A warranty tale

[tricol]

Hi all,

So, my Trident has been off the road and in the dealer workshop for 2 weeks now. It went in for its first service and they discovered a rear light fault. After diagnosing the problem a new rear light cluster is needed. None in stock. Fair enough, they said they weren't likely to have it sorted before the bank holiday weekend. Another week passed, no phone call. Chased this afternoon and no been told end of the month before the part arrives. Bit of an apology, I understand getting hold of parts right now is tough. Again, no offer of a courtesy bike. I haven't pushed this as I was told I couldn't have a courtesy bike as I only had my license less than a year when I booked the bike for that initial service.

Now, I'm pretty patient, and working in sales/manufacturing I'm well aware of the current issues. But, the end of June means probably 5-6 weeks without a bike. Rear light fault means the bike is illegal to ride. What can I do? Could the dealer give me a courtesy bike? I'm guessing it's an insurance related thing. My aftersales experience so far with Triumph and this dealer has been really really poor. Communication has been non existent. It has soured my ownership experience. Or am I being unreasonable?

I'm trying not to think about the fact the weather has been fantastic for the past couple of weeks and looks to continue.

Suck it up, or make a song and dance with the dealer?

[lostboy]

Make a song and dance. Their service has been poor, communication non existent. Time to become stern.

[KungFooBob]

Good service would have been them removing the part from an unsold bike on the shop floor to fix yours (if they have one).

[Dickyboy]

You'd have thought Triumph UK could at least be persuaded by the dealer to rob a light off another bike to keep you on the road, give em both barrels I'd say.

Edit-beaten to it by kungfoobob

[tricol]

Well, I know when I dropped the bike off for the service I counted maybe 5 Tridents in total just from a quick nosy about. A few of them might have been customer bikes. This was before I learnt about the issue.

[Tricky]

Good service would have been them removing the part from an unsold bike on the shop floor to fix yours (if they have one).

Agreed- and that's exactly what Premier Bikes did with my 390 Duke when it suffered from the display moisture ingress / fogging up issue that so many (all?) of them seemed to, as there had been such a run on them that there were none in stock in Europe apparently.
The replacement started misting up too almost immediately, but that got swapped again too as soon as I could be arsed to get down there again

[The Spin Doctor]

Oh for the days of a bayonet bulb.

[The Spin Doctor]

If it were me, I'd get the bike back and cobble a cheap fog light into the brake light circuit whilst waiting for the part. Amazing what can be done with gaffer tape.

[Supermofo]

Yeah I'd be on the phoning giving them a rocket by now. You've been patient and polite but keeping your bike for weeks with no comms and no offer of an alternative bike is taking the piss frankly. Don't be rude, but do be firm. What they've done isn't good enough and you want a solution now not by the end of June. Ask if they'd leave their demo bike off the road for a month!

[Horse]

Have you contacted Triumph directly? Suggest that they follow the advice here and cannibalise a bike. Don't contact customer services, waste of your time. Hunt down Director details then post a paper letter recorded delivery.

Explain that the dealer won't lend you a bike, so ask for loan of one from their press fleet. Or perhaps they could arrange for another dealer to lend you a used bike.

Be clear in the letter:
- not your fault it failed
- you have been incredibly understanding, especially given the unique circumstances, Covid etc, but your patience is exhausted
- the situation is now unacceptable that you are without a bike, it needs resolution now
- tell them what you want, and when by (response within 5 working days of receipt, resolution within 10 working days)

Keep us updated.

[MrLongbeard]

I'd be getting rather miffed.
First go on social media facebook and twitter and spam the shit out of them, then I'd go in the showroom on a nice sunny busy weekend and be rather loud about their service or lack there of.

If they can't steal the part of another bike then they should offer to fit an alternative (A9830116 (I think that's the puppy)) instead

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I would be very pissed off, I'd also want a tail light off another bike in the show room, failing that they could give me all my money back and keep the bike.

At real bare minimum they should offer a temporary fix with a taped on tail light, you could use a bicycle light as a tail light and it wouldn't take much to make a brake light that works.

[Skub]

I'm all for face to face discussions with any problem at all. I've always found folk to be way more cooperative when you're standing looking at them,reading their body language and letting them read yours.

Because a phone call is merely audio,it allows some folk to act in a manner they wouldn't in person.

I hope you get sorted soon,but this all reflects very poorly on the dealership and they ought to be interested in that fact.

[Horse]

I'm all for face to face discussions with any problem at all. I've always found folk to be way more cooperative when you're standing looking at them,reading their body language and letting them read yours.

Always a good idea to have those discussions.

Make an appointment, you need to speak to the 'dealer principle' (check their web site, or just phone up and ask who it is.

Prepare your case, try to predict their likely fobbing off suggestions. Also, rehearse what you want, go stuck record.

Oh, and have the discussion in the middle of the showroom, on a Saturday afternoon No, thank you, I don't want to step into your office.

[KungFooBob]

Firebomb the dealership in the middle of the night, that'll learn them.

PM me for tips.

[Taipan]

Unacceptable. Even a CCM dealer pulled an ignition relay of a showroom bike to keep my bike going! Do they not have another in the showroom? As others have said, take it off that and fit the new one to the showroom bike when it finally comes in. Deffo go in for a face 2 face and preferably request a meeting with the dealerships general manager.

[tricol]

Firebomb the dealership in the middle of the night, that'll learn them

I'm from Belfast, so have plenty of ideas up my sleeve

I have sent an official complaint via the Triumph website to the dealer, but I will call the dealer and speak to management today.

[Supermofo]

I have sent an official complaint via the Triumph website to the dealer, but I will call the dealer and speak to management today.

Good luck Polite but firm. They are taking the piss. The fact they can't get the part is their problem, not yours.

[DefTrap]

I've found companies are reasonably sensitive/reactive to polite criticism on their twitter/instagram/facebook pages.

[tricol]

I've found companies are reasonably sensitive/reactive to polite criticism on their twitter/instagram/facebook pages.

True, but I will give them their chance today to see if they can find a resolution.