| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
>>>>Any way to send Anne of CS flowers?? Absolutely. Send them to: Harley-Davidson Motor Company Attn: Anne - Buell Customer Service 3700 Juneau Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53102 | ||
| Jaimec |
John: Go for it! Let Anne know she's appreciated! | ||
| Nautique4life |
I'm on it. That's a novel idea. An important note: If and when anybody is ever trying to gain something from somebody, approach the situation with a cool head. Making a phone call and raising hell to the other end will usually not net you your goal. Going to a place with guns blazing and demanding things will likely have the same affect. It puts people on the defense, they instinctively are less willing to help at that time. Even though you may be furious, put on a happy face and attempt your goals. You will come out on top more times than not. 2¢ | ||
| Ducxl |
Now you guys have me feeling INSULTED. I was the epitome of politeness when i phoned Buell CS. NOTHING LESS! Beyond that,i'll not stoop to begging for help. | ||
| Nautique4life |
Don't feel insulted Duck. Maybe it was a Monday when you called. Anne asked ME! She said "So are you looking for our help in replacing it?" I told her I was unsure of the future course of action, but if they could help, I'm all ears. | ||
| Damnut |
Their leader of course holds Land Speed Records on a Buell and trying to cast these guys as less than professionals is terribly inaccurate. Holding a land speed record has NOTHING to do with Customer Service. IMO it is unprofessional for a Customer Service Rep to lie to customers. They are constrained by procedures in an effort to be consistent and treat all 100,000 Buell owner fairly and with respect. Well apparently not all of the CS folks have the same procedures. 2 customers were told they never heard of the problem and 1 has had his lights replaced in a matter of a couple of days. There is no better tool to arrive at that discussion with that a conciliatory, civil attitude and a basic understanding of what your Mom taught you about "please and thank you". Quote from Ducxl "Well..i tried,i was polite.The conversation never got heated.And the gentlemans name was Jon Doesn't sound like an uncivil attitude to me. I know Greg (Ducxl) personally and know for a fact that he would not act like an ass to someone on the phone. Some of his ramblings here on BadWeb might cast a different opinion of him but I know that he would not do that. Buell has exhibited an incredible willingness, in fact replacing stuff approaching 10 years old, to avoid playing the . . . "tough luck your warranty expired last week" bullshit games. These are honest people who work hard to live up to the BUELL VALUES. While this is great for the folks who own 10 year old bike this doesn't work for us that have defective headlights. This also has nothing to do with this issue. While that's nice and all, Buell is also not the only company to ever do this. My company does it all the time and I'm not taking about $100 parts, I'm talking about $5000 parts. Here's one for you. I bought a Magellan GPS from EBay. I had it on my XB and was riding to NY. I stopped at Danbury HD/Buell and was talking to Froggy and someone who worked there. (I forget his name but he's on the board.) Well it comes time for me to leave, I place my GPS in the holder and take off. Well the vibrations from the bike made the GPS fall out of it's holder and fell to the ground. Needless to say the screen broke. I called Magellan to see if I could send it in to get fixed. I NEVER asked about warranty because although it was brand new, I did not buy it from an authorized vendor. The guy asked what happened and I told him exactly what happened, it was my fault that it broke. He asked when I bought it and I said I had it about 6 months. He says he will replace it under warranty, never asked for a receipt or where I bought it from. He knew I had a couple of their products and wanted to fix it for me since I was a loyal customer. I guess he was trying to live up to MAGELLAN VALUES???? No he was doing me a favor cause he wanted to keep me as a customer. IN MY OPINION BUELL IS LOSING CUSTOMERS BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE AND THE WAY THEY'RE HANDLING IT. Court I am not trying to attack you nor am I saying anything here with any kind of malice. I hope I'm not coming across like that. I for one have been patient in a fix from Buell for about a year and I know one is on the way. It just makes me wonder why they would state that they NEVER heard of this issue to a couple of customers and yet a couple of days later replace a defective set of headlights under warranty to another. That is a bullshit lie when it is obvious that they have heard of this issue. I am on my THIRD lowbeam (one of which I sent to Buell and was replaced under warranty) and I don't want to buy another one. I'd rather not do the Hella 90mm conversion because I think the Firebolt looks better with the stock headlights. Like I said I LOVE MY BUELL and I have been waiting for a fix. It just really bothered me the way that Ducxl and Midknyte were treated. Maybe it's because I'm in Customer Service and wouldn't do that to a customer.  (Message edited by damnut on February 28, 2008) | ||
| Court |
