I went to a local dealer here and a few thoughts:

1. I went to get the 5 sprocket nuts and bolts that the chain shredded.  $3.99 for a bolt and $3.99 for a gawd damn nut  . All individually. It is a dealer only part from what I've been told by some shops but still...... REALLY?  I called a few other dealers and found a place that has bolts $1.90 and nuts $1.70.  Almost a $20 total difference and mileage is nothing. Is $40 for 10 nuts and bolts high?

2. I love it when they treat me like I'm not wanted there. I walked into the parts dept. upstairs only a customer that seemed to be good friends with the employee said hi.  2 people behind the counter.  The girl doesn't say ONE word to ME but goes to another customer that comes in a few minutes after me, maybe it was his uniform.  The dude also doesn't say 1 word to me. As I approach the counter he turns to answer the phone.  When he gets off, still not a word just a look in my direction. WTF?  I nod and say "hey hows it going".................NOTHING. Gets me prices, sends paper work to front desk to ring up and I leave without putting my order in.  But to be completely fair, after I left an employee called me asking if I wanted to make the order, I told him no I found it cheaper.  He asked how much, I told him and he was pretty surprised.  He asked if they are the correct ones (since the nuts&bolts are S/O) and said if they aren't correct to come back and we can work on the price.

Was it me?  Couldn't have been because my brother had a similar bad time there. He was looking for a new bike and went in just to look and ask questions.  The dork employee handed him some finance paper work and told him to fill'em out, my bro told him he isn't interested it financing only asking questions.  Doucheployee of the month basically told him he had better things to do and come back when he's ready to buy???

(I was going to name the shop here but will wait to see what happens)

Yeah, it's not rare for someone working in the dealership to get your info, say they've gotta go ask their boss something, and check your credit while you're browsing so they can decide if you're worth their time or not.

What do the nuts and bolts look like?? I can't imagine they're something you can't pick up at a hardware store somewhere. Lets see some pictures.

We had a dealer like that here. The important word is HAD ! When they went belly up I didn't shed a tear for them, they had the same exact attitude as you just described. They had that "you are a POS and we can't waste our time on you". Well they all have plenty of time now.  The other dealer that is about  30 miles away has seen the light and that light is the internet. If they don't treat people well they will join the ranks of the unemployed too because guess what there Mr Knowitall parts counter guy? I can get anything you have in your little microfish just as quick and for far less than you are asking for it. So it would be in your best interest to treat me and every customer like they matter.

I ordered my bolts and nuts from Bike Bandit. They had to ge them from a parts warehouse but I go them and they were pretty cheap if I remember. Definitely not dealer only. We have a suzuki dealer and there's 1 guy behind the counter that is a sucker of the c*** kind. Everyone else seems pretty decent.

Give us the name.  And don't go back if you can possibly avoid it.  Many non-Suzuki dealers can order Suzuki parts. Customer service is important.  

Some suck, some don't. And for a given dealership, some employees suck, some don't.  You have to evaluate what you have available and make your choices, though often said choices are not optimal, as really good dealerships are scarce. On the other hand, ordering a $7 part from somewhere on the net and paying $7 to ship it (and waiting a week for it to show up) is kinda silly if the dealer has it in stock (or can get it in a day or two) for $10 - even moreso if they have it for $5. As such, not making too many assumptions, and checking about various things before making a decision on where to buy is generally a good policy, at least unless and until you have found as good of a dealer as you have available in your local area.

Place I used to live, there were 3 dealers, and two sucked rocks. The other one was actually capable of working on bikes.

I've got one somewhat nearby I don't like much, but since they also do a big mailorder business normal parts can often be at the dealership in hours (warehouse is a couple of miles from the storefront) for prices as good as (or better than) buying from bikebandit. There's another dealer, but they are 3 times as far away, and it's been a while since I bothered to visit them. I don't have anyone in this area I trust enough to take the bike to, so I do all my own wrenching.

Calling around before you bother to go in might also help. Knowing what is available and at what price out on the internet is also good in this day and age - while I hate buying boots mailorder, none of the local dealers stock enough boots (or any of a style I'd actually be interested in) to be of any use, so that's become a default "do it on the web" operation, unless I expand my search area considerably and remember to hunt out dealers when I'm out of town. Likewise, the exact same helmet costs 2x as much at the dealer as on the web, so that's not an item they are going to sell to me.

