ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: turbojet on May 25, 2016, 06:14:21 AM
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I'm sure there is a wide range of dealer experiences out there but I hope Zero takes feedback on their dealer network. My dealer is a large 2 shop dealer that sells Yamaha and Suzuki as well as Zero. Going out there for a test ride was super easy. They had all the models available and let me go out and test ride wherever I wanted. It was great. Super friendly and knowledgeable sales guy as well. However they were completely unaware of the "Fuel for Life" promotion.
So I ordered a DSR with $3000 down and financing in place. 3 days later I was told it had shipped and should be there in a couple of days. Never got a phone call letting me know the bike arrived. Mind you I was super busy working so it didn't matter. Finally after 2 weeks I call and they tell me the bike has been sitting there ready to go. Now since getting the bike I've been trying to order a couple of Zero accessories. I've called both stores and the parts people at both told me they would have to "research" where to get the parts and would get back to me. Never happened. Finally I got hold of the parts person and he wanted the parts number to get the parts. It's not like I am ordering a brake cylinder for an obscure 1990's Suzuki model. IfI I have to do all the groundwork I should then just order from Zero themselves. :(
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My local dealer had them but didn't know much about them. I knew more about the bike than they did going in. I'm thinking of getting the charge tank soon but am afraid they won't know how to install it.
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Copy that. My dealer hasn't installed one yet and I have one on order.
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It takes time for dealers to figure out how to work with Zeros. Who knows why they weren't as responsive about the parts. I think it takes dealers a bit of time to learn the lingo and order parts from Zero. Not sure why, but I've observed that several times.
My dealer near NYC is excellent. They have worked hard to get the experience to become very reliable at working on Zeros. When they don't know the answer to a question, they contact Zero until they get a satisfactory answer. Not all dealers have this type of exceptional service, and I appreciate it.
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I went to San Jose BMW/Zero to get me suspension set-up. It was extremely stiff for me and not anywhere close to spec sag and I am average weight - 160 lb.
The have a big shop and a big service area with a lot of people running around.
They had there Zero guy ride the bike and he said noting was wrong.
They would not set the sag (very basic work) and the referred me to a suspension shop that has been out of business for a number of years.
I do work by Zero headquarters and when I got water in the dash/cluster, I asked nicely and they did the warranty work themselves.
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A bad dealer is a bad dealer. Doesn't matter what they sell.
My all accounts Rocket Motorcycles in San Diego sells lots of ICE bikes and Zero's. They appear to treat both customers well. I ask them a question I get an answer and they never had an issue getting an answer out of Zero.
(however ... i would rather just go to a website and press a button instead of having to go through a dealer ... but that's Zero's business model)
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My local dealer had them but didn't know much about them. I knew more about the bike than they did going in. I'm thinking of getting the charge tank soon but am afraid they won't know how to install it.
Shouldn't they have at least one EV trained technician before being allowed to be a Zero dealer?
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Yes, but training gets them only so far. My SR is at the dealer for repairs and the "Zero" guy at the dealership told me they don't know anything about my particular issue and need to be calling Zero for guidance. They are a brand new dealer. Bike is still at the shop, so I have yet to see how long and how successful the fix process will be. At least they seem interested in fixing it and have been friendly so far. But call-backs have been slow. The more "experienced" dealership told me pretty much the same thing though - they'd be calling Zero for how to fix things. Both places knew about the fuel for life promotion.
Zero, on the other hand, has been very responsive - I got them on the phone on the first try and without waiting. Got transferred quickly to someone who knew about my issue, helped me to get started with the dealer, and the emails I've sent afterwards were answered promptly. But the bike is still at the shop :( - shipping parts coast to coast takes time and I hope they got it diagnosed right, or there will need to be some other part shipped, and so on...
My local dealer had them but didn't know much about them. I knew more about the bike than they did going in. I'm thinking of getting the charge tank soon but am afraid they won't know how to install it.
