Letter of appreciation to Yamaha

[exskibum]

An excellent move. A select few of you may even want your lawyers to compose and send the letter.

Bless you, Nut -- no matter what others may say about you. Compassionately working to ensure that there will be sufficient employment for needy land sharks with your thoughtful suggestion just gives me warm fuzzies all over. :heart:

And yes, a letter of appreciation is a great idea.

 

[hoghead]

Although I understand the satisfaction generated here I must remember the fact that I paid good money for a motorcycle that ran like crap and almost put me into the curb with my girlfriend when the bile accelerated to 7000 RPM while in a turn. (570 miles on odo)

Yes, my dealer is taking care of the problem. Part is on order. I had to call him although the recall was not out yet. Mood point I suppose.

Will I thank Yamaha? Probably not. Will I thank this forum for getting it done quickly. You bet! Thank you members.

Just me. No flames.

hh

 

[TruWrecks]

If nothing else be thankful to the Yamaha employees that are also trying to help get our bikes to be trouble free. The product that Yamaha Corp. produced is out of their control. The speed that Yamaha moved to get this addressed was all from Cypress and a few other dealers that listen to their customers.

 

[Longrider]

I telephoned Yamaha customer service in Cypress yesterday. Told them I owned an 04 FJR 1300, but wanted to thank them for the quick resolution of the 07 surging problems.

It sounded like the lady I was speaking with almost broke out in tears. She said them always hear about the problems, but seldom anyone thanks them for their help.

Longrider

 

[Huck Fonda]

Although I understand the satisfaction generated here I must remember the fact that I paid good money for a motorcycle that ran like crap and almost put me into the curb with my girlfriend when the bile accelerated to 7000 RPM while in a turn. (570 miles on odo)
Yes, my dealer is taking care of the problem. Part is on order. I had to call him although the recall was not out yet. Mood point I suppose.

Will I thank Yamaha? Probably not. Will I thank this forum for getting it done quickly. You bet! Thank you members.

Just me. No flames.

hh

I'm on the fence with this one. On one hand, it's kind of expected that Yamaha stand up and fix what's wrong, but on the other hand it's our responsibility as riders to get them the information they need as accurately as possible in order for them to make the fix, without beating them up about it.

I won't be writing any letters myself, but think that anyone who wants to should. It will surely make some CR rep's day (I'd surely hate it if my job was to take angry calls all day, no one calls to hand out attaboys).

But more importantly IMHO, is that if something goes wrong with my bike, I WILL NOT be fanning the flames of forums like this in an effort to get things done faster. It just makes us look a bit less like the more intelligent market segment that we are if we go on a rant every time something doesn't suit us 100%.

I read one post in here somewhere where this guy was like "I tried everything and I can't get mine to fail". WTF?? Why bother trying to create a problem? Why beat your head agains an issue when you know, deep inside, that the guys at team blue are probably already working on it?

I appreciate the work that Yamaha did, and I respect what it probably took in the way of resolution. To show my appreciation, I'll give them a little more breathing room the next time something comes up. I hope you'll all consdier the same.

 

[painman]

I think one thing that caused the burr under many saddles was that it seemed like Yamaha was not working on a problem when in reality they probably were. Was Yamaha aware of the AS problem in 06, I don't know. We as a group of riders riding the same type bike here are really a sounding board for potential problems that when they occur we are the first ones to hear about it and experience it because were the ones having it. And it just feels like nothing is getting done when in fact it does take Yamaha some time to receive the info, process it, test the problem themselves and then have to notify everyone and come up with a fix, then get the corrected part out. And in the mean time, were still riding around with the problem and it seems were not getting any results. Aren't we the one's who paid 13 to 15 grand for the bike? But once we banded together and folks like TruWrecks put the info to Yamaha, shouldn't they be sending us or in particular TruWrecks a thank you letter? Just throwing this out there. I for one would be more than glad to send them the thank you letter but think this needed to be said. Now let the slathering begin. PM. <><

 

[Medium Al]

Part of the reason we got the impression Yamaha was not working on the problem might have to do with being told by Yamaha personnel that we were imagining it, it was internet hysteria, we were liars, and oh by the way give us 75/hr to ride your bike and no we can't reproduce the problem even with 12 factory guys road testing (wink wink) you delusional old losers (snicker snicker). This was the official Yamaha position most of the summer. They were stonewalling and hoping we went away. I won't be writing any letters, I thanked Steve personally on the phone, that is enough. I still have no ECU, riding season is over, the mountain passes here are snowed in and/or closed.

