That's the only combination of words I can use to describe the parts department of my local Kawasaki dealer.
Story:
I ordered a Kawasaki service manual for my 99 KDX220R on 1/16. I was told it'd be there by the end of next week. A week and a half later I called to see if my manual was in and was told it'd be another week. A week later I was given some story about how Kawa doesn't print the manuals, they contract to a private corp. When Kawa is out of them, like now, they have to get them printed. "Yeah, it typically takes a couple months to get a service manual from them."
Gritting my teeth I hung up the phone, posted here, then called a Kawa dealer in Bellevue, which is 1:15 away. The guy there said it sounded like BS, but that there was some sort of part number mix-up going on, so it may be true. I sighed and resigned myself to waiting.
Over the next few weeks I called a few more times. Funny enough, each time I had to remind him why I was calling and "Now, what kind of bike was that again?" that it's a 99 K-D-X-220 R. You'd think I would stand out after this time.
So a month ago I went in to see the parts guy, it was a different fella. I asked if my manual had come in and he said that he didn't have the manual, nor any record of the sale. I (FOOL!) didn't have a receipt. :| Anyway, he said he could give me my money back if I brought in the credit card statement showing what I paid. Fair enough, I'll be back. Well, it's a 20 minute drive from my house to there so I didn't make it back for 2 days. Still.... I walk in with my statement. This dude questions whether it was the charge I was pointing at or the charge below it. (which was for less) Now, if you glanced at the statement you could make the same mistake. Of course, you would then look a little closer and it would become clear. This was beyond this guy. He said I needed a better statement from my bank.
I smoked my tires leaving the lot I was so pissed. After calling the bank and finding out what it would cost I called the owner. I started in on him and he gave me the first helpful piece of information I'd had from this shop. "The parts guy you ordered from was fired because this sort of thing happened too many times. This new guy (the one I'd been dealing with for a month now) is great. All you need to do is get him the date of the purchase and the amount. He'll just get that info to our bookkeeper and she can have your refund to you within a couple days." I have him get the parts guy on the phone and told him the info.
***I'd like to take a moment to point out that this helpful info was NEVER given to me by the parts guy. Nope, the Owner had to do it. Dude had plenty of chances to do so, he just never did.***
3 days later I call back to check the status. Yeah... the book keeper quit. Now the parts guy is doing her work too. I, being a fairly forgiving guy, feel bad for the place and decide to give it a shot. I give him the information again and let him run with it. He tells me he'll call me later that day to give me the info.
For the first, AND ONLY time in this entire saga I get a phone call. He found the transaction, yes it was the amount I said. Do I want my refund in cash or to the credit card? I still feel bad for the business, plus I still want my DANG manual. So I ask him if he can just order the manual in. "Sure, no problem. What bike was it for again?" :think: KAY-DEE-EX-220-ARE! 1999! "Ok, I'll put in that order. It should be in either late this week or early next week." I give him my phone number again (just in case) and request that he call me when it does come in.
Next week on Wednesday I call to check on it. I have to tell him again what bike it's for. :| It's not in. "Ok, no biggie," I think to myself. I remind him to call me when it does come in. He tells me it could even come in today.
On Friday (yesterday) I call and remind him what bike I have, Glory BE! It's in! I cruise out there and pick it up, happy as a clam. I check to make sure there's a supplement. There is, it's 5 plain paper pages on top of the manual. I asked him, "This is the supplement?" He affirms that and I leave happy as a clam.
You should notice here that I did not say that I inspected the manual. *heavy foreshadowing*
So last night around 8pm I decide to go mess around with my pipe to cylinder junction. I walk in and whip out my trusty manual to make sure there's not going to be any surprises. First I take the 5 sheets of the supplement off the cover. I glanced at them. They looked odd.... but on the 3rd page was torque settings so I figured that must be the deal.......
Then I looked at the cover for the manual.
It was a manual, all right. But that's all it had in common with what I ordered.
It's a general bike manual from Kawasaki. It's instructions are on how to uncrate and put together any 1995 Kawasaki bike made. This is nowhere near as helpful as it sounds, plus my bike as a 1999. On paging through I found instructions on how to put side reflectors on the Canadian model KDX using the provided bolts, for example.
I was livid and, frankly, still am. Today I walked in and returned the incorrect "manual" and "supplement" for my money back. Unfortunately the owner wasn't standing in the front or I'd have given him a good solid run down on my experience. But at least I have my $40.
