Service With A Smile?

So about a month ago, I called the local Vespa dealership to see about getting some new tires for the GTS. They didn't have them in stock, but they were on order and they'd call when they came in the following week.

Fast forward a week and a half, to when I called to see if the tires had arrived or what. They had, and the earliest they could get the bike in was in two weeks. The reason for the delay is because they're down to one tech. Awesome. So, I made the appointment and got down to the serious business of not forgetting when I had to bring the Vespa in for new tires.

On Tuesday night I finally dropped it off. I had to wait 15 minutes for the service manager to come see me. He was busy with a bike, which is fine, but couldn't one of the parts counter folks - you know, who went to tell him I was there - have let me know he was up to his neck at the moment and would be out when he could?

Whatever. The bike was supposed to be ready yesterday, and I hassled a friend into driving me over to the shop to pick it up.

It wasn't ready. In fact, he'd just gotten done calling two people to let them know their bikes weren't ready. But, of course, I didn't get a call...

The good news is, suddenly I don't have to pay for the labor. The bad news is that I have to go back again tonight to pick it up. Hopefully.

Note to service managers everywhere: A phone call telling me the bike isn't ready is going to annoy me a lot less than driving all the way to your shop to find out the bike isn't ready. I expect this is true for most people.