Good for you. I'll give them a call tomorrow and let them know, some bloke on a forum knows their offering better than them and I'll ask them to stop telling customers porkies when they phone them. Hope that helps.
SERVICING AFFECTING WARRANTY?
- Thread starter Mulcher
- Start date
Good for you. I'll give them a call tomorrow and let them know, some bloke on a forum knows their offering better than them and I'll ask them to stop telling customers porkies when they phone them. Hope that helps.
you can ask them what part of the policy it is in? then post on here, oh no, thats what I have done.
Must be some call centre bint, who knows more than their policy documents
Probably right, or they may have changed their terms, I didn't get a policy document when I took mine out in April and I couldn't find anything on the net, hence why I phoned them. But I will certainly phone them back and ask where the VAT bit comes from, as I said though it will not impact me, but if they are giving out the wrong information, they should stop.
True story, I was in a dispute with KTM/Dealer/Santander on rejecting a bike that had gone all the way to the financial ombudsman, I had evidence of poor paint application at manufacture from an independent paint specialist who inspected the bike and gave me a report .... KTM and Santander disputed my claim with the Ombudsman as the specialist wasn't VAT registered and therefore wasn't a "qualified expert" .... the Ombudsman spoke to the paint specialist, he rattled off all his qualifications and she called BS on KTM/Dealer/Santander and made them take the bike back - I do think it's an "industry benchmark" to be able to at least say with some confidence that a garage is legit (rather than someones mate) as to make enough money to be VAT registered they will be assumed to be successful at what they do, but, turns out whilst thats what they want it to be as a benchmark, makes no difference to statutory rights in an Ombudsman's eyes and if it's not explicitly stated then it's just a "yeah but" that could be used to try to dispute a claim
Obviously a warranty is completely up to BMW to decide whether or not they will honour it, KTM didn't when I had proof of issue at manufacture, in fact in their case they told me to jog on without even speaking to me, just looked at pictures of corrosion and flaking paint and said "customer not looked after it" and there I was without any chance to argue anything after only 6 months of owning it from new (VAT registered garage or not - their warranty, their rules whether in the T&C's or not) so whilst it may indeed be a myth, I'd prefer to play it safe and at least use a well established independent, who is likely to be VAT registered if successful and hence problem solved
you dont need to be successful or make a certain amount of money to be VAT registered. You can be VAT registered on day 1.
no its not up to them, thats why they have the procedures and they were wrong, as you won.
I think ...
That the work has to be carried out by someone who is deemed competent and the VAT thing is an indicator that it is a professional business and that in order for it to be so there has to be competence
My 2 friends who run Doncaster motorcycles have it set up so they can avoid being VAT registered but they are competent.
I am talking specifically about the way Ducati look at these things and Kev is a fully qualified and certified Ducati mechanic al be it from a good few years ago so despite them not being VAT registered there can be little question of their competence
M30SJM
Registered user
How on earth can you run a bike workshop and not turn over £1635 a week, and still make a living? Not too mention if there are 2 of you.
Its not uncommon for an insurance company to ask for your vat number before instructing you to go ahead with a particular job, it sort of sorts out the legit businesses from some guy working out of his shed.
Stu
Its not uncommon for an insurance company to ask for your vat number before instructing you to go ahead with a particular job, it sort of sorts out the legit businesses from some guy working out of his shed.
Stu
Split the business, into say a parts supply, is one business, then the mechanic is another business etc etc.
But it doesnt. I can set up a motorbike serving business, register for VAT (various ways). Yet I may not have serviced one single bike.
Agree with this as I’ve just gone through it. I approached a very well known independent who used to be a BMW Motorrad mechanic until the branch closed/changed hands in the last couple of years. He confirmed he does not have access to things such as TFT software updates, recalls and service actions. The comments about Doncaster motorcycles having it, I’m sure they’ll have diagnostic equipment such as GS911 or similar but I doubt they’ll invest in the full BMW ICOM set up just for the few BMW’s they’ll get in for servicing, even if they did BMW wouldn’t release it to a none franchised.
I’ve just had my 2021 R1250GS serviced at Allan Jefferies for £168 and this included engine oil/filter, rear drive oil change, service action to the shaft, which ended up being replaced with a new one and the full TFT update to latest software version. Very reasonable I think.
All this ‘complication’ makes me rethink if I did the right thing swapping from my 2011 Twin cam that I did everything on myself and didn’t have to think about dealers or independents.
Whilst my 1250 is a better bike than my 1200 Hex was, I am struggling with both the £11k cost to change (as it doesn’t feel £11k better) and the added complexity. Whilst I could do the basic servicing myself with my GS911, any component failure out of warranty could be eye wateringly expensive.
Most dealers wont update your TFT screen FOC, so at least that's a bonus from Jeffries.
I suspect the FOC update was because it’s under warranty and I reported faults of random disconnecting and low volume when using the phone. Allan Jefferies may well charge if it’s out of warranty but it shouldn’t be much just connecting it up and leaving it to download.
takes up a computer terminal (or work bench) for a considerable time, sometimes.
Yes and it’s these things that show the difference between a good dealer who will go out of their way to help you and a dealer who will do the minimum. As said in a previous post, I have three dealers closer to me than Allan Jefferies but am glad to travel the 70 odd miles.
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