UPDATE: Parts stolen off my bike!

that is unreal they are still sticking to knowing nothing about it even with the pictures of it sitting in their dealership. where can I buy a set of marbles like that?

 

Careful Monte; In the past 42 years of working in and owning a shop, I have on more than one occasion seen adjusters claim salvage parts from accident repairs and totaled bikes. I always wondered if they went to the company or if the adjusters that did this had a side business going. Many adjusters by the way are outside sub-contractors.

This was more common years ago than it has been recently and it often caused shops grief with customers that thought the shop was stealing the parts, which I'm sure is sometimes, maybe frequently, but not always, true. Do not automatically take the adjusters word in a case like this.

 

Bottom line is: the bike was in the shop's possession, so therefore it is their responsibility.

If their immediate response was, "Oh my, we WILL find out what happened right away" and was very responsive, that would be one thing, but when the response is "Uhhhh... dunno, sorry", that's not cool.

Bottom line #2: when the ins. co. pays out a claim, the bike, legally, is theirs, unless they have made arrangements with a 3rd party (ie, owner buying the bike back). The shop, adjuster, whoever, does not have the right to take ANYTHING from that bike. To do so is theft, plain and simple. It seems that removal of "tasty parts" before a bike goes to salvage/auction is far too commonplace, the thought being that the parts will not be missed further down the line. 90% of the time that could be true - this time someone was caught.

I would say the shop needs to step up, and make this right.

t

 

plus its not like the damper just comes off. At least the ones I owned needed really small allen wrenches to loosen about 27(sarcasm) set screws. :roll: Someone had to have seen it being done wether it was the insurance adjuster or someone at the stealership.

 

In all my years I have never seen an adjustor take an accessory part off of a bike. If the dealer didn't do it then they certainly know about it. The bike was owned by the customer and until the settlement check was agreed to and cut, removing any parts is stealing and the deaer had a feduciary responability to protect the customers property. Period.

Dealer screwed up and the dealer needs to be hammered. I'm kinda funny about theives and liers and don't belive that they should be granted any quarter.

 

I agree with you about thieves and liars Monte but it pays to be sure who they are before you break out the tar and feathers, especially on the internet where the information may be incomplete. At the very least, it's only one side of the story.

 

Yep... and the threat/fear of a public ass reaming is a wonderful motivating factor to do the right thing :wink:

 

Tru that....

t

 

i hate you guys!!!!!
i so wanted my bike back!

 

I guess one takeaway from this situation is that if you're taking a wrecked bike into a shop for an estimate take off all your expensive accessories first. Unless the damper itself was damaged (which it probably wasn't) there wouldn't be any point leaving it on the bike anyway.

And by the way, the fact that it took two weeks just to get an estimate already sounds fishy. I'd at least file a report with the BBB, if not a police report too.

 

Keep one other thing in mind. If you buy your totalled bike bike, there is a period where it is not your bike it belongs to the insurance company which is why you are buying it BACK. This as opposed to settling with the insurer for a lower damage pay off so as to avoid totaling out the bike, which means your ownership chain is unbroken. It is no different than buying a house and being clear about what stays and what goes.

If you are buying it back, I suggest you meet the adjuster at the shop for a second and final look to make sure what you are buying has not been damaged or diminished since you last saw it.

Despite Monte's experience, I have seen adjusters claim lightly damaged body work, accessories, helmets, jackets etc.
They claim to be doing this for the company. Who knows?

I never worked at a shop that took parts from customer's bikes but I certainly believe it happens.

I have also seen customers want it both ways. Demand payment for accessories and then come buy to try to remove "their" accessories from the totalled bike.

In closing; Yes,there are dishonest dealers and repair shops------------, adjusters and customers.

 

not true...your not buying it back from the insurance. you are agreeing to take the bike and less money in leiu of a large sum of money. the bike is yours until the settlement is reached and you sign the title over to the insurance company

 

Not sure but in this case as I handed them the title they handed me the check minus the money for the buy back.
Anywho's called the shop today to talk to the owner's secretary cause apparently the owner doesn't come in on mondays. This is really starting to annoy the hell out of me! :evil:

 

thats when you go in and kick something over and tell all the prospective buyers in the place what happenned. i bet they help you out then

 

The Ara helmet display comes to mind...... If you say.. stumbled into the rack once they hit the floor they're junk.....

 

haha did i mention i like the way Monte thinks

 

Amazing!
Never got to talk to the owner but called them yesterday and told them how fed up I am with them and that I would be down there in 30 minutes with the police to fill out a theft report. 10 minutes later a guy from the service department called me and said he took the part and that he thought it was totalled so he just took it off of there and he would return it. I'm glad that i'm getting my shit back but still kind of ticked off that it was taking off and the whole crap I had to go through to get it back.

 

That guy should be fired and i hope you do what you can to make that happen. I have no mercy for a thief. That is absolutely ridiculous. I don't care if the bike was totaled or not. To take something that is not yours is theft and should be delt with accordingly.

 

I would still file the report. just because he got caught and now wants to return it doesn't make it right he is still a crook. :roll:

 

NO QUARTER FOR THIEVES!!!!!! EVER!!!!!

If he stole from you he has stolen from others and will continue to do so. That is a $300 part, not a slurpee or bag of chips at 7-11. Burn em!!!!!