Dealerships

[kendoll2]

Here is my story. I went to 3 Harley dealerships here in Vegas. the first the salesman talked to the guy I was with and not me I went back again by myself he was better. But he confused me. Then I called my brother in Washington that rides and he refered me to a ridin buddy of his that works at Eastside Harley in Washington. She was extremely helpful! And honest, she told me to keep looking that if I was lucky I'd hit upon the best deal for me. That it would be more affordable than ordering through her dealership and have to pay for shipping or go get.
The second dealership.. I walked in, attracted a lot of stares but no salesmen. I looked at bikes then finally just stood there. This woman appeared carring an armful of chairs (I asssume they just had a club meeting) She acknowledges me! mind you she is trailing behind 3 salesmen!!! Turns out she is a saleswoman and she was awesome. She was concerned about my bang for buck. Also has me sit on other bikes. I left and was honest I told her Henderson harley was having a kickoff the season tent sale and they had the Jagged edge thing there.
3rd time wasn't exactly the charm I was looking for either... But in their defence it was packed. The good thing that came out of this trip was them putting a Switchback on the Jagged Edge machine. Then they had an instructor come over and talk me through it. Needless to say that sportster was fading from my memory very fast.However I just wasn't feeling the salesman. I loved the instuctor.
So I told them I wanted to go get a healthy lunch (they were serving hotdogs and burgers) and think. Which I did, however, I also sent a text to my brother's ridin buddy who is a female and works for Harley in WA. and I called the salewoman at the other Harley. So glad I made those calls. She just got in a bike that had all the upgrades I wanted now and in the future,(she stated she didn't call me because I was looking at the Custom 1200) the bonus; the bike is used. 3 months old with only 412 miles on it. The guy who brought it in only keeps his bikes 3 months then trades is in. She told me to go back to the other dealership and find out what their incintives are and come over an look at the bike. "You have to see this"
So I do as she asked. Then went back to see her. Needless to say I have a bike pending sale. I saved, and got a dealership gift card to spend, and a pair of riding boots!!!!! Now I'm thinking of names for her.
I was so much more comfortable with her. Looking back I am shocked how those men actually intimidated me! And a little furiuos about it as well. But I'm digging my bike!

[dbsteffy]

When it's in the garage, we'll expect pictures! Brenda

[softail02]

Not trying to make a defense here for the salesmen as I have had similiar experiences in both metric and Harley dealerships when the salesmen absolutely were not with customers.

But,,,,I have been in my local HD dealership where I know the salesmen and on a few occassions have almsot interupted them while they were with customers. Sometimes they were in the process of retreiving info or just giving the customer a little space for thought/conversation with so/spouse for a moment.

Sometimes it is hard to tell!

Then again, if there are no other customers on the sales floor or sitting in sales office, then it is pretty sure that they didn't care at that moment.

[dbsteffy]

Got a recall notice this winter about a fuel line repair that needed to be done, but last fall my local dealership closed up, Hubby saw a hauler being loaded up with all the new inventory, there are still some used bikes in the building, probably trying to figure who has legal title. So, instead of 10 minutes away, we headed out a couple of weeks ago to North Ridge Yamaha and Suzuki in Geneva OH, it was a cold 25 miles away, dropped off the bike and was called a week laterthat it was ready. The weather was cold and rainy and would be for the next week or so and I told them there was no rush. Got off work on time this past Wed, came home to change, Hubby already had my stuff in the car and we drove out in beautiful 88' heat. Got the bike, he followed me most of the way home, he took an earlier exit off the highway, I need more freeway experience so I kept going a few more miles. Bike is now in the garage, happy me.
Now about this new place, it is an older business, been there a while, has a potholed gravel driveway, but I took my time and negotiated it carefully. It had several new bikes of each, broad selection really for a small place and a lot of 4 wheelers, are they called quads? Also a decent used inventory, lots of parts and accessories, some helmets and clothing, gloves, nothing female jumped out.
The sales and service people talked to me, they acknowledged Hubby who was hanging back but asked me what I needed, could I be helped, did I need anything besides the recall issue looked at? I was impressed, it was a very male staff but they dealt with me, not my man, didn't look at him to back up what I was saying, even the owner shifted his attention to me when he talked about the timeframe for the repair, he had come around a corner and didn't know which of us was the customer. When they called the house, they asked for me. Same treatment on pick up, talked to me about what was done and how, answered my questions and looked me in the eye.
Even the young guy that drove the bike from around back handed me the keys, he talked with both of us in general about Yamahas, then he and Hubby guyyapped about stuff while I geard up.
Overall, I was pleased, this will be my dealership and I will be glad to reccommend them.

