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Just wanted to give a shout out to Randy Lusk the proprietor of El Dorado Cycle in El Dorado Springs, Missouri for operating what is certainly one of the friendliest dealerships I've ever run across.
I made my first trip to El Dorado Cycle a few weeks ago to check out a dressed R3 that they were moving via eBay at a very nice price but wound up falling in love with a red & white R3 Classic. Upon my inquiry about the asking price on the Classic Randy indicated that it was below list then quickly volunteered that there was a holdback and yes, he would make money on a sale below list price. After a short deliberation over lunch I went back to let them know I'd take the Classic. The fact that Randy seemed like a straight shooter played no small part in my decision to buy now rather than waiting until spring.
Having had bad experiences in the past with dealers taking well over an hour to sort out the paperwork on cash purchases, I asked if they'd mind starting the paperwork that day so everything would be ready to go the next when I returned with their check. Nothing saps the fun out of buying a new bike quite like standing around burning half an afternoon waiting on someone to dot the proverbial i's and cross the proverbial t's. Five minutes and one name, address, and phone number later they were busily working on the paperwork and canceling their eBay listing and I was on my way home. Seemed a bit odd that no one even bothered to ask me for a deposit.
I returned the next day to pick up the bike. A couple of signatures and well under five minutes later we were headed out to the shop where they'd just finished prepping my shiny new R3. I'd not yet made the trek to my storage area to retrieve my riding gear but as Kansas doesn't have a helmet law I figured I'd make the lazy run home first and pick up the gear later. Just as I was getting ready to head out Randy stopped me and informed me that Missouri does have a helmet law and while the fine is only $25 or thereabouts it wouldn't do to have to deal with the local constabulary on my way home. We headed back inside where we discovered that none of the demo helmets would fit my fat head so Randy handed me a new one off the shelf telling me to, "Just bring it back next time you're in to see us."
To this point it should be easy for any dealer to make a customer very happy. After all, how hard is it to exchange a new vehicle for cash while keeping the customer in a relatively good mood? Oddly doing so seems pretty ***** difficult for most dealers, or at least the ones I’ve dealt with who continually peg my BS meter and/or have sales staffs that leave thick trails of slime along the showroom floor. All of which just makes it that much more satisfying to do business with one of the good ones. But as important as a good buying experience is, the way the customer is treated after the sale is even more critical.
After a quick 800-mile weekender I scheduled my break-in service. A friend who’s considering and R3 but didn’t realize we had a local dealer tagged along. While we were helping ourselves to Randy’s coffee and donuts he stopped in and told me that whenever I’m in for service and waiting I was welcome to help myself to any of the demo bikes and have lunch or just go for a ride. As my friend is also considering an M109 and Randy happened to have an M109 demo we wound up taking that and a Victory Vegas out for a few miles. I’m not certain if either my friend or I had yet made it off of the 109 or Vegas before Randy was asking what we’d like to try out next. Following the subsequent spin on a Scrambler and Tiger I told Randy we’d stop before we wore out our welcome to which he replied, “You haven’t ridden the Sprint ST yet have you? You can’t leave without trying that one.”
A week later at about 1400 miles my oil tank appeared to have developed a very small leak, just enough to cover the side of the engine casing a bit but certainly not enough to cause much alarm. Still, I had the time so I made the 75 mile trek to El Dorado Cycle very early last Saturday afternoon and asked one of the mechanics to have a look. Just as he was getting up and informing me that I’d best make an appointment as I might have a leaky o-ring Randy walked up and asked if I was having trouble with the bike. No big deal I indicated, just a slight oil leak that I’d schedule an appointment for and have corrected soon. Randy would have none of that instead insisting that I leave my bike with them then and take their demo R3 for the weekend and as long as it took them to correct the issue with mine. Turns out there was no oil leak and a large hidden blob of cosmoline had chosen that particular point in time to melt and run down the side of the engine. The shop hit the engine with some degreaser, ran the bike through a nearby car wash, ran it for some time looking for more goo, then repeated the process a time or two. I’m certain Triumph won’t pick up the shop time for cleaning up melted packing goo but Randy didn’t ask me to pay for it either.
I could go on but suffice it to say that Randy and his crew have treated me just about as well as it is humanly possible for a business to treat a customer. There may be other shops like this out there but, while I’ve done business with shops that I thought treated me fairly, I’ve never found another quite like this one. If you’re anywhere in the Midwestern US I’d highly recommend checking these guys out.
And now I see that they have a banner ad here ... right on! :-D
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