Difference between a good shop (Tejas) and a careless shop (Two Wheel World)

[Atreyou]

So on day one of my ride from Austin to Sterling, VA, the Gods decided to screw with me.  I had a rear blowout going 65mph on the inside of five lanes on I-30 E exiting Dallas, with no shoulder to my left, just a concrete barrier.  I was on a turn when it happened and I am not entirely sure how I made it alive to the right shoulder but I did.

Sadly, my brand new, beautiful 240mm Avon Cobra had a hole so big that it blew the Ride On all over the bike and was down to the rim.  New tire - shot!!  Triple A took me to Garland Texas where I had two choices - Dallas Harley Davidson or Two Wheel World.  The Harley store said they would not work on my bike because of "all the special tools" they would need to "work on an import".  My guess is that they were referring to metric tools, I don't know.  Definitely a bummer.  Fortunately, though, they had a 240mm tire in stock.  A Dunlop D407 replacement tire for Harley's Rocker bobbers.  I needed to hit the road and could not afford to lose a day or more waiting for a Cobra to arrive at Two Wheel World, who said they could do a tire swap.  I bit the bullet and shelled out $315 for a tire that is not my first choice and which has "Harley Davidson" emblazoned on the sidewall.  Groan.

So far so good.  One of the mechanics at Two Wheel World shuttled me over to buy the tire from the HD store and I hung out as the tire swap took place.  I considered hanging around the service area because I was paranoid about the bike being scuffed, but decided to trust them instead and not be a pain in the ass customer.  HUGE MISTAKE.

When I arrived in Virginia and decided to wash the bike, I noticed that for some goddamn reason those guys had directly levered the tires on and off my impeccable Midnight rear rim resulting in nicks and gouges all over the place.  I fumed at their carelessness but was relieved to see that a Sharpie could fill in the little nicks.  Then I saw my brand new Vance and Hines pipe and lost my shit.  For reasons I will never fully understand, one of those guys rested the ratchet head on the pipe as he was taking off the right rear axle bolt, gouging an area the size of my thumbnail onto the pipe.  What kind of a careless slob does something like this??

I am calling them Tuesday and demanding a check for a new pipe.  They will refuse, of course, and I will have to figure out what to do. 

On the other hand, Tejas (good shop) didn't so much as leave a fingerprint on my bike after all the work they did.  They even waxed it up for me prior to pick up.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful.  Attached is a picture of the damage.  Seems insignificant, I know but I think I am among people who would understand.  How would you feel after saving all that money and having some dumbass scratch your shit like that out of sheer carelessness?  I am starting to wonder if it was purposeful... 

[Capt_Zoom]

Did you by chance do a rental car inspection with them before hand?  probably hard to do with rideon all over it. 
Whenever I go to the dealer now I do this.  Learned the hard way once.

Sorry man....sucks what they did to your baby.

[Atreyou]

Did you by chance do a rental car inspection with them before hand?  probably hard to do with rideon all over it. 
Whenever I go to the dealer now I do this.  Learned the hard way once.

Sorry man....sucks what they did to your baby.

I will definitely have to do this from now on.  I guess this was my hard lesson!  Thanks.

[Sweet Tooth]

They are shops around here like that but the ones i go to seem to be aight . When i go though its for a tire change.

[Ares X]

It's hardly insignificant in my eyes.  I'd be pissed as well.

Like Zoom said, do the check list.  My dealer used to that every time with me, but now they know me enough to know how I take care of my Raider and know I'm not the type to accuse them off something they didn't do.  There was only one time the scratched something and they replaced it.

[Capt_Zoom]

Did you by chance do a rental car inspection with them before hand?  probably hard to do with rideon all over it. 
Whenever I go to the dealer now I do this.  Learned the hard way once.

Sorry man....sucks what they did to your baby.

I will definitely have to do this from now on.  I guess this was my hard lesson!  Thanks.

The sad thing is that we had to learn this lesson at all.  I know 15 year olds that do better/cleaner work than dealers on bikes.  Its about taking your time and if you do f' something up be accountable for it.

[vsr]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

[Ares X]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

Maybe they are.