-Dawg
:flame:
Story:
I ordered a Kawasaki service manual for my 99 KDX220R on 1/16. I was told it'd be there by the end of next week. A week and a half later I called to see if my manual was in and was told it'd be another week. A week later I was given some story about how Kawa doesn't print the manuals, they contract to a private corp. When Kawa is out of them, like now, they have to get them printed. "Yeah, it typically takes a couple months to get a service manual from them."
Gritting my teeth I hung up the phone, posted here, then called a Kawa dealer in Bellevue, which is 1:15 away. The guy there said it sounded like BS, but that there was some sort of part number mix-up going on, so it may be true. I sighed and resigned myself to waiting.
Over the next few weeks I called a few more times. Funny enough, each time I had to remind him why I was calling and "Now, what kind of bike was that again?" that it's a 99 K-D-X-220 R. You'd think I would stand out after this time.
So a month ago I went in to see the parts guy, it was a different fella. I asked if my manual had come in and he said that he didn't have the manual, nor any record of the sale. I (FOOL!) didn't have a receipt. :| Anyway, he said he could give me my money back if I brought in the credit card statement showing what I paid. Fair enough, I'll be back. Well, it's a 20 minute drive from my house to there so I didn't make it back for 2 days. Still.... I walk in with my statement. This dude questions whether it was the charge I was pointing at or the charge below it. (which was for less) Now, if you glanced at the statement you could make the same mistake. Of course, you would then look a little closer and it would become clear. This was beyond this guy. He said I needed a better statement from my bank.
I smoked my tires leaving the lot I was so pissed. After calling the bank and finding out what it would cost I called the owner. I started in on him and he gave me the first helpful piece of information I'd had from this shop. "The parts guy you ordered from was fired because this sort of thing happened too many times. This new guy (the one I'd been dealing with for a month now) is great. All you need to do is get him the date of the purchase and the amount. He'll just get that info to our bookkeeper and she can have your refund to you within a couple days." I have him get the parts guy on the phone and told him the info.
***I'd like to take a moment to point out that this helpful info was NEVER given to me by the parts guy. Nope, the Owner had to do it. Dude had plenty of chances to do so, he just never did.***
3 days later I call back to check the status. Yeah... the book keeper quit. Now the parts guy is doing her work too. I, being a fairly forgiving guy, feel bad for the place and decide to give it a shot. I give him the information again and let him run with it. He tells me he'll call me later that day to give me the info.
For the first, AND ONLY time in this entire saga I get a phone call. He found the transaction, yes it was the amount I said. Do I want my refund in cash or to the credit card? I still feel bad for the business, plus I still want my DANG manual. So I ask him if he can just order the manual in. "Sure, no problem. What bike was it for again?" :think: KAY-DEE-EX-220-ARE! 1999! "Ok, I'll put in that order. It should be in either late this week or early next week." I give him my phone number again (just in case) and request that he call me when it does come in.
Next week on Wednesday I call to check on it. I have to tell him again what bike it's for. :| It's not in. "Ok, no biggie," I think to myself. I remind him to call me when it does come in. He tells me it could even come in today.
On Friday (yesterday) I call and remind him what bike I have, Glory BE! It's in! I cruise out there and pick it up, happy as a clam. I check to make sure there's a supplement. There is, it's 5 plain paper pages on top of the manual. I asked him, "This is the supplement?" He affirms that and I leave happy as a clam.
You should notice here that I did not say that I inspected the manual. *heavy foreshadowing*
So last night around 8pm I decide to go mess around with my pipe to cylinder junction. I walk in and whip out my trusty manual to make sure there's not going to be any surprises. First I take the 5 sheets of the supplement off the cover. I glanced at them. They looked odd.... but on the 3rd page was torque settings so I figured that must be the deal.......
Then I looked at the cover for the manual.
It was a manual, all right. But that's all it had in common with what I ordered.
It's a general bike manual from Kawasaki. It's instructions are on how to uncrate and put together any 1995 Kawasaki bike made. This is nowhere near as helpful as it sounds, plus my bike as a 1999. On paging through I found instructions on how to put side reflectors on the Canadian model KDX using the provided bolts, for example.
I was livid and, frankly, still am. Today I walked in and returned the incorrect "manual" and "supplement" for my money back. Unfortunately the owner wasn't standing in the front or I'd have given him a good solid run down on my experience. But at least I have my $40.
-Dawg
:flame:
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