Rude Honda dealership...

How common is it for dealerships to be rude to customers? Went to one today and I don't know what their problem is. I've been there 3-4 times including today but it's been awhile since my last visit. I just wanted to see if they had any new '15 stuff in there. They have always been kinda unfriendly but not rude like today.

No one asked me if I needed help, they just walked by and ignored me. The phone rang and an employee exclaimed an obscenity with a huff because I think it interrupted him getting coffee. He came over to answer it and that got him close to where I was looking at a few bikes. After the phone call I asked about Honda bucks and the guy acted like I was bothering him and stupid for asking. Huffed at me and gave a smart ass response about Honda sends them a check when someone buys something.

I then asked how much they were asking for a particular bike, he huffed and put down some box or something he was messing with and said "I dunno....10.8 - 11.4, whatever msrp is, we don't discount", while hitting his palms on the counter and shrugging. Very condescending and rude tone to his voice. With that I said whatever and left. I wasn't going to buy a bike today but I'm very seriously looking at new bikes. If I choose a Honda it sure won't be from them.

There were 2-3 other employees in there and they just ignored me. To be fair they did say "hows it going" when I first walked in, but after that they wouldn't even look at me. What a joke....this dealer is only a year or so old and I think they have all the exact same bikes they had when they opened. Looks to me like they haven't sold anything since opening.

After I left I went by a place I used to work for a visit and told a friend what had just happened. Three of the guys there just bought scooters over he summer, my friend said they went by the same dealer to look at Ruckus's but didn't buy them there because they were rude to them too. He said they couldn't get anyone to help them or talk to them about doing a deal.

Maybe they make their money off service, but I looked and there were only a few 4 wheelers in the bay.

Anyone else have some special experiences like that at dealers?

 

Thats your typical employee mentality these days. If I went into a business to look see and was ignored or felt like I was bothering the employee. .......
I would go straight to the manager. ...or even ask for the owner..done it many times, never to return.

 

Ok...it took me a minute to pull my eyes away from the left side of the screen to see what you typed.

I think the guy who was rude to me is a manager. Not sure if he's the owner but he was for sure the person in charge while I was there today. He's not a kid, must be 40 something so old enough to know better. My friend specifically mentioned the same guy when we was telling me the story about going there looking at scooters.

I just remembered, the first time I went there I asked about test rides. He told me the only way I could test ride anything would be if I went and got an insurance policy on the bike first.

Not really sure if that's normal or not.

 

Whenever I go to a dealership I wear my old work clothes and nobody bothers me so I can look around with ease, I wouldn't buy new ever again but they don't know that

 

Come ta think about it Lint and I were at a dealership today looking at ALL the new rides and not one salesman came up to us, maybe because we were wearing our gear....Had a sweet little thing help me with tryin on the Shoei NeoTec.

 

I worked in sales a long time ago....standard procedure was to say hello when a customer came in and then after a few minutes check on them, ask them if they need help, what are they looking for...something like that. Then if they say just looking, let them look but be ready to answer any questions when they ask. No need to hound them but sales people shouldn't just ignore people either....and for sure don't huff and puff and act all smart ass and bothered when a customer asks a question. I wanted to punch the guy for acting that way to me. For asking a question about a product he's supposed to be selling! WTF?

 

When you get treated like that, then buy somewhere else, you shuld be sure to go back and say "Look what I bought at your competition only because you guys behave like assholes.

I would also send a letter or email to Honda USA/Canada/Haiti, or where ever and tell them about how you were treated. They could loose their licence to sell Honda Products if they put forth a bad image to Honda customers. Recently an owner of a Tim Horton's sotre in Vancouver poured water all around a sleeping homeless person outside his franchise in down town. Hit the news and head office was right there, like right now, offering an appology very publicly. I am sure the owner of that franchise is going to have to have some pretty good answers to head office

 

Honda-San and his ninjas read this stuff and they want to know aboot these dealers. Make it easy for them and name the dealership.

Also there are sites that deal with this, naming names and kicking or (chopsocky-ing) ass.

A rare kudo to the harleydoods for their "dealers and stealers" that has been around for years.

Ya can't get sued for having an opinion.

 

It is so sad to hear customer facing staff in any business believe it acceptable to behave that way. I cannot say how quickly one bad apple can damage the reputation of a business. So I too think you need to name and shame.

As you mention that the dealership is relatively new and does not appear to be shifting much stock I guess it may be that the staff have basically given up and are just awaiting the inevitable decision by the owners to pull the plug.

As for a business saying bluntly they don't discount - its close to committing commercial suicide in todays internet savvy world. A properly trained and motivated workforce will always have some sort of sweetener to hand - even if they cannot offer a direct discount on their motorbike prices. For instance over in Europe - if you buy a new bike from a Triumph dealership they allow you a certain value of euro to spend on genuine Triumph extras. Inevitably many buyers end up scrolling down the extensive options list, selecting and often choosing to pay for a lot more extras than is covered by the kick-back from Triumph so its proved to be a very clever win-win strategy for the Dealer and Triumph.

The difference between your experience and my local Honda dealer in Thonon is stunning.



