We crashed our Scoopy - Need to fix it in CM

[mallmagician]

Hi all,

We had a dog avoidance accident on our Scoopy. We are ok, but the Scoopy not so ok. Basically a load of plastic on one side, and one of the front forks is bent.

Insurance turned out not to cover it, so we are paying for it ourselves.

We loaded the bike onto a Songtau, and took it to Nat Honda (Where we bought it), to ask them for a quote to fix the various bits.

Its basically, a few plastic panels on the one side, and a twisted front fork.

We asked them for prices of the forks for example, and they were very reluctant to give us a price before they had taken it all apart and had a look. We explained that we just wanted a rough idea of the cost of replacement forks, so that we could sort out our finances. It took a lot of negotiation for them to give us some prices. Obviously, I understand that they want to check it all out before they do the job, but their reluctance concerned me. They seemed very keen to just shove us out the door - worlds apart from the king-like treatment on our Bike Purchase visit!!!

I actually had the need to replace the Left Hand Brake lever about a month ago (Wife forgot to put the stand down, and dropped it). I went to a spare parts dealer just down a little soi off Chiang Moi road, and that was a genuine Honda part, and was 90baht. I asked the price at Nat Honda, and they said 120baht. If they have that sort of markup of 35% on all the parts we are asking them to sort out for us, then we will be paying way too much. Of course, it may be that they just add 30 baht to each part.

Anyway, their price on the stock Honda Scoopy i shocks was 3,300 baht, just for the part, not the labour. Is this too much? Total amount of the plastics and the Forks was 6000 baht, and thats without labour, or anything else they find when they take it apart.

Does anyone have a number for a different Honda dealer that we can call to find out their part prices. I worry that we could end up being overcharged a good couple of thousand baht, and with a wedding coming up, we need to avoid that if possible.

I should add that we pointed out that we bought the bike off them, and they said they should be able to sort out some sort of discount. So it may not be so bad when they call today (We left it with them on Saturday), with a price. I just want to be prepared, should I need to tell them not to bother, and take it elsewhere.

Any advice on prices I should be paying, or phone numbers for other Honda Bike Dealers in CM? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Phil

 

[mallmagician]

Ah, panic over. Seems Nat Honda have finally let their customer service kick in, and its total 4900 all in to fix.

However, they said we can have extra discount if we show our Nat Honda card that we were meant to receive when we bought the bike. They didn't give us one, so I will have fun when we go in to collect it:-

(1) I will wear my very fetching Nat Honda jacket
(2) I will point out the fetching Nat Honda sticker on the bike
(3) I will show them the fetching Nat Honda stamp in the service book from the day we bought the bike
(4) I will show them all the receipts they gave us when we bought it.

How could they think we are not entitled to the discount - showing a card or not. As a customer of theirs, we are entitled to the card/discount, so I will have fun arguing that one with them.

I still would like to find an alternative Honda dealer to fix it at. I was still less than impressed with their after sales service. Just didn't seem interested unless they are selling you the bike.

Phil

 

[rmbike]

Finding a reputable repairer is like shooting fish from space.

Good luck.

Ask for all the old parts back,
maybe they can be repainted on the cheap
and could be used in a pinch

 

[mallmagician]

Well we went to pick it up and basically this is what happened. I need help! :-

(1) They had put the price up to 6,300 baht. I asked what for, and they said once they had put everything on it, they took it for a test drive, and at 60kmph it had a wobble, so they say they fixed the frame!
(2) I argued that they did not contact me to speak about that, or ask if they could do it, so I brought them back down to the 5,000.
(3) As they presented the bill, I asked my wife to show me where the front shocks are on the bill, so I can check the price they finally charged for them. She pointed to a 350 baht line. I asked why it is so cheap, and it turns out they had just straigthened the severely bent shock. I had explicitly asked them to change the front shocks, because fixing them is dangerous. The metal is now weak.
(4) I went nuts at them, and told them the only reason we agreed to the 5,000 baht when they called, was because we thought that included the NEW shocks, that we had explicitly asked for. (They even have the piece of paper saying clearly that we asked for NEW front shocks.
(5) They finally agreed to order the new front shocks (They will be there next Wednesday), and we reluctantly agreed after much bartering to pay 6,000 in total, once they had put the new shocks on.
(6) I came home, and spoke to a Scooter loving friend, and he pointed out that the reason the bike probably had a wobble at 60, is because they bodged the front forks. So now, we believe that they have unnecesarily messed with the frame, which will of course now be wrong when they put the NEW shocks on it.
So.... in summary...

(a) They have compromised the integrity of the frame without asking, and very possibly with no need.
(b) They tried to give us a dangerous bike back (First pot hole we hit, and the fork could easily have bent, and we'd have been off)
(c) Now, we are to get a bike back with correct NEW shocks on the front, but with a frame that is likely bent, because they tried to compensate for their bodge job.

What do I do???

Any help, advice, contacts at Honda Thailand Customer relations?

I think this all is absolutely disgusting. We cannot afford to write it off and buy another bike, but I do not want my wife on a bike that is anything less than safe, especially when we entrusted it to a Honda dealer!!

Please help.

Thanks

Phil