High Desert Harley-Davidson

High Desert Harley-Davidson

October 15, 2006

I bought a Harley-Davidson alarm system July 29, 2006 for a motorcycle from HIGH DESERT HARLEY-DAVIDSON (highdeserthd.com) in Boise, Idaho, owned by the same individual(s) that owns BIRDS OF PREY HARLEY-DAVIDSON (birdsofpreyhd.com)in Caldwell, Idaho. The alarm supposedly had a 90 day warranty against factory defects.

When I purchased the alarm for my husband's birthday the salesman at High Desert told me emphatically that the alarm didn't need to be installed by their service department, that it was an easy "plug and play" like device.

A couple months later when the tires on the bike were being replaced, we asked the mechanic to install the alarm "while he was down there." This is a very respected mechanic that has been active in the area for decades, Birds of Prey and High Desert both refer customers to him when they are too busy or there is a need for a rush.

Once installed, the mechanic found that the alarm had a factory fault that caused the alarm to lock the rider out by disabling the engine. A factory fault that we've later found out is very common. The alarm was taken back off again, put back in the original packaging, and taken back to High Desert. They refused to honor the warranty, the manager wasn't in, so I called the next day and spoke to the store manager, Peggy.

**I recorded the entire conversation.

I was told that #1 there are no exchanges, returns, or refunds on electronics ever for any reason, no exceptions. Period. But IF they were to honor the warranty the alarm would have to a) still be on the bike (despite the bike being unridable), or b) we would have to pay their service department to install it on the bike to make sure that it was actually a bad part. The mechanic that installed the part, despite being a mechanic the refer their customers to, is apparently not competent to know if the part is bad or if there was a loose wire.

Coincidentally, the cost of having their service department install the alarm in order to diagnose the problem would be about equal to the cost of the alarm. There was no offer of any kind of compromise, no offer of having the part installed gratis, or testing on another bike, nothing, despite us having spent roughly $30K in the last 4 months there, including the motorcycle the alarm was being installed on.

To add insult to injury, Peggy accused my husband and I of fraud. She accused us of taking an old, broken alarm off of the bike (that was 4 months old and bought from them without an alarm system) and trying to pass it off as the new one I bought. I reasoned that, if that was the case, the serial numbers wouldn't match between the part, the box, the invoice, and their computer. She said they didn't have that information, that all they had was the part number.

Initially all I wanted was to exchange the alarm for another alarm, or exchange it for a different part. But after being verbally abused and being accused of fraud, I just want a refund, so I can take my business elsewhere. (so much for buying that RoadKing next year)

What ever happened to customer service?

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