GBM - greater boston motorsports

[Awesome]

Yup, going in asking for the part, asking them why their price is way off, and explaining that I want to buy from them but their price is way off wasn't enough information or opportunity for resolution. I should have bought the plug smiled and sucked him off. I did not do my job as a customer and give them my money. How dare I.

[scottieducati]

LOL, all I'm doing is pointing out the obvious. Their own website doesn't show that price, so the price was wrong, something got mixed up, you displayed impeccable patience and humility, and the misunderstanding was resolved... oh wait.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

I would have given you more than 50% off if you had sucked me off.

[WinVT]

Just want to chime in here real quick.. If you look up the plug through Tucker Rocky or Parts Unlimited it is actually $43.00 or $45.00, so they didn't make a mistake they just looked up the more expensive alternative. If you get the plug from Honda it is about half the price.... why that is I have no idea.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Just want to chime in here real quick.. If you look up the plug through Tucker Rocky or Parts Unlimited it is actually $43.00 or $45.00, so they didn't make a mistake they just looked up the more expensive alternative. If you get the plug from Honda it is about half the price.... why that is I have no idea.

Yeah. I checked.
Usually TR or PU are cheaper.

I'm now thinking he assumed (as I did) that as usual, the cheapest price would be from PU. However, this is a rare occasion where the PU price is through the roof.

[tsorfas]

this thread makes me happy just because it shows that Karma does exist and asshole get what they deserve here and there.. its the small things in life

[scottieducati]

Point still stands. No WAY was there some intentional price gouging here, which was the OP's assertion.

[Awesome]

LOL, all I'm doing is pointing out the obvious. Their own website doesn't show that price, so the price was wrong, something got mixed up, you displayed impeccable patience and humility, and the misunderstanding was resolved... oh wait.

Tell me what more opportunity I should have given them above telling them their price was way off and being told "no it's not", with attitude?

The misunderstanding was resolved, I got the part, at the right price, and they lost my business and gained a negative review on the internet.

[scottieducati]

The part about the earlier discussion where he told you that Honda is normally more expensive. The chance to find what you need, find a price, then check both OEM vs. distributor sources? Its sounding more and more like the $43 was some kind of price in the system. I am sure he would have loved to find out that in this instance, Honda was cheaper.. since, ya know.. he tried to steer you in the right direction to begin with.

[Awesome]

He didn't tell me honda is more expensive. He told me the honda plug is $43. I told him the honda plug MSRP is $22.

The funniest thing here Scott, is any way I imagine whatever is in your head, there is no backing for your guy being right and your justifications here. There is one scenario where I walk in wearing a clown suit, piss on the counter and shit on a motorcycle, but I assure you I was wearing proper pants and did not defecate on anything while asking for my spark plug.

[scottieducati]

Well Jay, I know your personality wins people over left and right Why I love you so much.

I'm just honestly trying to come to grips with this, since their own website brings up $19.72! SOMETHING was misunderstood, or he made a mistake, either way maybe it's just the moto gods fucking with you.

What I do know, was if you worked there, knew a price was X and had people every. single. day. quoting you online pricing to save a couple bucks, your patience would be pretty short since it's not your call what the pricing is in your system. Don't even get me started with the games Tucker Rocky and Parts Unlimited plays, which I am sure leaves most parts guys at dealers confused sometimes.

What you could do, is stop in again during the day when it's slow and have a talk. See if you can't figure out together what the issue was, because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you weren't quoted that price out of thin air for BS and it's tied to some sort of issue. Whether it's various sources having different pricing, a miscommunication, or something. There's an answer to be found, and instead of being patient and realizing you're just another wanker who walks into that place amongst the thousands of people who don't even know the difference between a spark plug and a spanner... and figuring out the issue, saying you live just down the street and ride a lot, and making an attempt to build some type of relationship with the ONLY local dealer you have... you opted to come bitch here. Over less than $20.

Riddle me this, has your patience ever ran short when someone asked you an innocent question? Have you ever been in that position, where you have just helped a bunch of people find what they need only to have them walk out the store and order online? C'mon man, this isn't a conspiracy for the dealer to be evil and fuck you over. Shit happens, and there's almost always an answer that's pretty damn logical. You clearly have no interest in finding out what went wrong, and more of an interest in that you caught someone on a bad day, or who made a mistake, and reacted negatively to it.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Jay is very patient and will gladly suffer fools.








