Honda's Roadside Assistance & Honda Rider's Club of America

 

Below is a copy of a letter that I set to Honda concerning an incident that
I had with their roadside assistance program. Draw your own conclusions. I
think I made mine quite obvious.



I ride a 2002 VTX1800C with an extended warranty. I also hold a membership
in the Honda Rider's Club of America.

While riding in the southern part of New Jersey today, I stopped to conduct
some personal business. When I returned to my bike, it would not start. The
starter switch failed. Not a big deal. Even the best made vehicles fail on
occasion. That is why I carry road side assistance with the HRCA.

At about noon, I called for help. After being on the phone with them for
about a half hour, most of the time on hold, I was told they were having
trouble finding a service provider. Mind you, I was not in the middle of
nowhere. I was only twelve miles west of Atlantic City on the busiest road
in area. There are at least two Honda dealers in the county. The service
representative had the nerve to suggest that I find a repair facility on my
own to pick up my bike because they were having no success. If I wanted to
do that, why would I pay for their services? Finally the service
representative said she would investigate further and call me back.

After waiting about another hour and not getting a call back, I called the
HRCA again. I was given the same story again. They would look for a service
provider and call me back.

At about 3:00 PM, after still not getting a call back, I tried yet again.
Remember, I am still stuck on the side of the road in ninety degree
temperatures. Same story again. We can not find anyone. Call someone
yourself and submit the bill. I carry roadside assistance because I know how
hard it is to get a motorcycle transported. They said they would try other
sources and call me back.

At 4:30 PM, four and one half hours after this ordeal started, I was still
stuck. No transport vehicle in sight, and no call back from HRCA. Now they
claim they "accidentally" deleted my cell phone number from their system,
and could not call back. They further claimed that they called my home
number since that was the only one they now had. I have an answering machine
at home. There were no messages. Do you really believe they ever called?

The final outcome was that I was left to fend for myself. They offered
absolutely no help. What was I paying for? Do you think this is acceptable?
I have carried roadside assistance on my cars and trucks for over thirty
five years and have never been left stranded. Oh, they did offer to
reimburse me for any expense that I incurred to get my bike towed. If they
could not find anyone, how was I suppose to?

Well, I simply opened the yellow pages, that I borrowed from a local
business, and started calling motorcycle repair facilities. On my fifth
call, I found someone to pick up my bike. I have not gotten the bill yet,
but the estimate was between two hundred and two hundred and fifty dollars.
It was bad enough when I needed service on a weekend afternoon, when this
ordeal started, but because of the incompetence of the HRCA, the service
call would now be charged at the weekend after hours rate. Do you really
think that I will ever be reimbursed for the transport?

Also, the repair facility that picked up my bike is not an authorized Honda
facility. That means that despite my extended warranty, that cost me a few
hundred dollars, I will be paying for the repair as well.

Does anybody think this is acceptable? Why should I continue membership in
the HRCA? Why would I ever buy another Honda, bike or car, if this is how
you treat your customers? That Nissan pick up and Yamaha's new Star line is
looking mighty good right about now. What do you think?

                I intend to post this letter to numerous biker news groups
and web sites on the internet as well as mailing copies to related groups
that I cannot access in that manner. To be fair, I will also post your
response.

 



I say that's pretty bad. I too, ride a Honda, and have
done so for many years. Unlike you, I don't participate
in the HRCA, nor any roadside assistance.

But, like you, I would be damn mad had I experienced
the treatment you described. I will be interested in the
reply, if any.

OTOH, your start switch might just have been failing due
to the heat of the day. I own a Valkyrie(which I think
probably shares the same right bar switch set with the VTX), and this has
been documented for some time. I've had the occurrence of a failure similar
to your description, and a simple working the switch with you thumb usually
will bring it to life. But, it is daunting the first time it happens if
you're unaware of the problem.

Thanks, for the update.

Gary



conduct

service

machine

acceptable?

dollars.

 

What I would do is check with your ins company. Mine has towing/roadside
service,and have NEVER had a problem. I ride a Harley but wont never let
Harley mess with it at all,because all they do is give the run around
 Ride Safe

similar

usually

membership

system,

 

Just got a call from Honda and the various divisions involved in my problem.
They assure me that they will pay all involved costs. That includes the tow
bill and the cost of the repair at an independent garage. I'll only post
again if I am not paid. Hopefully this case is closed.

Storm

 


That's great, not that I'm surprised though. They would
have been complete fools to do anything else.

I don't know the details on the HRA, but I assume that
the "juice" in this settlement is that everything, "including"
the repair itself, is being covered. IOW, if all things had
been done right out on the road, you would've paid for the start switch fix.

But, if I'm wrong, and all they're paying is what would've
been paid on the road service claim, sounds like they're
gettin' off easy.

I'm more interested in their explanation and, will you be
looking forward to your next HRA call?

Gary




problem.

membership

system,