Transmission Problems

[Bob_Roller]

Latest update on my dispute, Citibank sent me a letter stating they could not help me in this instance.

Their reason was that they do not dispute quality of work issues that were made out of my state of residence, and further than 100 miles from my residence.

So now I am left to deal with both of these merchants myself.

I called both of them, and the response from Southland clutch was they put it off to the side and forgot about it.

Motorworks excuse was the owner has been without a secretary for the last 5 months, and it was put on the side and was buried under paperwork.

I'm not feeling overly optimistic about a resolution to this in my favor.

So what have we learned today boys and girls ?

Before you have overhaul work done out of your area, contact your credit card issuing institution and inquire about disputing quality of work issues and it's limitations.

My suggestion have the work done locally if at all possible !!

[Justin B.]

Damn, that's a bummer and I didn't know that about CC disputes...  Maybe bad karma will come back and haunt them...

[nhmaf]

Man, that IS a bummer, but it also sounds like a total 'cop-out' on the part of the CC company...

If one were to follow this through to its full extent, for example, then if one were to experience an unfortunate vehicle breakdown while on the way to, say, the BMWMOA rally, and the shop that towed your bike in to fix it did a poor job of towing the bike, scratched the paint, did a bad job of repairing the damage, and forced you to stay overnight in a motel in town, which rendered terrible service, unhygienic rooms with terrible food, all of which you put onto your credit card as you didn't have the cash on hand for all of this, and you're basically out of luck for trying to raise any "quality of service" disputes with them and are stuck with it all.   Hmmm.

Puts a new twist on the old "Don't leave home without it" marketing phrase, doesn't it.... should really be "Don't use it unless you're already completely desperate/totally screwed", which is a little closer to my philosophy regarding credit cards - though they have become a necessary evil, haven't they ?

[Bob_Roller]

Finally recieved my parts , and a check for a full refund from Southland Clutch.

Only took 3 months to get this settled !!

Now if the Better Business Bureau can get Motor Works to refund the labor charge , I'll be quite content.

I emailed Oak Okleshen about this problem again last Tuesday, and he told me to send an email to the president / editor for the Airheads Beemer Club in San Diego, their monthly news letter Airmail, is where I saw the advertisement for both of these businesses.

So I've got a little pressure on Mike Kelley the owner of Motor Works, if he doesn't provide a refund, it looks like they might refuse his advertising in the future.

[Justin B.]

Well, Bob, I'm glad you have at least partial satisfaction.  Hopefully you will get the rest before too long...

[suecanada]

Oak knows the why and wherefor for pretty well anything we would probably want to know about airheads and airhead techs. I figure just ask him in the future if he has heard any negative comments about anyone's possible choices for doing major work.

[Bob_Roller]

Sue,

This was a hard lesson learned, after I contacted Oak about the problem I had back in October, he said he has had work come to him that Motor Works had 'overhauled', and his comment was that they have a reputation for not so good workmanship.

He doesn't think much about machining the pressure plate and ring on BMW motorcycles, there isn't much metal there to begin with, and now you're making it thinner after truing up the contact surfaces.

If the parts are not available anymore, it would be an option, but with plentiful parts available, it's just not worth it.

Take it from someone that's been there !

But now, I have an 'emergency' set of parts, just incase something goes wrong in the future, but I would be installing these parts with the knowledge that they have to come out within a couple of thousand miles or so.

But like Justin said in the opening comments in this thread, on the parts, they may just last a long time too.

[Bob_Roller]

I recieved a telephone call from Mike Kelley the owner of Motor Works this morning, and he said he sent me a letter with a check and seal about 2-3 weeks ago, and it came back to him as 'ADRESSEE DECEASED'.

I contacted the local post office this morning, and through some foul-up on their part, my mail has been returned to the senders for about 2-3 weeks for the reason of being deceased.

Got that straightened out, the notification card that they showed me, had such horrible handwriting, I have no idea how they got my address out of the scribbled mess.

Anyway Mike Kelley said he would get the check back in the mail today, and I should have it by the end of the week.

It looks like the complaint to the Better Business Bureau was a motivating factor, because he didn't send the original check until he was notified by the 'BBB' about the complaint.

So it looks like it will all work out in the end, but my personal advice is to avoid doing any business with these two companies.

I'm sure they have plenty of satisfied customers, but I'm not among them !!!

[Ed Miller]

Congratulations on not being deceased.  That would be sort of spooky.

[Bob_Roller]

Like I think Mark Twain was quoted as saying 'the reports of my death have been greatly exagerated'.

But I do suspect the neighbors in all of this, as I've had 'issues' with neighbors and barking dogs all day long, and guests of theirs parking in front of my driveway, where I can't get a vehicle out to go to work at 5:20 am on weekends and holidays.

Also I've had mail tucked into the bars on the front door with 'Adressee Deceased' hand written, on and off for a couple of years.

I can't wait to retire, and get away from all the crap you have to put with in a major metropolitan area !!!

[Bob_Roller]

Finally recieved my check and replacement seal from Motor Works !!

Interesting thing is, that I was sent a photocopy of the returned envelope that was marked 'DECEASED', and my middle name was used in the address, the only time I used my middle name, was on the Better Business Bureau complaint, that was made, 3 weeks after I was told the letter was originally mailed.

Here is a warning : don't do business with Motor Works, or Southland Clutch both located in National City, California, both advertise in the Airheads Beemer Club monthly newsletter Airmail, spread the word in the BMW motorcycle community, these are businesses to avoid at all costs.

[Justin B.]

Don't worry...  Did you get any of your old parts back from the clutch joint?

[Bob_Roller]

I recieved my parts from Southland Clutch 2 weeks ago.

But after getting my last email from 'Oak Okleshen' the Airheads tech 'guru', I have lost all respect for the man, in his last email, after I informed him of the notification of the postal service snafu, he made the comment that I should be held liable for the bad mouthing remarks against Motor Works.

Personally 'Oak Okleshen' can kiss my a$$, as far as I'm concerned !!!

I also contacted the editor of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America about possibly publishing a short excerpt of my experiences with these businesses, and he declined ( Oak Okleshen is a technical contributor to the BMW MOA as well! ) .

[nhmaf]

Wow, congratulations on not being dead !    Maybe someone was trying to help you avoid income taxes ?    

[Bob_Roller]

Don't even get me started on Federal Income Taxes !

I deleted my  first reply on this, as after reading it, it was quite arrogant on my part !