One thing though, there were 2 guys and a gal working with a saleman, one was buying a bike and I heard the salesman ask the guy if he was aware that the accessories he was adding to the bike would have a higher interest rate on them than the interest rate on the bike itself, he told the guy again and said he wants the guy to know it now so there are no surprises when the finance papers were signed. I never knew that, never even thought about interest rates being higher for farkles.
Glad the have 'back in the saddle' weather, too. Brenda

[splady]

The Dealership I bought my Victory from was a chopper shop origianlly and managed to get the Victory dealership. They are not good at customer relations I had to call Victory to get things done correctly. I have also referred alot of people to them that bought bikes and they had promised to do something in return, like oil changes or something of that nature. Well I took the bike in for the 5,000 mile service not a word about a referral fee or anything. In the past I have bought other bikes and done the same thing with the dealer and they have always taken care of me . I guess these good ole boys just don't care or know how to keep repeat customers. I am going to another dealer in the future to try my luck there. I have been riding for a long time this is my 8th motorcycle and hopefully not my last. I am hoping that more dealerships will hire more woman sales people they are missing the boat big time by not having us on the job!
Remember keep the shinny side up!

[Dklioness]

Harley Davidson of Glendale, CA gets all my business because they all try hard to accommodate everyone. I get my bike serviced there, bought it there, and shop there. They encourage female riders to the max!

[Marss6]

While living in the Elk Grove, CA (south of Sacramento) I had my choice of shopping for bike stuff at two Harley dealerships that were fairly close to my house, one in Sacramento and one in Lathrop. This particular morning I chose the Harley shop in Lathrop, CA. We rode down to this shop mainly for the parts for my bike but also for the ride.
When we walked in my husband began to wander around the store looking at stuff while I approached the parts counter to get my stuff. The parts guy was a few short feet away talking with a customer who was probably also his friend about some party they had both attended and what a wild time they had there. The "parts guy" looked over at me not once but twice and continued on talking to the customer/friend without missing a beat. Well they talked for what seemed like an unusual amount of time, considering I was a customer waiting to be helped. Normally I would have spoken right up and asked the parts guy for some help, but I was really curious to see if he would help me without me having to ask.
I stood there very patiently looking at the catalog on the counter, looking at him, looking at the catalog...okay, now I realized giving this guy the chance to make his move was not going to happen. Just then my husband walked up and casually asked if I had what I needed, hearing this, the "parts guy" immediately ripped himself away from his friend and scampered over to my husband while practically standing at attention and asked my husband "how may I help you sir?" My husband replied “it’s not me you need to help, she’s the mechanic". The parts guy had a stumped look on his face, turned to me and asked what I needed...I couldn't help myself at this point and asked him if he thought I was just looking at all the pretty pictures, then without giving him a chance to answer quickly told him exactly what parts I needed while pulling my money out. He turned and went in the back room to fetch the parts. When he returned he tried to explain himself to my husband; my husband reminded him he was talking to the wrong person...again.
I paid, grabbed my parts and suggested to the parts guy that in the future he pay special attention to ALL potential customers that approached his counter. I left him with one last thought...women riders have been around for a long time, ladies are working on their own bikes too, their numbers are growing and Harley is selling bikes to a lot of women; what would the Harley & Davidson families think about an employee who's customer service skills to the ladies was, well...to be nice, lacking, no not "lacking" but down right absent?
Yup, he had this look on his face: shock:
I didn't return to the Harley store in Lathrop anymore after that experience, I didn't talk with the manager or write a letter into Harley Cooperate either; realizing jobs are hard to come by and I didn't want to jeopardize this person’s employment for a mistake that he could learn from. Hopefully he did learn from it.
This is the only bad experience I've had, hope I don't have it happen again...if it should I won't stand around waiting next time.

Had to get this on off my chest, it's off...thanks

[Marss6]

Opps, lots of misspelled words, please excuse

[Burgmanlady]

Don't worry about the spelling, we can read it.