I loaned a rachet set to my ex for her husand to use since they didn't have any tools. The entire set was returned covered in oil and a total mess. If you were to see their house you'd realize why it was returned to me that way.  I decided then I would not loan them anything else.

If I borrow something it is returned in the same shape or better. I had someone loan me his truck over the weekend and I returned it with a brand new wash and a full tank of gas.

[Atreyou]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

Whoah, that is really great info - thanks!  I am going to get on the horn with them ASAP.  Thanks for passing this on!!!

[theurbanlegend]

Maybe they are.

I loaned a rachet set to my ex for her husand to use since they didn't have any tools. The entire set was returned covered in oil and a total mess. If you were to see their house you'd realize why it was returned to me that way.  I decided then I would not loan them anything else.

If I borrow something it is returned in the same shape or better. I had someone loan me his truck over the weekend and I returned it with a brand new wash and a full tank of gas.

I'm the same way.I take care of my things and I'm even more careful when it's someone elses.

It really sucks about your pipes Atreyou.I'd be pissed too.

[t84a]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

Maybe they are.

I loaned a rachet set to my ex for her husand to use since they didn't have any tools. The entire set was returned covered in oil and a total mess. If you were to see their house you'd realize why it was returned to me that way.  I decided then I would not loan them anything else.

If I borrow something it is returned in the same shape or better. I had someone loan me his truck over the weekend and I returned it with a brand new wash and a full tank of gas.

I loaned a neighbor a submersible pump to drain his hot tub. He brought it back in pieces, literally. I mean, wtf? Handed it to me, said thanks, and left.

[Ares X]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

Maybe they are.

I loaned a rachet set to my ex for her husand to use since they didn't have any tools. The entire set was returned covered in oil and a total mess. If you were to see their house you'd realize why it was returned to me that way.  I decided then I would not loan them anything else.

If I borrow something it is returned in the same shape or better. I had someone loan me his truck over the weekend and I returned it with a brand new wash and a full tank of gas.

I loaned a neighbor a submersible pump to drain his hot tub. He brought it back in pieces, literally. I mean, wtf? Handed it to me, said thanks, and left.

You have got to be kidding???

I loaned a submersible pump to two co-workers (one of them twice) and was worried that it may never work for me again, but I used it last winter to drain my pool and it worked flawlessly.

[Sweet Tooth]

Hay Atreyou I'm sorry to hear about your scratched up exaust ,I'd be pissed as hell I just don't understand why people don't treat things like they would want there thinks to be treated. With that being said ,I scratched my tail pipe on my v&h 2 into 1 and just so you no ,you can call v&h and they sell each piece of the exaust separately. I bought just the tail section chrome exaust shield for like 150$ and its simple to replace hope this helps.

Maybe they are.

I loaned a rachet set to my ex for her husand to use since they didn't have any tools. The entire set was returned covered in oil and a total mess. If you were to see their house you'd realize why it was returned to me that way.  I decided then I would not loan them anything else.

If I borrow something it is returned in the same shape or better. I had someone loan me his truck over the weekend and I returned it with a brand new wash and a full tank of gas.

I loaned a neighbor a submersible pump to drain his hot tub. He brought it back in pieces, literally. I mean, wtf? Handed it to me, said thanks, and left.

Better to be in pieces than never at all.   I loaned my battery charger out to my uncle . Currently it is the first battery charger to sprout legs and walk off.

[Tail dragger]

Then there are those that take care of a loan.  I loaned a chain saw to a friend once and it came back to me with a new chain.  Said he got it into the rocks at the base of a tree he was cutting so instead of trying to sharpen it, just replaced it.  But, he is one of the exceptions.

[Ares X]

Then there are those that take care of a loan.  I loaned a chain saw to a friend once and it came back to me with a new chain.  Said he got it into the rocks at the base of a tree he was cutting so instead of trying to sharpen it, just replaced it.  But, he is one of the exceptions.

I did something similar.  A friend's mom was letting us use her vacation home while our new house was being built. I dyed some clothes using her washer and dryer and it dyed the inside of the dryer kind of a dark purple (used black dye).  So I found the same model dryer at a Sears near by and bought her a new one and took the old one with us. My friend said it wasn't necessary, but there was no way I was going to leave it like that.