I don't recall the details of the sprocket bolts - they are probably grade 8 (high strength heat treated), which you can get at better hardware stores (since they are metric, that will have to be a good hardware store - also scarce these days), but they may also have a specially done unthreaded section where they are inside the sprocket itself, to make them stronger. But even a standard bolt becomes expensive once it's a part at a dealer, and it's not just because the dealer is out to get you - there's a good deal of overhead in handling items and tracking items as parts. As such, any of the regular bolts are (nearly) always going to be cheaper at the hardware store. But you don't want to put grade 2 Chinese bolts on something that will make life unpleasant if it breaks loose, either.

Well, I can tell you 100% why that happened..


The bolts cost the shop prob about .60 and they aren't really trying to make $4 on you per bolt... There is a "price escalator" that is built in to all power sports dealer software... it wont sell a part for less than a certain amount.

I work at a multi brand shop and noticed the same thing... Some OEM bolts truly are "factory only" and cost some $$$.. but even common bolts can have a "minimum price" at most shops.

I send most people to the local ACE hardware or Fastenall.. If you ask the dealer to look at his cost and give you a cost + % price you should be able to get a better result 

I've long ago come to the conclusion... to get Instant Assistance it is better to Phone than be there in person as they Ignore live people in front of them to answer the phone.

Usually the people behind the counter have no say in the price. It's on the computer and that's that. Just like Check Out Chicks at supermarkets.

If you have the bolt in question... take it to a Specialist Bolt shop. Guys that work at those places are Amazing and will have just about any bolt you can think of. Show em and they'll likely match it.

Speaking of high prices parts... popped into my local Suzuki dealership and asked for a price on the chrome-like plastic Cap that goes on the handlebar clamp Allen-key hex-key bolts. $3.80. "$3.80 for that tiny piece of plastic?" "Yes, want me to order it in?" "Nah, at that price I don't want it that bad"

Anyone know of another place for such things?

My preferred Dealer is a small guy in a side street. Ordered my bike Through him. Most of the people I ride with use his services too. Cheaper than a dealer. Then again, less overhead. Friendly - you don't feel like you're intruding on their time.

The Honda dealership around the corner gave you the "I've got to get out of here" feelings when you walked into the joint. Argumentative staff. Staff that didn't know the cost to add a basic thing to a bike (eg. no idea how much to charge to replace a sidestand, add a rack, or any of those things). All bikes at Above full-retail, they then say, "cause you're local we can do a deal" and knock it down to full retail. They're gone now. Lack of business. While the Suzuki shop across the road does a roaring trade and has now also become a Honda dealer seeing as the other one fell by the wayside. So they now sell Suzuki, KTM, Honda and Kawasaki.

Funny thing about them.... their Head Salesman... the one with the Most sales... doesn't take people for test rides, he let's other's do that. And for the first five years there he didn't even have a bike license while still being top salesman.

Michael

Quote from: mister on November 04, 2009, 12:24:36 AM
Speaking of high prices parts... popped into my local Suzuki dealership and asked for a price on the chrome-like plastic Cap that goes on the handlebar clamp Allen-key hex-key bolts. $3.80. "$3.80 for that tiny piece of plastic?" "Yes, want me to order it in?" "Nah, at that price I don't want it that bad"

Anyone know of another place for such things?

They're not silver, but home depot sells little plastic ones that are black. They're in the hardware aisle in one of the random parts drawers by all the metric bolts, which they also consider to be "random"

Just spray paint them silver.

Otherwise, I'll cut you a deal and sell you the ones on my bike for $3.70 a piece. If you buy all 4 it'll save you 40cents!

Silly dealerships....trying to make money....Crazy...Crazy I tell you...


Yeah most hardware at a dealer is going to cost you a lot. They don't sell hardware etc in volume there so they have to make more money per piece... Just how it is....
If you can find the right bolt elsewhere cheaper-That's where you should get it -BUT  sometimes it's easier to pay for the convenience...... if you have to spend time tracking it down...then drive an hour out of your way to get them or something.... the gas you burn and time you spend...You see what I'm getting at...
Most of the time  I'm buying parts to fix a for sale bike tho.....that extra 10-15 dollars I spend is helping make the profit at the end happen and I'm not  having to hunt around for the miscellaneous stuff I need...


