Note: I have two bikes, my TW and a Kawasaki Concours. This is in regards to my Concours.
Sorry if this is lengthy, but there is a great deal of detail in this experience, some of which I will omit for expediency. So, I have a ride to Reno coming up (722 miles) and I needed to have a new front tire mounted. I have the equipment to do it, but I'm back to work after my first retirement and I don't currently have the time for things such as this. I took my 2004 C-10 to a shop in Olympia, WA to have the tire mounted. The owner would not set an appointment time and I couldn't leave the bike overnight, he said, because there were two race cars in his shop. I arrived at his shop and he told me he just put a freshly arrived bike on the lift and mine would be done in about three hours, after which he would call me. So, I walked around Olympia for almost three hours and he called and said my bike was done. When I got there he told me HE DROPPED MY BIKE! He said it wasn't his fault, my handlebars were loose and they swiveled when he tried to put it on the center-stand. The only damage so far that I notice is the ripped boot on the left-side mirror and my choke lever isn't operating as smoothly as it did prior. Full disclosure: I have Heli-Bars on my bike that were professionally mounted by a local Kawasaki shop. Because these bars are much higher than stock, getting the bike on the center-stand is more difficult. I have done it, though, several times without problem. I believe this guy, 6' 4" and 300 lbs, jerked hard on the left side bar, causing it to swivel as it's not intended for that kind of force. This caused the bars to turn and he lost grip and balance. He said he is not responsible for any damage as it wasn't his fault. To top it off, he informed me that it took him longer than he though it would, so he said he felt it fair to charge me more for labor than originally quoted. He was going to give me a break, though, and charge me for an additional 45 minutes... not a full hour as he typically would. So, it amounted to an additional $72. When i inspected my bike, while still at the shop, I couldn't help but notice the large amount of greasy smears on my tank and front fender. Ultimately i expressed my dissatisfaction with this experience, which he tried to justify at every step; for example, the grease smears he said were cause by the bike falling over which was not his fault. He asked me if i would walk away happy if he reimbursed me for the $72 and expressed concern that I would say bad things about his business. My silence cannot be bought for $72, so I told him that even if he reimbursed me for that amount I would not be happy with the experience. I told him to charge me what he thought was appropriate: Ultimately he did, in fact, charge me the extra $72. For context, my bike, though old, is/was in pristine condition. I don't ride it in the rain, it's garage kept, washed frequently and waxed after every wash... yeah, I'm that guy; my daughter say I'm CDO... that's OCD in alphabetical order hahaha.
I have two questions. First, would I have any legal liability for authoring an honest but scathing Yelp review? And second, are there things I should get inspected as a result of his drop? I'm certain that all of the left side wires and cables were torqued as a result of the bars turning inward so violently. Again, sorry for the length of this post and thank you for the opportunity to vent. Oh, one last thought. The drop was on the left side. Why did it not merely land on the side/kick-stand? I'm guessing he didn't have it in the down position as it should be when lifting onto the center stand.
Les
Sorry if this is lengthy, but there is a great deal of detail in this experience, some of which I will omit for expediency. So, I have a ride to Reno coming up (722 miles) and I needed to have a new front tire mounted. I have the equipment to do it, but I'm back to work after my first retirement and I don't currently have the time for things such as this. I took my 2004 C-10 to a shop in Olympia, WA to have the tire mounted. The owner would not set an appointment time and I couldn't leave the bike overnight, he said, because there were two race cars in his shop. I arrived at his shop and he told me he just put a freshly arrived bike on the lift and mine would be done in about three hours, after which he would call me. So, I walked around Olympia for almost three hours and he called and said my bike was done. When I got there he told me HE DROPPED MY BIKE! He said it wasn't his fault, my handlebars were loose and they swiveled when he tried to put it on the center-stand. The only damage so far that I notice is the ripped boot on the left-side mirror and my choke lever isn't operating as smoothly as it did prior. Full disclosure: I have Heli-Bars on my bike that were professionally mounted by a local Kawasaki shop. Because these bars are much higher than stock, getting the bike on the center-stand is more difficult. I have done it, though, several times without problem. I believe this guy, 6' 4" and 300 lbs, jerked hard on the left side bar, causing it to swivel as it's not intended for that kind of force. This caused the bars to turn and he lost grip and balance. He said he is not responsible for any damage as it wasn't his fault. To top it off, he informed me that it took him longer than he though it would, so he said he felt it fair to charge me more for labor than originally quoted. He was going to give me a break, though, and charge me for an additional 45 minutes... not a full hour as he typically would. So, it amounted to an additional $72. When i inspected my bike, while still at the shop, I couldn't help but notice the large amount of greasy smears on my tank and front fender. Ultimately i expressed my dissatisfaction with this experience, which he tried to justify at every step; for example, the grease smears he said were cause by the bike falling over which was not his fault. He asked me if i would walk away happy if he reimbursed me for the $72 and expressed concern that I would say bad things about his business. My silence cannot be bought for $72, so I told him that even if he reimbursed me for that amount I would not be happy with the experience. I told him to charge me what he thought was appropriate: Ultimately he did, in fact, charge me the extra $72. For context, my bike, though old, is/was in pristine condition. I don't ride it in the rain, it's garage kept, washed frequently and waxed after every wash... yeah, I'm that guy; my daughter say I'm CDO... that's OCD in alphabetical order hahaha.
I have two questions. First, would I have any legal liability for authoring an honest but scathing Yelp review? And second, are there things I should get inspected as a result of his drop? I'm certain that all of the left side wires and cables were torqued as a result of the bars turning inward so violently. Again, sorry for the length of this post and thank you for the opportunity to vent. Oh, one last thought. The drop was on the left side. Why did it not merely land on the side/kick-stand? I'm guessing he didn't have it in the down position as it should be when lifting onto the center stand.
Les