In reverso-world
:-).

Seriously, when jay told the parts guy that $43 was double what it should be, there should have been some double-checking going on and some realization on the parts guys side that something was wrong.

[JohnnyV]

Scottie while I understand what you're saying, I think the part being lost here is that it is HIS JOB to know the parts, have a pretty good idea of the prices and have the attitude/personality to reasonably work with customers. Jay didn't say "hey I can go to sparkplugs.com and get this for $20" he stated that the manufacturer's msrp should be around $20, at which point any reasonable sales/parts guy would have double-checked the numbers.

You say the guy wasn't trying to gouge Jay, and whether he was or wasn't is besides the point. The fact still stands that if someone walked in without knowing what the plug should have cost as Jay did, they would have walked out of GBM paying $43 for a $20 plug.

[Awesome]

And when Jay said, "listen, I'd like to support you guys, but your price is way off".

Scott, you're scenarios are make believe and full of excuses.

The guy talks to lots of idiots probably. And maybe he was having a bad day. And he rung in two of them. And it was adjusted for inflation. Yes I plan to stop in, find the guy, show him the printout of MSRP, and explain what went wrong. I should wear a gopro, because I bet I get a nose in the air and attitude from him, not any attempt at resolution.

[scottieducati]

Do it. It'd be great to see what happens.

Jay, my scenarios are hypothetical on purpose. Clearly something happened, and it could be explained by TR or PU jerking prices around on spark plugs. Shit like that happens. Did you ask him to look up the Honda part number?

[Awesome]

Do it. It'd be great to see what happens.

Jay, my scenarios are hypothetical on purpose. Clearly something happened, and it could be explained by TR or PU jerking prices around on spark plugs. Shit like that happens. Did you ask him to look up the Honda part number?

Stuff like this happens. But you're imagining of what happened doesn't make it how it happened. I was there, it happened to me.

And when you say, how I should have handled it, then I say that's what I did, and your response is something else I should have done? Really?

[Chippertheripper]

Thanks to this thread, I will never go there.

[TheIglu]

I stopped shopping at dealers for this very reason years ago.

If they all go away, no trouble for me. Hell, I get most of my bike parts on Amazon now.

[scottieducati]

And your representation of what happened is half the story, I'd love to hear the other half and will ask next time I'm in.

Bottom line is, this wasn't some guy trying to rip you off. If there's a $43 price thru parts unlimited, so be it. YOU said you had the Honda part number, which I looked up, on THEIR site and got $19.72. A public price, which you can even order from the comfort of your own home and go down there to pick it up, no muss, no fuss.

Somehow you managed to get something entirely different and we'll never no why, other than your side of the story.

If PU has a $43 spark plug and someone buys it, good for them. I'm not going to blame the dealer for having multiple vendors and not always knowing for sure which is cheapest. If that's the price they're told to sell by the vendor, they have to honor it, it's how the system works. Many times you'll see high prices for little shit like that just because it's a pain to send one of each, perhaps the distributor felt that way and changed it.

None of this changes the fact that I went on their parts finder, with YOUR part number and got $19.72.

You yourself said you didn't even get to the point of using a computer to compare because you left based off your perceiving the guy had an attitude. And yes, if you think something's wrong then you should ask them to double check, check other vendors, etc. I've had plenty of dealers do this for me, not just GBM.

[scottieducati]

You mean the company that's blatantly evading taxes across the globe to preserve their cheaper prices, gaining an unfair advantage over the very local dealers you detest for having to include things like taxes, etc. in their pricing?

Try calling Amazon and saying you have XX year bike and getting them to cross reference a part.

World ain't that simple guys. You would be very sorry if you had no dealer network.

What flipping world do you guys live in, honestly?? You want good local service, develop a relationship with the people you deal with.

You want a cheap price, buy online. Nuff said.

I stopped shopping at dealers for this very reason years ago.

If they all go away, no trouble for me. Hell, I get most of my bike parts on Amazon now.

[TheIglu]

You mean the company that's blatantly evading taxes across the globe to preserve their cheaper prices, gaining an unfair advantage over the very local dealers you detest for having to include things like taxes, etc. in their pricing?

