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Europa Macchina...no longer a customer.

francod123

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Messages
432
Location
Maryland
I've been traveling to Europa Macchina in Lewisberry, PA from Baltimore occasionally for some work on my V7 because my local dealer has a bad reputation and they seemed like a great place to go from the word around here and elsewhere. They were pleasant and did good work the first time I went there, and worked on a warranty issue. This latest time I had them address the same warranty issue, but also had them install a MAS rear fender and install an LED plate I bought from Todd.

I was shocked at the price when I picked it up first of all...9.5 hours total to install the new rear fender and install the LED plate??? I would've done it myself, but they never called me with an estimate on the work, and they kept giving me the run around about when it would be completed. My bike ended up being there for 3 weeks and 2 days. I had new tires put on as well. They charged $185 for the rear and about $145 for the front, then $80 and $40 more for mounting and balancing. Total cost to put new tires on and install the MAS rear fender and LED plate...$1400...I don't know but that seems pretty high to me.

I didn't notice this earlier, but I get home and I see that the LED plate is not wired up correctly...there's not running brake lights, the light only comes on when I hit my brake, but otherwise there's no light whatsoever while I'm riding! And, they didn't wire it in so that the turn signals are also brakes. I specifically outlined all of this in a checklist I made for them.

I call back and spoke to the owner, and expressed my frustrations about paying $1400, waiting over three weeks, and seeing that it is not wired correctly. As a customer, I feel I have the right to express concerns about that. He comes back and claims that their mechanic called me and told me how this LED plate is "illegal in PA"...ok, what the hell does that have to do with anything? I live in Maryland, and that still doesn't justify why it was not wired correctly. Oh, by the way, I NEVER spoke to their mechanic about anything, ever. I was the one who had to constantly call them to get updates because they were giving me the runaround, and consistently putting off the due date.

Then, as I continue to express my concerns about all this, in a direct but calm manner, he flips and gets all irate on me and tells me I need to "be quiet" and "listen up", and that he's "done with this conversation," and is literally yelling at me, yelling, and then says "I'm done!" and he just hangs up on me.

Wow. I was in shock. Shock and feeling so stressed out that I dished out $1400 for work that wasn't done correctly, and not even close to a timely manner. Then to have the owner be completely out of line and beyond rude to a loyal customer who travels over an hour to your shop for services...and they treat me like that?? I'm beside myself, really. And now I have to figure out how to rewire this thing so it works the way it is supposed to.

I will never, ever, in a million years, ever go back to Europa Macchina for anything to be done on my motorcycle. What a complete 180 from a shop you seem to love because it feels like home and they are so welcoming, to a place that only seems like it robbed you of your money and treated you like complete shit simply because a customer was concerned about the services performed on his bike, services that he paid damn good money for and did not get what he paid for, and then is yelled at and talked down to in a phone conversation, and hung up on. So unprofessional, and I know some of you speak highly about them ,and my initial experiences were great...but holy crap, shocking. Absolutely shocking.
 
I'm still thinking about the fact that he was yelling at me and yelled emphatically "be quiet!" during my calm explanation. Are you fucking kidding me? Hahahah what a joke. That place sucks so hard...
 
Good info. I don't live in their area (I'm up in Mass.) but it's an interesting event. Sorry it worked out that way.

Thanks. Yea, lesson learned. Just sucks when you feel like you have been taken advantage of. And on top of it, incomplete and incorrect work done in the end. And there went my money.

But, they lost my business, and others' as well because I will never recommend anyone to ever go there. I figure that's worth more than what I lost. :D
 
That sucks. Sorry to hear that. I am one of the people who have had good experiences there and likely one of the ones who recommended them, so I am sorry for that.
I only take my motorcycles to a mechanic like them to have warranty work done or overly complex tasks that I don't have time for. It is not often that I resort to taking my motorcycles to a mechanic. And for something like wiring in an aftermarket (and yes, non-DOT approved) taillight I really would not pass that job on to someone else. I would have no faith that they would do the job to my standards, although I would at least expect that the light would work. I certainly would not expect to pay them to install a taillight and find out that the light does not work. I assume you were in shock over the bill and did not check the function of the light?
One of the reasons I would not pass this type of work on to a shop is that you are paying them by the hour and for them to perform a task like this it tends to eat up the hours as it is not a cut and dry like for like installation. Me doing a job like those two things could easily eat up 8-10 hours of my time, paying someone else to do that gets expensive.

