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Arctic Cat

2.4K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Romp  
#1 ·
Well we are now onto week #4 , have been told many times that the parts are on order , and are shipping , but guess what , not so ! I ahve been lied to way to many times , It will stop Lawyers are being called
B
 
#4 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bbtking @ Jul 3 2008, 12:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Well we are now onto week #4 , have been told many times that the parts are on order , and are shipping , but guess what , not so ! I ahve been lied to way to many times , It will stop Lawyers are being called
B[/b]
Sounds like a dealer issue. I am a dealer and have had no problem with AC getting parts shipped to me. What parts are you looking for, I will be glad to look at the AC order site and see if they are truly backordered.....
I am sorry that you are having to deal with that, customer service is so important and yet so lacking with so many dealers now-a-days.
 
#5 ·
I agree with Darryl89 on this one...sounds more like a dealer issue. I've heard many times where a dealer claims the parts are on backorder and when it came to it the only backordered item was the customer service by the dealer itself as they neglected to order the parts for whatever reason.
 
#6 ·
Another thing I think some dealers are having happen is that the ATV sales this past year tanked and it's hurting their bottom line, making it hard for them to buy parts. That as well as the free freight period for the 09 year starts on July 16th and if they didn't have enough freight ordered for 08, they may be saving up the freight to wait till the 09 period to save on that.
Like I said, let me know what parts you have on order and I'll try to find out if AC is truly backordered or what is going on. I have never had any part have problems as you are saying. Perhaps an item is backordered, but if so, they should just tell you.
 
#7 ·
You have a dealer that's pulling your leg, IMO. Give Darryl89 a try at it then report back. Any A/C dealer can pick up the phone and call Cat and get an estimated delivery date on any part. .........tigger
 
#8 ·
I agree. The one thing i will say is sometimes IF the part was originally backordered the available date can get pushed back without the dealer being informed UNLESS they call. I found this out today myself. Arctic Cat has GREAT shipping for the most part.
 
#9 ·
Well folks , I assure you that the issues at hand are not dealer related, I have been there when the mechanic made the calls , he is a friend of mine and so id the owner of the dealership, some of the issue might be that we are up here in Canada and have to deal indirectly for the most part, through the canadian division of AC , the issue at hand here is # 1 I and my passenger could have been really badley hurt or killed when the front diff exploded at 35-40mph and locked up . Fortunately I was able to keep it under control. AC finally gave into replacement of both front and rear diffs , axles and seals , but have outright lied to us . In the end we called the service manager at the AC plant and they finally admitted that there are monufacturing defects in the Diff both front and rear on the Tcat , 700h1 efi and the 700prowler for 2008. They also said they would not have inventory on the new diffs until the second week of July and would for this case remove one from a production line prowler and ship it ASAP that was the 26 of June , well as of yesterday they had not kept to thier word and the diff has still not shipped . I have owned this Prowler since Mar31 , I have put 370 miles on it , It has been at the dealership 8 times for axle seals and a rear axle , ( aslo we are using the proper install tool fot the seals ) It now has been trailered a total of 360 miles back and forth to the dealer , has spent a total of about 40 days of the 90 I have owned it at the dealer. Also note they have been really good to me , if I drop it off one day I can pick it up the next . The latest trip though has now been a total of 3 full weeks it has sat there waiting for parts that are supposed to be coming but never show up . It was even suggested since they can not seem to deliver replacement parts in a timley fasion that we swap diffs and axles from a 650 prowler , which the dealer is willing to do but AC will not authorize the warranty claim as the part # do not match up . It seems to me the dealership is trying every angle they can to help me as their customer but AC is not willing to do anything to look after their customer , the Dealer .
wish me luck as I will give it one more stab , and hope the same parts do not fail , I have owned numerous AC atv's , & sleds . I even went the other day to pick up my prowler which should have been ready , with cash in pocket to trade in my 2007 H1 TRV Le on a new ATV , when I found out the run around that AC has been giving myself and my dealer I told them , they just lost a sale and potentially one of the most hard core customers , no offense to the dealer but I have very mixed feelins about spending any more money on AC products, Believe me this is a really awkward position as my Blood is AC green and has been , what would you do????
thanks to everyone for their insight and ideas , they are much appreciated .
Brent
 
#10 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bbtking @ Jul 4 2008, 12:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
...Believe me this is a really awkward position as my Blood is AC green and has been , what would you do????[/b]
What would I do? Switch brands.

