It's just as unbelieveable as it sounds... 15 weeks, no VFR... and there was no serious damage!
As many of you know, I stupidly crashed on May 3 at the TMAC meet. Aside from the collar bone, the damage wasn't too bad. :) Usually I do my own repairs because I don't trust the shop guys, but with a broken collar bone I can't do much. So I call Progressive and they have the bike picked up and brought to their most recommended shop. The repair list is short - front and left plastics, windshield, bent clutch lever broken mirror and frame sliders. ETA for repairs: 6 weeks - ouch!! Oh well, my collar bone needs time to heal anyways.
6 weeks come and the bike isn't done. 7 weeks come, same story. I call Progressive and they yell at the shop. At 8 weeks the bike's finished and I go to ride it home. The bike's filthy. The NC clay is still in the center of the tire tread and there's dirt and sand in the chain. The handlebars can't turn - the clutch and brake reservoirs hit the windshield!! The cowl stay is bent. Obviously no one even tried to test ride it or even do a basic look-over. So I show the shop guys, they apologize profusely and promise they'll have it fixed and delivered to my doorstep by that Friday.
Friday comes and goes and they don't have it ready. I get Progressive involved, and they're now getting daily status reports and passing this on to me. Two more weeks go by before the bike's finally done - 11 weeks total. They deliver it to my place, unload it off the trailer, and drive off before I can put the kickstand down! The battery's dead. The gas tank is JUST shy of completely empty (it was full minus almost 1 gallon when they got it). The clock reads 12:19 - they just slapped the bike together 19 minutes ago. The NC clay is still in the center of the tire treads and the bike is filthier than before. My coolant tank is leaking, too. Again, no one even considered test-riding it.
I recharge the battery and check over everything. Inflate the tires a few PSI back to where I like 'em, clean the chain, test all the lights, brakes, etc. So I ride it slowly and carefully to the gas station to fill up and see how she feels. The alignment is WAY out of whack - 8 degrees it turns out. The radiator fan makes a horrible racket when it turns on. I called my Progressive rep and let him know the score.
Thankfully they completely stood behind their guarantee, took the bike to another dealer and got the bike fixed proper. Unfortunately it took them a month thanks to backordered forks. A new radiator, forks and a lower triple tree (they just replaced everything to be extra safe) and a good cleaning later, she runs just like every VFR should. :biggrin:
The first shop got what was coming to them - Progressive put them on a 6-month suspension from any claim business and started a full review of the shop. The regional manager for Progressive seemed pretty sure they'll never be allowed to do Progressive claims business again. Now that the bike's done I'm gonna ride it over and give them a proper "thanks for nothing" in front of their customers so they know what kind of shop they're working with.
-Laird
As many of you know, I stupidly crashed on May 3 at the TMAC meet. Aside from the collar bone, the damage wasn't too bad. :) Usually I do my own repairs because I don't trust the shop guys, but with a broken collar bone I can't do much. So I call Progressive and they have the bike picked up and brought to their most recommended shop. The repair list is short - front and left plastics, windshield, bent clutch lever broken mirror and frame sliders. ETA for repairs: 6 weeks - ouch!! Oh well, my collar bone needs time to heal anyways.
6 weeks come and the bike isn't done. 7 weeks come, same story. I call Progressive and they yell at the shop. At 8 weeks the bike's finished and I go to ride it home. The bike's filthy. The NC clay is still in the center of the tire tread and there's dirt and sand in the chain. The handlebars can't turn - the clutch and brake reservoirs hit the windshield!! The cowl stay is bent. Obviously no one even tried to test ride it or even do a basic look-over. So I show the shop guys, they apologize profusely and promise they'll have it fixed and delivered to my doorstep by that Friday.
Friday comes and goes and they don't have it ready. I get Progressive involved, and they're now getting daily status reports and passing this on to me. Two more weeks go by before the bike's finally done - 11 weeks total. They deliver it to my place, unload it off the trailer, and drive off before I can put the kickstand down! The battery's dead. The gas tank is JUST shy of completely empty (it was full minus almost 1 gallon when they got it). The clock reads 12:19 - they just slapped the bike together 19 minutes ago. The NC clay is still in the center of the tire treads and the bike is filthier than before. My coolant tank is leaking, too. Again, no one even considered test-riding it.
I recharge the battery and check over everything. Inflate the tires a few PSI back to where I like 'em, clean the chain, test all the lights, brakes, etc. So I ride it slowly and carefully to the gas station to fill up and see how she feels. The alignment is WAY out of whack - 8 degrees it turns out. The radiator fan makes a horrible racket when it turns on. I called my Progressive rep and let him know the score.
Thankfully they completely stood behind their guarantee, took the bike to another dealer and got the bike fixed proper. Unfortunately it took them a month thanks to backordered forks. A new radiator, forks and a lower triple tree (they just replaced everything to be extra safe) and a good cleaning later, she runs just like every VFR should. :biggrin:
The first shop got what was coming to them - Progressive put them on a 6-month suspension from any claim business and started a full review of the shop. The regional manager for Progressive seemed pretty sure they'll never be allowed to do Progressive claims business again. Now that the bike's done I'm gonna ride it over and give them a proper "thanks for nothing" in front of their customers so they know what kind of shop they're working with.
-Laird