buell" going to help him? Am I missing something? Seems like calling other dealers and saying "call me when you have a bike and want to sell it" would be a more effective approach. | ||
| Nick |
Thanks for the advice guys. My dealer stated that Buell had shipped last years 9s instead of the CityX, and that it would take two weeks to get a CityX shipped. That was three weeks ago. I did believe the dealership, and I hadn't told BuellUK which dealer I was using. I just though Buells advice to jump ship so early on was either passing the buck or maybe an indication of the dealership network here in the UK. I really want this bike so I'm giving them till the end of the week. You would have at least though they'd let me borrow the demo. They did offer my part ex bike back, but I was told if I stuck a lot of miles on or dropped it then the deal was off. A big risk (I'd rather drop their demo!  ) I was told mine would be the first non-demo in the UK. Not sure how true that is. | ||
| Rocketman |
Buell UK will be able to tell him which dealer(s) have a CityX on the floor. That will save Nick the pain of ringing ALL the UK dealers in an effort to find one. Further, Buell UK should know where Nick's CityX is. You know, the one he's bought from his dealer - which is the same one his dealer allegedly has bought from Buell UK! Rocket | ||
| Reepicheep |
You are right Rocket, it would be nice if Buell had that kind of information. Not sure how they would track it though, they would either have to rely on the dealers to give them reliable real time updates (good luck) or constantly poll the dealers to see how many are left. Nick, I LOVE my CityX, absolutely worth waiting a week or so. The changes from a 9s are subtle, but *really* work well. | ||
| Rocketman |
Not that difficult Bill. We've only got about 30 dealers in the entire British Isles and Buell UK supply them all. Every time a Buell sells, Buell UK are aware of it. Warranty purposes, recalls etc etc, even christmas cards, which they stopped sending me a couple of years ago. Bill, you know exactly how the system works so what are you upto? Is this a 'Saab thread thing' ? Rocket | ||
| Reepicheep |
Rocket, I have *no* idea how the Buell UK system works. Heck, I barely know how the Buell US system works. What I do know is information systems. Been doing it for couple decades now. And I know it is an absolute pain in the ••• to track inventory, especially across distributed geography, and even worse when you are dealing with affiliates, instead of direct employees. And the closer you get to trying to track it in real time, the worse the problem gets. Entire industries are built around trying to track inventory entering and leaving retail establishments. None are particularly reliable. If you are talking about toothpaste, no big deal, you just keep at least 20 extra tubes on hand, and periodically send someone out to the shelves to see how many are actually left. But for high ticket items like motorcycles, that ain't an option. Wal-mart, and others, are trying to build systems now where each box of every product has embedded chips (called RFID chips) that will respond to an electronic signal (around radar frequencies). Basically, they are passive, but when they get a particular "wake up" radio frequency, they store the energy from the signal (tuned coil for the frequency), and use this stored power to boot themselves up, and broadcast a response "serial number" of sorts. The plan is that a skid of boxes will come in the door to a store, and every door has these RFID transmitter auditing systems installed, so as a product comes in and customers leave, real time inventories are kept, and automatically transmitted back to the corporate offices, so stock can be tracked effectively. It's a fantastically complicated process. I don't know how Buell UK would do anything better then a close approximation. They know that as of their last update (I would guess they get it once a week at best), they have a rough idea of what models are at what dealers. What they don't know is if Dealer A, which actually has two stores, located 150 miles from each other, "reports" all bikes at the main store, regardless of where they are actually at. They don't know if Dealer A has a new CityX at the store, but can't set it up and get it on the floor yet because three of their five mechanics are out with the flu, and the other two are busy getting customer bikes ready for the local ralley, and won't be able to get it set up for at least two weeks. They don't know that the new CityX is there on the floor, but the dealers kid wants it, so they will show it, but when it comes time to buy the dealer will him and haw. They don't know that the bike is on the floor at Dealer X, but the sales guy knows he has a guy with a deposit down on it, and two other people that are pretty hot to get it, and so the bike is not actually available. They can't know that the bike showed up, but some bozo knocked it over in the parking lot, and they have a new shifter peg on order before the bike can be sold. So I would guess Buell UK has a rough idea of distribution of models, but not to the level that they would actually want to tell person A to go to