I switched brands from Cat sleds to other sled brands. Didn't own an ATV at the time, but the brand switch experience can result in similar customer treatment.

I could write pages of what went on with the other brands that caused me to go back to Cat, but the details are un-important. Basically I discovered they treated me even worse, bigger lies about much more critical stuff than waiting for parts under pre-tenses of imaginary back-orders. Exception would be Polaris. The lies didn't happen with them, but I was dis-satisifed with the performance & reliability of their top-of-the-line snowmobile. So I went back to Cat, found a new dealer too. Was pretty good until he shut down recently.

Switch brands. Try it. Over the next few toy purchases, try not to consider Cat. With any luck, you will have better luck than I did and find a dealer/brand that treats you as they should.

One of the most awful things to happen is to be lied to by someone or a company who you put your trust & faith in. We Cat owners put Cat up on a pedestal in our minds because when the product works good, it earns the praise. Problem isn't the product, engineering will get bugs out in time. The problem is customer treatment... Being lied to is much worse than the truth.

The truth you have to wait might not be what we want to hear, but at least we can take the truth and wait it out. As soon as you're lied to, the respect is gone, and the company's/brand's image goes down the drain real fast. And this is all the doing of people with dishounerable ethics. The machines are good, engineering is good, bug solving over model years is good, but it's how the people of that company treat the customers that is sometimes more critical than everything else.

I would like to see Cat take responsibility for their manufacturing/defect problems of keeping new ATV/sled riders from losing the warranty time they paid for.

If the ATV/sled is at the dealership for a warranty repair for more than 2 weeks (grace period), that warranty time lost should be added to the duration of the warranty. Example: If 1.5 months is spent at the dealership and not in the owner's hands, the warranty time is ticking away at the cost of the owner... The owner paid for the warranty coverage bundled in the sale price.

This might be worse for the dealer though, I can see how it puts him under the gun when the delay doesn't originate from the factory. The dealer can be under-staffed for whatever reason, or swamped due to booming sales/repair jobs, etc. It might not be a perfect idea for both sides.

So to be fair to the owner, his warranty period should be extended by 1.5 months, or at least the 4 weeks beyond the 2 week grace period. It should be illegal for any brand/company to be able to consume the warranty time you paid for because of a defect or failed part under warranty that is their fault in the first place. The laws concerning warranty clearly work in their favour on this timing issue, and is not fair to the consumer. I've heard two horror stories about ATVs with 6 months warranty, one was at the dealer for 2 months, the other one for 4. One was a Cat, the other ATV was a different brand. So one lost 1/3 of the warranty, the other lost 2/3rds... Because of delays on a warranty claim. Delays that aren't the customer's fault shouldn't cost the customer the warranty time he paid for.

Good luck. I hope they get it resolved to your statisfaction, or if you switch brands, I hope they treat you better. :chug:
 
#11 ·
Well, it sounds like you've been on the bad end of the stick here bud. Part of me thinks that part of this is the "first year bugs". However, the flip side of me thinks "So what....take care of the problem". So, i guess my take is that if you buy a first year production run of anything, expect bugs but also expect to be taken care of accordingly. Sounds like your dealer has held up his end of the bargain as have you.

I would ask Cat for a new ride altogether. spending roughly half of the time in the shop is unacceptable by any standards. Being this is a first year machine, they may want it for R+D purposes to see what is causing such repeated failures.
 
#12 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sanny651 @ Jul 4 2008, 01:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Well, it sounds like you've been on the bad end of the stick here bud. Part of me thinks that part of this is the "first year bugs". However, the flip side of me thinks "So what....take care of the problem". So, i guess my take is that if you buy a first year production run of anything, expect bugs but also expect to be taken care of accordingly. Sounds like your dealer has held up his end of the bargain as have you.

I would ask Cat for a new ride altogether. spending roughly half of the time in the shop is unacceptable by any standards. Being this is a first year machine, they may want it for R+D purposes to see what is causing such repeated failures.[/b]
Im trying to get mine replaced, its spent over 2 months in the shop since I got it on march 20 and the only problem I have NOT had is the split diff and bevel gear issues other than that I have had every single issue out there for the T-Cat and they are contuing on so I asked for a written document on my issues there fixes and what they want to do now and I want an official exchange request form and I want it documented the date I requested that and the miles that were on the machine when i requested it. I want to get an 09 and Ill even pay the difference between the 08 and 09 but I want it exchanged and not traded in where I have to pay the depreciated value of my 08