Here’s an update on my Lemon Law Claim with Triumph. This time I’m naming names.
This post might be better suited under a thread entitled “Triumph Corporate Values” instead of “Reliability”. Yes, I understand ALL bikes have their lemons and we could waste even more time arguing over who spits out more lemons than anyone else. It’s like watching five year olds in a sandbox fight over the toughest dad on the block. While the loyalty is admirable, without pitting dad against dad, it is and always was a pointless debate. My focus in this post is to expose the crew in Hinckley for the company principles they apparently espouse.
First a recap: After three failed warranty repairs on my transmission, the Rocket locked up in second gear leaving me stranded in the mountains of San Bernardino. The closest Triumph dealership was Doug Douglas Motorcycles. Although the Rocket was still under warranty, they politely refused to take it in for repair. The reason … a transmission warranty repair had already been attempted by another dealer. I had heard that excuse before at Rocket Motorcycles in San Diego, but this time it was a cold November evening and I had only second gear to negotiate the 100 miles of dark and desolate back roads between me and home. That was the last straw. I filed a Lemon Law Claim and the Rocket has been collecting dust ever since. That was November 2006.
The discovery process of my Lemon Law Claim uncovered the sordid history behind my Rocket III. We discovered a handwritten notation in the pre-delivery inspection report stating that the transmission was sticking before the bike was even rolled onto the showroom floor. I also learned that my experience with transmission failure wasn’t the first one for this bike. I have an affidavit (signed under penalty of perjury) detailing a test ride by the sales manager during which the transmission locked-up BEFORE the bike was sold to me as new. The damage was so severe that the shop mechanic recommended a complete “unit replacement” rather than repairing the transmission. He was instead instructed to “just make it work”. It appears that the dealer wanted to sweep this one under the carpet as there is no record of a warranty claim for the repair. North County Yamaha in San Marcos California in case you’re wondering.
Well, it’s now April 08’ and I’ve finally received my first offer from Triumph. I’ll say one thing for the folks at Triumph … they are consistent. They’ve consistently failed to accept responsibility for a rogue dealer or the lemon that escaped Hinckley. In their warped sense of fairness and good customer relations, they’ve delayed responding to my claim for 18 months before finally suggesting that I accept one of their two pathetic offers. Last week they offered to repair the transmission (for the 4th time) or buy the bike back at today’s blue book value of $8,500. I have about $30K invested in my Rocket. I might be a little more sympathetic to their position if this lemon had escaped the dealer without their knowledge. But given that Triumph has clear documentation that my bike was a flaming lemon before it even left the lot, it looks as if they’d rather see their money go to lawyers than towards reimbursing this Rocketeer for his time, money and trouble.
It’s been said that character is what shows when no one is watching. Triumph has shown their character in how they’ve responded to my experience. I just want to make sure everyone here sees it too.
One more thing … if you’re thinking of buying that new Rocket, send me a PM. I’ll tell you how Triumph plays ball if you get stuck with one of their lemons. Apparently customer satisfaction ranks low on their list of priorities. They choose to rely on nostalgia to push their brand forward. They can’t compete head to head with the Japanese so they draw from the past. A clever strategy ... for attracting stamp collectors. Not me, I ride bikes.
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RM
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