dealer X. I don't doubt there would be a political quagmire involved in this as well, a person has a deposit down with dealer A, and Buell UK is now going to send them to dealer B? Even if Dealer A will have the bike in under two weeks? And when Dealer B may not actually have the bike for sale? Can you imagine the *^%@storms that would result from scenarios like that? Finally, I can only imagine that Harley dealers, God Bless 'em, are probably not the most rigorous in their inventory controls, nor are they the most methodical in their timely reporting of transactions. So really, this is not a Saab tuner thread deal. If I take shots, I am honest about them and will do so to your face. I am just thinking from a business process standpoint (which is a lot of what I do every day) and have a hard time imagining how Buell UK could do what you want them to do without creating more problems then they solve. But I do agree that it would be nice if they could, which is why I said so. Rocket, you occasionally manifest behavior that I think is destructive to our community, and I occasionally feel like I have to act in response to try and protect the community. But I actually like you, enjoy most of the rest of what you post, and think I we would be good friends if we met. If I wanted to call you names, I would have just done so, ya prick | ||
| Nick |
This thread is getting nicely heated. But lets not miss the point. Buell UK (or at least the rep) was well out of order with the advice. The dealer had no idea when the bike will arrive (and still doesn't today). Buell have not given any dates for UK delivery and I'm told there are no non-demo CityX's in the UK or Brussels. Erik best get this sorted or he's in for a bit of a chat with me.... You would have thought they would sort me a demo bike to be going on with, even another model altogether. I'm stuck without transport. Why do dealers and manufacturers see bikes as toys. Some of us actually use them as vehicles/commuters. Keep it real. Nick | ||
| Glitch |
Reep, you have awakened an old nightmare. RF chips, inventory control, what is where, where is what... I had my fill of production tracking, inventory control,quality assurance...oh the pain! Nick it's related, I'm sure someone (Erik is an engineer not shipping/inventory control) is looking to get you a bike. They're in it for the money and I'm sure they want your's. Why do dealers and manufacturers see bikes as toys. For the most part I guess they are. You should see the look on some peoples faces when they see I have over 26,000 miles on mine. I guess mainly considered a "toy" because they aren't very practicle in most people's eyes. Hope you see your new bike real soon. | ||
| Court |
>>>Can you imagine the *^%@storms that would result from scenarios like that? I can. I spent a couple weeks in Cambridge, MA heavily involved in just such a program for Buell. Some recall the photos taken when I had the pleasure of speaking just before Bill Gates at the Cow Palace in San Fran to cite Buells leadership in the area. (I was the one who rode the red 1996 S-1 on to the stage, Gates walked) Many of the scenarios Bill describes are true with the caveat that motorcycles, albeit with their concomitant headaches, are easier tracked than family size boxes of Fruit Loops. Check out some of the auto manufacturers sites. I'll reread the origin of this thread and if I can help, I will. Erik, as has been noted, is less likely to be versed on the folks who handle international transportation. Court | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Glitch I got a letter from my insurance company with this last renewal...basically it went "uhm, a motorcycle is a recreational vehicle. Why do you have it listed as your primary means of transportation?" My phone call was "why do you beleive a motorcycle is only a recreational vehicle if it is registered for the street?" | ||
| Glitch |
I know what you mean. I had basicly the same debate with my agent. I gave up though, I don't care what they think because in a way they're right. Just because my daily ride is interupted by having to stop off at work for a few hours before I continue on my way, doesn't mean I'm not recreating! | ||
| Rocketman |
Rocket, you occasionally manifest behavior that I think is destructive to our community, and I occasionally feel like I have to act in response to try and protect the community. I wouldn't use the word 'destructive' Bill, and the protection racket stinks anyway  Rocket | ||
| Starter |
International Delivery. Gotta love the time it takes by boat. I ordered my 2004 XB9R in mid January and picked it up "three weeks" later on the 19th of March. You can't blame the lead time on anything other than the market. 2003 XB9 didn't sell very well here till the model run out special in which they were discounted ~$3000, XB12 sold like hot cakes the day they were released so the expectations (confusion) of everyone involved is quite uderstandable. I would hate to be the guy trying to predict the sales and numbers to order cause he obviously got bitten in 2003 but massively under ordered in 2004. Talking with my dealership a month back they weren't expecting too many 2005 and only one CityX. |
