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Barnacle Potato |
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Barnacle Potato Derestricted Danger
Joined: 12 Jul 2016 Karma :
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chickenstrip |
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chickenstrip Super Spammer
Joined: 06 Dec 2013 Karma :
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Posted: 00:52 - 09 Jan 2017 Post subject: Re: My experience buying a new bike |
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Barnacle Potato wrote: | This is my review originally posted on my blog page but I decided to also
post this on North West Honda Wigan's Facebook page and all that was said is "it is what it is" They didn't even offer the money back from my licence that they wrongfully took.
So, my Honda Horror Story begins on my search to find my first brand new bike, as you guys know I look at all reviews and every positive and negative on something before I buy. I decided on the Honda CBR 650F after extensive research between other brands and models I knew this was the right choice for me. I chose Blackpool Honda as the dealership to go to being the closest to my home town. During my visit I was immediately discouraged from buying from them after listing the extras I wanted with my bike and being told they cannot be done for example, powder coated rims. Also the salesman I was speaking to told me a didn't know the price of an exhaust I was interested in, he said that there was a £600 difference from the website and just told me I'm wrong.
So after being rudely spoken to in Blackpool I decided maybe Wigan isn't much further so I thought I’d see if they would sort out my added extras with decent salesmanship. As I pulled up to Honda late one night there were two people locking up and bringing the last bike inside. They came up to me and said we are free to come in and look around which was a great first impression knowing that they'd wait behind for me, a potential buying customer to give great service. I sat down with the salesman, told him everything I wanted and was told YES! It can be done. Thrilled by the service given at that point I put down my deposit there and then. From there my experience went downhill...
I put my license in with the finance just for the ease of everything being done in one place, this is the start of my nightmare with Honda. Going with the riding school with Honda is an absolute joke, now don't get me wrong the instructors themselves are fantastic, great riders, know what they're talking about, answer any questions and do everything for you to help you pass. The problem is getting hold of the instructors of the riding school and bikes available for learning. I rang Honda twice a day to arrange my module 1 because I couldn't wait the 2 month period I decided to book cancellations which they said were fine. Every cancellation that came up I rang twice a day so I wasn't pestering them frequently, but every time I was told no instructor was in the dealership so they would give me a call back. Over the week I was ringing I didn't get one, not even one phone call back. For my module 2 it became ridiculous, I was getting furious at not being able to book my test, I went just over 2 weeks of ringing up on average 3 times a day to speak to an instructor and yet again always told I'd get a call back but never did. In fact I did get a call from an instructor... a week after I passed and had my bike saying they were told to give me a call back. So of about 50 phone calls 1 phone call back somewhat late I'd say not too bad. Now on with the bikes which I was learning on, I had 3 lessons always with another learner. Lesson 1 I was on a 125CC for half of the time, lesson 2 I was on a 125CC for 2 of the 3 hours and on my last I finally got it for a full lesson myself.
Another problem with this whole license included in the finance is that I basically in total had 2 full lessons, which is all that I did. 2 Lessons cost me £600, I paid for all my tests myself and was told I would be given any extra back but 3 months down the line I've heard nothing as well as phoning them up again and the salesman wan't available so still waiting on that phone call.
I received a phone call at work one day by one of the salesman and asked about when I was coming into the dealership to sign the finance agreement. I said that I will be signing the agreement on the 1st of the month so I get paid before the money comes out my bank. Suddenly his tone changes and he shouts down the phone yelling he's worked hard to get me the bike in for when I wanted "you're telling us you want your bike and now you want to put it off? Which is it?" This is what a paying customer gets bearing in mind that the date at this point is only the 29th, just wanted to wait 2 days. After he calmed down a bit he explained that the reason he wanted me to sign it was because I have to sign for the bike before it comes off the delivery truck at Honda. He picked me up from work that day as I had no other transport to get to him he offered to take me there and back. After I signed my finance and got dropped off back at work I found out that I didn't need to sign it first, my friend who purchased a bike with me at the same time signed his a week after they got it and another friend who bought from Blackpool Honda didn't sign his first either. Goes to show how far a Salesman will go for his own commission and now I'm paying on the 29th of each month.
So the bike was officially financed thought I may as well just finish it off, can't get much worse right? The salesman told me that the bike would be ready for when I passed my Module 2 and not surprising it wasn't. From the day I put my deposit down to that day I came to collect my bike I always said I want some parts on my bike before I ride it away. I came in 3 times before my module 1 to tell them what I wanted and after I passed my Module 1 I went back to the dealership and said forget everything all I want is crash protectors. I came back into store roughly 6 times before I came to collect my bike explaining profusely that I need the crash protectors on before I ride it away and even offered to pay there and then every time. All they will say is "we'll sort it" That's what I was told every time I went in and I rang up a couple of days before picking up my bike and was told that they carry them in stock so it doesn't matter.
