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Dealer stories- Good and bad


UsedtoSkidoo

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2 hours ago, scottyr said:

I am quite good friends with Todd.  I still talk to him regularly.   I liked dealing at Go Performance.   I am not speaking on his behalf but I know that Polaris was pressuring him to remodel his store and he just couldnt justify the expense of doing it.   I think it had more to do with the fact that Inglis was also set up and they made some big promises about how much business they would do but they wanted Todd gone.    Turns out that it really bit Polaris in the azz as Inglis quit as a dealer not long after Todd closed up shop so now there is zero Polaris presence in the area now.  

idiots

1 hour ago, Turbo Doo said:

Heard thru the rumor mill also, that Polaris wanted Performance Recreation to remodel/redo the showroom. From what I understand,  Glenn(aka) Slippery, told them no. I think he is still a Polaris dealer from what I can see.:wtf:. Our Doo dealer had to redo their showroom last spring/summer, and spent big bucks. 

yes he is. i chatted with him a few weeks ago. 

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Our first dealer ended their relationship with Polaris over forced units.

Long story short - dealer put his order in - Polaris said - nope - you're taking this many units - and these specific units on top of your order - dealer said nope - I'll take my order or nothing - nothing it was - end of relationship :)

 

I believe to be BRP these days - you have to have so many sq/ft - and highway side visual.

 

 

 

 

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I use Blackstock Motorsports for just regular parts I need, always seem to have everything stock but never had any work done by them.

Don't like trashing dealerships usually but had a terrible experience with Haliburton Outdoor Equipment.

My daughters were alone at the cottage when they had a mishap with my Nytro and unfortunately I was 2 hrs away.

Towed it to Yamaha, told my girls they couldn't look at it for 4 days.  I got in touch with them and asked for an estimate which took another week.

Finally came back and said $1200 without labour.  I said no and told them I would pick it up.  Charged me $400 to look at it.

I fixed it myself for $165, took me 1.5 hrs and 3 beers.

Rant done.  lol

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Mid city motorsports in sudbury is my go to (only dealer) dealer.

They have been very very good to me.

They go out of their way to help anyone.

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I would also like to give a shootout to Ledger Performance in New Lowel. Not a dealer per say, but non the less.  I met Chris Ledger years ago in Kirkland Lake with Bill Froud. At that time I was riding 1200 Doo's, and both Chris and Bill had their turbo 1200's. Let's just say the ride that Sunday back to the trucks and trailers in Liskeard,  was a record pace.  Anyways, this season I needed some, 'tweaks' done on my '21 XRS 900T.  Chris helped me out on a Sunday. Did what he said he was going to do,  at the price he said. No BS. Just straight up honest good work. I will be calling him again,  when the time comes. :evil2::icon_steer:

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Edited by Turbo Doo
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IMO after sale service is the most important aspect of a business. Price stops being a concern as soon as there is an issue and it goes unresolved. That is when you wish you went to where the service is great and the price is a little higher. Today good service is a rare thing to find. It is not the norm and bad service the exeption, it is quite the opposite. Sad but true.

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1 hour ago, zoso said:

IMO after sale service is the most important aspect of a business. Price stops being a concern as soon as there is an issue and it goes unresolved. That is when you wish you went to where the service is great and the price is a little higher. Today good service is a rare thing to find. It is not the norm and bad service the exeption, it is quite the opposite. Sad but true.

A big X2..:right_on:

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3 hours ago, zoso said:

IMO after sale service is the most important aspect of a business. Price stops being a concern as soon as there is an issue and it goes unresolved. That is when you wish you went to where the service is great and the price is a little higher. Today good service is a rare thing to find. It is not the norm and bad service the exeption, it is quite the opposite. Sad but true.

It also seems to me the best dealers for service are the ones who aren't afraid to fill their own shelves with parts and inventory - rather than waiting until a "purchase" is made and they order from the distribution centres.

 

Love being able to walk into a place and here "yeah, I got that, hold on" - instead of let me order, order, order.

 

Back in the day, dealers had much more in their own stores.

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Wild Bill at Rosseau Rd. and family go above and beyond. My first time reaching out to Bill was phenomenal. I had trailered to the Seguin to ride with friends. My sled wouldn't start. Fortunately I also had my wife's sled in the trailer and was still able to ride. That afternoon when we got back to the trailers I called Bill and asked what he thought I should check. He told me that they were about to close but since I was close he would wait for me to get to his place. I got there and he thought it might be something as simple as frozen gas line or similar. He would leave it in his heated shop overnight and check it the next morning. The next day he went in early and it still wouldn't start. He started work on it and ended up replacing the spark plugs that Jack N Jiills had put in (wrong ones) and it fired up right away. The bill was more than reasonable especially considering staying late and starting early. I got to ride my sled that day and it ran great. He's my go to sled guy. 

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McIntosh Power in St. Marys is the only place I go to for all my Can am and Skidoo parts and accessories.

 

Honest work, fare value, and guarantee the work.

 

My old 1995 Skidoo was a money pit.  Had it rebuilt when it blew up.  Less than 500 km later, siezed up.(next season). Took it back down, they fixed it under warranty.  Few years later, blew a piston at the end of a season.  Next season, only got about 3 km on it, and piston was fired.  Doug again rebuilt the machine for me.  No questions asked.

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I deal with the St Onge Dirt Bike Shop.    I have been buddies with John Nelson since he owned Machine Racing in Newmarket and they treat me like a million bucks (as long as I bring coffees), give me a discount on parts and give me fair deals on sleds, PWCs and dirt bikes.    There are several good BRP dealers closer but I just like dealing with John.   When he finally retires I will end up dealing closer to home but for now I will stick with these guys.  