My local place treats me great- I'm in there pretty regularly ( so much I get a frequent flyer discount ). The parts guys don't  ignore customers...they don't come out and hump their legs but they never seem to not greet people and ask if they need help.  

I've been to other dealers in the area who I will never go back to.....ever... I've walked through the sales department and not been acknowledged..... I've ordered parts...been told it's on orde..it'll be here... after a few weeks  ( 4..5...) I got a refund and the  counter guy was a major prick.

Piss poor service is all too common in retail...

OP, it's not just you - I've run into that pissy attitude at auto parts stores and specialty bicycle shops and other places - crazy that a dealer allows its staff to sabotage their image... and I'm at the point where I'll confront a jerk clerk or mechanic on a personal level - like 'What's your problem, man, don't like my looks or something ? Well, what then - you've never even seen me before to be acting like such an sob " - amazing the change in attitude I've seen when I've done that. Seems that if someone's going to to act the jerk, then they should have the cojones to see it thru, but they always become apologetic and 'nice' - pathetic.

I really had to do that same thing like Jared is describing. Oddly, some idiots are untrainable. Others yet go backwards. Like they get worse after you start working wiht educating them. Yet others get sold/bought and the new Idiots are different form the previous. Like ride now bought my old favorite excel motorsports. Those dudes used to gimme free batteries, had my bars on the shelf and would call me when a GS guy comes in with a tough question ... literally treat me like I was working there. The owner would talk to me about fixing other old bikes he bought, like bandit 1200's and eliminator 1000's. He was old school cool.

Several things I bought out of these and sold on to GS and other sites. They'd sell me used parts from people who swpped em out etc etc.
Ride now Idiots are just jerks who would rather "scrap out exhaust pipes rather than sell em 50% after they fit only 1-2 years of a bike and its long since those things are round" Of course that may just be the Bimbo who said it. Needless to say, I know the scrap yard to goes to as well as the driver who takes it there.

I think dealerships are almost as unique as people.

Cool.
Buddha.

The little bolts that go throught those little flanges to hold the exhaust on the engine cost six bucks a piece from my local suzuki dealer. I usually go to a much closer dealer, which is one that sells KTM bikes. They are very cool. I have had most of the work done to my bike done there (anything I can't do myself, I take to them) and they are great. They know me and my bike, and don't even make me pay for parts before ordering them anymore. The other day when my clutch cable sanpped I called and it went something like this:

ring ring ring . . . . .
"KTM powersports, this is (George, for anonymitys sake)."
"Hey its Gavyn. My clutch cable broke."
moments of typing. . . . .
"20 bucks, itll be here tomorrow."
"thanks george."
click

See my dealer is the same way they have been more than accomodating for me. Don't know if it is because between me and my best friend we have bought two bikes there or what but they are awesome.

When I was having a bad day with no money and my battery died the parts manager comped me a new battery. I always try to buy from them and I usually get a 10% discount which helps too!

Overall Central Florida Power Sports  in my book!

Mary

Here are some pics of the bolt I need.  Notice the D head.  No markings to tell me type of bolt.  I went to the cheaper place that was much more customer friendly and also ordered the sprockets and chain.  Total about $142. Not bad not good.

I can understand nottogoofys treatment, thats awesome when you're a regular.  I don't frequent any bike shops enough.   I get the same "don't worry about it" attitude at a pizza place I go to, while I currently don't have a job but I do have a date one of the owners said if we come in everything will be free as long as I get some at the end of the night.



And this is how they sit in the hub

If I can wait for the part I use cheapcycleparts.com (and if this is a no-no to list a site like that just take it out).  I looked up these bolts for a 2000 and the bolt was $1.52 each and the nut was $1.36 each.  I think they tag you for 10 bucks shipping no matter what you order, and take a week or two to get to you with the part.  If you can wait it is def worth it.  I think I bought a clutch lever and brake lever for less than $10 bucks for both from them.  On small stuff they are pretty cheap, I have been quite happy with them as long as you are not in a hurry and order 50-60 bucks so the shipping doesn't kill you.  There are two dealerships within 20 minutes of me and I will drive 45 minutes to go somewhere else because of the crappy service they hand out at the parts counter.  Vote with your wallet, it is the only way things will ever change!  It's kinda fun to pull up that web site and see what the price is of some stuff. 

I have used a hex in there on some other bike ... just sand or grind one side of the hex if it doesn't fit.
Cool.
Buddha.