What happens when things go wrong - Customers maintaining vehicles

Like any professional we tried to keep our bikes in the best condition. Things can go wrong at any time with a bike - but the cautionary tales that follow were a nightmare for both for the customers and for me:


Tale 1: Bald (?) Tires
I had a 650GS go out in June 2008 - 2 months after Michelin tire fitters had fitted a set of Anakees on all my bikes. Anakees last at least more than 25% more than most other bikes so there was no way these tires were anywhere close to the end of their life. The bike was due to go out for a fortnight so I checked chain tension and tire wear before it went out. It was fine. The bike went out signed for and absolutely fine.
Three days later I got a call to the effect that the general opinion 'of about 10 bikers' was that the tires were beyond their active life. Clearly this was a load of rubbish. We agreed she would take a picture of the tires with her mobile phone - and if they were off I would organise their replacement. No photos received so I figured she had had a look and there were no problems - after all I had the rest of the business to run.
She then extended about 8 days into her hire - and kept the bike for an extra few days. As we were arranging all this I asked her how she was getting on with the tires and she told me she had changed them at a cost of about 300€. Boy! Was I pissed off - although I said nothing on the phone.
I figured it cost me about 100€ all in all for her to do that - as I had a set of tires that would last 30% less - and would need to replace them with Anakees. Anyway - I bit my tongue and picked the bike up from Toulouse airport.
Here I made a mistake - and spent as much time talking to her about her trip - as checking the bike out. It all seemed in order and off I went with the bike. The first corner I noticed a slight vibration from the rear - but carried on anyway till about 80KM down the road for my first ciggie break.
I always check the bike - and as I walked round I saw this.

From Blogger Pictures

Needless to say - I was completely bloody incensed at this point. Not only had the bozos in Andorra ripped off a customer BUT they had neglected to give a final tighten to the chain tensioner plates on the 650GS - which is absolutely mandatory - and anyone who works on them knows this.

The repair bill was about 500€ for a new swing arm and the customer paid - as well as for the new tires - a very expensive lesson.
In my contract as in most - there is a clause to say no unauthorized repairs - so the answer is don't do any unauthorized repairs - you may not get your money back and you may well pay extra!

What happens when things go wrong - Reservations

I started off with the idea that no one would reserve a motorcycle on speculation - and then cancel it on a whim.

Then a couple of things happened - two brothers hired a couple of 1200GS's in mid season - for a month each. I cut them a good deal - unlimited mileage for 4000€ - and I got their forms. And did not take their deposits (30%) at that point.

Two months later, and 3 weeks before their hire, I got a message to say they would not be coming. I tried to process their cards - but these were disabled. I rang up the agent to see what had happened and it turned out that one of them had had a relapse from pancreatic cancer.

To cut a long story short - one of them decided to come in the end - but I had learned my lesson. Take the deposit ASAP. Customers will jerk you around.

Learning Point 1: If you cancel the rental company is liable to keep your deposit! They will have had at least one similar experience.

I also had a customer cancel and took his deposit. He rang me shortly afterward - saying he wanted to cancel. Giving a perfectly good reason (he had bought a bike). I pointed out that he was well within the point where his deposit was lost - and I would be keeping it.
He threatened me with contacting the UK Motorcycle Press and taking me to court. I pointed out I was within my legal rights - I had a reservation form he had signed. Fortunately I had another reservation before this got too out of hand.
In the spirit of keeping him sweet - I gave him an e-mail a few weeks later to see how he had got on. As it turns out he had hired a Honda Deauville and ridden down! So I had been lied to (again).

Learning Point 2: If you cancel the rental company is liable to keep your deposit! They will have had at least one similar experience and will assume they are being lied to.

Options on reservations - we did not take any - some companies do - normally you get 24 hours.