Try calling Amazon and saying you have XX year bike and getting them to cross reference a part.

World ain't that simple guys. You would be very sorry if you had no dealer network.

What flipping world do you guys live in, honestly?? You want good local service, develop a relationship with the people you deal with.

You want a cheap price, buy online. Nuff said.

No, that's not "nuff said" because you are on a personal mission that has very little to do with the world as it functions now.

I want a reasonable price and the ability to cross reference part numbers, which I can do online without issue. If you can't, you are an internet illiterate and I can see why you NEED to have the hand holding of a dealer parts guy. Nobody mentioned service in this thread, that is completely different. We're talking about retail purchasing of motorcycle related items.

YOU would be sorry if YOU had no dealer network. Don't lump everyone in with your underdog cause. I am smart enough not to need it, plain and simple. Get all high and mighty as much as you want, but I haven't had a NEED for a dealer since I learned how to utilize the other resources available, which is going on about 8 years now. I did try to use a dealer for parts a few years back, they fucked me over by saying the parts would be here by XXX, called on XXX, "oh, we haven't ordered them yet". Made it right by giving me a discount on my next order, but lesson learned. Why would I do that to myself again? I hit up Bike Bandit, Ron Ayers, Amazon, Motorcycle Superstore, Twisted Throttle, etc etc for what I need. If I need help, I call one of them, email one of them, chat with one of them, check forums, etc. Plus their pricing is the same online as in the store for places like TT. They have a helmet I want, I go there to try it on and know I don't need to go home and order it online from them to get a halfway reasonable price.

Last time I talked to a service tech, he was a shithead that was inspecting my bike who I graduated from high school with. I know more about my bike than he does by a HUGE margin thanks to the internet and doing free research. I wouldn't trust my bike to any one of those dealer hacks from what I've heard come out of their mouth. Private shop guys? Possibly. Specialists? (dyno, suspension, etc), definitely. But to tell me that a parts guy standing behind a counter with the same microfiche that I can see online is somehow a valuable commodity is asinine. He's going to order the parts and wait for them to arrive just the same as I would.

Nostalgia is not a valid reason, it is an emotion. If you can't plan ahead two fucking days (thanks Amazon Prime!) to get your brake pads, tires, batteries, spark plug, valve shims, or less than a week for any OEM part off the microfiche, then that is your own poor planning. Don't guilt everyone else into getting worse service while spending more just to keep your security blanket for last minute "oh shit"s open.

[KnuckleBallz]

This thread is a brilliant lesson in costumer service & the realities of the new economy.

Honestly it sounds like GBM fucked up enough in the past that their rep prevents them from getting any benefit of the doubt here. Really sounds like a simple mistake. Sucks, but it is what it is.

The customer is always right, especially when they're wrong. That mantra goes a long way.

[TheIglu]

Well Jay, I know your personality wins people over left and right Why I love you so much.

I'm just honestly trying to come to grips with this, since their own website brings up $19.72! SOMETHING was misunderstood, or he made a mistake, either way maybe it's just the moto gods fucking with you.

What I do know, was if you worked there, knew a price was X and had people every. single. day. quoting you online pricing to save a couple bucks, your patience would be pretty short since it's not your call what the pricing is in your system. Don't even get me started with the games Tucker Rocky and Parts Unlimited plays, which I am sure leaves most parts guys at dealers confused sometimes.

What you could do, is stop in again during the day when it's slow and have a talk. See if you can't figure out together what the issue was, because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you weren't quoted that price out of thin air for BS and it's tied to some sort of issue. Whether it's various sources having different pricing, a miscommunication, or something. There's an answer to be found, and instead of being patient and realizing you're just another wanker who walks into that place amongst the thousands of people who don't even know the difference between a spark plug and a spanner... and figuring out the issue, saying you live just down the street and ride a lot, and making an attempt to build some type of relationship with the ONLY local dealer you have... you opted to come bitch here. Over less than $20.