So the day comes, over the moon I have my license, getting the bike I really wanted and worked hard for and obviously still no crash protectors. I explained to them that I said they needed to be on and I was told not to worry about it, I don't need them it's not like I'm going to drop it. The point is I am a customer who wants to buy something for my bike and they won't let me, also nobody chooses to drop their bike or crash it's merely an unfortunate thing that can happen – and can be very expensive not to have them.
So no crash protectors, had my bike 2 weeks and the inevitable happens. I crashed. I was in a bad way myself, plenty of broken bones but all the damage to the bike was on the side. Roughly £1000 worth of damage which would've easily been avoided by crash protectors and even had my bike booked in at a local bike garage that week to get them fitted.
So that sums up my Honda Horror Story, from my experience I would most likely never buy from Honda again even though a Honda Fireblade is my dream bike. No matter what you buy and where it's from you expect good service so when spending a lot of money you want excellent service which I just wasn't given. I spent a lot of my time searching for cancellations and phoning Honda to try and arrange lessons and seeing if they are available for my test which could've easily been avoided if someone who is always in the dealership has a copy of the instructor's schedule. |
Wall of text! Aaaaaaaaaaargh! ____________________ Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE! |
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Kawasaki Jimbo |
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Kawasaki Jimbo World Chat Champion
Joined: 09 Oct 2015 Karma :
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wristjob |
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wristjob World Chat Champion
Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :
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Mark65 |
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Mark65 World Chat Champion
Joined: 16 May 2008 Karma :
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Posted: 09:18 - 09 Jan 2017 Post subject: |
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Ah yes Northwest Honda Wigan branch, I had experiences with them when i bought my 300 new, Bike was not ready on the agreed day of collection 19.07.15, still in Blackpool when purchased a week before at Wigan.
Bike would not start when finally collected on Sunday, dead battery I was told, picked up Monday with (alleged) new battery, put battery on CTEK charger and took 6 hours to charge.
Delivery miles 9.5 seem excessive considering below wasn’t checked when i got the bike home.
Tyre pressures 20lbs (should be 29lbs)
Chain slack 40mm (should be 25- 30mm)
First service at Blackpool Honda same group, £100 and the chain was tight at 20mm when i got home. Thought about changing the bike after 12 months with about 6k on it, they offered me £1800 half of what i paid, 3 others offered £2300 part ex today with 9k on it.
Needless to say I wont purchase anything from them now. ____________________ 07 Yamaha YBR125, 07 Honda CG125 , 15 CBR300R (Chocolate Crank, Deaded), 16 CB500FA, 19 Honda Forza 300, 70 Suzuki SV650 |
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Posted: 09:57 - 09 Jan 2017 Post subject: |
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I honestly don't understand why you'd expect anything else.
Look at the number of people in a main dealer. Look at the size of the place, and imagine the rates, utilities and maintenance costs. Think half a million a year and sharply upwards to run one, and that's not turnover, that's profit. That's a couple of grand each and every day, 6 days a week.
If you get out without bleeding profusely from the wallet, count yourself lucky. ____________________ 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 |
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owl |
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owl World Chat Champion
Joined: 21 Oct 2016 Karma :
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Bozzy |
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Bozzy Traffic Copper
Joined: 20 Dec 2015 Karma :
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Freddyfruitba... |
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Freddyfruitba... World Chat Champion
Joined: 20 May 2016 Karma :
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Posted: 11:17 - 10 Jan 2017 Post subject: |
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I fit them for road use, on the basis that they've helped me in low speed drops, which are more likely than a proper ditchfinder.
It's all risk gambling though, you'll doubtless find someone who's had their bike wrecked in a drop by a bung bending the frame, or turned a slide into a flip. ____________________ 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 |
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tom_e |
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tom_e Brolly Dolly
Joined: 27 Feb 2016 Karma :
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155mph |
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155mph Nova Slayer
Joined: 17 Jul 2016 Karma :
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
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tom_e |
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tom_e Brolly Dolly
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MattEMulsion |
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MattEMulsion World Chat Champion
Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Karma :
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Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg nimbA
Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :
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Posted: 10:24 - 11 Jan 2017 Post subject: |
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Huge, throbbing need for custard test. ____________________ 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 |
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M.C |
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M.C Super Spammer
Joined: 29 Sep 2015 Karma :
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Jayy |
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Jayy Mr. Ponzi
Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Karma :
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Posted: 19:46 - 11 Jan 2017 Post subject: |
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I walked in there not long after they opened, as it has only been there about a year now or so and got the scope of what they were about just pottering around for 10 minutes and left and haven't been back in since.
You can't blame them for the damage to your bike
A friend of mine who had only been riding for 4 months before he went to a dealer to get a tyre fitted, left and crashed 1/2 mile later because he hadn't warmed the tyre up and it was shiny shiny, tried to blame the dealer for it |
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 7 years, 106 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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