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Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:06 am
by barryG
Well, I do right now! Took the Burger for its 4000 mile service, Id rather have done it myself but what with the exhaust baffles coming loose and the juddery clutch my confidence in Suzuki quality has waned a bit so wanted to keep the warranty.

Anyway, I was quoted £160 and when I dropped it off they said around 2 hours. I told them the transmission had recently been cleaned and the filter so they had less to do. So, one hour later and its all done, and I fully expected a discount as they didnt have to do much of the work..... nope, in fact it was £163 so a bit more. Now, even if theyd knocked only £20 off Id have felt happy but to charge 2 hours labour for an hours work is to me taking the piss. Especially when Tom used to spend 3 1/2 hours on my Xevo and charge only £140!

So, bollocks to the warranty, from now on its DIY and I definately wont be visiting them again.

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:19 am
by mottza
Did you not challenge them on that?

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:09 pm
by Funkycowie
£45 an hour... £90... then Tax call that another £20... then any consumables. Sounds about right if it is City/Large Town or Near/In London prices... Cheeky is out in the booney's.

Did you get an itemized bill?

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:11 pm
by StephenC
Oh, the price you pay for having a "quality" scooter.

:lol:


Sorry, couldn't resist. :oops:

I guess if you are capable of doing the work yourself then the amount you'll save will almost certainly cover you the cost of one day having to fork out for something major in the event of a warranty failure. So why not?

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:21 pm
by gn2
The only thing you might want the dealer to do would be the valve clearances if they are shim type adjusters.

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:41 pm
by bornagainbiker
I also had a moan about my Suzuki past and forthcoming services. Look at the cost of my quotes and the official Suzuki hours chargeable.
http://www.maxi-muppets.co.uk/forum/vie ... 49&t=11506

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:30 pm
by barryG
Yep, ridiculous! The moan I have is they charge £55 an hour labour and billed me for £99 labour so thats way over an hour that it took.

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:36 pm
by gn2
Might have taken an hour but how many people were working on it...?
Main dealer servicing has always been expensive, small independents tend not to have such expensive premises and other overheads are lower hence they can give better vfm.

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:03 pm
by Sylar
When you stated before that you intended to pay £160 for a service,( and alot of people on here thought that was reasonable) i could not believe that is acceptable in the scooter community. I have been riding Motorcycles for over 50yrs.I have only had scooters( a 400n 2000reg Suzuki Burgman and a Silverwing600 07 reg) since November2009.The first was the Burgman i had no trouble at all cleaning the filters, changing the plug, oil and filter. I have had new tyres on the wheels , which i take off myself. The Silverwing had 1,380mls when i got it. Again no problem at all to remove the wheels, change filters and oils, i recently changed the drive belt, and on Wednesday this week put new Dr Pulley sliders in the drive system as it now has 22,000mls up. I have no more mechanical knowledge than the average two wheeler, but i don't recall ever taking a machine to a dealer since about 1970. The most essential thing is regular oil and filter changes. If you want to pay someone to do these jobs for you that's your choice. I just think i must have saved thousands of pounds over the years and had the satisfaction of knowing the work i wanted doing has been done. :)

Re: Ever felt a bit ripped off?

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:19 pm
by mottza
mottza wrote:Did you not challenge them on that?
So did you, if you felt that aggrieved?