Scooterotica

wrecklessrobbie wrote: i went to a dealer near doncaster.... produces a lot of stainless products and does tuning work......feck me most miserable unhelpfull c unit i have ever dealt with. Made me feel like i was wasting his time and that he he was doing me a service selling me his products. I would never ever use him again.

Robbie

I think I know who you mean and yes I thought exactly the same when I enquired to having my small block casing modified to large block. Apart from being £200 over the odds he Dident sound to happy about it either haha.

I think we all know who he means!

chris37 wrote:I think we all know who he means!

Think everybody has touched on the advise thing, it takes time for a dealer to understand what you require and then pull a price from the top of his head then work out when it will be ready the customer gets a lot of free advise which takes time and yes the phones ringing but what can they do say excuse me then have the same conversation on the phone.
In my experiance all our dealers give a very good service with the resources they have.

hendy wrote:I've been put off using af due to all the comments about them not answering the phone. How much business have they lost due to these (possibly) unfair remarks?

On the other hand they must be aware of the ribbing they get on occassion. So maybe they are going that extra mile? They might even have more business as a result. Who knows really. I think we've probably all had stuff off them directly, or indirectly and had good service. People appreciate them for what they are.

ducksta wrote: In my experiance all our dealers give a very good service with the resources they have.

Do they!?! Well my experience over the last few years with a number of well known dealers has been shite to be honest and despite having spent a fair bit of wedge with them over a good number of years a few of them have got too big for themselves and either have a crap attitude and the one mentioned by wrecklessrobbie I'm sure is one of them, a course in customer service wouldn't go amiss.

BTW never had a problem with AF

You recommend a pub because you had a great meal your mate goes and it's shite that night, no difference with scooter dealers.

gaz_powell wrote:I love and wholly respect the fact that they take an lunch hour..... its a shame more companies and people don't do it.

The insatiable need for instant gratification has become the norm, when in reality its not really needed.

While e commerce maybe the making or saviour of some companies, its nice to see some still respecting some old fashioned values.

AF should keep doing what they do .....and they do it well

Gaz

Well said Gaz.

I'm not 100% sure of how many people work there but in general Ray seems to oversee developing new products and dealing with suppliers, I think Karen does paperwork, Dave sorts out the mail order, operates the counter and answers the phone, Ben and Ray do the spannering and help out Dave when he's swamped at the counter. You probably need to book weeks if not months in advance to get work done on your scooter, so they've probably got enough on their plate as it is. Dave's not a mechanic so has to pass on technical issues to Ben or Scott which means that they have to stop working on engines, etc. On most days it probably all runs smoothly, a full time internet site would necessitate taking on more staff, more staff = more overheads = increased prices.

Technology isn't all that.

ducksta wrote:You recommend a pub because you had a great meal your mate goes and it's shite that night, no difference with scooter dealers.

Very true which is why I now choose to spend my money in another pub and I'm sure I'm not alone

Well said Gaz.
Running a scooter shop is not as easy as it might seem.