Shouldn't they have at least one EV trained technician before being allowed to be a Zero dealer?
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My local dealer had them but didn't know much about them. I knew more about the bike than they did going in. I'm thinking of getting the charge tank soon but am afraid they won't know how to install it.
Shouldn't they have at least one EV trained technician before being allowed to be a Zero dealer?
This is part of the learning process. The great dealer I go to had never installed a power tank before mine, but they worked hard at it and got it done quickly. It all depends on the people at the dealer and how interested they are in learning something new. If they think electric motorcycles are cool and want to expand their skill sets, it will get done quickly. If they just want to punch a clock, do the same thing every day, and resist change then it will take a while to get anything done there.
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I bought my 2013 S from Hollywood Electrics and had repair work done at Rocket Motorcycles. I had mixed experiences with both dealerships, but much more positive than negative. The representatives I interacted with were professional and friendly. It is a bit annoying that the dealers are closed Sun/Mon and Zero is closed Sat/Sun because that means there's three days out of the week they can't communicate; and as others have mentioned, the only people who know how to fix obscure Zero specific issues are Zero technicians. Not to mention repair work is hampered by Zero only sending one part at a time to see what needs to be replaced instead of sending all of the components that could cause a specific problem.
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I had excellent service and a lot of enthusiasm for Zeros at my dealer - until they went out of business..... :(
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So I have experiences I can share about 3 different dealers in Texas:
HOUSTON, TX;
Initially I bought a 2012 Zero S and my girlfriend bought a model XU from the dealer in Houston (Gulf Coast BMW / British USA), and had no real problems with the sale, the folks I spoke with seemed fairly knowledgeable and helped us get the Cash for Carbon trade-in credit, and all was well. Unfortunately, shortly after the purchase my girlfriend was in an accident and took her bike back to the dealer in Houston to get it fixed up (plastics, handlebar, basic repairs). She wasn't going to ride again for a while due to her injuries, but the bike sat there, and month after month we'd call for a status, but nothing would happen (and this is after we bought two motorcycles from them, and her father had bought a couple of non-Zero bikes from them over the years). I also several times asked to buy racks or other accessories for my Zero, and was promised phonecalls that never came. Unimaginably bad service. They claimed they couldn't contact people at the Zero factory, meanwhile I myself was able to several times.
Meanwhile I start having problems with my Zero, and the factory started dealing with me directly because the dealer was totally unresponsive at this point. I replaced my own motor, sensors, etc and the folks at Zero were incredibly helpful where the local dealer had been a disaster. Eventually my understanding is that the local guys stopped being a dealer for Zero altogether, though I see that they're now listed as a dealer again. I can't imagine that they've actually gotten any better, and in talking to other guys in town that ride the Triumphs and BMWs that seem to be the staple of that dealer's business, they seem to be almost universally despised for simultaneously overcharging for terrible customer service.
AUSTIN, TX:
I got (warranty) repair work done at AF1 Racing in Austin, TX and they were fantastic and knowledgeable! I'd highly recommend them. When I bought parts from them or did a test ride of a later model Zero they were great to work with.
Their repair guys I especially have to commend because of how much time they spent troubleshooting problems with me by phone and email, even after they'd already been paid.
DALLAS [ALLEN], TX
When I traded in my 2012 Zero for my 2014, I shopped around to (almost) all the dealers in Texas. Ultimately I ended up going through Maxim Motorsports in Allen, TX (north of Dallas), and they were knowledgeable, responsive by phone, and great to work with.
Anyhow, I don't know if this is any help at all to anyone in the Gulf Coast but that's my $0.02 (minus inflation).
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Israel dealer is awesome.
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99% of US dealers are horrible for anything other than the sale.
Its just due to how their business works. It doesnt help that these vehicles are completely different than everything else they work with.
