Warranty violation if u dont take bike into service

bobspapa said:

not all ;D

I have a good friend who does brake/ suspension work on GM cars...... the guy thinks of himself as a doctor.... and pretty much hand picks his daily work (he's good, and I've personally seen him flag 40 hours in one day), so the service manager lets him act like a spoiled baby. The BMW dearship I worked at last.... had the biggest babys working for them. My friend who owns a beemer, takers hers in for service, over the hill, because of it.

Just say'n

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And exactly whats wrong with that? I spent more than 20 years as a professional auto technician, and one of the biggest reasons I left was the fact that the general public has no idea what the skill level and experience that a Senior Technician has, nor how much we've spent on tools, training and the like. No, they prefer to try and screw us down in our labor rates and our time, which is basically all we have to sell. They think that we are just the "local grease monkey" and that anyone who can but a set of sockets can do our job. As an example if you go to the Doctor he checks you out and finds nothing wrong, do you get that for free? Hell no, but if I look at your car and find nothing wrong or your intermittant or random problem doesnt occur, you expect it for free. Guess what, not in my world. Especially if youve had a history at my shop with pissing and moaning over price or whatever.

I was extremely proud of the qualifications and skills I had. But the fact of the matter is my yearly net went from in the 80s to just about 50k last year. Its not that the industry is slow, there are cars out there that need fixing. Its just the fact that the customer knows that if they stand in the service drive and throw a ****ing hissy cat fit that they will get their way at the expense of screwing the poor technician who has to go back and fix their car for free. It doesnt hurt that dealership, they will make it up in another area.

So before you think that we are a bunch of prima donnas , take a look at the sports figures, celebrities and politicians that we as a society idolize. I say to you its a crock. Pay them what they are worth, in a sense your are trusting yourself in my skill as a professional. I will give you the best I have.

Sorry to rant on BP but you strike a nerve with the "prima donna" quote.

Ducman851, you know I love you pal but I ain't buying this load of hooey. You are the exception and not the rule. My coworker didn't replace a belt in a timley manner. He ruined his oil pump and the Audi authorized mechanics told him he needed to spend eight grand on a new engine. The Audi mechanics were lazy in their diagnosis and cavalier about what the true cost would be to this 21 year old kid. He ended up taking it to a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy. His car's running like a dream for about $2500. I've been doing everything in my power to put my service experiences at LaBrea Chrystler out of my memory. Santa Monica Volkswagen seem to do a good job for a mere 200% of what each job is worth. What's worst about big factory authorized shops is that management keeps the customer FAR AWAY from the technicians. With no communication there's no trust in the mechanic and his apparently arbitrary decisions. With no interaction with the customer the mechanic just sees filthy cars and becomes desensitised to what poor slob is driving it. He also doesn't hear the complaint directly from the driver. Fixing cars and bikes is tough! I wouldn't do it and not because I like clean hands. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there trying to take advantage on both sides. Still, vehicle repair is a customer service industry where people expect to get what they pay for. You gotta either suck it up or get out. Ducman has chosen option #2 and I respect the hell outta him for trying something totally new.

-Dan