One other aspect about Europa Macchina, the original mechanic that was there when I dealt with them has apparently left and I have not met (sounds like you have not either)their new mechanic and I don't know how good he is.

It is a shame as it is a very cool shop. Thanks for the info on your experience. Sorry to hear it went so bad.
 
That sucks. Sorry to hear that. I am one of the people who have had good experiences there and likely one of the ones who recommended them, so I am sorry for that.


Thanks. Don't be sorry at all. They were honestly very good the first few times and I thought the service was great and the turnaround time was great too.

And I understand there are two sides to every story and you're only getting one here, but I'm a straight shooter and I expect a certain level of customer service and quality of work to go along with it.

Yes I should've been more diligent with calling them more perhaps and getting a final estimate and so on, but I assumed, wrongfully, that I had attempted to do this enough.

Then to get treated that way, yelled at in a condescending manner and the owner telling me to "be quiet!" while I'm talking, and pay that much money, and have it not function properly. Who doesn't test the light and see that there are no running brake lights working?? Such an egregious error. They restore Porsches for christ's sake! And they let that slip by?

Lesson learned, I should've done it myself. I understand hours can add up, but for them to take 9.5 hours to put the fender in and wire it up sounds a bit high in my opinion.

They wow you with their shop and the Porsches and you get the tour when you go there and so on. But in the end, they couldn't even wire an LED plate up correctly and foot me with a big bill. All smoke and mirrors in my opinion.

I don't let anyone talk to me the way he did. And to think that he would talk that way to a customer is appalling. Therefore, I'll make sure to consistently, and emphatically, discourage anyone and everyone from ever stepping a single foot in that place.

Sorry I keep going on about it but this is my therapy so thank you guys for putting up with my rants. :)
 
Rant away.
My sister in law lives up near there and has some direct connection to Lori (same church or some such crap). So I will try to mention that bad customer experiences tend to spread word fast. You can't treat customers like that and expect to have business. The Guzzi community is small and word spreads fast.
 
I contacted them on December 6th to purchase a braided oil line for my Daytona. I gave them the MG part # and description of the part so it should have been a no brainer. If you've been there you know they're not a motorcycle shop so take from that what you want but I thought I'd throw them some parts business since they are the local MG "dealer". To date I have not heard from them so I guess they don't want and/or need my business. I've toured the building including the service area and aside from selling new bikes I'm not really sure where MG falls into their business model.
 
This sounds like standard operating procedure at MG shops. Once you order it you will hear nothing till it comes in. If you wonder why it is taking so long give them a call. Ordering MG parts I have realized this happens regularly and while I don't like it I have run into it with all of the shops I have dealt with. Probably because they think a month or so parts delivery, or even an answer to a warranty question, is normal with MG.
 
The Guzzi thing is clearly not their main focus. But name one shop around here where Guzzi IS their main focus. The only difference with them is there main focus is cars instead of some other brand of motorcycle.

I know this is kinda late but there are a number of shops that sell or make custom braided lines for ANY motorcycle. I hate to ask what they quoted you for the OEM Guzzi lines.
 
It's not that MG isn't their main focus, motorcycles are not their main focus. I gave them a go and came away unimpressed. There are plenty of MG shops and/or suppliers out there that do have good customer service and in the future I'll call one of them.
 
You guys can contact Jim Hamlin at Hamlin Cycles LLC in Bethel, CT. Jim's one of the best techs in the east and his client list is a who's who of accomplished riders. It's worth the ride-the shop and staff are the best guys you'll ever meet. Factory trained.

I know Jim from his Triumph days. I can tell you we ride 400 miles with our bikes for major service. But it's as much for the fun with those guys there as anything. If you need to travel you could do a LOT worse-and it sounds like you have. Jim's building a 2015 V7 Stone for me-Todd will supply some of the goodies.
 
You guys can contact Jim Hamlin at Hamlin Cycles LLC in Bethel, CT. Jim's one of the best techs in the east and his client list is a who's who of accomplished riders. It's worth the ride-the shop and staff are the best guys you'll ever meet. Factory trained.

I know Jim from his Triumph days. I can tell you we ride 400 miles with our bikes for major service. But it's as much for the fun with those guys there as anything. If you need to travel you could do a LOT worse-and it sounds like you have. Jim's building a 2015 V7 Stone for me-Todd will supply some of the goodies.

