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How a Triumph dealer marred my overall Tiger 660 ownership experience

I'm glad that my friend cancelled his Street Triple 765 RS with this dealership and opted for another dealer instead.

BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My ordeal with a Triumph dealership: 3.5 months to get a recall appointment, 1.5 months of trying to get a service appointment

Going through all the ride pictures on the thread, one might think everything is only hunky dory with my Triumph ownership. However, my ownership experience has also finally been marred by the one infamous aspect of Triumph ownership - the dealership experience.

The recall:

Triumph announced this recall in early August after noticing MAP hose issues in bikes causing engine stalling issues and crashes. This is a major issue recall and several bikes globally had stalling issues reported which finally resulted in this recall.

The service plan lock in:

Some of you might be wondering why did I even bother with this Triumph dealership after Khivraj Triumph opened shop in Bangalore. After all, this specific Triumph dealership must have the worst service reputation among all the dealers in India!

The reason is that my bike has a service plan prepaid till November 2024, which locks me in with this Triumph dealership.

The timelines of my follow-up with the Triumph dealership

Summarised: Recall-related booking pending from 30th August, and service-related booking pending from 6th November!

  • 30th August - I checked my VIN and informed the Triumph dealership personnel for the applicability of my bike for the MAP sensor recall. I'm informed the details have been noted and will be informed once the parts are available.
  • 13th October - After more than a month of no response, I started active follow-up for the part availability and I'm informed they will get it ready for replacement during my planned service in November.
  • 6th November - I called the service center and requested a service slot. I'm told they are busy with the 400s and to bring the bike on 13th November.
  • 11th November - They call and cancel the appointment for 13th November, citing renovation work happening. Next appointment was given for 20th November.
  • 18th November - They called and cancelled the appointment for 20th November, citing renovation work which is almost done but needs a few more days. Next appointment was given for 27th November.
  • 27th November - I call them. No response.
  • 29th November - I called them - they answered the call and told me tiles work was happening so they couldn't take bikes earlier. But it is almost done. They also assure me of two things - 1. My service plan and warranty won't be affected due to these service delays as the delay is from their end and 2. I don't need to follow up, they will update as soon as slots open and that they have all the details noted.
  • 6th December - I called them back after getting no calls in a week and the same person as above tells me they forgot to let me know slots opened and missed to book the details. And now that they have a backlog, can only provide slots for the next week, from 12th December onwards. I am extremely frustrated but requested for 15th December due to work commitments.
  • 14th December - They call and cancel the appointment for 15th December, citing renovation work again! I reminded her how I've been following up on a service booking for 1.5 months now - she says they can take the bike on Friday, but will start working only on Monday at the earliest and deliver the bike back midweek.

What now?

I'm done waiting for this Triumph dealership even if that leaves money on the table. I can understand their need for renovation due to the sudden surge of volumes - but this back to back to back to back slot bookings and last-minute cancellations are not the way to deal with customers - and renovation is no excuse for such behaviour.

I can't wait anymore as the service timelines have already been overshot and I also need the bike serviced before the year-end ride.

I'm also glad my friend cancelled his Street Triple 765 RS with this dealership and opted for Khivraj Triumph instead. Humble advice/request to any potential Triumph owners reading this to spare yourselves future troubles and do the same yourself.

Called Khivraj Triumph dealership yesterday and they provided an appointment for the weekend. Hopefully, they also have the recall part, which they said they would try to sort out during the same visit.

Hoping for a better experience with Khivraj now.

If any Triumph management folks are reading this, please cancel my prepaid service plan (I think at least 20k should be profit for you!) and distribute it among the customer-centric employees at the Triumph dealership that continues to excel at making life worse for customers. I'm leaving that money on the table and moving to Khivraj Triumph.

PS: Exceptions are there - I have a lot of appreciation for the SA Jaydev at the Triumph dealership who helped me troubleshoot a cheeky ABS issue earlier and also maintained good relations afterwards. Unfortunately, guys like him are stuck with the wrong dealership management.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
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