Chinese Scooter Club

super-fly · Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:34 pm what really ticks me off

my local piaggio dealer and the new owners :x
1-ordered my new fly 125 in june 2007 ( sure 2 weeks and will be in ) got the scoot in september 2007 on 07 plates then had to have new 57 plates as dealer fitted wrong plates !
2-bike runs fine but got home and battery acid was cumming from drain tube ( told this was normal :? ) and had blown over tranmission case and messed that up so new case on order .
3-scoot used for 4 weeks then had first service 1000 km ( change engine and tranmission oil and other checks ) will get back to this :!: was ment to fit tranny case but had wrong one :roll:
4-scoot put away for winter and fed up :evil:
5-ring up loads of times about tranny case and told ( yes I will sort that out )
6-march/april 2008 start using bike a few times - slight acid still cumming from battery drain tube .
7-rang up and transmission case is in will have to arrange time to fit :)
8- now the bad part its 124 km from the so called 1st service and I know plenty about scooters having owned them for 22 years .
right I thought I bet they never did the transmission oil as you are ment to take of the exhaust and wheel to do job , that is unless you know the cheat to change oil :wink: I cut down a juice bottle to make a slide and fitted this through wheel then undo drain nut behind wheel and dark smelly oil came runnung out ( you lazy useless dealer bastard I thought to myself ) replaced nut and filled with new oil .
better check the engine oil because it's clear there not doing the proper job , so undone that nut and dirty-ish oil came remember 124 km since service and gauze filter had small metal flakes which I cleaned out , replaced all this and filled up with correct fully syth oil , but not happy paying £45 for service not done :x
9-checked battery charging and this was ok ( not over charging so not boiling battery ) removed battery to check level and found battery acid was to top of battery in most cells , so with a syringe and tube syphoned off the acces acid down to the MAX level , wash out drain tube and would you believe it no more aciid from drain tube :roll:
10- I dont trust the dealer to change the tranny case and short of going there and ramming said case where the sun don't shine I don't know what to do :?:
I want the new case but not the dealer to fit it , I want to complain but too who the dealer or piaggio ?
the scoot is great and I like it but don't want dealer to touch it again but have a 2 years warranty on it :?

Scootin · Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:52 pm

Rock & a hard place there. :?

There is no good answer, but if you want the case you are probably going to have to have those Monkeys install it. As soon as they are done, run fast away & find another dealer.

frainey · Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:54 pm

I'd sooner do service's myself anyway if I know what I'm doing.
At least you have peace of mind. & Save money too

Scootin · Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:55 pm

That too :)

joe_T · Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:40 pm

I do my own services too. I'm gonna do my mums car soon, looked on the dipstick and it's just below the min mark and its blaack! need to change the oil filter when I do it.
I would tell the man straight, ask him why he didnt change the oil etc but say it not angrily so you dont have a big fall out lol

frainey · Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:16 am

Easy enough, make sure you jack it op on the right jacking points and dont crush yourself and you should be fine :wink:

Yellow Scooter · Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:30 am

Service it yourself. You gotta let logic win this time round....
Assuming the next nearest dealership qualified to work on your bike is even further off than this Pigg dealer and is unfeasable to travel to regularly.
If your bike was going to be problematic with warranty issues, they would have most likely surfaced by now. If keeping the warranty alive is going to cost you more than any probable repair you may or may not have to make, then that should simplify your desicion further. Thoroughly inspect your bike for any remaining acid damage, and from here on out, maintain your own vehicle, and don't let those incompetents touch it again.
We're not pejudiced to Piggs. Our chief moderator, Px, has at least one if not a dozen of them. We got your back. ;)

super-fly · Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:06 pm

will have to get the case done , I intend to do all the service's myself as I already have a 8 year old typhoon 125 and a 29 year old px both looked after by myself , including a full rebuild of the px engine last year 8)

px166bajaj · Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:35 pm

Where do you live? I'd love to see your problem presented on TaG just as you've shown us here. Or even in Tag Magazine.

