Bloody Dealers!

This is just amazing.....

I went in last Tuesday and ordered my new 1250s. "Yep, no problem mate; it'll be on the truck today and it'll be here early next week." (I'm in Darwin)

So, I sit here patiently waiting until Tuesday when I ring up to see if it's here.....

"Don't worry mate; we'll ring you when it gets here..... Can't be too far off now!" (in a somewhat pissed-off, don't-bother-me sort of tone of voice....)

So, once again sitting patiently waiting.... Until yesterday at about 1pm, when I ring again....

"I'll ring up and get the connote so we can find out where it is mate! Ring me back at 4.30!"

So, I ring back at 4.30...

"Sorry mate, I've been real busy and haven't had time to chase it up. I'll find out and ring you straight back!"

An hour later.....

"Sorry mate; can't get hold of the sheila we order through. She's not answering her phone (this is a very pertinent point, as we'll see later....) I'll ring her first thing in the morning and get back to you!"

9.30am this morning (first thing???) I get a voicemail...

"Hi, this is Gaye (the finance lady & temporary boss whilst the big boss is away on some junket). Can you please give me a ring?"

Bugger that..... I decide it's time for a little F2F! I head on out to the shop...

Gaye looks pretty nervous as she invites me into her office and closes the door...

"I've got some bad news" she says.

"Your bike wasn't ordered last week, but it's been ordered today!" she hastens to add.

"We emailed the order through, but the lady who does the orders is on holiday and doesn't have Out-of-Office turned on, so we didn't realize until today that the order is still sitting in her Inbox, un-actioned."

You've got to be kidding me!

I won't tell you what I said in reply to this little bombshell, but I can tell you the temperature rose quite a few degrees in that office!

So, after some to-ing & fro-ing, I tell her this:

"Well, you can get onto Suzuki Australia and find out what they're going to offer me in way of compensation, then you can talk to you manager when he gets back from his junket and find out what this dealership is going to do to compensate me!"

I go on....

"Suzuki's procedures are sadly lacking, and so are yours! If I hadn't have bugged the cr*p out of the salesman, he'd still be standing there with a thumb up his fundamental orifice waiting for a bike that was never going to arrive!"

I'm awaiting her 'phone call with regards to her conversation with Suzuki Australia....

Actually, they do have a very tasty, brand-spankers GSX1250FA sitting on the floor. I'd quite happily take that in exchange.....

Dude, chill out. You must be aware of the concept of "Darwin Time".


A lot of dealers will tell you anything to get that signature. I have never been able to pickup a bike when it was promised. There's always something.

Mate I had to wait 28 days for mine so take a chill pill.
I don’t reckon you have any claim on Suzuki or the dealer. As far as the dealer knew it had been ordered and in his defence he had other work to do and would have assumed yours would arrive. After all he’s making next to nothing on the sale. Suzuki Aust made an admin error. If you have received an apology from either organisation you have done well.
Sure he was less than helpful but that’s something you can consider when you get servicing done or parts etc
You are in for a life of pain if you expect bike dealers to fall at your feet

It will arrive. You will be happy. It will get dirty. You will forget about this drama.

My Victorian 2c worth.

I have... My silver Bandit was on the floor at McCulloch's Suzuki in Perth. Kree sorted all the paperwork, insurance and pre slaes check in 2 hours so I could ride it home. Hats off to him, if anyone is chasing a Suzuki in Perth go and chat to Kree @ McCullochs in Vic Park, it's probably one of the easiest exchanges of goods I have ever experienced.

Oh, and another thing!! Aren't you allowed to do 130kmh up there? So no sympathy here.

Yep 130k, so when you fly around triples at 150ks its only a minor infraction and you can get away with a slap on the wrist from the police which is a bonus


And I feel your pain Dave ordered my hard luggage setup from ntmc 3 weeks before my kununurra trip and with 5 days before I was due to
Leave the wrong parts arrived

Ah, the old 'NT' - Not Today, Not Tomorrow and Not Thursday! Still - I agree about the crappy service - they never bothered to ring you back with a status).

Dave, I know this was a while ago, but I feel your pain mate, and things haven't improved at this particular dealer.
I was in the market for a new GSX1250FA in July and Suzuki was running their special at that time- waiving the dealer delivery and on road cost special that finished 31 July ($13990 ride away), so phoned our Darwin friends to ask if they had one on their floor. Response was affirmative (probably the same one you noticed). When I asked compliance date, was told 2010 and it was the silver. Told them I'd like to order a blue one with a 2011 compliance (why pay new price for a 1 year old bike). Was told "ummmm... no don't think we can do that, the bike wouldn't be here before the special ended" I asked them are they serious? I told them I would pay full price prior to the special ending if necessary, they can get the bike on its way and I'll wait the few weeks for it to arrive!! Response was ummm... no don't think we can do that. (they were obviously looking to shift that dusty 2010 bike on their floor and were playing silly bugger games). Told them I'd come out and have a look and a chat face to face (was hoping to do a deal). When I got there at around 2.30 on a Wed, there were about 2 customers in the shop. Had a look at the old dusty FA jammed in among other bikes, sat on it etc, waited, waited - no interest from anyone there, asked one of the employees walking by if there was a salesperson around...he looked left and right, shrugged and said, doesn't look like it, and kept walking. I left - rode back to work. Then phoned a QLD dealer. Asked did they have a blue 2011 FA available? Yes, no probs! OK said I, - when can it be sent? We can ship it in 2 days time, can be delivered to your door next week. So I did the deal for $1k less than Darwin dealer was offering for the 2010 model. But with freight added ($800), however was still $200 in front registered on road on the Darwin price. Bike arrived on time, wheeled onto my front Verandah - paperwork under the seat. This is the 2nd bike this Darwin mob have lost on me. First was in 2008, a new Triumph Tiger - As Triumph agents, they said - nup not interested in getting one up for you to SIT ON only unless you pay full price up front and not sure what the wait time would be. So I bought a new BMW GS - the BMW agent up here at the time gave me the time of day - let me ride just about all they had and couldn't do enough- they got the deal I paid the coin same day.

Have lived in Darwin since 74 and customer service in most areas remains ordinary, I guess we get used to it. However I wish retailers would stop crying poor bugger me when customers seek their needs elsewhere!
Loving the 1250!! Is everything I was hoping for - and fantastic value for money.
Bill

I was really happy to get the deal I got in 09 on the 08 demo Bandit. But a couple of days later I read my rego papers and fond it was a 07 model, wasn't to happy as I was told it was K8. tho $10,500 ride away on more to pay is not bad

Reardo... I think you'll find the k8 does range from late 07 through to 08 models. Just the way sales people trick you into thinking it's newer.

Just like my MY04 Subaru Forester XT is made in 2003

reddog wrote:Reardo... I think you'll find the k8 does range from late 07 through to 08 models. Just the way sales people trick you into thinking it's newer.

Just like my MY04 Subaru Forester XT is made in 2003

Yeah thats what I thought.

Oh and your email inbox is full or I've been marked junk mail

I had to wait bloody 10mins for the wife to drive over to the shop and say "yes" !