Reporting Shady Dealer to Husaberg?

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NickGleeson

Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Messages
23
Location
Australia
Guys,

Not sure if anyone has contact details for Husaberg head office. I would like to report some sub-par activities by my local Berg dealer.

I bought my 2008 FE550 April last year, and as per the service guidelines have had it serviced where I bought it, being a certified Berg dealer. I have heard shady reports about this dealer, but as I wanted a Berg and proceeded anyway.

Over the past 9 months my bike has been in for 3 "major" services; 3 hour, 15 hour and 30 hours. I change the oil and filters myself every 5 hours. Some of the things I have had to fix up after pick up:

1) Battery totally flat (3 hours old).

2) Front tyre lock nut missing.

3) Oil filler cap done up so tightly that the bolt was sheared off when attempting to undo it.

4)Rear axle spacer installed backward.

5) After blowing a bottom hose into the water pump and subsequently getting hot, I took the bike in to be serviced (30 hour was pretty close), explained what had happened, wanted to make sure everything was set properly on the engine / cooling side of things and make sure above all no damage was done. On pickup the mechs explained that everything was fine and she was running perfectly. On a ride that weekend, I lost coolant, the culprit being the front right head bolt being loose enough to turn with my fingers.

I am no mechanic by any means, I can do basic service stuff and had enough bikes in my life to know whats not quite right. If I'm finding this type of stuff on the outside, I'm bloody frightened by the potential for issues inside.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick
 
Call me untrusting, but I guess I have become sceptical of anyone working on my gear.

To me your problems don't sound too drastic - yet anyway. All those items could be the result of an inexperienced mechanic or unsupervised apprentice working on your bike.

Was the head stud just loose or had it broken? I don't know if any of the service schedules require the head studs to be checked. If you move the studs each time just to check them they can eventually end up overtighted. All the same I probably would have moved them in this case.

Have you identified anywhere you think they may have intentionally misled you, lied or charged for something they did not do? I would not go trying to get them speared if the problems you have faced are genuine mistakes. It is a business's livelihood you are dealing with after all.

However, if they are dishonest, let all fly that you can!!!!
 
I have to agree with Brad. Try not to confuse dishonesty with poor workmanship.
I think I would voice my displeasure with dealership management.
 
I would suggest taking all of those issues up personally with the dealer.

That way he can address any potential performance issues his staff may have- that he may not even be aware of...

Given the employment oppurtunities for mechanics in the mining sector, its not suprising that bike shops are having trouble sourcing and retaining quality staff.
 
Brad / Berger,

Unsure on the dishonesty part; I know guys who have KTMs and Bergs from the same establishment that ship them to Sydney for major services just to avoid this particular dealer. The main annoyance for me is that these issues have occured over multiple services not just a one off.

Head stud was loose as I torqued it back down to the correct setting.
 
maybe check the rest of the head bolts too.

bike shop owners if they are good guys won't mind if you take up the issue usually but then your bike would have been looked after properly.

if they are a bit out of touch with reality they will defend their mechanic to the death with fists and threats and all kinds of chest thumping maybe not worth the hassle but then again if it all goes south you'll have to work on the bike yourself!

thats arguably the best outcome really.

Hberg address

Jeff Leisk KTM Husaberg Australia, locked bag 200 Welshpool WA 6986

good luck with it
Bushie
 
I agree with the above, the same happened with my falcon ute, had to take it back to adelaide for major services, had a major done, got the ute back with a terrible rattle in the arse end, had a look, and found both the rear brake caliper mounting bolts undone and only held in place because they couldnt slide out past the leaf spring hangers, i was F'n wild, and called them up about it, they werent even able to accept that this sort of mistake is not on, and could have cost lives! Ended up telling them to shove their warranty and that the vehicle was better off with me doing it all myself.

face up to the dealer, its worth starting out with a view to resolve the problem, but if they arent accepting that they either have a problem with workmanship or experience, then its time to start getting up their nose.

Azza.
 
sounds like the sydney assasination squad are creeping in at night and knobbling this poor innocent dealer!

the dealer is being misled into reading the instructions in the workshop manual (always a dangerous thing) and when told to loosen the head bolts are actually doing it! fools!

the day a dealer loosens a head bolt in a service is the day to give up, sit down, hold yer head and just SOB!

regards

Taffy
 
Guys,

Thanks for all the comments, especially Bushie for the Aust contact details. I have approached the dealer and got nowhere but an explanation that staff turn over was an issue and such. I can appreciate this, but I have a problem with the place being a "certified Husaberg dealer / service centre" if there isn't anyone certified to do the job in the workshop.

At the end of the day, your paying for the confidence that someone qualified is taking care of your toy properly and insuring longevity.

Cheers,

Nick
 
maybe they owned some stocks and shares and used to be rich, and hapopy, and then one day this bloke from england named n................!

LOL!!!!

regards

Taffy
 
Unfortunately this sort of story is not uncommon. The one time I decided to take my car to Canberra for a major service to get a dealer stamp in the warranty book resulted in missing parts, parts not correctly replaced, overfilled sumps and wrong spec oils used. Cost $400, then I had to redo it all, and all I got was abused for spotting the problems and a tirade about the quality of apprentices these days. When it calmed down a bit, I got a commitment that they'd 'look after me next time'. Fat chance!