If anyone deserves a letter, it is the members of this forum, and from Yamaha thanking us for debugging the problem, notifying NHTSA, not suing them en mass or issuing a fatwa against their dealers, and for putting up with their arrogant behavior. And before anyone goes off on how fast they fixed it, it's a change in a line or two of ECU software folks, not a metalurgical/manufacturing tolerance problem in something major internal eninge mechanical like ticking. I mean really, this was a serious safety issue and they just blew it off.

So I ain't going to get all teary eyed over a company being dragged kicking and screaming into fixing soemthing that could have killed people. They should have been on this immediately, been on the phone to customers who reported the problem to dealers and been doing everything in their power to figure this out. THEY SAT BACK AND LET US DO IT, while covering their asses from individual lawsuits. Did anyone here get a call from Yamaha tech during the early stages of this? Was their a safety bulletin sent out to riders?

EDIT: one other thing, does anyone think Yamaha is really manufacturing 10000 (or whatever) brand new ECU's? For a few lines of code? I think the delay in getting ECU's out to people is because they are reconditioning the old ECU's pulled off of our bikes and sent back to the factory. It would be beyond stupid to do anyhting else, but I do get annoyed at this notion of "ramping up production" causing delys when "production" is probably a reflash of some guys old ECU from wherever, and delays are just UPS turnaround. I'd love to be proved wrong here.

 

[Huck Fonda]

Al, your post is passionate if nothing else.

 

[Niehart]

Al, you have no idea what Yamaha was doing during that time frame. They had to have all their ducks in a row before they came out with a fix. Do you think that one day they said "There is a problem, lets rebuild the ECU's & start shipping them out tomorrow." You have to know that it takes months of research to find the right fix and then make sure that fix didn't screw something else up.

 

[SkooterG]

from Yamaha thanking us for ........... not .......... issuing a fatwa against their dealers

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Now that's funny right there!

 

[Medium Al]

Al, you have no idea what Yamaha was doing during that time frame.

And neither do you. I do know how most if us were treated and what the official response was, and that is what I was characterizing.

 

[Niehart]

MA, I'm just saying they have been working on the fix for quite a while. We both know the pressure from the forum kept them moving and gave them some real results. In this world of law suits, you don't admit any thing until you have a plan.

 

[rangerray]

I can see every reason to thank the folks that fielded the hundreds of calls from irate FJR owners, especially when you consider that they probably take calls on a multitude of products, but I think it's absolutely nonsense to thank a company for repairing something that should have been right the first time. My check went through the first time they tried to cash it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've put up with this problem on four trips this year and there's nothing Yamaha can do to give me my time back. However, they could offer special purchase incentives to everyone that had to endure their flub so that we continue buying more FJR's. All in all, that's how you show thanks; you become a repeat customer.

 

[Ignacio]

And neither do you. I do know how most if us were treated and what the official response was, and that is what I was characterizing.

They had an "official" response prior to the bulletin? Really? When, where, and what exactly did this official response say?

Don't confuse dealer and/or tech. support banter with what comes out officially from the big, giant, international conglomerate. Viewed in those terms this response was quick.

And don't look for mea culpas as it won't happen...especially when somebody starts talking about lawyering up.

Yes, the grass is far greener for us than say those poor bastards with BMW final drives. They're still drinking the kool-aid when this forum has mobilized on several occasions to exert a consistent pressure and information base. I'll take our mode until somebody comes up with something better.

 

[Medium Al]

And neither do you. I do know how most if us were treated and what the official response was, and that is what I was characterizing.

They had an "official" response prior to the bulletin? Really? When, where, and what exactly did this official response say?

Don't confuse dealer and/or tech. support banter with what comes out officially from the big, giant, international conglomerate. Viewed in those terms this response was quick.

