Honda Rider's Club of America & Roadside Assistance

Below is a copy of a letter that I set to Honda concerning an incident that
I had with their roadside assistance program. Draw your own conclusions. I
think I made mine quite obvious.



I ride a 2002 VTX1800C with an extended warranty. I also hold a membership
in the Honda Rider's Club of America.

While riding in the southern part of New Jersey today, I stopped to conduct
some personal business. When I returned to my bike, it would not start. The
starter switch failed. Not a big deal. Even the best made vehicles fail on
occasion. That is why I carry road side assistance with the HRCA.

At about noon, I called for help. After being on the phone with them for
about a half hour, most of the time on hold, I was told they were having
trouble finding a service provider. Mind you, I was not in the middle of
nowhere. I was only twelve miles west of Atlantic City on the busiest road
in area. There are at least two Honda dealers in the county. The service
representative had the nerve to suggest that I find a repair facility on my
own to pick up my bike because they were having no success. If I wanted to
do that, why would I pay for their services? Finally the service
representative said she would investigate further and call me back.

After waiting about another hour and not getting a call back, I called the
HRCA again. I was given the same story again. They would look for a service
provider and call me back.

At about 3:00 PM, after still not getting a call back, I tried yet again.
Remember, I am still stuck on the side of the road in ninety degree
temperatures. Same story again. We can not find anyone. Call someone
yourself and submit the bill. I carry roadside assistance because I know how
hard it is to get a motorcycle transported. They said they would try other
sources and call me back.

At 4:30 PM, four and one half hours after this ordeal started, I was still
stuck. No transport vehicle in sight, and no call back from HRCA. Now they
claim they "accidentally" deleted my cell phone number from their system,
and could not call back. They further claimed that they called my home
number since that was the only one they now had. I have an answering machine
at home. There were no messages. Do you really believe they ever called?

The final outcome was that I was left to fend for myself. They offered
absolutely no help. What was I paying for? Do you think this is acceptable?
I have carried roadside assistance on my cars and trucks for over thirty
five years and have never been left stranded. Oh, they did offer to
reimburse me for any expense that I incurred to get my bike towed. If they
could not find anyone, how was I suppose to?

Well, I simply opened the yellow pages, that I borrowed from a local
business, and started calling motorcycle repair facilities. On my fifth
call, I found someone to pick up my bike. I have not gotten the bill yet,
but the estimate was between two hundred and two hundred and fifty dollars.
It was bad enough when I needed service on a weekend afternoon, when this
ordeal started, but because of the incompetence of the HRCA, the service
call would now be charged at the weekend after hours rate. Do you really
think that I will ever be reimbursed for the transport?

Also, the repair facility that picked up my bike is not an authorized Honda
facility. That means that despite my extended warranty, that cost me a few
hundred dollars, I will be paying for the repair as well.

Does anybody think this is acceptable? Why should I continue membership in
the HRCA? Why would I ever buy another Honda, bike or car, if this is how
you treat your customers? That Nissan pick up and Yamaha's new Star line is
looking mighty good right about now. What do you think?

I intend to post this letter to numerous biker news groups
and web sites on the internet as well as mailing copies to related groups
that I cannot access in that manner. To be fair, I will also post your
response.

Just got a call from Honda and the various divisions involved in my problem.
They assure me that they will pay all involved costs. That includes the tow
bill and the cost of the repair at an independent garage. I'll only post
again if I am not paid. Hopefully this case is closed.

Storm

"F. W." <worthless51.TakeThisOut@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:%PzEe.1046$S72.209@trndny06...
> Below is a copy of a letter that I set to Honda concerning an incident
> that I had with their roadside assistance program. Draw your own
> conclusions. I think I made mine quite obvious.
>
>
>
> I ride a 2002 VTX1800C with an extended warranty. I also hold a membership
> in the Honda Rider's Club of America.
>
> While riding in the southern part of New Jersey today, I stopped to
> conduct some personal business. When I returned to my bike, it would not
> start. The starter switch failed. Not a big deal. Even the best made
> vehicles fail on occasion. That is why I carry road side assistance with
> the HRCA.
>
> At about noon, I called for help. After being on the phone with them for
> about a half hour, most of the time on hold, I was told they were having
> trouble finding a service provider. Mind you, I was not in the middle of
> nowhere. I was only twelve miles west of Atlantic City on the busiest road
> in area. There are at least two Honda dealers in the county. The service
> representative had the nerve to suggest that I find a repair facility on
> my own to pick up my bike because they were having no success. If I wanted
> to do that, why would I pay for their services? Finally the service
> representative said she would investigate further and call me back.
>
> After waiting about another hour and not getting a call back, I called the
> HRCA again. I was given the same story again. They would look for a
> service provider and call me back.
>
> At about 3:00 PM, after still not getting a call back, I tried yet again.
> Remember, I am still stuck on the side of the road in ninety degree
> temperatures. Same story again. We can not find anyone. Call someone
> yourself and submit the bill. I carry roadside assistance because I know
> how hard it is to get a motorcycle transported. They said they would try
> other sources and call me back.
>
> At 4:30 PM, four and one half hours after this ordeal started, I was still
> stuck. No transport vehicle in sight, and no call back from HRCA. Now they
> claim they "accidentally" deleted my cell phone number from their system,
> and could not call back. They further claimed that they called my home
> number since that was the only one they now had. I have an answering
> machine at home. There were no messages. Do you really believe they ever
> called?
>
> The final outcome was that I was left to fend for myself. They offered
> absolutely no help. What was I paying for? Do you think this is
> acceptable? I have carried roadside assistance on my cars and trucks for
> over thirty five years and have never been left stranded. Oh, they did
> offer to reimburse me for any expense that I incurred to get my bike
> towed. If they could not find anyone, how was I suppose to?
>
> Well, I simply opened the yellow pages, that I borrowed from a local
> business, and started calling motorcycle repair facilities. On my fifth
> call, I found someone to pick up my bike. I have not gotten the bill yet,
> but the estimate was between two hundred and two hundred and fifty
> dollars. It was bad enough when I needed service on a weekend afternoon,
> when this ordeal started, but because of the incompetence of the HRCA, the
> service call would now be charged at the weekend after hours rate. Do you
> really think that I will ever be reimbursed for the transport?
>
> Also, the repair facility that picked up my bike is not an authorized
> Honda facility. That means that despite my extended warranty, that cost me
> a few hundred dollars, I will be paying for the repair as well.
>
> Does anybody think this is acceptable? Why should I continue membership in
> the HRCA? Why would I ever buy another Honda, bike or car, if this is how
> you treat your customers? That Nissan pick up and Yamaha's new Star line
> is looking mighty good right about now. What do you think?
>
> I intend to post this letter to numerous biker news groups
> and web sites on the internet as well as mailing copies to related groups
> that I cannot access in that manner. To be fair, I will also post your
> response.
>
>