Or has it?
Yesterday, I was supposed to pick up my new bike.
Many years ago, 1979 to be precise, I had my bike stolen. I’d just finished restoring an Ariel NH350 Red Hunter. I remain convinced to this day that this was a theft to order as I had only just finished the restoration and I have a fair idea who was behind it, but there was never any proof. Anyway, while I was waiting for the insurance money to come through, a Moto Guzzi T3 in a local dealer caught my eye. By the time the insurance had come through, it had been sold and I ended up buying a Laverda 350.
Years passed and I switched to Yamahas and eventually BMW, but Guzzi was always on my radar. They just didn’t make anything that I felt inclined to buy. Until in 2021, they released details of a proposed liquid cooled sport tourer. The V100 Mandello is precisely the kind of bike to tick my boxes.
This being the Italians, they over promised and under delivered. Teased at EICMA in November 2021, we heard nothing for nearly a year when the production models were displayed and started very slowly being released to dealers. As soon as this started happening I put down a deposit on a grey one. The green is okay, but I’m not a fan of green frankly. I could have lived with it if there hadn’t been a choice, but as the grey was on offer and I think it looks better in this colour, that’s what I chose.
I paid the deposit in September 2022 (the 23rd, to be precise). I was contacted in early October (the 5th to be precise – at 12:15) and made my colour choice then. I was promised a November delivery. I was subsequently promised before Christmas. I was then promised a February, maybe March delivery. Eventually, it arrived in time for a collection on the 31st.
The dealer phoned me the evening before and asked if I could pick it up later in the day as this was the first time they had fitted a tracker to this model, so would need a little time. I was relaxed about that until he told me how good it looked in green.
“Er, mine is the grey one, not green.”
“Oh, no, it’s definitely the green one.”
“No. I ordered a grey one.”
“But it’s green.”
“I don’t want green. I want grey. That’s what I ordered.”
“I’m getting that message.”
As it was the end of the business day, I left it for him to speak to the salesman I’d been dealing with the following day.
At this point, I’d been waiting for months, I’d seen other people get their bikes and I was still waiting. Now they had delivered the wrong bike. Livid doesn’t even begin to describe my mood. I was on the point of pulling the deal and going elsewhere as other dealers were advertising both colours online.
The following morning there was a somewhat frank discussion. Firstly, he didn’t recall the conversation. Now, I have a very, very good memory. In my work I am constantly training it, so I could repeat word for word what we had both said along with the day, time of day and that he had spoken to his manager while on the phone to confirm my colour choice. I also reminded him that we had a conversation about it in November when I took my Scram in for a service – again, repeating word for word what had been said.
I left it with him. He phoned back later to confirm that I was correct and that they had ordered the correct bike – my information narrowed down his search through the relevant call logs and email trail, showing just that. Someone, somewhere at Piaggio appears to have cocked up.
At present, we are still trying to find out what went wrong and he is trying to find a bike in the dealer network to get one for me. As it is not his fault, I’m letting him try.
To be continued…
Sorry Lr ,out of context
Was wandering round the net today and saw on GP a comment about an old blog I used to read.
Captain Ranty, looked it up.
I couldn’t reply I remember his last blog, I wish I could have done something.
Its a mark of the times we live in. No-one gives a f*ck about doing their jobs properly, because hey, who gets held to account when they f*ck up?
I recently had two professionals (accountant and solicitor) completely balls up a tax payment to HMRC because they both couldn’t be bothered to check whether their lazy assumptions were correct and communicate properly.
With a third (solicitor) I ended up doing part of her job for her because she either didn’t have the knowledge to do it right in the first place, or the mental aptitude to think laterally when she couldn’t find the information first time.
A combined hourly pay rate of hundreds of pounds and I (the client) end up doing the work for them. I’ll still be expected to pay for this ‘service’ of course……..
These days its more of a shock when a business does what it says it will do without any fuss or making a complete balls of it.
“These days its more of a shock when a business does what it says it will do…”
Oh, how right you are!
Indeed. However, it is looking as if it is the UK Piaggio distribution department that is the problem here. I’ll know more by the middle of this coming week. I will also measure the dealer by how efficiently they fix the problem even if they didn’t initiate it.
“I was promised a November delivery. I was subsequently promised before Christmas. I was then promised a February, maybe March delivery.”
Did you order it from the Met Office?
The Italians might just as well run the Met Office. I’m used to German efficiency. This is where your bike is. You will get it on this date. Be there.
The local dealer that looks after our cars for us is very professional and always does stuff when they say they will. Make sure that you seek out the competent outfits and reward them with your business.
In this instance, it does look as if the dealer is not the problem.
I wasn’t thinking of dealers specifically, more about any business that you deal with that gives good service.
It’s a pity that Guzzi don’t do as Porsche and MB did once upon a time:
Have a factory visit and pick up your car/whatever at the end of the tour. They used to do all the import and registration paperwork and the relaxed customer had a very good experience.
As for reliability, in the ’80s I met a Guzzi owner (at the Mandello factory) who complained that all his reliability problems were down to Bosch. . . . .
This is why I always make notes, and get really grumpy at people who phone me on my mobile out of the blue when I’m in the middle of nowhere with no way to make any notes or look anything up, and the ***wit at the other end expects me to be able to give them information and retain the information they’ve given me.