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On 3/29/2021 at 2:16 PM, Spiderman said:

It also seems to me the best dealers for service are the ones who aren't afraid to fill their own shelves with parts and inventory - rather than waiting until a "purchase" is made and they order from the distribution centres.

 

Love being able to walk into a place and here "yeah, I got that, hold on" - instead of let me order, order, order.

 

Back in the day, dealers had much more in their own stores.

I wonder if some of the hesitancy to stock inventory is that rather than carry 4 control arm PNs (all black) in the old days, you have multiple colours, throw in annual revisions or variation among the model line even.

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33 minutes ago, revrnd said:

I wonder if some of the hesitancy to stock inventory is that rather than carry 4 control arm PNs (all black) in the old days, you have multiple colours, throw in annual revisions or variation among the model line even.

That and the almighty dollar..

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10 hours ago, Turbo Doo said:

That and the almighty dollar..

it's tricky.

You want to make a sale/dollar - have the item in stock.

People can order from anywhere - you want them to get it from you.

 

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11 hours ago, revrnd said:

I wonder if some of the hesitancy to stock inventory is that rather than carry 4 control arm PNs (all black) in the old days, you have multiple colours, throw in annual revisions or variation among the model line even.

Inventory management and dead stock costs big money for a small business.  What if you bring in 5 pieces and sit on 2 for 2 years. No money in dead stock for the one guy who wants a deal on the old part sitting for 2 or 3 years.

 

And with couriers now being fairly quick to deliver ordering parts overnight is Pretty easy.

 

Don’t forget that newer inventory management systems allow dealers to know what parts are in stock at factory parts warehouse immediately.    It’s a much smoother process. 

 

Also internet savvy shoppers have 5 quotes in minutes for the same parts some new some used so dealers not as motivated as prices have to be sharp.

 

 

People on this site might be willing to pay more for parts but the majority of guys all want cheapest part at discounted price.

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12 minutes ago, Spiderman said:

it's tricky.

You want to make a sale/dollar - have the item in stock.

People can order from anywhere - you want them to get it from you.

 

 

7 minutes ago, Sksman said:

Inventory management and dead stock costs big money for a small business.  What if you bring in 5 pieces and sit on 2 for 2 years. No money in dead stock for the one guy who wants a deal on the old part sitting for 2 or 3 years.

 

And with couriers now being fairly quick to deliver ordering parts overnight is Pretty easy.

 

Don’t forget that newer inventory management systems allow dealers to know what parts are in stock at factory parts warehouse immediately.    It’s a much smoother process. 

 

Also internet savvy shoppers have 5 quotes in minutes for the same parts some new some used so dealers not as motivated as prices have to be sharp.

 

 

People on this site might be willing to pay more for parts but the majority of guys all want cheapest part at discounted price.

Agreed %100...

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As someone who was in the business for several years, it is a tough call on how much/little to stock.    Parts inventory is 100% working capital.   There are a lot of dealers who just dont have the cash laying around to stock $100K of parts at all times.

 

The other tough decision is to determine how quickly you can get the parts and the reliability of the Dist to get them to you in a timely manner.   I sold KTM branded bikes and Husqvarna Motorcycles for several years.    I didnt stock a lot of KTM parts as they were really good to have parts to me in 2-3 days and their fill rates were excellent.    Husqvarna on the other hand was slow to deliver and back orders were common.    I would keep $25K of KTM parts in stock and $50-70K of Husqvarna parts just because I knew the Husky parts were harder to get.   

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Prior to the pandemic, if I called Gateway 1 morning to order a part, they'd know the 'inventory status' of the part. Most stuff that I ever need is usually in the next day. "I'll pick it up Thursday". (which is our usual Ptbo trip).

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2 minutes ago, UsedtoSkidoo said:

When all the dealerships were told to go to multi platform entities one of the selling points was factory backed support for things like parts. 

 

 

True, it's one thing to carry sled parts but carry 3 lines would be a bit much.

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On 3/29/2021 at 2:16 PM, Spiderman said:

It also seems to me the best dealers for service are the ones who aren't afraid to fill their own shelves with parts and inventory - rather than waiting until a "purchase" is made and they order from the distribution centres.

 

Love being able to walk into a place and here "yeah, I got that, hold on" - instead of let me order, order, order.

 

Back in the day, dealers had much more in their own stores.

Part of the challenge of stocking a large parts inventory is that eventually if not sold it becomes essentially worthless. You also have the cost associated with having it in stock and hoping someone buys it. When Wye Heritage Marina was sold a few years ago they had a huge $ value for in stock parts on the books. When examined as part of the due diligence a very large portion of those parts listed at full value were essentially worthless from being very old. 

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The worst thing these days about selling parts is you can stock a good sized inventory but someone will come in and expect that you carry every piece on a sled or bike and have some obscure part and if you don’t have it they get all pissy and start bad mouthing you all over the Internet.  

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12 hours ago, Sksman said:

The worst thing these days about selling parts is you can stock a good sized inventory but someone will come in and expect that you carry every piece on a sled or bike and have some obscure part and if you don’t have it they get all pissy and start bad mouthing you all over the Internet.  

What's even stranger is when your dealer has that strange obscure part.

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13 hours ago, Sksman said:

The worst thing these days about selling parts is you can stock a good sized inventory but someone will come in and expect that you carry every piece on a sled or bike and have some obscure part and if you don’t have it they get all pissy and start bad mouthing you all over the Internet.  

They stock for what their customers have & what they typically service. Are they in Bancroft supposed to have a RH 'adjustable stance' ski for a 2019 Summit?

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33 minutes ago, soupkids said:

What's even stranger is when your dealer has that strange obscure part.

They're still a few of them out there too.

It's great.

 

Either way, kudo's to any dealer out there - it's a tough business in the best of times, we need each other.

 

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