Don & Roys Dealer - Brookfield WI - Worst customer service experience ever

[tmamayek1]

Worst Customer Service Ever –

Never heard of a dealer calling you up on Saturday morning and telling you that because you slammed them on a Yamaha Survey, to come pick up your sled asap otherwise they'll start charge a $25/day storage fee and to top it off, Mike Jaciuk told me that I am no longer welcome at Don & Roys ever again. Here’s the full story:

I bought a brand new 2009 Yamaha Apex RTX snowmobile last year with 0 miles on it from a dealer in NH that was sitting on the floor for the last few years. Since this is my 4th RTX, I knew the setup that I wanted in order for it to handle like I want. Instead of patiently waiting to go up north and have the best snowmobile mechanic ever in Eagle River work on it, NOT at trackside, I decided to go to the dealer that was less than 5 miles down the road.

I brought it in to have them put the Ripsaw 2 track on as well as send in my shocks to have them revalved for my weight. I brought it to my local Yamaha dealer figuring that since they were a Yamaha dealer, they would know what they were doing and everything would still be covered under the warranty. So they completed it December 20th, 2013. I’ll admit, I did ask them to send out the Fox Floats to fox to have them upgraded to the EVOLs, and they were able to have that completed when I wanted it done. That part they did correct. True, the bill was about an extra $150 more than I was quoted originally, but I didn’t care because they got it done in time for me to start my trip, which we all know is more important.

I rode my sled and had the 500 mile check performed by a Yamaha Certified mechanic on December 30th, 2013. I had to get a new battery because I think the original one was sitting around for 5 years and lost its charge. In February 2014 I was driving from Eagle River down to Three Lakes for the races. It had just rained the day before and dropped down to close to 0 again, so the trails and roads were extremely rough from the freeze. When I stopped for lunch, I wanted to check to make sure everything was ok with the suspension as it felt extremely rough as I got closer to Three Lakes. When I looked at my skid, I realized that a bolt fell out that held the shock in place, resulting everything in the skid to become trashed to say the least. I immediately contacted the local mechanic to have him look at the sled. After reviewing the sled, it was determined that the cause of the problem was due to the dealer that installed the new track didn’t put lock-tite on one of the bolts which caused it to rattle loose and eventually trashing the skid, causing about $3,500 in damage. I called up Don & Roy’s that day to let them know what had happened and the service manager, Mike, told me not a problem, and bring it in so they can see what happened with the sled. I told Mike that because I store my sled up north during the season, I wouldn’t be getting it back in town until May or June. He said that wasn’t a problem and said he’ll remember me.

So I brought my sled in on June 14th and Mike said they would get back to me. I told them take your time, I’m in no rush, I just want to make sure everything is taken care of. He said that he’d submit everything to Yamaha and see if they would warranty the repairs. I didn’t care how they covered my sled, as long as it was covered. About a month later, I called Mike and inquired what was happening. Mike told me that the skid damage wasn’t their fault. He said that if I drove it 4,000 miles in two months, that it’s not their fault that one of the bolts didn’t have lock-tite on it. He proceeded to tell me that it would be about $3,500 to fix everything and wanted to know if they should get to work on it. I told him I would contact Yamaha about it and see what we could do. I did ask him to have the seat covered and the electrical under the warranty as there was a rip in the seat cover, and my battery wouldn’t hold a charge again. He said sure, not a problem.

I called up around August 14th to find out the status of everything. Mike told me they just got the seat cover in and would be installing that and then working on the electrical issue. I had received a Yamaha Survey in the mail right around this time. I figured that this was for the first part of the repair issues which covered the skid/track so I gave a really bad review, in the hopes that they would try and resolve my issues. Boy, was I wrong. What happened next is unheard of:

On Saturday, August 23rd at 12:24pm, Mike from Don & Roys called me up and said, “Thank you Ted for making my life very easy. Because you slammed me on the survey to Yamaha, your seat is done, you can have another dealer worry about the electrical problems, and you can come pick up your sled ASAP. As of Monday, August 25th we will charge $25/day for storage and you are no longer welcome at Don & Roys ever again.” I replied ok, and went to pickup my snowmobile on Monday, August 25th. I didn’t notice it until after I got it home, that they didn’t secure ANY of the panels, the headlight pod was only connected to the electrical cords, but was loose on top of the sled. The seat wasn’t installed completely either. To me, it was like a big middle finger to me.

Had the last stuff not happened, I probably wouldn’t be as adamant about letting everyone out there know about this dealer. However, because of how the situation unfolded, I feel I have a duty to let everyone else out there know about the service I received here. In the future, I will only trust my sled to my mechanic in Eagle River, Pat’s in Greenland, MI, and Port Yamaha in Port Washington, WI. They are the only dealers I’ve been into that provide great customer experiences and deserve our support.

 

[shagman]

I would find out who the Yamaha rep is in your area and have a chat with him. I'm quite sure he would want to know about your troubles.

 

[TD Max]

Q: How many miles between the 500 mile check and the discovery of the damage? Also what is done at the 500 mile check?

I thought most suspension stuff used nylock nuts?

 

[MNBlizzard]

I'd definitely agree on the worst service from that service manager. Never heard of anything like that before either. When exactly did the bolt fall out, mileage? Were the upgrades done with zero miles? Were the track shocks worked on??

