Is this reasonable?

[MacGyver]

Hey,

A tale of service woe for all...I'd like to know what other people's opinion is on this...

A couple of weeks ago I went to take the bike out, when I turned the ignition on the FI light was flashing and no matter what, it just wouldn't fire up although it was trying desperately to start. Long story short, I couldn't figure it out so I got a certain outfit to come and collect it for me. Left it on the bit of pavement outside my garage in what's basically in the corner on a dead end although there is an adjoining road behind the garage to other garages. There for about four hours before it was picked up...I'll come onto that...

So they dismantled the whole bike thinking it was a valve or something causing the problem (I can't remember now, it was over a week ago). It wasn't that so they asked me to bring the red key in. I did so...although nothing happened with it for four days as it was Easter. Turns out all that was wrong was that the transponder in the key for the immobiliser had died, and the solution was simply to use the spare key. I should have tried that myself but that aside...

They tried to charge me 4hrs labour for that. I got it down to a little over 2hrs and ended up paying a good hundred quid in total. Now surely they should know to try that first before taking the whole thing apart (or read the ECU?) and charging me for the privilege.

Not only that, when I went to pick it up the right-hand mirror was sheared clean off. No other damage to the bike whatsoever. They all claim it was like that when they collected it, which I find highly unlikely. Especially as they never once mentioned it to me beforehand. No sign of any mirror lying around outside my garage either. Still, nothing that I can prove either way as I wasn't there when they collected it. So now I'm doing a trip to Wales with no right-hand mirror.

Question is, are they taking the piss or am I being unreasonable?

[payner]

hard lesson learnt there, i guess you will have to pay bill but put a claim in on there liability insurance for mirror broken on collection. if they honour your custom it should not cost them a penny to fill in claim form

[billinom8s]

i would say mention the words 'trading standards' when you go back in. see what they say.

thought it was something a bit more serious as your bike has been in safety mode for about 6 months hasn't it ?

[MacGyver]

hard lesson learnt there, i guess you will have to pay bill but put a claim in on there liability insurance for mirror broken on collection. if they honour your custom it should not cost them a penny to fill in claim form

I didn't know about that, thanks. So it's their liability even before they pick it up?

i would say mention the words 'trading standards' when you go back in. see what they say.

Part of me (a small part admittedly) wonders whether they're in the right because I'm paying for the time they spent on it and I should be grateful for them halving the bill already. Their argument is that you can only solve electronic problems by trial and error (which is BS, is it not, as you can read the fault code off the ECU? I would have done that myself if I had the appropriate tools).

thought it was something a bit more serious as your bike has been in safety mode for about 6 months hasn't it ?

Sadly it still is! I'm reliably informed it's as fast as it should be though, I think just the very low end power is suffering a bit.

[deej]

to be fair, what did you tell the dealership was wrong with your bike in the first place,if they spent 4 hours working on your bike on your own diagnosis then in my eyes its only fair you pay the full labour.

if you told them it was one thing and they looked at something else then thats different. would a key fob issue be recorded on the ecu ?

as for liability surely it starts from the minute its in their possesion and not whilst its left outside awaiting collection

[MacGyver]

to be fair, what did you tell the dealership was wrong with your bike in the first place,if they spent 4 hours working on your bike on your own diagnosis then in my eyes its only fair you pay the full labour

if you told them it was one thing and they looked at something else then thats different

I just told them it wouldn't start due to an electronic fault (FI light flashing). They did all the diagnosing.

[deej]

what bike was it on ? and how technolgical is the ecu/fault recording system

[MacGyver]

what bike was it on ? and how technolgical is the ecu/fault recording system

2005 ZX636. According to the Haynes, if the FI light is flashing like that, you can get a fault code off the ECU which tells you exactly what the problem is.

[deej]

what bike was it on ? and how technolgical is the ecu/fault recording system

2005 ZX636. According to the Haynes, if the FI light is flashing like that, you can get a fault code off the ECU which tells you exactly what the problem is.

well in that case it must be right

do you know if the dealership had diagnostic equipment to read the bike and match the code up against. my mates got a teka diagnostic set but it doesnt cover every bike as i found out when i had my zx10

out of curiosity where did you take it

[Funky]

In my opinion if you told them it was an electrical fault their first port of call in my mind would be the ECU, i'm not sure if it tells you whether there is a problem with the alarm or not. But you can normally get a fault code, if they did that and it didn't show anything then fine tear it apart.

I do have a problem with people charging for an incorrect diagnosis, you got it wrong, why am i paying for it?

[MacGyver]

well in that case it must be right

do you know if the dealership had diagnostic equipment to read the bike and match the code up against. my mates got a teka diagnostic set but it doesnt cover every bike as i found out when i had my zx10

All you need is an auxiliary lead. Apparently you take the rider's seat off and earth it to the frame, then the FI light flashes the specific fault code - all of which are listed in the Haynes.

out of curiosity where did you take it

I don't really think it's fair to say on a public forum at this point...especially as it's such a small world down in Devonland!

[MacGyver]

In my opinion if you told them it was an electrical fault their first port of call in my mind would be the ECU, i'm not sure if it tells you whether there is a problem with the alarm or not. But you can normally get a fault code, if they did that and it didn't show anything then fine tear it apart.

I do have a problem with people charging for an incorrect diagnosis, you got it wrong, why am i paying for it?

That's what I thought. When it wasn't the first thing they thought it was, their next thought was that it's probably the immobiliser hence asking me to bring in the red key - and that it may well just be the key itself. Which it was. Why didn't they try that first, when it would have taken all of five seconds? They obviously had an idea that it was a strong possibility in the first place.

[deej]

I do have a problem with people charging for an incorrect diagnosis, you got it wrong, why am i paying for it?

theyre only as good as the information theyre given, granted some are better than others

i personally feel that if a punter tells them one thing and it turns out to be something completely different then the punter should pay for time wasting

[Funky]

I agree with that moose, but I'm referring to when THEY think it is something independently and THEY get it wrong.

[Banditmax]

I think the problem here is really lack of questioning from the workshop on how the bike stopped working and what was wrong. If they had spoken to you personally and asked you what was wrong, you would have told them you parked it up one day, came back a while later and it wouldn't start. No other problems when last riding it. On any bike with an immobiliser this immediatly points to that probably stopping the startup. The FI light flashing should probably bring up the code to say that engine start is blocked by the immobiliser.