motorbike shops not responding to emails

[rubyhorse2]

really just a rant this but..

I've emailed 3 bike shops and neither have replied. This also happened a while ago, dont get me wrong when i rang up they were great but what is it with bike shops not responding to emails.

You'd think they'd be interested in selling a 6k bike wouldnt you.

And these are large well known places.

[NJD]

You had a problem attempting to contact someone and you've now achieved that.

I wouldn't expect the guys that work in main dealers to be responding to the emails themselves and small shops may just not have the time as they're limited by man power and probably do things cheaper to get more customers so have more to do in a shorter amount of time.

You have to pick and chose the best contact method for the person you want to talk to, nothing beats in person, second by the phone and as a last resort email.

of course the further down the line you get the more that gets lost like a game of chinese whispers and the longer the communication becomes.

[c-m]

The motorcycle industry in general sucks balls when it comes to customer service and communication.

Take my local BMW/Kawasaki/Yamaha dealers. There is no way to find out if they have a part in stock without calling them up and reading out a list of part numbers over the phone by going instore.

Being able to pop a list of part numbers in an email would be much handier, or better still having an online inventory.

[Baffler186]

Seems to be par for the course. I e-mailed the second biggest dealership in town to request a viewing/test ride, and no response. When I later phoned, they said "oh yeah, the website is rubbish and doesn't work".

I also e-mailed another two dealerships for a quote for work, neither responded. The other privateer place responded within 5 hours with a very cheap quote. They are also about the only ones I trust in town having done the rounds a bit now.

Perhaps some prefer not to quote by e-mail. On the phone they can explain more stuff based on some banter, and don't offer you anything in writing that you can later question?
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[Rogerborg]

A phone call is 1:1. While you're talking to them you're not talking to anyone else, and they can give it the full Jedi mind trick to close the deal.

If you're emailing them then you're probably emailing eleventy other dealers as well. It's eleventy-to-one that you'll buy from any given one of them. How much time should they put in?
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Clanger]

Well you could always phone / go in person / write a letter / send a telegram / send someone else in with a note from you.

Not everyone has time to sit and sift through all their emails. Not unless they are a mail order company.
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Suntan Sid]

Email Pfft!

I went to a main Triumph dealer last year, told them what new bike I was interested in, how I would like to pay, when I wanted the bike, gave my phone number, address, email address, copy of DL, DOB etc. etc.
Jack Shit happened, not a fcukin' peep out of them, total and utter bunch of assholes.
They lost a sale right there and then, I won't be going back!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[pepperami]

E-mail, pah! phone call, pah!
I phoned and e-mailed the newly appointed Hyosung dealers nearest to me and got nothing
Both the nearest dealers (you know who you are) to me promised to call me back and or e-mail me to no avail twat wankers wont be getting any business from me.
I`ll find another way to deal with any issues I have with my Hyosung..
Luckily that is not many
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Rogerborg]

I should disclose that I was only larking around above and that I actually believe the real reason is that most dealers are lazy incompetents who couldn't run a nose let alone an efficient business.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[c-m]

Another thing is charging people for test rides. WTF? Was interested in buying a Triumph Sprint 1050 a few years ago. Wanted to test ride it, they said that would be £25 unless I bought the bike. Fucking idiots. BMW were the same.

Basically they lost a potential sale. I bought a bike I could test without paying instead.

How often do you have to pay to test drive a car?

The motorcycle industry is stuck in the past. It's akin to the Equestrian industry, some I unfortunately know a lot about.

[rubyhorse2]

well its good to know its not just me being ignored.

these are huge dealerships and bike shops, so have plenty of staff and i would guess a dedicated office team to deal with things like this.

i manage an online shop and website as part of my role and answer every single email, no matter what it may concern.

I'm hoping they respond in a few days or weeks and i can say 'sorry already bought a bike now, your too slow in repsonding'.

[rubyhorse2]

sorry just to respond to c-m, i was wondering why i had to put down an £800 deposit to test ride a bike with a local dealer, surely its THEIR insurance that would cover things if i had an incident?

Might be a logical reason, is it their excess being covered maybe?

either way, i did it at the time, but still doesnt seem right. you dont have to do that with cars.

[Polarbear]