Suzuki OEM Parts

[skibum]

To make a long story short, I came into a few extra bucks recently that I decided to spend on my beloved B4.  Since it's pushing 17 years old most of the chrome bits were starting to show their age, what with a little pitting and all, so I ordered up new ones.  I was like a kid at Christmas when the boxes arrived.  New handlebars, horn, headlight bucket and rim, shift linkage, turn signals and various fasteners strewn about the garage in preparation for the install. Yahoo!!  Started bolting things up and then the disappointment set in.  Remember, these are ALL Suzuki OEM parts.  The headlight bucket and rim are different.  Close..........but different.  The handlebars are 3/4" shorter on each side (causing brake lever clearance issues with my bar end mirrors), the horn bears no resemblance to the stocker except that it bolts onto the same location. The turn signals are utter garbage (totally different and way cheaper internals, very limp rubber stalks, terrible chrome quality, etc.), the shifter rod is 1/8" in diameter and cad plated rather than 1/4" and chrome like the original, and most of the fasteners are not what was on the bike originally (different finishes, different heads).  ALL of these p/n's showed up in the microfiche as superseded, but available.  I asked the dealer before I ordered and was assured that the parts were the same but the numbering system had just been reorganized, thus the new numbers.  Now the dealer won't take them back and Suzuki says I have to take it up with the dealer.    Do these parts work?  Yes.  Are they OEM style and quality?  No.  If I was just looking to build a bike to ride, I'd be OK with it but I'm looking to restore my bike to original condition.  Had I been told that these parts were not the same, I wouldn't have ordered them.  Suzuki customer service sucks.........dealers suck.  Rant off.  I feel better now. 

[Red01]

Now the dealer won't take them back and Suzuki says I have to take it up with the dealer.

Did Suzuki say that over the phone?  Who did you talk to?  A low-level phone clerk, or someone in management?  If it was me, I'd send a letter to their customer service explaining what you just told us.  I'd try to keep it to a page, maybe two at most and include another page with all the part numbers/nomenclature/price paid of all the parts that didn't match up to their originals.

Though I must say, I've experienced this myself when I've ordered some fasteners.  It's not too big of a deal when they are in unexposed areas, but when they're on the cosmetic side of things, it sucks!

[skibum]

Yes, Suzuki did give me their position over the phone.  While the person I spoke with had an anglo sounding name, he otherwise gave the impression that he was from New Dehli, and he most certainly would not allow the call to be passed up the food chain to anything even closely resembling "management".  Seems everywhere you call these days for customer service its the same story and frankly, I'm growing tired of it. Had I known this would be the case, I'd have kept my money (because this stuff was not cheap) and sent the old parts off to be rechromed.  Well, you live you learn.  The obligatory nastygram is being drafted and will be sent on Tuesday but I rather doubt a positive result.  It seems like everybody out there wants your money, but they could care less about your satisfaction and don't expect you to be a long term customer. 

[Sven]

Now the dealer won't take them back and Suzuki says I have to take it up with the dealer.

Actually, you should only have to deal with the dealer.  The dealer specified the parts numbers for you, the dealer set the price (with a nice mark up) and the dealer sold them to you.  I'm sure the dealer did all these actions in good faith, but what you got was not what you requested, and the dealer should be taking the parts back and letting Suzuki know that they, as an authorized Suzuki dealer, are not the least bit happy.

You can let the dealer know exactly the points above, and that if they will not stand up for thier customers, you will be taking your business elsewhere (and will ensure your friends do the same).   They should be making the same point to Suzuki.

While I manage a call center (staffed by US citizens here in TN!), I know that you get more attention from a letter.  Let Suzuki know how unhappy you are with the quality of their parts, state any reasons they might unsafe, and how uncooperative the offshore call center employee was.  Search the web for anything resembling a "customer advocate" or "customer retention specialist" and let them know that while you are refurbishing an older bike, they won't be selling you or your friends any new Suzukis with their poor customer service.

Good luck.

[97af]

Well what eventually happened? I just did exactly the same thing as you did but put my order in through Bike Bandit for my B4. Man I hope I dont have to go through the same PIA as you did...............