Jim got a little "testy" with me, telling me to wire them myself, when I was trying to find someone to wire some lights for me. The owner/designer of said lights told me a competent person used to working around wires and such could wire them in less than an hour. Jim quoted me THREE hours of labor and told me I'd be leaving my bike for a couple of days. Come on now, 3 hours to install $125 lights and leave my bike? Sorry but totally excessive. I helped my buddy wire the lights for me in just under an hour and that was with him wiring then removing the wiring and re wire the lights because he didn't like the way the wires were routed the first time. Not looking to bash anyone here, but it seems even the best known folks in this business can be off.
 
Sorry to hear your experience is not related to any I'm aware of at Hamlin Cycle. I've brought plenty of customers there from near and far and the continue to return.
Jim sets up and works on bikes for all kinds of riders including former #1 AMA plate holders.
 
Sorry to hear your experience is not related to any I'm aware of at Hamlin Cycle. I've brought plenty of customers there from near and far and the continue to return.
Jim sets up and works on bikes for all kinds of riders including former #1 AMA plate holders.

I heard Jim was good, think I even met him when he worked at Branchville Motors. He seemed interested in my lights even asking for the link to the company. He was cordial and interested until I finally asked him what he thought he might charge to install. Then I got the three hour estimate and that I would have to leave the bike for a couple of days and find my way to the train station from and back to his shop. That's when I told him I felt that was excessive and he told me to do the job myself if it was only going to take an hour. Jim may be the Guzzi or trumpet guru, but his customer service skills in MY CASE, were a little lacking. How many business owners can routinely treat a potential or current customers this way and expect to have a loyal customer base? Again, not looking to bash him or anyone I have no real experience with here, just relaying what happened to me.
 
Like I said....it's too bad it worked out like that for you. Who knows, maybe a bad moment that you caught him?

He was the lead tech at Branchville. He has a huge loyal base which makes your contact that much more confusing.
All the best.
 
Like I said....it's too bad it worked out like that for you. Who knows, maybe a bad moment that you caught him?

He was the lead tech at Branchville. He has a huge loyal base which makes your contact that much more confusing.
All the best.

Yes, we are all entitled to an off day, I hope that was it. I was a bit surprised to say the least after he asked for a web site link and commented the lights looked like a quality product designed and made in the U.S. In fact, he must have studied the install diagram because he commented on how he would never use the supplied posi taps that were included in the kit. It's all good, I followed his and my friends advice and saved at least $300 or more by doing this myself with my buddy.
 
Yes, we are all entitled to an off day, I hope that was it. I was a bit surprised to say the least after he asked for a web site link and commented the lights looked like a quality product designed and made in the U.S. In fact, he must have studied the install diagram because he commented on how he would never use the supplied posi taps that were included in the kit. It's all good, I followed his and my friends advice and saved at least $300 or more by doing this myself with my buddy.

Saying he would never use Posi-taps is a bit questionable in my mind - and over the past 45 years, I have done a LOT of wiring, including complete harnesses for several bikes and for a Lancia Zagato I restored. Soldered joints are susceptible to vibration, traditional crimps are easy to do wrong and 3M taps break down after a couple years in weather (ask any RV owner). Posi products are a good alternative, as are good crimp joints with a proper (not cheap) crimping pliers and shrink-wrap shells (marine grade with sealant). If the kit included other taps (not really Posi) I could understand this...
 
Saying he would never use Posi-taps is a bit questionable in my mind - and over the past 45 years, I have done a LOT of wiring, including complete harnesses for several bikes and for a Lancia Zagato I restored. Soldered joints are susceptible to vibration, traditional crimps are easy to do wrong and 3M taps break down after a couple years in weather (ask any RV owner). Posi products are a good alternative, as are good crimp joints with a proper (not cheap) crimping pliers and shrink-wrap shells (marine grade with sealant). If the kit included other taps (not really Posi) I could understand this...

The kit DEFINITELY came with Positaps. My buddy didn't use them either, he used the GOOD crimping pliers and crimp joints. But the other guy told me Positaps suck and he always threw them away. Hey, to each his own. Some guys have one way they work and others look at several ways to work.
 
Posi-taps are high quality, not to be confused with 3M or other blade-type taps. I solder and shrink when I have wire ends available but use Posi-taps to grab a trigger for relays or to power LEDs (the Skene Design P3s Yarvis is referring to - I have three sets on my bike).

It sounds like Hamlin Cycle did not want the business by quoting three hours. Although, it did take me that long to run power from the fuse block, route the wire to my liking, drink a beer or two, clean the bike a little, etc. My projects always seem to take longer since I love tinkering on the bike!
 
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