The Problem:
1 week and 1 day has now elapsed since dropping my shiny 848 off at a dealership to be named later. I thought this a great opportunity to get the word out about said dealer, be it good feedback or bad. The internet is a fantastic thing in that it allows the customer to take charge. The old saying that a disgruntled customer tells 10 people about the experience has been exponentially multiplied. I love it. It's only fair however, that a good experience get equal exposure. At this juncture my experience does not fall on either side of the spectrum. So here we go.
Radiator sprung a pin hole size leak on the back, left side at the top. Not a horrible thing as it only leaks when pressure is built up. Could carry a bottle of water around and ride it for a very long time. I'm a little bummed out because weather this Labor Day weekend is stunning and my usual crew will be out for a day of riding Sunday which I will not be participating in. Strike against Ducati themselves. Not the dealer. At 3700 miles I wouldn't expect this sort of failure. The radiator is clearly defective as I've seen this issue in numerous forums:
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?p=84885
http://www.pnwriders.com/general-discussion/79322-ducati-848-radiator-problem.html
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?p=95727
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8488
My bike exhibits the same symptoms as the last thread.
Action Taken:
Two Wednesdays ago I contacted the dealer who told me they keep 40% of their service schedule open for warranty items. "We want to take care of you guys right away." I loved that! Albeit, 40% of the schedule for warranty claims causes concern with the overall quality of the bikes. They should be careful with statements like that.
I removed both side fairings, having done the problem diagnosis at home already, figuring that it would save a service tech a small hassle. I then dropped the bike off on Friday afternoon and was greeted by a very pleasant female service manager. My initial contact with her was great. I showed her the leak, she wheeled the bike in, and wrote me up.
Could it be better?
One piece of the process did leave a bad taste however. The part where I had to initial a statement indicating I understood that it could take up to 3 weeks to fix my bike. Is this their idea of setting a service expectation?
Daily I work with senior leadership in the Customer Service Operations of a large financial company. I don't expect motorcycle repair shops to have as firm a grasp on customer service methodology as I do. But in the case of a Ducati dealership, as with any high end product, I do expect more. They need to realize that the product has already sold itself. They aren't in the business of sales. They are in the business of customer service after the sale. They do that right and everything else will fall into place.
Having the customer sign a waiver with a 3 week expectation on it basically says to the customer, "Go away. Don't think of bothering us for 3 weeks." A very internally focused procedure. In my opinion it's not necessary so long as there is good communication through out the process. Weekly status calls perhaps? Proactive outbound customer contact informing of estimated time and the reasons behind it. Great opportunity to deflect negative perceptions of the dealership when problems my actually lie with DNA. I didn't care for the 3 week waiver thing obviously.
Ultimately this did not have a negative impact on my perception because I also had the 40% of the schedule for warranty items on my side! I kept that in the front of my mind. They were just setting me up to exceed my expectations. Right? Let's hope so.
Following Up:
With the assumption that the dealer needed to order a radiator from Ducati, I contacted them via email last Wednesday. Just looking for a status is all I was doing. Has anyone looked at the bike yet? Any parts been ordered? If so, any estimate on how long they will take to arrive? I received a very quick response which was nice, "Let me check with our Ducati North America representative and I'll get back to you."
Fair enough I thought. I'm being a little premature anyway. But can you blame me? I love that bike! Having not heard anything back, I sent a follow up note on Friday afternoon asking if the DNA rep had gotten back to them. That was yesterday. No response yet.
That's the tactical situation right now. Again, I have no real problems with the experience so far. Just some constructive feedback based on the fact that I work in the customer service field.
Be Afraid Of The Customer:
That said, I'm an internet saavy customer who has the benefit of being centrally located to 3 Ducati dealerships. All 3 of which I hear great things about. 1 of which I've heard some negatives too, but I didn't go to that one yet. The new saying is, "Be very afraid of the Customer." I have choices and an amazing tool for informing other customers about them.
How will this turn out? That's up to the dealer.
Where Do Expectations Come From?
Fast By Ferracci recently, 3 weeks ago, took my friend's 1098 in on a voltage regulator warranty claim. He said they gave him several status calls during the 1.5 weeks they had his bike. Helped him unload it without him asking. Helped him load it without asking. Washed it. And had it fixed in a reasonable amount of time. Outstanding service! That's what I like to hear!
To be continued...