If the guy you need to talk to at the dealership is into it, cool. then its a "good dealer"
if there isnt a guy, or your guy left.. now its a crappy middleman that probably doesnt want to do the work to get you taken care of.
there is no difference between them shipping an online order to the dealer, or the online order to me. I'll pay the (surprisingly reasonable) full markup for parts to cut out the middleman, if they let me.
I understand Zero cant and doesnt want to troubleshoot everything over the phone.. but the fact is most of us dont have local dealers, and even when you do, they are not EV mechanics.
Most dont even know basic troubleshooting.
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I'm struggling to recognize the point when "new company jitters" fades and I should be getting concerned.
I know (and am frustrated) when there is that insincere air of attempts at customer service (like the phone company)... but referring to dealing with Zero as a "cluster" when talking with the customer could be sharing a frustration, but also could just be ICE bias lurking in the form of poor follow up.
I get great email feedback from Hollywood Electrics, but when I email a more local dealer... no reply until I call them, and they don't know - so they email Zero, and I can't explain in kind enough tones "if the dealer doesn't answer emails, why rely on emails to others?" that is "if I had to call you to get action - then you should call Zero" as that is proven to be a reliable mode.
Then reconciling information between Zero and my dealer - when available, when shipped, when arrived. In 2014 I struggled with Zero saying "it has shipped" when actually things hadn't. So I ask for the tracking number... I learned that in very few interactions with Zero. I'd presume a dealer who has more interactions would become adept that much quicker. I know Zero has - because now when they tell me something shipped - they provide the tracking number without me asking.
So why isn't my dealer good at working with Zero yet?
ICE bias?
Low motivation?
Poor margins?
Burdensome procedures?
I dunno for sure, but at some point absolution from "new company jitters" has got to wear off.
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I'm struggling to recognize the point when "new company jitters" fades and I should be getting concerned.
I know (and am frustrated) when there is that insincere air of attempts at customer service (like the phone company)... but referring to dealing with Zero as a "cluster" when talking with the customer could be sharing a frustration, but also could just be ICE bias lurking in the form of poor follow up.
I get great email feedback from Hollywood Electrics, but when I email a more local dealer... no reply until I call them, and they don't know - so they email Zero, and I can't explain in kind enough tones "if the dealer doesn't answer emails, why rely on emails to others?" that is "if I had to call you to get action - then you should call Zero" as that is proven to be a reliable mode.
Then reconciling information between Zero and my dealer - when available, when shipped, when arrived. In 2014 I struggled with Zero saying "it has shipped" when actually things hadn't. So I ask for the tracking number... I learned that in very few interactions with Zero. I'd presume a dealer who has more interactions would become adept that much quicker. I know Zero has - because now when they tell me something shipped - they provide the tracking number without me asking.
So why isn't my dealer good at working with Zero yet?
ICE bias?
Low motivation?
Poor margins?
Burdensome procedures?
I dunno for sure, but at some point absolution from "new company jitters" has got to wear off.
I have a suspicion that most established IC dealers take on Zero as an experiment that much of their staff hasn't really bought in to. When there is a problem that isn't chassis related, the parts and service staff gets confused and are unsure of themselves. They tell each other, "see I told you so, the shop should have never taken on this new technology". So they don't treat the Zero customer quite the way they do for their "normal" IC customers. If they really haven't bought into Zero's the way that the shop owner or sales staff has, then trouble will ensue should something go wrong that they can't immediately resolve.
Around here some motorcycle shops have been closing for various business reasons and the ones that are still around are really busy servicing bikes and repairing crashed IC motorcycles. It is all about production and many technicians are getting paid for piece-work and not by the hour. So any issue that comes up that can not be immediately resolved with the knowledge and parts on hand, tends to be put in the back room in the hopes that some other sucker will get stuck with the problem. At least that is the way I see it, after being a motorcycle shop customer for 55 years.
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I can now add my own "dealer experience". It took exactly 1 month to repair my bike under warranty in a shop on the US East Coast. Luckily, they diagnosed it correctly the first time. Most of that time was spent waiting for the replacement part to arrive from zero. The bike now works fine. However:
- they scratched-up my display LCD screen in an attempt to clean the dust that had accumulated during the month it sat in (and out) at the shop.
