Cannons - Mixed Feelings

[Monty]

Good news. Got the call from Chris at Cannon about 4 o'clock to say they had fitted a new battery and all is now well. Just arrived home from picking the bike up.

Overall the response from BMW, SOS Motorcycle Recovery (contracted to collect the bike from my home) and Cannon was very good, with me being back on the road well within 24 hours.

Well done to all concerned, and I can head to Normandy tomorrow with the lovely Sarah.

Matt

 

[Spitfire]

Hi....

Just to add to the tale........

Not only am I new(ish) to this forum, I am new to BMW and BMW dealers. I have a G450X and did my normal thing of sending off an email with a list of part numbers asking for availability and best price. I fired the mail off to several dealers in the East of England. (BTW....its a struggle to even find the address for some dealers)

Guess what, Cannon were the only one that replied! So top marks there. Dont know why bike dealers cant seem to work from emails as I alway had the same issue with KTM dealers.

Went in to collect my filters and the parts guy was out to lunch, however some young lad was very helpful and got the filters for me. While waiting I spoke to a sales guy called Karl about a friends bike that needed selling, he also was very helpful.......and in the process tried to sell me a new S1000

So......for the moment I will use them again.

cheers

 

[MerrickCampbell]

I bought my 2008 GSA new from them - Richard who was there at the time in sales was most helpful...

However, their service department was woeful... Not only in terms of attitude but also quality of work...

The stories I was told and the excuses they made up were farcical... Not only that, but they returned the bike to me with items not working properly and had the audacity to tell me they were not their responsibility...

Now I'm over the border in hertfordshire the bike is attended to superbly by SBW in Hertford and Steve Grover (Motoscot) in Luton...

In this respect I'm older and wiser now !!

In others....

All interesting replies in this thread.

I was really p...ed off by Vines in the past and since that experience have bought two bikes from SBW.

But admitting that I may be a demanding customer with questions (when I should really read the Handbook) I thought do I expect too much from the dealer?

Well I have concluded that in the depths of winter a Customer can feel very welcome and that now, if they are selling/handing over ten times as many bikes, I should cut them some slack when they show signs of being stretched.

My point is that whilst I could see they were fully stretched when I returned to SBW Hertford recently I found their Service Department and the technicians that back it up spot on. The Sales Team similarly so but I think you could benefit by making an appointment with them the busy season.

So thumbs up for SBW (if Cannons have not won you back).

However I would like to ask fellow subscribed tosser 'srace7' for some guidance as to for what he would use Motoscot and for what SBW. Is it simply routine servicing or warranty at the Dealer and other stuff at the Specialist?

I have been told Steve(Motoscot) is a top guy and I do know from Car experiences that very often the Independents seem to be more passionate about thier specialist status and hence the work they do. There is a strong case for using a good Independent.

 

[GS Bloke]

I am based near Milton Keynes but been working in Braintree quite a lot, so when my 25k service was due on my 1200GSA I called Cannons.
Dunno who I spoke with but he was very helpful and gave me a great price.
I put the service book in the top box and it got stamped just fine.
They gave me a loan F800GS for free for the day and the cost of the service was less than I was quoted

Very friendly and helpful, even got a handshake when I was kitting up to leave.
Didn't speak with anyone else and if they had all been grinning at me I would have been very worried.... I only expect a smile when I start to chat with a sales person.

My closest dealer to home always give my bike a good clean, Cannon's don't do this which is a shame but not enough of a problem to prevent me from going again.

I have to use main dealers for my warranty, if it wasn't for this reason I would use independents - unless they had annoyed me in the past......

 

[Gonzo]

Adam,
You, your colleagues and the owners have some serious issues to address with the various levels of service & support

When I came in for my first service a person collecting pats had been let down after being rung & told they were all in.
On my return to pick up the bike another persons was complaining about the fact his service wasn't completed correctly.........what is fcuking going on?????

I have never met Bill or his lady wife, but he needs to act fast & decisively to address all issues,

I know we go on a bit here, but believe me it's out of frustration...

I would suggest Bill need to make himself known on this site to answer awkward questions ... it won't be pleasant I'm sure but if he doesn't I can only see more customers departing & having to travel more miles to get their machines sorted.

Other than that Bill should have an open evening with a question & answer debate.... that will show if he has the balls to put matters right and move forward.

I know for a fact that certain staff at BM keep an eye on comments on this Forum ( My Company does a lot of work for them) ...all these negative comments & frustrated customer issues do feed back to them, and I’m sure you know dealers quite often loose their franchises for matters exactly like we are talking about.

I trust you will pass on my comments to Bill


Regards

Sadly, I have to agree with much of this. Having dealt with Cannons for some years starting in 2001 and having bought 2 new bikes and god know how many accessories and parts plus years of servicing, I voted with my feet and stopped using them a couple of years ago.

The lack of a service culture and an air of complacency seem to be deeply embedded in the leadership of this business. I have met Bill and Veronica on many occasions when the business was in Chelmsford and individually they appear to be lovely people from my limited contact - so this is not personal.

As a customer however - and relatively inexperienced in technical matters - I was made to feel stupid once too often. I was told that there weren't problems when there clearly were, bookings were lost, work performed and invoices were explained only when questioned, in a way that made me feel as if I'd offended by asking or was so stupid that I should have known the answer.

This forum has guided me to another dealer - hugely inconvenient in terms of location - but which gives me so much more confidence in my dealings and makes the experience of owing the bike so much better. They've asked me several times in the last 2 years how they're doing and what I think of their service - something neither Cannons or BMW bothered to do previously.

Something fairly seismic is needed to change the fundamental causes of Cannon's problems. Matthew appeared to be a step in the right direction from what I see on here and I'd be interested to know why he went.....

All IMHO of course.