Short sighted man inspects bike.....

Following on from my recent tumble two weeks ago, because the GS is my only daily transport I have been progressing it on a regular basis. When I spoke with Clarkes on Wednesday just gone I was told that they were hoping to get it finished by this coming weekend however due to a certain part shortage this date had now slipped to a completion date of mid next week.
To be fair I didn’t really have too much of an issue with this coz I am still not 100% fit.
So as I was passing their door yesterday afternoon I thought it would be good to call in and see the bike for the first time since the accident.
The bike was parked in the workshop and all the sundry bit and pieces have been replaced but the very first thing I noticed when I walked in was a deep long gouge in the left hand fork three quarters of the way up?
So how did that get there then because it’s on the opposite side to all the other damage? Plus for damage that severe other parts would have needed to be literally ripped off??
To cut a long story short and after much debating it has been concluded that the only possible cause was the steel ratchet strap mechanism used by the recovery people has done the damage but no one at Clarkes had noticed it until yesterday?
But here’s the real pisser………..it has now been decided that irrespective of that damage the forks need replacing anyway because they cannot get the steering to align correctly.
But there’s more……they have only just noticed a small dent/crease in the tank on the right hand side half way up…. so that to need replacing.

Ask yourself how would you feel now?

What would you do next?

In a rather confused state I continued to inspect the bike and asked how long it would take for a new rear hugger to arrive?
Yep you’ve guessed it, they hadn’t noticed that either?

So to summarize the repair bill has just gone from £750 to about two grand…….!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The time is now five in the morning and I have been awake longer than I care to recall and on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) in the pi55ed off ranks, its rated at a 100

Come first thing in the morning someone at Clarkes is going to get their feckin' head ripped of..........

BTBR

Without wishing to belittle your complaint my mate binned his VFR at the end of June and didn't get it back until September and even then it wasn't finished and had to go back for the last few bits. It was all cosmetics so basically a bolt on job. Even his regular phone calls and visits couldn't get it done any quicker. The dealer blamed the ins co and Honda. The ins co (NU) were evasive and the assessor it seems was blind - he missed all the scratches on the opposite side to the impact.

If you're gonna rip someones feckin' head off at Clarkes at least do it with a smile and explain that you need the bike back completed ASAP... then if that doesn't work, get angry.

Bad news all the same, hope you get it sorted quickly.

Adam

P.S. Sanguine will be probably along shortly to offer some 'advice'.

Sound advice Adam for which I thank you.

Suitably chilled....... I rang them this first thing this morning and made arrangements for a meeting this afternoon with the boss man.

Good outcome with very positive answers which I hope are backed with equally positive actions, we will see.

Meanwhile my pending formal complaint with BMW Assist has gathered more amo with a photo of the gouged fork leg.

BTBR.

I had a 'debate' with the AA after my sick T595 was recovered, when they broke a handlebar mounting and caused some scratches. I got an ' it wasn't our fault' but here you are payment, so now I'd recommend taking a camera when out on a ride and if you need to be recovered photograph all points of attachment for your pride and joy on a trailer. Then it reduces the chance of 'our technicians would'nt put a strap round there' . On a positive end the last time I was recovered was in the Scottish borders and the AA chap that came out was superb, made sure everything was protected and stopped a couple of times en route just to make sure the straps were ok.

My neighbour had his bike wrecked, while the insurance twiddled their thumbs he got one of those ambulance chaser companys on to it. The next day he had a hire bike delivered ( honda VFR 800 ) which he had for 6 weeks while his bike was repaired- never cost him a penny.