Poor Service GP Bikes | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Poor Service GP Bikes

Anyone affiliated with the afformentioned shop/service center reading this thread should take note.

Every customer interaction is an opportunity to succeed or fail. You can either forge a personalized connection with a customer increasing the likelihood they will return at some point in the future to patronize your business, or send them away feeling dissatisfied never to return again.

That seemingly trivial "can you help me fix this nail in my tire? ...I don't have an appointment" might entail a tech only spending 10-minutes to plug the tire so the rider can safely get home. Happy customer = return customer will almost certainly materialize into a new set of new tires, then a helmet and jacket, eventually a new motorcycle purchased down the road along with regular service interval appointments.

But send that same customer away feeling dissatisfied — fail to meet their expectations, "we can't remove that nail in your tire until September" which akin to "we're booked solid, please make an appointment" rigid inflexibility and you've possibly lost that customer for good and all potential future sales.

And now the ripple effect: customer's "negative experience" gets broadcast on social media and local discussion forums like GTAM; goes on to tell friends, family and acquaintances.

It's a competitive landscape. Vote with your wallet and go where your business is valued.
 
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D-J said:
That seemingly trivial "can you help me fix this nail in my tire? ...I don't have an appointment" might entail a tech only spending 10-minutes to plug the tire so the rider can safely get home.
But send that same customer away feeling dissatisfied — fail to meet their expectations, "we can't remove that nail in your tire until September" which akin to "we're booked solid, please make an appointment" rigid inflexibility and you've possibly lost that customer for good and all potential future sales.
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You cannot safely plug a sidewall puncture, you must replace the tire - OP knew that.
Shop didn't have a tire in stock, couldn't get one until early next week.
Shop could and should have made accommodations to perform the repair in as timely a fashion as possible if that was acceptable.
OP decides to haul to bike away, to a shop that has inventory on the required tire and can perform the repair reasonably promptly.
The shop didn't make the sale, OP walked away p-o'd. Nobody won....
 
Word of mouth is the most powerful tool a business has at their disposal. You can spend millions on advertising but real personal experiences and referrals are more powerful than anything, especially in the digital age we now live in.

The most important lesson I learned early in my career was this:

If you do your job well and the client is happy, they might tell a few people. Screw it up and they will tell every single person that will listen.
 
Y'all know crazy glue works pretty good to hold a sliced tire together or plug a tubeless tire leak for a while, right?
 
Still a few unknowns - if the delay was because of the tire backorder, you can't blame them. But if it's because they are too booked, then that's different. A friend wanted a pair of Michelin Road 5's and was told they were backordered a month. He still bought from them, since he got the same story from Pete's and GP was cheaper.
 
Big_bob said:
Sigh. I only posted this so that others would be informed and could make their own decisions about which dealer(s) to support.

So, just to address some of the "issues" raised above:

I have purchased a new motor cycle (in 2017) from GP and regularly buy parts and apparel there.

I had the bike taken to BMW Toronto, because they had the tire in stock (couldn't find anyone closer who did).

I wasn't a "Karen", I politely explained my situation (stuck in their parking lot with a flat) and would have accepted "we can't do it until Tuesday" (it was a long weekend).

But, I think for them to say they can't do a tire replacement (it's normally a task for an apprentice or helper) for a month when you are stuck in their parking lot is just ridiculous.

But hey, that's just my opinion, forum members should do whatever they think is right.
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GP should have repaired your bike IMO. If you had asked to speak to someone in charge you might have received more sympathy, rather than a dumb service clerk. I'm a fan of GP, they run a very large well-stocked shop, but I never let anyone touch my bikes. I'm sure that if you let a service manager or store manager know you had an emergency they probably would have responded.
 
Even if they couldn't have fixed it someone could have had a much more tactful discussion....

"Sorry sir, we checked and unfortunately we don't have that sized tire in stock. If we did I'd do our absolute best to fit you into the shop right away as I know this has you in a big pickle since you're on a ride away from home and stranded. I wish there was more we could do, our apologies - if you'd like to leave the bike here however and find a ride home we'd be happy to source the tire and get things fixed up for you as soon as possible and call you the minute it's fixed - I know that's not ideal, but it's the best we can do, sorry. Let me know if there's anything else we can do to help".

That would go a long way versus a blunt "Come back in September".

I know if I got the first bit I'd at least walk away knowing that the shop cared but just legitimately couldn't help.

If I got the second, it comes across as a blunt "Go away, we're too busy, and I don't care that you're stranded".
 
Max527 said:
I apologize for criticism of the OP. I hope GP realizes that they could have handled this better.
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Ok, call me a little suspicious. The OP joins GTAM on Friday afternoon, then a few hours later with his first post, trashes GP Bikes. Now we only have his side of the story. Then he says he bought the bike at GP. So he doesn't go and talk to the salesman, "hey can you help me out" Or talk to Jerry. You bought a bike here, Jerry will try to make you happy if it only takes fixing a tire. Anyone here work at GP that could look in on this?
 
I buy stuff from GP. Never done service there though..
 
ive been thinking about this situation

op seems to have made a good decision by using caa to his advantage, and to get the tire and service he wanted/needed

kind of disappointed w gp - they perhaps could of offered to mount an old used tire to at least get you mobile-but in the end things worked out well for the op w/o spending money for a band aid sol'n

I think the op made a good decision given the circumstances

thank goodness caa sent a capable tow driver. tip of the hat to the caa tow driver

EDIT - I think caa should require mandatory training for those who do motorcycle calls.
 
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If it's a tubeless tire and it's not raining:
Cyanoacrylate + air = on the road again ?
 
+ Does GP bikes sell the Goop that goes into your tire to make it balanced and semi flat-proof?
They might not think of selling crazy glue but why did they not sell you that stuff?
... put the crazy glue in your first aid kit that you carry in your fanny pack, it has medical application too. It holds humans together pretty good.
 
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Big_Bob,
maybe they want to send you free swag
.... complementary tire patch kit and GPbike Stickers maybe? (y) I'll take it if he doesn't.
 
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