It looks like you'll have to have the Monkeys look at it. Unless it was possible for them to just hand you the cases and you could arrange the work to be done with another Piaggio dealer.

PeteZ · Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:10 pm Duff service

When you take your bike to a Pigg dealer you have to expect them to be swines (sorry bad joke!)

I have to agree with yellow scooter. It's worth keeping your cool whilst you need them more than they need you. The warranty may be important to you.

I personally have not trusted a mechanic since they buggered up my 250N at the 500 service then again with my 750 at her first service. DIY where ever possible backed up with good advice from friends and forums. We can post pictures and sound clips - no limit nowadays to get help.

Word of wisdom for the future - take photos / video clips even if it's on your mobile. That's the sort of evidence that is difficult to dispute. Then if that fails publish as much as you can on every forum you can - anonymously that is. Loss of business and bad PR does wonders.

Just picture that tranny case vanishing into the dark - it'll make you feel better.

scooterfanatic · Sat May 03, 2008 8:53 am

sorry, please delete this post!

scooterfanatic · Sat May 03, 2008 8:55 am

I will never trust a dealer to do anything, the problems you described are typical of the kind of non-caring, complacent attitude these companies seem to have these days. I remember when I bought a new Renault Clio back in 2005 and it came round to its first service at 18000 miles, they were asked (and paid) to do a service and a wiper motor recall (problems with wiper motors on that model year). Got the car back a few days later and noticed a scratch along the nearside wing, marks on the offside rear quarter panel that certainly weren't there when I put the car in. when getting the car home I realised that although they had changed the oil, they had neglected to touch the oil filter, and to add to this they had lost one of the screws that held the airfilter box together!! The wiper motor hadnt been done ( I marked the screws before the car went in to see if they would do it or not) and the squeaking tailgate central locking motor that I'd asked them to have a look at was still squeaking!

As said, I'd learn how do do your own repairs and NEVER trust anyone else with your machine, never...

super-fly · Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:13 pm

Got the new transmission case in the end :roll: , and fitting myself as I don't trust them and the fact they have no workshop ( fire :twisted: )
never going back there again and they have lost a regular scooter buying customer :nutkick: my next buy will be a maxi scooter so there loss :lol:

they also wanted the old case back :icon_finger:

larry8 · Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:58 pm

Although we hear of the bad dealers because someone is pissed at them for lousy service, there ARE good dealers out there that really try to do a good job. Generally we dont hear about them because nobody is mad at them for doing a good job.

The dealer I use is POC (Pride of Cleveland) Scooters. Phil (the owner) has personally worked on my scoots and they do a good job (although expensive). I fully trust them to fix my scoot and will buy my next scoot from them.

As for Piaggio, they have VERY POOR customer service - as if you need a part that has to be ordered from PiaggioUSA or Italy, it takes forever for them to process the order. They don't answer their e-mails or phone calls either.

PIAGGIO CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS!!!

Yellow Scooter · Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:20 pm

Theres a small time scooter dealer here just east of my house that USED to get my business and had my respect. That is until this last time I had asked them to replace my coil wire and check my fuel pump. What I got was a spark plug, (that I replaced 2 days prior myself) and a tank of gas filled to the top of the filler neck. That was it! The overfull tank forced the gas past the shot fuel pump making it appear fixed, until of corse the gas burns down past the filler neck about 35mi later. With the overfilled tank and the coil wire left untouched, arching off the frame. (did I mention the wire was scorched down to the graphite core?) I paid $66 admission to ride on a damn time bomb.
The old man is much better than this. HE is the one I wanted working on my bike, not that dumbass snot nosed kid that obviously doesn't know or care what the hell he's doing or how to read a damn work order! I'll never go back there again! Not so long as that dumbass is still there! :evil:
So with that bridge burnt down, I'm left more reliant on this forum now than ever. He's the only scooter repair place in Burke County. That is until I get fed up and open up a shop myself. I might get a few air tools together and do something part time, but I'm not gonna eat sleep and sh!t chinese scooters 24/7... I'll lose all the enjoyment, if I gotta make my living off them!