OK As you can see they do really like VFR's! But even if you are only in the shop to browse or looking for low value stuff like new gloves the staff always greet people as they enter the shop and rather than try to pressure sell stuff, they allow people to browse after inviting people to let them know if they have any questions or want help to try stuff on. Whilst they may not offer the cheapest accessories locally, they get my sales because I know they only carry decent quality kit, so only sell waterproof gloves which really are waterproof and won't leave you with black stained fingers. If I ever have a problem, I know they are always ready to help - something which you may not get on stuff purchased from China via the internet.

Just my 2p




SkiMad

 

That's too bad...I've to a few shops of various types and am surprised they have made it day to day. Crazy how customer service has lost its touch. However we are blessed with some good places here in iowa. I have bought all our toys there...it is a great environment. When we go in a nice lil gal is always there to great us and inform us of what is going on. Then the kids go get hot dogs and cookies and mom and I browse!
I went it to buy a bike and just didn't see what I wanted and they have MANY...then a salesman took me to the basement where it was PACKED with bikes... Did see beauty 84 GPZ and a 90 FZR. I went back last week for a helmet and they were like" hey did you ever find a nice old bike"? When I told them I bought a VFR and a Hurricane they were stoked with a thousand congrats. A true dealership..
Wish we all had them!

 

Should of snatched up that FZR 1000, won of the sweetest and fastest bike I've ever owned....only for 3 weeks though.. stolen......
Looks like a awesome shop

 

Can't believe the treatment, but it is indicative of a failing business, everyone has given up and they don't care. I recently traded in my '03 VFR on a very slightly used '14 Deluxe. My treatment was just the opposite at Contra Costa Powersports, in Concord CA. Ever since I bought the '03, I had been stopping in on occasion to check what was new. The sales staff always greeted me, but not overly pushy. One salesman has a RC51, and chatted with him about it several times. Last December I stopped by on a Friday afternoon and saw the Deluxe up on a platform, went back Saturday to look more closely at it, and drove it home that afternoon! The entire sale staff and finance manager worked hard to complete the deal that day. My RC51 friend was busy delivering a pair of Hayabusa's to a couple, so they ended up splitting the sale with another salesman. Great service and a fair deal for both of us. They even make you hit a big gong when the sale is completed! My'03 was gone within a couple of weeks, so they are very aggressive and move alot of bikes.
I wouldn't waste anytime on the "Rude Dealership" as they won't be around long anyway.

 

I can't say how wonderful these anecdotal near religious experiences are. They bring tears to my eyes. There should be a mechanism in place to raise some of these dealers to Sainthood. No need to wait until they croak either. Just think, go in to buy a bike or a farkle and be able to tell all your friends that the dude who sold you was a real saint.

The problemo is still with the assholes somewhere on the Gulf Coast of Tejas.

 

I have never been to a good Honda dealership, although I suppose some are. On the other hand, I have never been to a bad Ducati dealership. YMMV

 

I had an FZR1000 that I fixed up after throwing it off the side of a mountain at Deals Gap and yes, you're avatar is special!

It seems specialty places like motorcycle shops, gun stores, hobby shops, coin dealers etc etc either suck or they're great and the difference is the people that work there. Price and inventory are a factor but the place is doomed without good help.
I feel like IowaVFR should share the name of his "good dealer" for the world to see and 74ullc should try to contact the owner of the "bad dealer" and clue them in. If they turn out to be Jackwads don't worry because "Natural Selection" will take care of it.

 

Very nice Shamrock, great Idea Reg, also you can rate on yelp....I also check ratings...

 

Last time I went to a Honda dealership, probably 4 years ago, I needed an oil filter for my CB, they gouged me $25 for the filter, I said the the bloke behind the counter "look at my face" he asked "why", and my response was"because you will never see it again" and I will never go back again

 

I visited a local Honda dealership looking at helmets. I'd been there before, bought parts for my 84 Magna so a couple of the parts guys have dealt with me. One person said hello when I walked in and that was it. I repeatedly looked through the various helmets and no one asked me if they could help me find anything. If they had something I wanted I would have bought right then and there. 25 minutes later I just walked out, got on my bike and left and haven't been back since. This store is about 4 miles from my house so convenience was a big plus when getting parts, they are open later than 5pm. Now if I want to visit a Honda dealer that cares about it's customers, I have to drive 45 minutes to an hour for decent service. I sent them a "nice" email about my experience with no response. Being in a very customer oriented industry myself, I'm not sure they cared for my description of theirs.

 

Similar thing happened to me at Home Depot when I went shopping last week for a new random orbital sander. My Makita stopped working, the cheap fuggen thing. It was only about 27 years old. Anyways. I was looking for a Bosch. They had one. Twice, clerks came up to me and asked if they could help. Soon as I asked a question, basically they didn't know the answer then walked away to deal with other questions.

One question was about the hook and loop on the sander appearing to be insufficient to hold the sandpaper discs. They next one was if they had one in the box which I could look at this hook and loop to see if maybe the display model was a bit worn. Really difficult questions. So I went to their competitors store and found my answer. Also found where I was going to buy my sander albeit for a slightly higher price. Idiots.

And to think that I went there to apply for a part time job as a sales associate in their electrical section and was told after being interviewed by a 25 year old in a clean and sharply presses orange apron, that I don't possess the qualifications they were looking for for that position. Prior to my RCMP career, I was and electrician. I mean WTF.