- one of the two small round covers on the front of the battery was missing, the other was not the original. I noticed that as I was picking-up the bike, they swapped them for new ones on the spot, no prob. with that.
- a piece of plastic trim looked out of position, turned out the bolt holding it in place was loose. Had it tightened on the spot.
- I haven't taken apart yet the area they worked on, but I will - just to make sure all looks good inside there and that they did not forget to tighten something over there too...
The "Zero guy", who is also the manager of the store, was nice and explained most of the repair details to me, and was good to work with. Other than the long shipping and part prep times, Zero has been extremely responsive to calls and emails (from the dealer and by me directly) about my bike's issue.
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My SR lost power while riding, at random, just after purchase. Took it in and it sat for nearly a month without being looked at. Then Zero sent them a part (charger oddly enough) within another month, and I was sent home. The next day the power cut out on me while riding. Seems like replacing the charger was just a random guess in the troubleshooting. And one that had my new bike in the shop for 2 months almost.
The bike got worse, until the display would flash lights and go crazy with error messages while propulsion failed to work. Then, roughly after winter, it worked perfectly. I don't get it. No issues for months. If she worked well, I'd give her to the wife and get myself a 2017, but I don't trust her. Trading her in for a 2017, at a different dealer, later this year.
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- they scratched-up my display LCD screen in an attempt to clean the dust that had accumulated during the month it sat in (and out) at the shop.
It's interesting that you say that because I now have a scuff on my display. I wonder if the dealer did it some time during the 1.5 months he had it. Unfortunately I didn't notice it right away, or I would have asked, I only noticed it a week or two ago which was over a week since I had it back. I also can't say for certain that it wasn't there before I gave it to him, but I definitely don't remember it and I would have noticed within a week of riding. I think there was a bit of grime/sticky smudge on that spot so maybe he tried to clean it and the same thing happened.
The bike got worse, until the display would flash lights and go crazy with error messages while propulsion failed to work. Then, roughly after winter, it worked perfectly. I don't get it. No issues for months. If she worked well, I'd give her to the wife and get myself a 2017, but I don't trust her. Trading her in for a 2017, at a different dealer, later this year.
Do you live somewhere cold?
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- they scratched-up my display LCD screen in an attempt to clean the dust that had accumulated during the month it sat in (and out) at the shop.
It's interesting that you say that because I now have a scuff on my display. I wonder if the dealer did it some time during the 1.5 months he had it. Unfortunately I didn't notice it right away, or I would have asked, I only noticed it a week or two ago which was over a week since I had it back. I also can't say for certain that it wasn't there before I gave it to him, but I definitely don't remember it and I would have noticed within a week of riding. I think there was a bit of grime/sticky smudge on that spot so maybe he tried to clean it and the same thing happened.
both of you should try taking some Plexus and a CLEAN soft rag, and wiping it.
It will not remove scratches, but you wont see the scratches that are there anymore. (unless they're horribly deep)
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Scuffs are minor. I will probably install a screen protector to prevent future scratches. I live in the DC area, so not cold this time of year.
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Scuffs are minor. I will probably install a screen protector to prevent future scratches. I live in the DC area, so not cold this time of year.
DC area on a silent motorcycle. Brave man. lol.
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both of you should try taking some Plexus and a CLEAN soft rag, and wiping it.
It will not remove scratches, but you wont see the scratches that are there anymore. (unless they're horribly deep)
Plexus? Can you link to it or suggest where to find it? I'll probably do that and then put a screen protector over it or spray with clearcoat. I have to do something because the scuff in front of the one's speed digit (the lower right corner) and the odometer. Thanks MrDude.
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both of you should try taking some Plexus and a CLEAN soft rag, and wiping it.
