JIMSS Moto Sucks!!!

So, no you did not pay for the diagnostic fee. You paid for a tire you did not want??

 

Bottom line is many shops gaff with mystery upcharges/hidden charges. Why should a shop get $400 for the same rotors I can purchase direct for $200? Because they can - at least that appears to be the rational these days.
It's sad to see motorcycle shops exploiting motorcyclists; I see it in my area as well. Thankfully, with a little research you can find private shops that charge an honest fee for honest work. I got gaffed by my own Honda dealer this spring. So they lost a customer. And they'll never get my business - not for service, not for my son's dirt bike when he gets older, not for my wife's bike when she gets back on, not for my daughter's bike if she so chooses to get one, not for the gear, not for the service - end of subject.
Simply because $1200 is a going rate, does not mean it still isn't a rip-off. Motorcycle repairs should not cost twice as much as similar automotive repairs. I just had a 60K service on my dodge Dakota quad cab (lots of shite done), plus had both front wheel bearings replaced, and the whole thing came to only $900.
Joey - my personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that you are not only well within your right to denounce this, but serving the greater good by doing so. I would love to see this discussion move from a bitch session to a full listing of member recommended service providers. I’ll start with HD Cycles in Braintree, MA. Family owned and operated for more than 30 years, and they'll service any make or model - even old clunkers like mine! Hell - my Honda dealer didn't even want to service mine because it has carbs!
Cheers.

 

Cool, 92yellowveefer, you could even start a thread in the service center reviews to go into more detail on the HD Cycles in Braintree, MA. I'm sure they would appreciate the well-deserved business!

 

Well, maybe it is just me, but I like it when members report good and bad experiences with different vendors. Read about the experiences people have had with Corbin seats. It is amazing how bad things have gone for some people, and for others it has been fine.

The more information that is available with regard to... well, anything really, the better equipped one is to deal with potential issues. I remember reading about somebody who had some paint shipped to them by a well known company whose name eludes me at the moment, and it was shipped in a glass container. You guessed it, the container broke in shipping. Now that I know about it, if I was to order paint, I would see if a metal or plastic container was available, and if not, how the potential issue would be resolved.

So both parties here were unhappy, for communication issues only they truly know about, but now the rest of us know that if we DO choose to use that shop, make an extra effort to communicate.

 

Here's my Corbin story: I bought my gunfighter and lady in '96 - paid approx. $260 for it back then. In 2000 the mounting tongue on the bottom that secures the front of the seat started to break off. I emailed Corbin to see how I could fix it, and they promptly sent me a pre-paid shipping label with instructions to ship it directly to them. I did, and 3 weeks later my seat came back completely fixed, and reconditioned - looked brand new. At no cost to me whatsoever. Didn’t ask them to do that - certainly never expected it. Needles to say I am a happy customer.

 

I think it's pretty safe to say it's fairly ignorant of you to say this. Especially since it's none of your business anyway.

In this day & age of piss poor customer service, if any company makes any mistake & then tries to charge me, I'm telling EVERYONE about it & that company will never get another dime from me.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

The facts are the facts and I don't see any. Its just he said she said.

Does SLANDER mean anything to you?? Forums are so much fun for slander and it happens all the time.

 

Look at my POSITIVE reviews of other service centers:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/service-center-reviews/13511-lawrenceville-honda.html

http://vfrworld.com/forums/service-center-reviews/18361-found-good-inexpensive-tire-shop.html

Why aren't you in there saying those are slander and that those service centers really are crappy services?

 

Looks to me, this guy is thorough and does some preventive maintenance as well. If I was on a budget I would have told him I'm on a budget and what can we do now to fix the problem? I looked at the cost of the parts he mentioned and no, he's not cheap on labor in my personal opinion. Quality comes usually at a price, if Jim can back his price up. I Hate to see the tire problem between the two party's.

 

Joey, It seems to me you got more of a fix than you asked for. So you decided to take the bike home and fix what you could to save money. That's OK, I have done that to (I do pay for the diagnostic part). Now we are down to the rear tire and bearing? Replacing wheel bearings are a fairly cheap preventative maintenance. The tire is between you and JIMSS MOTO and should have been taken back for JIMSS MOTO to have a chance to correct the mistake. So, effectively you have complained about this JIMSS MOTO being too high priced for your taste and a tire you did not give JIMSS MOTO a chance to correct. Oh, and bragged about fixing the main problem for only $400.00 with a few beers and the 2 rear tires you purchased.