1 week and 1 day has now elapsed since dropping my shiny 848 off at a dealership to be named later. I thought this a great opportunity to get the word out about said dealer, be it good feedback or bad. The internet is a fantastic thing in that it allows the customer to take charge. The old saying that a disgruntled customer tells 10 people about the experience has been exponentially multiplied. I love it. It's only fair however, that a good experience get equal exposure. At this juncture my experience does not fall on either side of the spectrum. So here we go.
Radiator sprung a pin hole size leak on the back, left side at the top. Not a horrible thing as it only leaks when pressure is built up. Could carry a bottle of water around and ride it for a very long time. I'm a little bummed out because weather this Labor Day weekend is stunning and my usual crew will be out for a day of riding Sunday which I will not be participating in. Strike against Ducati themselves. Not the dealer. At 3700 miles I wouldn't expect this sort of failure. The radiator is clearly defective as I've seen this issue in numerous forums:
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?p=84885
http://www.pnwriders.com/general-discussion/79322-ducati-848-radiator-problem.html
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?p=95727
http://www.ducatispot.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8488
My bike exhibits the same symptoms as the last thread.
Action Taken:
Two Wednesdays ago I contacted the dealer who told me they keep 40% of their service schedule open for warranty items. "We want to take care of you guys right away." I loved that! Albeit, 40% of the schedule for warranty claims causes concern with the overall quality of the bikes. They should be careful with statements like that.
I removed both side fairings, having done the problem diagnosis at home already, figuring that it would save a service tech a small hassle. I then dropped the bike off on Friday afternoon and was greeted by a very pleasant female service manager. My initial contact with her was great. I showed her the leak, she wheeled the bike in, and wrote me up.
Could it be better?
One piece of the process did leave a bad taste however. The part where I had to initial a statement indicating I understood that it could take up to 3 weeks to fix my bike. Is this their idea of setting a service expectation?
Daily I work with senior leadership in the Customer Service Operations of a large financial company. I don't expect motorcycle repair shops to have as firm a grasp on customer service methodology as I do. But in the case of a Ducati dealership, as with any high end product, I do expect more. They need to realize that the product has already sold itself. They aren't in the business of sales. They are in the business of customer service after the sale. They do that right and everything else will fall into place.
Having the customer sign a waiver with a 3 week expectation on it basically says to the customer, "Go away. Don't think of bothering us for 3 weeks." A very internally focused procedure. In my opinion it's not necessary so long as there is good communication through out the process. Weekly status calls perhaps? Proactive outbound customer contact informing of estimated time and the reasons behind it. Great opportunity to deflect negative perceptions of the dealership when problems my actually lie with DNA. I didn't care for the 3 week waiver thing obviously.
Ultimately this did not have a negative impact on my perception because I also had the 40% of the schedule for warranty items on my side! I kept that in the front of my mind. They were just setting me up to exceed my expectations. Right? Let's hope so.
Following Up:
With the assumption that the dealer needed to order a radiator from Ducati, I contacted them via email last Wednesday. Just looking for a status is all I was doing. Has anyone looked at the bike yet? Any parts been ordered? If so, any estimate on how long they will take to arrive? I received a very quick response which was nice, "Let me check with our Ducati North America representative and I'll get back to you."
Fair enough I thought. I'm being a little premature anyway. But can you blame me? I love that bike! Having not heard anything back, I sent a follow up note on Friday afternoon asking if the DNA rep had gotten back to them. That was yesterday. No response yet.
That's the tactical situation right now. Again, I have no real problems with the experience so far. Just some constructive feedback based on the fact that I work in the customer service field.
Be Afraid Of The Customer:
That said, I'm an internet saavy customer who has the benefit of being centrally located to 3 Ducati dealerships. All 3 of which I hear great things about. 1 of which I've heard some negatives too, but I didn't go to that one yet. The new saying is, "Be very afraid of the Customer." I have choices and an amazing tool for informing other customers about them.
How will this turn out? That's up to the dealer.
Where Do Expectations Come From?
Fast By Ferracci recently, 3 weeks ago, took my friend's 1098 in on a voltage regulator warranty claim. He said they gave him several status calls during the 1.5 weeks they had his bike. Helped him unload it without him asking. Helped him load it without asking. Washed it. And had it fixed in a reasonable amount of time. Outstanding service! That's what I like to hear!
To be continued...