It will not remove scratches, but you wont see the scratches that are there anymore. (unless they're horribly deep)
Plexus? Can you link to it or suggest where to find it? I'll probably do that and then put a screen protector over it or spray with clearcoat. I have to do something because the scuff in front of the one's speed digit (the lower right corner) and the odometer. Thanks MrDude.
most motorcycle shops carry it.. you can also use honda polish.
Its a plastic cleaner/polish/wax all in one. Its intended to be sprayed onto plastics (including clear), clean and protect. Its also used on aircraft for the same thing.
It works by leaving a slight residue that will "fill" the scratches, and repel dirt/dust for a bit. So I dont think you want to use it if you're putting a protector over it.. but if you're just leaving the screen as-is and want the scratches reduced, it will work great.
amazon link to see the can (dont buy here, its overpriced): https://www.amazon.com/Plexus-Plastic-Cleaner-Protectant-13-Ounce/dp/B00092CKN4 (https://www.amazon.com/Plexus-Plastic-Cleaner-Protectant-13-Ounce/dp/B00092CKN4)
its also on revzilla. http://www.revzilla.com/product/plexus-plastic-cleaner-protectant-polish (http://www.revzilla.com/product/plexus-plastic-cleaner-protectant-polish)
and I know Cycle Gear carries it.
Its $12 locally, expect to pay more online since they have to ship it. one can will last you a long time.
plexus and the Honda version looks like this:
(http://www.cbr600f4.com/pics/polish.jpg)
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both of you should try taking some Plexus and a CLEAN soft rag, and wiping it.
It will not remove scratches, but you wont see the scratches that are there anymore. (unless they're horribly deep)
Plexus? Can you link to it or suggest where to find it? I'll probably do that and then put a screen protector over it or spray with clearcoat. I have to do something because the scuff in front of the one's speed digit (the lower right corner) and the odometer. Thanks MrDude.
most motorcycle shops carry it.. you can also use honda polish.
Its a plastic cleaner/polish/wax all in one. Its intended to be sprayed onto plastics (including clear), clean and protect. Its also used on aircraft for the same thing.
It works by leaving a slight residue that will "fill" the scratches, and repel dirt/dust for a bit. So I dont think you want to use it if you're putting a protector over it.. but if you're just leaving the screen as-is and want the scratches reduced, it will work great.
amazon link to see the can (dont buy here, its overpriced): https://www.amazon.com/Plexus-Plastic-Cleaner-Protectant-13-Ounce/dp/B00092CKN4 (https://www.amazon.com/Plexus-Plastic-Cleaner-Protectant-13-Ounce/dp/B00092CKN4)
its also on revzilla. http://www.revzilla.com/product/plexus-plastic-cleaner-protectant-polish (http://www.revzilla.com/product/plexus-plastic-cleaner-protectant-polish)
and I know Cycle Gear carries it.
Its $12 locally, expect to pay more online since they have to ship it. one can will last you a long time.
plexus and the Honda version looks like this:
(http://www.cbr600f4.com/pics/polish.jpg)
I have been using those products for 30 years and can recommend both. However, I like Plexus better for clear and colored plastic and the Honda Spray and Polish for dirty and oily metal, such as wheel rims. The Honda product does a great job of degreasing chain oil off of rims and other parts and my daughter used it to clean her entire Suzuki GS500E while she was going to UCSD as there was no water available in the college parking lot. Really amazing stuff and a good value. However, Plexus was apparently made for the aircraft industry and is priced accordingly, around $25 for the large can. A great product, but you sure pay for the privilege of using it. ::)
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However, Plexus was apparently made for the aircraft industry and is priced accordingly, around $25 for the large can. A great product, but you sure pay for the privilege of using it. ::)
It didnt used to be that way... until 05 or so it was only $8 a can. I dont know what changed, but some sellers are nuts about the price of the stuff. Local bike shop still has it for $12 though, so I cant complain.
I tried looking online for him, but the prices were crazy.