 

Thorough in scope - perhaps. However, that does not in any way change the fact that $1200 is overly inflated. If you or I were to go online and purchase all of those parts, we would only spend in the neighborhood of $500 for ALL of those parts. I actually just went online and ran the numbers. Not OEM parts - but I'm quite certain the shop isn't using Honda wheel bearings either. Once the front wheel is off to change the tire, the bearings and brake work are a no-brainer. So he can't have more than 4 or 5 hours labor in this. And yes I do take issue with people like this getting $75 per hour - which at a full-time rate amounts to $156,000 a year.
But again, we tend to rationalize and excuse exploitation such as this because "it's what everyone charges" or "that's the going rate. This is a free-market, capitalist market - albeit a broken one right now. But we have every right, and obligation to leverage the laws of supply and demand to just say "no". That is exactly why you will find honorable shops charging $40 or $50 per hour, and not marking up parts 100%.
This is exactly why this thread is anything but bogus or irrelevant.
I just laid out the numbers in black and white - there are the facts.

 

Is the front tire and the back tire included in that $500.00 parts price?

If people are willing to pay $75.00 per hour, than good for who ever can get it. Supply VS Demand.
If you don't want to pay $75.00 per hour, that's OK. Just don't go out and bad mouth anyone for their hourly rates.

 

Yes - anyone can get both a 180 rear and 120 front Road Attack for around $300 with free shipping. I just paid $315 for my set of Pirelli Diablos. Rotors and pads up front (EBCs) $175. Wheel bearings will run less than $20. Brake fluid a couple of bucks.

You are absolutely correct that if people want to pay $75 per hour, then they should be allowed to. But that's missing the point completely - when an industry, meaning the organized dealer service providers, conspire to monopolize the market place and set labor rates at artificially outrageous levels, then they SHOULD be bad-mouthed.
How can anyone in their right mind justify paying a salary that is commensurate to what doctors make ($156,000) to some kid who studies part time to get ASE certified. Yes - they're not necessarily working a full 40 hours each week, and the shop does keep most of that. But it's still ludicrous. Just because that's what they charge does not justify it.
But your point of not wanting to pay that $75 is well taken - and I think really what this whole thread is about - alerting members to a vendor who is overcharging and providing poor service. I for one appreciate that, and think in general it serves the greater good.

 

I told myself I was gonna give this thread a rest but I'll add some things to clear up some possible confusions.

With my expectations of a good mechanic I want them to be upfront with the diagnosis and solution. I do not want any hidden repairs and/or unrelated repairs. It's nice to provide some preventative maintenance but it should be left as an option.

When I receive the bill I want to see exactly what the mechanic told me. With this JIMSS Moto example, I wanted him to say that the front brake rotors need to be replaced but also noted some other items that could be repaired for an extra fee. I don't want to have to interrogate a mechanic on why the cost is so high. With the wheel bearings, brake fluid, front tire, etc... I want the mechanic to list those as optional items to repair instead of mandatory to fix the problem.

I have no problem with mechanics checking for extra items to fix since it's their living and it won't hurt in drumming up more business. My only issue is if it was not asked for then state those repairs as optional not as part of the fix.

Plus I want the mechanic to at least note any specific requirements like what tire model I want. I don't want to have to tell him twice what I want and find out he didn't know what I want. It's not that hard to write down notes. When I talked to the guy what I wanted I noticed he didn't write it down. I assumed he must have good memory plus the fact I just want the same tire that was already on should have been a no-brainer on what tire to get.

And I know those expectations are not unheard of since just about everyone I know has those same expectations as well. The good mechanics I have dealt with met all those expectations. Some even went beyond the call of duty and even showed me the faulty part that has to be replaced and some even boldly stated that they are unsure what exactly the problem is.

I hope that clears up some of my expectations and we can finally give this thread a rest. If any of you know of any good service centers feel free to post a thread in this Service Centers Reviews section!

 

Fair enough, now we are communicating.

 

Are you over paid for what you do?

 

Is this $200.00 a piece for the rotors, so $400.00 for the 2 front rotors?

 

Hum it seems that Joey had final say in this debate.....New post states shop closed down and now there are missing customer bikes......If only they would have listen Joey! If it smells fishy its probably a FISH!

 

Great read, thanks for the laughs.....sorry about the experience.

 

and thats all folks