I've been here before and the crew was great. A year later and I'm not certain exactly what has changed but, wow, is the change NOT for the better. I have a 2009 Honda Shadow that is due for some maintenance, but, nothing urgent and I'm well aware that we are into the riding months and shops will be backed up. That's why I wasn't looking for an appointment until at least July 1 or maybe even August. Today's date is May 31, just in case you were wondering. So, I walk in and Dave is at the register. I say hello and tell him I'm looking to get some work done on the bike and that I've had the motorcycle in their shop before. So, does Dave look up my bike? Nope. What Dave does instead is start up on a rant about how they are backed up for five weeks are more. He never asked when I was planning to bring it in. He then states up about how parts are hard to find. Did he ask which parts I was going to need? Nope. In fact, as soon as I started to explain what I was looking to do, Dave cuts me off and starts making excuses. Really Dave? He then asks which year my bike was, and once again, if he simply looked up my name, he would have seen it. I couldn't remember of the top of my head, I knew it had something with a 9 at the end. So, I say, 1999? He then starts up about how he doesn't service motorcycles before 2000.
Once again, has Dave simply looked up my bike, none of this conversation would have been necessary. But, at this point, I'm fed up. Why is Dave and his coworker being so difficult. So, I exit the store saying essentially, you know Dave, I retired at 45 because I worked with my customers and never turned away business! You might want to think about it. I went out to my bike, looked at the registration plate on it and behold... 2009. So, just for shits and giggles, I go back into the store to ask if 2009 makes any difference. Dave proceeds to tell me that he didn't appreciate my tone and attitude. He then proceeds to recap our encounter adding in things I definitely didn't say as a means of making him look like the victim. When it became clear that Dave had no intention of being a professional I left, never to return.
I don't know what I'm the Hell is going on in your store Ron, but, deciding before your customer walks into your store that the answer is "no" Is one Hell of a way to run your business. So let's recap.
I wasn't asking for anything to be done in an unreasonable time frame. In fact, that part of the conversation never even happened.
Your employee was too busy, too lazy or simply not in the mood to look up a return customer. Everything you needed was right there. Your employee refused to use this tool.
At any point, Dave could have simply asked what I wanted instead of assuming. Whatever he was assuming was clearly not what I was looking for. I have always had long relationships with my motorcycle dealerships and what you've just done is turned away a long time customer. I Camp during the summers up here in Cedar City and was hoping to make your store my permanent repair and motorcycle shop. Guess who is looking for a different store now.
The reality is this. A reliable Repair place is built upon trust. Dave just blew that up. This transaction could have and SHOULD have gone completely differently. But, by all means, you do you! It's ashamed to think that someone in the service industry is so bad at listening to the customer and finding solutions that work for everyone. It's really too bad. But, these are the decisions employees make that will close a business because their ego is more important than their customers. read more
