***** ***** ***** ***** *****
in my last dealership visit, i used one word to describe the overall experience. since i enjoyed the result, i’ll stick to the same format, pull out the old thesaurus, and let you know how my visit to cycle shack north in conroe went:
neglect.
(okay, so there weren’t too many cool words for ignored)
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
the day started off as many texas days do. you know the ones. hot. humid. slight breeze. lots of clouds, but the sun still finds you. a good siesta kind of day. not the best for playing around outside, but a good day for indoor bike-peepings. why is this important? well, we’ll get back to that.
i had such high hopes for this visit, which may explain why i feel so scorned. i had heard nothing but good things about this dealership, had read nothing but good things, and even found some honda, suzuki, and yamaha bikes that caught my eye.
unfortunately, i’m in the business of motorcycle and motorcycle accessories … not quads.
from the second you enter this dealership, you realize quickly that quads are front and center. bikes are a distant second, and watercraft are out there somewhere, too. based on the amount of space given to our four-wheeled non-caged brethren, i’d estimate that at least 75% of the sales cycle shack de la norte finishes is of the non-two wheeled variety. which is fine, but odd for a placed called cycle shack. but hey, the dealership is fairly big, has a/c, and lots of cool stuffs in it … so why not explore why you got the time?
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
after a few minutes of perusing about, i finally reached the far side of the dealership where the doubles (pronounce: doo-blaze) are kept. maybe they sell so many quads cause you need one to get from one side of the building to the other. did i mention this place is cavernous (and i didn’t even check out the parts / accessory area!)?
and here is where cs-n really lost me. as you guys know, i try to go to places during off-peak hours, as not to disrupt business. i want these guys to make sales and eat, not waste time on me. my visit was on a tuesday at 2, and while there were a few customers around, not one of them … not even one … was being assisted. i’m a forward-looking thought, i’m guessing the a-team ain’t scheduled for tuesday afternoon.
i would have found this rather odd, had i not passed three salesmen, deep in the heart of quad-country, engaged in a rather non-furious discussion. in fact, it appeared as though they had recent awoken from a rather vigorous siesta (see, i told you i’d get back to it). as i passed them, i received no nod, no “hi,” no “how can i help you?”
i know, it’s as bizarre as the plot of batman forever. aren’t sales persons paid by what they sell, if not how much pestering they can do to a customer? isn’t there a strict 10-pestering questions and sales pitch minimum for all who enter?
but hey, i know me. thebeardlybat can be intimidating. tall. fat. handsomely beardly. a general ‘don’t bulls*t me’ demeanor. my wife can attest to how i come across for people. and i could almost chalk up their standoffishness to that … if i hadn’t been pushing my two year-old daughter in her bright pink stroller. cute, but not manly. at least i wasn’t the only father/daughter combo they ignored (the other ones stayed about five minutes and booked it … me, i like to waste time and test people).
i wasn’t too quick to judge: after all, maybe one of them specializes in quads, the other in bikes, and the other in watercraft. makes sense, right? no, it didn’t to me either, but i finally found the corner where they kept their bi-cycles, and was surprisingly underwhelmed there, too.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
their bike section is pretty wimpy. their cruiser section: even worse. i’m not hater of sports bikes, but it seemed like cs-n had only a handful of cruisers, and a few of those were ’14 and even a ’13 (if i remember correctly) model. want to check out a nm4? this ain’t the place. all of this year’s models? fo-get-about-it!!!!! last year’s models? check, they got plenty of em.
i must admit, the honda stateline looks pretty gorgeous in person. since that is the second time i’ve used the word to describe a bike, i’m going to say i’m less of an indian fan, and more of a bike fan. even the suzuki’s looked great to me. i would have liked to see an interstate, but again, cycle shack doesn’t stock the latest and greatest, at least, not that i found.
i will say that i did appreciate bs-n’s thought of putting the price on each bike. i’ve found many dealerships that give you a ‘you can own this bike for only $5 a day!!!!’ or ‘call for price quote’ tag in leu of the actually price of the bike. this price was, of course, +TTLDA fees. want to ask the ‘out-the-door’ price? heh! this place really specializes in the ‘do-it-yourself’ sales strategy.
but yet again, and don’t worry cause this will be a recurring theme, i spent about fifteen minutes in the bike section, and not one person bothered to ask me if i want to take advantage of their latest offer and drive it off the lot. maybe my wife called ahead, or they recognized me in my batman shirt … either way, it’s a quick way to tell customers you don’t want to be bothered.
i did decide to try to test a theory – did they just think i was too damn awesome to deal with, or were they really ignoring me? i did what i swore never to do – i let my two-year old out of her stroller, free to roam around multi-thousand dollar machines.
my daughter likes to sit on stuff. she’s not a looker, but a toucher. despite running up and down the row (not rows) of cruisers, touching away, not one person looked our way, or asked me to try to keep her from pushing the bikes over. i did stop short of letting her sit on the bikes (part of my golden rules, i will never ask or sit on a bike without permission), but she was free to touch and prod away.
no dice.
well, enough was enough … so i decided to head for the swagger wagon, but something awesome happened.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
in leaving the dealership, i came across their “used” bike section. i use this word fairly loosely – it really was just a random assembly of bikes, sat outside their main door.
what was awesome was that, again, nobody said anything to me as i walked on out. i’m sorry if you are let down by this, but you should have known. what did happen is that i came across a real beauty of a bike, apparently a really great deal of a bike, and, as i told my wife later, the bike they probably could have talked me into buying.
i’m no bike expert, but everything i found online said this baby retailed for close to $16 coins new. maybe this is normal, but i almost fell in love with this honda. i’ve never considered sports cruisers – well, they are on the list now. everything about this bike said, ‘ride me hard, put me up wet, and i’ll still be comfy.’ or something like that.
if nothing else, this bike really fit into my batman persona. it almost looked like something the bearded knight would ride….
but here’s the kicker: if you think anybody was helpful inside, in the nice comfy a/c, do you think anybody was helpful outside of it? i gave them about fifteen minutes to think about it, and apparently i just wasn’t the customer to help today.
and i really might would have bought that bike….
***** ***** ***** ***** ******
i understand people, and dealerships, have bad days. but i also understand that this is a service industry. unless the ‘self-checkout’ style of motorcycle sales starts taking off, i’m guessing cycle shack north just isn’t going to sell a lot of bikes. not with the team they had today. a lot of places in conroe tout themselves as the ‘small town type of service you won’t find in houston,’ but unfortunately, i feel as though i would have gotten better service from a corpse. it would have been hard to get less.
i’m definitely going to return, just to see if the service improves. but their service doesn’t account for how light their bike section is. for a place called cycle shack, they just didn’t have a lot of two-wheeled options. i’ll definitely keep my eye out for any more cx-1300’s … but i won’t be buying from cs-n. even if i wanted to, i’m betting it would be hard to get them to take my money anyway.
beardly/batman 