Servicing modern vehicles is straightforward and if you keep a log of all consumables, I keep box ends off filters etc, and a detailed log book, you would have a chance in court with a big blow up, but it'll be painful. I have a friend locally who stamps all my warranty log books for me, because he knows I do it right.

Think about when you were at school. Who ended up as a mechanic? Were they all at the top of the class?

I think the basic problem is that societaly we don’t value mechanics enough, they don’t get paid enough, and we get what we pay for.

Hope its OK Nick.

Steve
 
most of em are earining $20/hr while the shop is charging them out at $77

we expect $77/hr work quality and we often get $20 ........ whose fault is that? shop management pockets the extra money, sue the buggers !

Bushie
 
oh steve, your entering into dangerous territory!! hahahaha what your sayin is mechanics arent the brightest sparks? you are right though! im a mechanic and by no means was i at the bottom far from it 3 unit maths and physics, but alot of the time "dads mate owns a mechanics/monkey chop shop" "he'll give me a start cause school sux" so you get guys that are there because it was an easy way out at the time and know nothing else, not that some of them know this either! i went to tafe with guys i wouldnt let work on my billy kart! you need to find the other type mechanics the ones who truely love the job and arent happy spinning filters on old mates bike or car but love to have the biggest head root of a problem they can find to try and work out! and to make things bigger and better! i'm not sayin im any better than joe blow down the street but yes thats why i do it! although bushmechanic has a point he is right if your the first type i speak of, if a mechanic is the second he can choose his price i know the guys i work with and yes myself included not to sound cocky but the jobs are there on offer all to often for the keen and willing, we dont leave the pillow for double the amount he speaks of, and its on offer we dont have to push for it
in short you have to find the guy who loves his job not the one who done it to leave school early and just remember one bad experience doesnt make us all dodgy!
 
Jusso,

My best mates at school and still are mechs. They are bloody good at there jobs and run there own businesses or contract. One is a heavy diesel mechanic for CAT, and highly sort after. Like Steve said, these boys weren't the brightest sparks when it came to books and such, but give em a practical hands on task and you wouldn't care if the couldn't prove 1 existed or recite the periodic table.

Jusso is right on the money though, these guys love the challenge of the job and aren't in it soley for a pay cheque like I suspect some are. Unfortunatly it only takes a handful of crap mechanics to cause society to tar them all with the same brush.
 
hey jusso sorry I'm a mechanic some of the time, diesels mostly but I'll work on bergs for free :)

I thought I was having a go at bike shop managers... ahm don't mean to point fingers at mechanics in general. one of my freinds is a $20/hr bike mechanic he does it because he loves it and spends a lot of time fixing up other mechanics **** ups.

I have done the finger pointing thing about a twice cocked up berg engine and the manager of that particular shop wants to rub me lil head in the dirt

he reckons the end float being 0.7mm out (- 0.1mm end float) was allright and im being too fussy 0.7 ? ffs he said thats not even a bees ****. and the cranks runout out by 0.2, 0.2 he prolly thinks thats 2 thou:lol: :lol: . wouldn't happen on a honda..thumping chest . well i dunno if dem hondas is dat good I reckon a shopping trolly wheel might have a meltdown if it was set up that badly

what can we do? viagra eye drops and a mirror in the post maybe ?

cheers
Bushie
 
hahaha na man im just pullin the piss hahahahaha im a diesel mechanic as well and those tolerances are ********!! especialy the run out!
 
worst I have seen is 5mm no BS

it was my YZ80 crank big end replaced at local bike shop about 20 years ago

see where it all started :)
 
Dead right Jusso ans Bushie, my old man has had a dude orking for him in the last few days, he worked at a crash repairer here before going back to the mainland to work (dunno why he is back here) but my old man was raving stoked about this guy, just initiative, thoroughness and an eye for diagnosis, he reckoned that if hed'd picked him up 10 yrs ago, he would ave given him the business by now - that's the sort of person that should be in a berg service agent!

withouth thouroughness and an eye for detail (pride in ones work) it doesent matter if you are working on a frigging winch or a DOHC engine, the work will be shyte.

and i know the story over the $$$ issue, i havent bothered to take over the old mans business, it could sell this coming week or so - and i hope it does, cos he's devoted two thirds of his life to 'doing it right', and should start to enjoy the fruits of his labour now before he doesent have the chance.

i can do all that the average guy can do - dont mistake my hesitation 'till i have the facts as lack of knowledge, but who wants to take on a business when all of your livelihood / stayin afloat is based on wether or not you get paid or if the debt collectors can recoup the money from a shonk! my 'desk job' keeps my family on a good wicket.

'spose in summary, you need to seek out the good ones, and support the hell out of them, because you can rely, they are honest, and they do it because they love bergs.

Azza.
 
Yep, lots of good mechanics out there, you've just got to find them, and then look after them. I've got heps more war stories of dodgy ones too though, buyer beware. There are also heaps of other sad stories involving tradesmen and professionals. As it happens, I'm off to a funeral today that mighn't have been necessary yet if the system worked better.
 

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