Riddle me this, has your patience ever ran short when someone asked you an innocent question? Have you ever been in that position, where you have just helped a bunch of people find what they need only to have them walk out the store and order online? C'mon man, this isn't a conspiracy for the dealer to be evil and fuck you over. Shit happens, and there's almost always an answer that's pretty damn logical. You clearly have no interest in finding out what went wrong, and more of an interest in that you caught someone on a bad day, or who made a mistake, and reacted negatively to it.

Faulting him for TRYING to use a local dealer, nice. He did try. They f'ed it up. THEY could of double checked when he questioned it. It has nothing to do with their patience. You once again are letting emotions validate poor business decisions.

[Awesome]

And your representation of what happened is half the story, I'd love to hear the other half and will ask next time I'm in.

Bottom line is, this wasn't some guy trying to rip you off. If there's a $43 price thru parts unlimited, so be it. YOU said you had the Honda part number, which I looked up, on THEIR site and got $19.72. A public price, which you can even order from the comfort of your own home and go down there to pick it up, no muss, no fuss.

Somehow you managed to get something entirely different and we'll never no why, other than your side of the story.

If PU has a $43 spark plug and someone buys it, good for them. I'm not going to blame the dealer for having multiple vendors and not always knowing for sure which is cheapest. If that's the price they're told to sell by the vendor, they have to honor it, it's how the system works. Many times you'll see high prices for little shit like that just because it's a pain to send one of each, perhaps the distributor felt that way and changed it.

None of this changes the fact that I went on their parts finder, with YOUR part number and got $19.72.

You yourself said you didn't even get to the point of using a computer to compare because you left based off your perceiving the guy had an attitude. And yes, if you think something's wrong then you should ask them to double check, check other vendors, etc. I've had plenty of dealers do this for me, not just GBM.

How thick are you? I ASKED THEM WHY THE PRICE WAS DOUBLE MSRP. He didn't check it, he didn't look up anything, or check anything, he said "No it's not", without breaking eye contact. I didn't run for the door when he said $43 so I could post to NESR. Get some reading comprehension and get the fuck out of Scottieducati-fantasy-lala-land. Jesus.

[scottieducati]

Again, I have little but hypothesis to figure stuff out here (but quite simply waking in with a print out of the part number, and a source for Honda parts would have sufficed), but let's just say that the stock of plugs in the US was sold out to Honda dealers. Let's say Parts Unlimited ordered more, but they are more expensive (I know first hand, NGK has price fluctuations, discontinues parts, shuffles inventory around, etc), and the dealer quotes this price. How is that them fucking up if the price has changed? Maybe they have stuff in stock, ordered through these distributors and not through Honda?

How thick are YOU Jay? I already demonstrated you could have not asked for a damn thing, handed the man the part number, and would have received the plug at $19.72 just as it appears on their website (assuming it was in stock and received thru Honda not another channel), or at worst could have ordered it thru Honda, OR you could have declined paying more for the same thing not thru Honda, you didn't want to wait, and ordered it elsewhere as you did?

How does any of this change what appears to be a valid inflated price for "a spark plug"? That's what you asked for wasn't it? You didn't ask specifically for 31911-KRN-731 you used in the OP did you? Or maybe you did... maybe he said you didn't want the Honda one, because they didn't have it in stock thru Honda, or knew they're usually cheaper thru another source and had those in stock?

You know jack shit about why he said what he said and it's validity, but you don't seem to care. THAT is my problem. I have no horse in this race, GBM will be there to serve many others who need parts when you swear them off. I'll continue ordering parts there because they treat me well and always handle my parts orders... even for obscure bikes that aren't in the US system. You know what has worked so well for me all these years? Ordering by part number. Period. And yes, I've had to spend hours cross referencing and finding US available parts by confirming part numbers via Ron Ayers or the like. It's NOT their job to price check, price match, do this, do that. It's their job to have what you need in stock from a reliable distributor. If that distributor ups the price, it's not the dealer's fault for quoting you that price. You have NO CLUE what conditions may exist with pricing right now. You have no idea if it was an honest mistake. You have no idea about any of these situations because you left to bitch and whine here instead of getting to the bottom of it. If the parts guy gives you attitude, guess what? There's a parts manager who wants to know these things.

Just calling it like I see it Jay, nothing more. You have such a great idea of what you wanted, but couldn't resolve a mystery pricing issue over a common spark plug. God help someone trying to help you order an obscure part.