Over the winter, I bought myself a shiny
new Honda Motorcycle (CBR 929RR Fireblade) from Darotune
Honda. I picked the bike up in mid-March. I waited for the snow to
clear. When it did; I rode it every chance I could, until the
night of April 12th, 2001.
I was riding down a residential street (Aird Pl. Kanata, ON.)
and was struck by a vehicle attempting a U-turn. The driver of the
vehicle was at fault for the accident, un-insured, and charged by
the police. Again, this was April 12th 2001. By April 20th my bike
had made its way from my house to my dealer Darotune Honda, and
the process had begun. - Little did I know it would be such an
exhausting, frustrating and seemingly endless experience.
When I first brought the bike in to Darotune Honda; I was
told that the parts would be ordered as soon as a "Claims
Adjuster" from my insurance showed up.
My insurance had notified Darotune Honda; all that was needed
was for them to fax the list of damages and the cost to replace
and/or repair.
Two weeks had passed and I was getting anxious because it was
now May 4th and we, the residents of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, were
getting an early taste of the great summer to come. I stopped in
to Darotune to see if the parts had come in. I was shocked to hear
that Darotune was still waiting for the insurance adjuster before
they ordered any parts. When in fact, all they needed to do was
fax the list of damages to my insurance.
I got everything cleared up; parts were ordered by Darotune and
within a week, the parts started to come in. The only problem was
that there was no one to work on my bike.
By May 18th I was still waiting for my bike. I was still
waiting for a front rim and tire; and I was still waiting for
someone to work on my bike.
The morning of May 25th, I was working close by and decided to
stop in at the dealer and see if my bike was going to be ready. I
was talking to the owner and he told me that my bike would be
ready and that a mechanic was working on it as we spoke. I was
happy to hear this because it had been over a month since my
motorcycle had been in their possession.
Note * every Friday for 3 weeks I had been told to call,
because my bike was supposed to be ready*
The evening of May 25, I stopped in to pick up my bike, but was
informed that Honda had sent me an RC-51 rim for my 929. I wasn't
too impressed. Not only would my bike not be ready, but it was the
long weekend and that meant that ordering the new rim would only
happen the following Tuesday; meaning my bike wouldn't be ready
the next week either. I decided to stay at Darotune and have them
take a rim off of one of their 929's on the showroom floor and put
it on mine. My bike was a brand new 929 as well. So I waited for 2
hours in the showroom until they rolled my bike out of the back
and finally into my possession. I then noticed that the frame
sliders that had been replaced were a different kind. I was also
notified that there was a leak that they couldn't stop, even with
a new gasket. I was then told: "it may seal once it warms up." The
bike was now in my possession.
Note* the leak was coming from the
crankcase and engine casing joint
I brought the bike back 15 hours later because it was leaking
oil down my fairing and on my back tire. In the weeks ahead
Darotune tried desperately to seal the stubborn leak using all the
items you'd want on your brand new motorcycle, items such as
caulking.
Note* I told an employee at Darotune, not to put caulking on my
bike. "If it doesn't seal properly with a gasket, there must be a
problem with the 2 joining surfaces." I, who am not a mechanic,
was giving the paid professionals mechanical advice.
Five days later on June 1st, I placed yet another call to see
if my bike was ready. Darotune notified me that they found a crack
in the crankcase. This was causing the oil to leak out. The owner
advised me they previously thought the crack was a smudge.
June 6th I told Darotune to cancel any part orders because the
bike was leaving their shop.
June 14th my bike was picked up from Darotune and brought to
another dealer. Since then, my new engine casing has been ordered
from Honda, but it hasn't made it's way to the dealer. It is now
August 11th 2001.
In 1 day (August 12th) it will be exactly 4 months since my
accident. I still don't have my Honda motorcycle and the summer is
almost over. I love motorcycles, I'm 23 years old and I've already
owned three.
I found this on your website:
"At Honda Canada, our challenge
is to find the best ways to build strong, lasting relationships
with our customers to understand them and meet their needs so that
we can move ahead together. We believe deeply in this."
"At the heart of The Three Joys
is the belief that our customers will experience The Joy of Buying
if we can provide products and services that exceed their
expectations. And we can only accomplish this by building strong,
meaningful relationships with our customers. This also extends to
our Honda dealers who, by selling and servicing excellent
products, proudly experience The Joy of Selling. Lastly, by
participating in innovation and producing products that exceed
expectations, we experience The Joy of Creating."
This summer has been nothing but a disappointment. I've missed
many opportunities to ride with my family and friends, and not to
mention, one of the nicest summers in the past few years.
Please prove to me:
I did get a response from Honda Canada since I last wrote
them. I got a reply on August 24th, but was unable to get a hold
of them until the morning of August 27th. (Monday)
I talked to a Honda Canada Representative, I was informed that
Honda couldn't or wouldn't help me since my motorcycle was now at
a non-Honda dealer. The Honda Canada Representative told me my
only option was to move my bike from the current dealer and bring
it to another Honda Dealer.
Today's date is September 7th, 2001.
On September 12, 2001 it will be exactly 5 months since my
accident. Almost half a year has passed and there is still no sign
of my shiny new CBR 929RR FIREBLADE. I've been making insurance
and bike payments for the last 5 months on a vehicle that I
haven't had in my possession since April 12th, 2001.
I bought my motorcycle early this year so I could get the most
out of the season. I was involved in an unfortunate event. The
Honda dealer Darotune did not have the manpower, or the expertise
to repair my bike. They initially returned a bike to me that was
unsafe. The parts/service department at Honda is obviously a joke.
I've been shown that my business is not valued. Honda's response
indicates to me their commitment to customer satisfaction is also
a joke. I will tell this story to anyone who will listen, and for
this reason alone, I will never buy another Honda product.
Signed,