Nice talk is a good thing. I was in our board room with 25 engineers the other day. One of them made some engineering boo-boos. I suggested a very workable course of action but was inflexible and demanded that it must be fixed before I send a flawed set of plans to bidders on a $375,000,000 project. The young man, lacking the wisdom that defines badweb folks, popped back at me . . "perhaps you just need to go tell Mr. XXXXX (insert Chairman of the Boards name here)". As I calmly closed my portfolio and rolled my blueprints, he asked Joe (the Senior Engineer to his right) did I piss him off? . . is he just going to walk out? Joe told him . . . "I think you challenged the wrong person to go talk to the Chairman". The plans are currently being revised prior to bid and never once did I raise my voice. Competency, honesty and manners are all good things. Greg, I've got your number and was swamped yesterday. I'll try to call at 3:40PM today. | ||
| Damnut |
Nice talk is a good thing. Yes it is and I appreciate all that you have done for me and others on this issue. Without your help I would not have had the opportunity to send my headlights to Buell for an evaluation. THANK YOU!!!! Like I said........ SEE YA'LL AT HOMECOMING!!!  | ||
| Nautique4life |
I feel like Neo. | ||
| Court |
Someone will have time to address all those point by point . . I don't. Suffice. . as I head off for school .. to say I disagree with most. Court | ||
| Midknyte |
Well, if she's the same Anne that I spoke to on tuesday, than she is only batting 1 for 2. Anyway... I don't want or expect a free lunch. I just want to see a solution. It's anecdotal, but it's also VERY clear that Buell watches this forum. There's no reason, at all, to believe that Buell is not aware of this situation. Whether they can admit to it in this meantime is another equally debateable hot potato. Like I stated earlier, they've addressed lesser issues and incorporated ideas born out of Badweb quite very quickly - why this is left hanging out there is dumbfounding. But here's the rub - even if I was offered a free replacement, it wouldn't be fixed. Another 10,000 miles and I'll be replacing it again and it doesn't throw out a spectacular amount of light at any point in its lifetime. I am very thankful that this is not a drivetrain issue. I only knew of this affecting me as of a week ago when I finally got around to taking things apart & checking on it. Up until now I've vocally been on the sidelines with my general enthusiasm for Buell keeping me neutral. And that's where I'm resolving to stay. I'm going to take this as just a bump in the road as what I consider to be a solution is less than $200 (a new housing + a cooler running HID lamp). I just wish that all problems in life could be solved for less than two presidents... | ||
| Ducxl |
Anyway... I don't want or expect a free lunch. Me neither.I think of it as "product liability"( i'm a smart alec,my wife has two law degrees).Buell has supplied us with defective,non-conforming reflectors. What about people with no knowledge of their defective reflectors.Riding and over time losing the government mandated amount of "Lumens" or illumination.If we could prove some poor guy crashed some night as a result of degraded headlamps there'd be a huge lawsuit.How about a class action suit? For me,and for now,my dealer offered me 15% off and my new reflector came to exactly $50 tonight.I'm satisfied for now.But BMC still OWES me a solution. And Court? I view Court as a Buell ambassador.What i'd like of Court is to sit across from me at the Dinosaur.Nothing more,nothing less  I'll retain my old reflector as evidence,and record the degradation of the new one.  | ||
| Old_man |
It's modern engineering. Minimum effectiveness for minimum cost. Pittsburgh is known as the city of bridges. Bridges built over and near 100 years ago are still fine. The oldest that I regularly use is over 100 years old and I learned is built on wooden piers driven into the river. One of our beautiful newer bridges over the same river is now closed due to a near collapse. Modern engineering!! As I have said before chromed plastic reflectors with plastic lenses was never a good idea. I own a 1975 Suzuki GT750 - It still has the original headlight with the original bulb. What do you think the cost difference to Buell was between this plastic and a real headlight? I would have gladly paid the difference. I'm overall very happy with the way my Buell was engineered - genius. But this detail was a mistake - I'm sure with the best intentions. Change for change sake doesn't make sense to me. - A metal reflector and glass lens in the same design would eliminate this discussion. | ||
| Midknyte |
Got my new headlamp and opened it up for a comparo On the left is my reflector at 10,000 miles. On the right, a fresh one. Significant difference.  | ||
| Midknyte |
But hey, check this out! I don't even have to wait 10,000 miles to replace the new one - it came screwed up right outta the box   | ||
| Diablobrian |
Any one gotten any word on Steve_Mackay's progress on the 90mm Hella retrofit kit? I know that it is a back burner project for him and his real job and family come first, so no pressure Steve! Just curious. | ||
| Court |
Brad: I'm having a bit of trouble following this. Are you suggesting that the photo above is the way the unit was delivered? Court | ||