It is not the customer's responsibility to parse statements made on behalf of Yamaha into categories of tech support banter, customer relations fabrications, dealer blow-offs, service managers posting on this board, and so forth. If there is a Yamaha sign hanging from the building, or Yamaha pays their salary directly or indirectly, it is official as far as I am concerned. As it should be, and probably legally defined as such as far as liability goes.

If we could get back to my original point, which is that Yamaha should be writing members of this forum a thank you letter, and not the other way around, maybe we can agree on something. I happen to believe this problem never would have been addressed let alone fixed if it weren't for memebrs of this forum giving them hell AND debugging the problem for them. Anybody wanting to give Yamaha a big sloppy kiss for that, well go right ahead. But count me out.

 

[Medium Al]

We both know the pressure from the forum kept them moving and gave them some real results. In this world of law suits, you don't admit any thing until you have a plan.

Which is why writing a letter thanking them for allowing us to encourage them to fix their defective product seems a little odd to me. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to a fix, and glad they fixed it. I just have a large difference of opinion as to who should be grateful to whom.

 

[Huck Fonda]

I happen to believe this problem never would have been addressed let alone fixed if it weren't for memebrs of this forum giving them hell AND debugging the problem for them.

This does a lot to characterize your views. Do you really think this would not have been addressed? Based on what? You feel like giving someone hell is a good thing? Is that how you respond to everything that is less than ideal in your life? I'd hate to see what your blood pressure numbers are. You honestly feel like you're in part responsible for de-bugging this? What information did you provide in terms of the fix? Did you suggest that a particular circuit or logic be applied to the software? Are you a qualified mechanic AND software engineer?

Wow. My point is that you shouldn't be patting yourself on the back so much. I'm with you on not writing a letter, but man, I'd sure be curious to see how you handle other problems and inconveniences in your life.

If they're like any other CR staff, they probably are like mushrooms (kept in the dark, and fed $hit all day). The're probably hired through some agency and wouldn't know any more about a specific model / year / problem than any other schmoe on the street. I'd guess that they're trained to some extent, but come on, who could afford a full staff of highly trained techs to answer calls on ALL product lines every day? What tech would do it?

All that off my chest, I go back to my earlier comment that the best way to show any appreciation would be to back off the heat a little and let them do their jobs. I'm sure the Forum is a great source of info at some level, but a bunch of riders speculating on what they think is wrong, and ranting to everyone that will listen that their toy is broken, well, that doesn't carry much weight with me, and I'm sure that a big company like Yamaha would rather listen to good sense as opposed to maniacle ravings, too.

No one NEEDS to ride a motorcycle. It's a convenient, economical, and fun way to get around, but in reality, it's a toy. Keep that in mind when prioritizing your hate.

 

[TruWrecks]

....I want to extend my thanks to the Adventure Motorsports Service department and the Support Specialists at Yamaha Motors, Cypress, CA.[\quote]
It's not Yamaha Motors that I thanked. It was the people that have the customer facing jobs that I care about. As a business owner I want to know if someone has concerns about my products. It also goes miles for me to here if a customer is happy. Don't feel obligated to thank Yamaha, but do consider thanking those people that have to put up with irate customers when something goes wrong. If those people know we care, maybe they will too. It will improve the customer relations, and make the company a better one despite the bean counters.

Think about it. If you only hear people bitching about the bad, what would inspire you to improve the product with better features. You're just going to get bogged down trying to "get it right" or you'll discontinue the product line.

 

[Ignacio]

It is not the customer's responsibility to parse statements made on behalf of Yamaha into categories of tech support banter, customer relations fabrications, dealer blow-offs, service managers posting on this board, and so forth. If there is a Yamaha sign hanging from the building, or Yamaha pays their salary directly or indirectly, it is official as far as I am concerned.

So, if you posted something on this forum would be the official word of the forum? Of course not. Specious analogy.

And your standard for "official" seems extremely loose. I thought as much, but just wanted to point it out.

 

[Warchild]

No one NEEDS to ride a motorcycle. It's a convenient, economical, and fun way to get around, but in reality, it's a toy.

I was with you all the way until these last two sentences, Huck.

There are indeed some folks that NEED to ride. I am one of them.

It may be a toy to some folks, but definitely not a toy to others. For example, I haven't owned a car for over a decade now.... the bike is a necessity.