Got a call yesterday from the garage about my Ducati. It went sick on a recent BCR, just running on 1 cylinder. The garage tell me a cam belt has snapped! They suggested that that to$$a in Stepney Green who rebuilt the motor prolly did not change the belts as paid for!
Iāve also had a call from the company that are meant to be cleaning and re-tanning my leathers. The price has trebled! Grrrrrrr!
I need to go listen to some David Sanborn:w00t: The whole world will be full of love-n-happiness then!:smooooth:
If its such a laugh, can I send you the bill Makman? You can giggle yābuns off then! As Chunky suggests. My leathers have had better days. But after explaining that the top surface was worn off so that the grain has come through and sending them pictures, they gave an estimate of about Ā£100 to clean and re-tan them. They now want about Ā£350 if the can do the whole back panel red (thereās white lettering and a picture on the back panel).The Ducati is gonna cost about a monkey for the labour (not a Chunky Monkey!). I dunno what parts are needed and then thereās the whilst its apart factorā¦mind you, whilst it was apart last time that mofo in Stepney Green was sposeāta put new belts etc in it!
I have an āAssociateā that takes care of theā¦unpleasantness now!
if the garage using now will put it in writing that the belts are no way new then surely you have a good case to take to the garage who was suppose to put new 1s in?
Thereās no way to prove whether the belts werenāt replaced and so no one will put anything in writing. It took time to coax the guys opinion out of him as it was, and it is just his opinion, not an official company view.
What garage? Well let me put it this way, he may well being seeing the pile of broken bits when I getāem back from Pro Twins. The to$$a Iām talking about is unable to stick to his estimates, thats the price quoted or the work agreed or the time has says heāll do the job in (1-2wks was 6-7wks!). The same to$$a stripped the whole engine with instruction to do the valve gear whilst he was about it, he added that to the bill. He then told me on about the 3rd or 4th time I returned the bike to him to put right the fuelling that heād phucked up that heād not done the valves at all!
That same to$$a tried to fob me off with all kinds of rubbish about carb icing. Its funny that he couldnāt tell there was no power and a massive flat spot from 3000-5000rpm. It miraculously showed up on the dyno tho! Les at Banjax (the dyno) was shocked at the amount of sealant used on the engine rebuild. He was cutting it out of the carb inlet tracts! In my trade when someone shows the incompetence of this outfit we have a saying that āthey should have there hands cut off!ā. I could have cut off summit a lilābit more sensitive!
I dont know if it was the boss or that divvie Aussie twitt that did my bike but the boss took the money and ran. Oh, you asked who was it? How many Ducati specialists do you know in the railway arches in Stepney Green. Yes, Iād go change your cam belts yourself if I were you, cause I wouldnāt give the thieving wnaker my toothbrush to service!..
The same āspecialistā doubled my bill for a dropped value, forgot to apply any grease to a complete back end rebuild, and used the same tactics of mumble mumble when explanations were soughtā¦seems Iām not the only one who has been done.
O.K., Iāve got sympathy. Yup, Iāve been caught out by āspecialistā tossers. And just tossers. But that was before the internet and being in touch a bit more through londonbikers and other forums.
So this expert operates from under a railway arch in Stepney Green?
How convincing does that sound?
Was the starting price cheaper than youād been quoted elsewhere?
3 people recommended this guy, 1 I met by chance and the others were via the www! I had no other quotes cause I couldnāt find anyone near me. I was a Ducati virgin and he took my cherry!
I must say, and its not a dig but just personal, i wouldnāt let anyone other than a main dealer touch my baby. Agreed there have been a few instances regarding Yamaha that have been exposed that have not gone well, but i just like the idea of the manufacturer being in the chain.
I sure hope you get the matter resolved asap George. As for the leathers i have used 9 Lives in Guildford for that sort of thing, maybe Wasp has a contact for that sort of thing also.
Take care fella and donāt let the bas7ards grind you down.
Have I not made it clear who the mofo is? Iāve said the perp is in Stepney Green and advised the guy that has his cam belts done there to change them himself in future!
I would rather not say outright who the perp is for 2 reasons. The first I have no guarantees either way if he changed the belts or not. The other reason is that Iām affraid the mods might pull this thread and and Iād rather the thread stay live for a long as poss.
As Chunky suggests. My leathers have had better days. But after explaining that the top surface was worn off so that the grain has come through and sending them pictures, they gave an estimate of about Ā£100 to clean and re-tan them. They now want about Ā£350 if the can do the whole back panel red (thereās white lettering and a picture on the back panel).The Ducati is gonna cost about a monkey for the labour (not a Chunky Monkey!). I dunno what parts are needed and then thereās the whilst its apart factorā¦mind you, whilst it was apart last time that mofo in Stepney Green was sposeāta put new belts etc in it!
