Bad Service

Oh well, like Mongo said in the movie "Blazing Saddles": "Jimbo just small pawn in game of life". Virtually nothing makes me madder than receiving poor or inattentive service. Automobile dealers and life insurance salespersons top my list of people that I have had bad experiences with. They are notorious for treating people like a dollar signs and not human beings. I can now add to that list a certain repair shop that I recently took my scooter to. After 9 days, this particular place could not seem to manage doing a 6,000 mile checkup and scheduled maintenance on my machine. I also brought Max in for a couple of warranty issues. My speedometer had quit working because the cable seemed to have come loose. My horn had also quit working. I was aware of a service bulletin for the horn with two potential solutions to it. I attempted the work myself awhile back and it was working fine,,,,,,,, for awhile. Turned out the more complicated solution to the issue (may have been) was the correct one for Max. The shop did fix the warranty issues and did change my oil for me at no charge. They were not able to accomplish any of the rest of my requests. I finally told them I didn't want them to do any more work, even after the parts supposedly came in. One of my fears about buying my scooter has come true. One major reason I bought this particular scooter was because of the dealer. I liked him instantly. He has turned out to be a good friend and was always prompt and caring about service for me and my scooter. Unfortunately, with the economic downturn and somewhat reasonable fuel prices, he was not able to stay in business as a scooter dealer. He just was not able to sell as many scooters as he wanted (needed) to. The new (supposed) dealer knew I was mad. They knew that they had violated my trust. The delay was (according to them) a problem with the shipping for some parts they thought they needed (O rings and gaskets) for the valve adjustment. But when I called, I kept getting different stories. The parts were things I thought they should have had in stock anyway. They didn't call me to tell me there was a delay. I had to call them to find out what was happening. I finally determined that they were just pulling my chain. Again, "Jimbo just small pawn in game of life". The worst part of it wasn't that they weren't technically competent in performing the work, but rather that the guy supposedly in charge was not, seemingly, 1) very knowledgeable or 2) experienced or 3) understanding. Our personalities didn't mesh very well. I can guarantee that they never will. I don't know. Maybe I am silly to expect to be treated with a little bit of respect. I don't care to get my butt kissed, just be treated with a little common dignity. I was very willing to give them some benefit of doubt and leeway, but as time went on, doubt turned into mistrust and eventually to anger. So here I am without a trusted dealer that I feel that I can currently rely on for help. Well, that is not totally true. I do have some very good friends that can help with maintenance. And I was able to download the complete service manual for Max from the internet. It has already been a big help. And I am not afraid of doing some of the work myself. I would just prefer sometimes to not take the time to do the work and gladly pay someone else to do it. Guess I need to get to know Max a little more intimately. And I certainly do not wish to leave the impression that I regret buying Max even though it is not a well known or major brand. In fact, I am completely satisfied. Max has been completely dependable for the almost 2 years I have owned him. I continue to be impressed with the quality and reliability of the machine. Some people might scoff at the idea of a Taiwanese scooter, (some mainland Chinese scooters are another issue), but SYM has been in business for many years and is well respected in the industry. Max has taken everything I have thrown at him in stride and then some. Max is perfect for what I bought him for and I am looking forward to many more years of service. It's just that now I will be doing some of the maintenance items myself. There is more to this story. Another post will be up in a week or two.