Your story makes it sound like it happened the day after the work was done. IMO, I don't think Yamaha warranty should ever cover that work. As you describe, it sounds to me the dealer should have covered as it was their workmanship that caused the issues, not yamaha. I'd call your insurance company to see if they will cover the damage.

A couple years ago, I had my shocks serviced on my old nytro. On the first ride, I had the front bogey wheel nut fall off which is where the center shock mounts and it stressed cracked the rail. My damage was minimal as I caught it early. It definitely was because I didn't use lock tight when putting the rebuilt shock back in.

 

[APEX 06]

It's hard to point a finger at the dealer for the failed bolt. We and owners should check every bolt and nut, giving them a bad review because of that was low. You never trust a dealers work 100%, Yamaha will tell you that the bolts a wear items.

Now for the dealer to act like that is bad service and a worst image on Yamaha. Put a call into Yamaha customer service and file a complaint on the dealer.

 

[superfan75]

I can't believe they treated you like that because you gave them a bad review. That's really petty and childish of them. I would definitely let Yamaha know because as has been mentioned that looks bad for them. It really sucks that a 50 cent bolt falling out did that kind of damage. I wish the best of luck to you in getting this straightened out. I'm doing a suspension swap tomorrow and I'm going to make sure and not forget to use locktite.

 

[xsivhp]

Unfortunately your experience is not the first or last like that. This is exactly the reason I do as much of my own work as possible. Then I have nobody to blame but myself if/when something breaks. Gives me a chance to repair it on the trail too as I may be able to fix it myself. IMHO - 4,000 miles is 2 seasons of riding if not more for most people. If I ride that 1/2 as much as you I bring the sled in and give it a quick look over before the trip.

Live and learn. Don't throw people that are helping you under the bus when you still need their help.

That said, pretty shabby of them to not put your sled back together. I had a bad experience with a dealer myself on a couple of occasions - that why I turn my own wrenches as much as possible these days. Well, that and I have to work 10 hours to pay for one hour of their labor.


Tapatalk I guess .. ..

 

[sheetwright]

Q: How many miles between the 500 mile check and the discovery of the damage? Also what is done at the 500 mile check?

I thought most suspension stuff used nylock nuts?

Yes they do, but if they reuse the hardware they should use locktite. Taking the shocks off they probably reused hardware. I had that happen with a front shock on one of my Nytros. Got to dinner, and saw I was missing one nut, and the other was hand loose

 

[thor452]

I think they acted very poorly as a representative of yamaha products they should have acted with a level of tact and yamaha should repramand them for that. I also see why they were so mad you put 4000 miles on after a repair im sorry that is no longer their fault. and to even try to get it covered by yamaha is atempted theft. and while he is doing what he can to help you out you slam him. if I were going to slam someone I would be sure they didnt have any of my property in their possesion and if they did i would wait till i got it back. It sucks a$$ that it let go and maybe locktite would have prevented it but a pre-ride inspection would have too. at 4000 miles you should have gone thru the sled at least once.

 

[xsivhp]

Brutally true.


Tapatalk I guess .. ..

 

[tmamayek1]

Sorry about the delayed follow up from me on this. So, I did a pre trip check every time I ride as I ride 80% solo. I went through 2 pairs of the regular slides and 1 pair of the dupont slides. I had my mechanic up north check and verify everything and visited him about every 800 - 1000 miles as I'm paranoid since I ride solo. The day everything rattled loose was because of the extremely choppy snow conditions, which were changed to ice chunks because of the rain and the fact that they didn't have locktite on the bolts. If locktite had been applied, this wouldn't have happened.

 

[tmamayek1]

All upgrades happened with literally 0 miles. They commented on that multiple times as this is my 3rd RTX.

 

[nadekeys]

Wow, can't believe a dealership would be that unprofessional. Bad reviews are left all the time for places, but for a dealership to "retaliate" like that and treat the customer that way....un-real. Sorry to hear about your situation but thanks for sharing. The more stories like this are shared, the better we all are as we'll know where to go and where not to go for parts and service and the bad dealers will fizzle. It is not a huge mystery why certain places like Pat's in Greenland and Port Yamaha in Port Washington have great reputations and do great business....they treat their customers well and help them fix their problems (Team Motorsports in De Pere near Green Bay, WI and PowersportsOne in Little Chute, WI have also been good to me personally).

 

[thor452]

X-10 on Team Motorsports they have been my go to for years when my local caused more damage to my sled then they fixed. PS one has treated me well on my one transaction with them as well.

 

[TD Max]

Sorry about the delayed follow up from me on this. So, I did a pre trip check every time I ride as I ride 80% solo. I went through 2 pairs of the regular slides and 1 pair of the dupont slides. I had my mechanic up north check and verify everything and visited him about every 800 - 1000 miles as I'm paranoid since I ride solo. The day everything rattled loose was because of the extremely choppy snow conditions, which were changed to ice chunks because of the rain and the fact that they didn't have locktite on the bolts. If locktite had been applied, this wouldn't have happened.

Multiple slide changes, 800-1,000 mile "checkups" and the dealer who installed the shock is responsible for thou$and$ due to a lack of loctite on a bolt some 4,000 miles prior