| Court |
I keep thinking how cool it would be to model one of those and reproduce it out of high grade material with a specular optical reflective surface. It can't be that tough. | ||
| Midknyte |
Yes, Court - that is the new one I received. There is a spot of blemish/crackling in the chrome plating. Also many hairline cracks and scratches. | ||
| Nautique4life |
I got my new headlights. They are in the bike and the brightest lights I have ever had. What a difference it made. They called to let me know my highbeam had arrived (they already had a lowbeam in stock)and the next day I went to have them installed. They fit me right in. The tech even offered to remove the low beam shield from that unit so I would have 2 high beams. The gent behind the service counter asked what I said to HD. How much hell did I have to raise? yadda yadda..They couldnt believe it, that HD called them and said this is what is going on, here's the auth. #. I told that guy my efforts were minimal and this was a result of ONE SINGLE POLITE phone call. They were all joking that I must have been some SUPER dickhead and threatened lawyers and what not to make it happen. This was not the case however. They were stoked that it transpired so easily. A minor hiccup, I should have been there for no more than a hour at MOST. I spent about 4. The guy who 'ordered' my high beam, supposedly accidentally ordered just a bulb and not the housing, luckily, a different store had a Highbeam in, the driver goes to pick it up and goes to the WRONG store. There are 3 in a 20-30 mile radius. Unbelievable. But I am not complaining, they had a local radio station broadcasting, and hotdogs and drinks. Plus cycle gear and the suzuki place is right next door. | ||
| Midknyte |
ANOTHER one is now on order... | ||
| Court |
Brad: Fire me off an e-mail with your contact info. I'll bet I know someone who would be thrilled to send you a new one. Court | ||
| Midknyte |
And I will be thrilled to receive  | ||
| Court |
I got your stuff. I don't get home from school until about 11:00 pm tonight. I'll give you a call later to coordinate. | ||
| Court |
Brad: Nice to visit with you, wheels are in motion. Greg . . I have not forgotten you or fallen out of love with you! Court | ||
| Ducxl |
Hah-Hah  Thanks Court,everything is mostly ok.Unless my new low beam arrives with a defect.THe $50. wasn't too bad after the 15% off i got.Especially considering what i just spent on the 996,$50 is nothing I'm sometimes feeling like a twit,a pri**,and a crybaby.Not too good for somebody approaching 43.I DO have the passion for Buells' though.My dealer treats me superbly.Tonight they greeted my wife by name and she's currently on her way home with new rubber mounted on the XB wheels. Woo-Hoo! THe XB maintainance is nearly complete! | ||
| Froggy |
Duc, that is nothing. A while back I needed a brake lever after a spill, so I called up Danbury HD after talking about it here. *ring* HD: Parts department, how many I help you? Me: Hey, I need a brake lever for a 2006 Ulysses. HD: Oh hey Frank, we got a lever sitting on the shelf, your name is on it already. *silence* HD: Oh yea I saw your wheelie on YouTube, looking good. Me: Thanks... I’ll stop by tonight to pick it up. The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes. | ||
| Ducxl |
The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes. It certainly is Frank.Partly responsible for me meeting you too.I just hope the next time you're not banged up from a spill and we can ride!Great friends i've met here.Our dealers are remarkable in their recognition of us | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
You guys crack me up...Complain about Buell to no end, How mad you are, never buying another thing Buell...Bla Bla Bla Then run to the dealership and buy more..WHY? Because they know your name? say how nice you look today? They continue to stuff it to you and you keep going back for more...You know YOU were shafted at one point there, BUT hey they are swell guys RIGHT!! Do you not know the Dealership is Part of Buell and vice versa?! Keep supporting THEM and they will continue to ignore YOU and YOUR problems.... I told you all a year ago they (BMC) were blowing smoke up your a$$ & If you value your safety to just fix it yourself.... And who is the fool here?  (Message edited by firebolteric_ma on March 03, 2008) | ||
| Ducxl |
And who is the fool here? Well,quite obviously you believe i am.I've been involved in too much heated debate lately,that's too bad  . As far as my dealings with dealerships,i try to use one source and foster good relations with them.True enough i've had heated disputes with BOTH Ducati and Buell dealers.They've BOTH jumped thru hoops to rectify my discontent.I do not shop based solely on pricing.But i digress. You adapted the Hella 90mm headlamps.They're absolutely wonderful in appearance.But "JB Weld" is not part of any acceptable solution to me. Eric,maybe as a degreed mechanical engineer as resourceful as you are(especially with metal fabrication) you could(are you already?)design a metal bracket to adapt the Hella 90mm lamps.THink of what it would do for your "Painkiller cycles"?? You'd be "on the map" so to speak. So please,can we try a meaningful resolution to this mess? |
