ECU ordered from Ducati

[chas]

Hi All

I recently had a problem with the ecu on my m900ie 2001 which was checked by my local dealer and is to be replaced under warranty.

All ok up to now, problem is how long should it take my dealer to order a replacement from Ducati, I've been waiting about 4 weeks and I'm getting fed up with them.

Whats your thoughts?

Cheers

Chas

[fatbloke]

nag the arse of them
then email or write to Peter Brooking at Ducati UK he's as far up the Ducati UK food chain as you can get.
I'll find his email address in a while.

[chas]

Thanks for that

I'm pretty new to dealing with Ducati so I did'nt know how long to give them


Chas

[superlight3]

I'll come down on the other side of the fence to Fatbloke (I like being different!).

Italy have been on holiday for nearly three weeks, and depending on which dealer you've used, some orders take approx ten days to come from factory, some smaller orders can be turn up almost overnight.

Again, some dealers wait for a large enough order to be collated before ordering it from the factory, some order small items every day.

Being patient is sometimes part of Ducati ownership. Ask anybody still waiting for a Multistrada rear hugger....!

Cheers.

Lee.

[fatbloke]

But the local dealer should be telling Chas this, If Chas is asking for a delivery date why ain't they telling him about delays, Looks like bad comunication to me.

[superlight3]

Poor communication? From an official dealer? Surely not?

Now, if you come to an independent..... :D

[Duncan]

Personally if I had to wait 4 weeks for a poxy ECU then I would be livid.
These are vehicles and for some people their only form of transport and its not good enough to wait that long for spares.

In this day and age its easy to track an order from being placed, allocated against a stock, picked, packed, shipped and delivered. Big retailers like IKEA actually use the supply chain and the time on the road as their buffer stock / warehouse and push stock into distribution for a country and whilst in transit its allocated a final destination. If Ikea can do that it shouldnt be beyond imagination for Ducati to ship a small component in a couple of days to anywhere in the world.

Im afraid as a customer 3 weeks holiday in Italy means nowt to me, they also shut down for the whole of August. Thats 7 weeks out of 52!! Manufacturers in the 21st century have to service the customer and if they dont then they will go down the pan.

If it were me waiting I would be furious and be givng the dealer hell...

[pete]

My experience with Ducati parts last year was not good....
Mine went in for an insurance job after being knocked of it's
stand by a car in a car park. Initially it looked good, no dispute
from the third party's insurance... The dealer initially said that
parts like the tank can sometimes take a while, but guess
what took the longest?? The frigging bars. Waited ages for
them....

And then, when I eventually picked the bike up, the speedo
was reading way below what it should do, and new clocks
were ordered. Came in no time (thankfuly).

Italian summer holidays??? - for sure we are talking August
here (for the bars), but surely they can stockpile a few!!!!

Well at least the Monster is like new again, sitting in the garage
waiting for at least a dry road (and preferably some warmth).

Cheers,

Pete

[chas]

Hooray

ECU has arrived at long last its seems getting in touch with Ducati UK did the trick, looks like they give the dealer a kick up the arse.

Thanks all

Chas

[chas]

Fed up

ECU OK, now something wrong with the throttle position senser, so I'm now waiting for a new one.

Chas

[spacemonkey]

Say what you like about Jap bikes, but at least their factories have got their **** together and this kinda thing doesn't happen.

Am I the only person who could get handlebars recently within 3 days?

The joys of Ducati ownership....

[pete]

Yes, the joy of Ducati ownership can certainly be missing most
of the best summer for years waiting for a part :-( It still hurts.
New bike in April, 1000 miles, bit of accident damage, bye-bye
bike for the summer....

For me there is no excuse for this. Waiting ages for a part as
simple as bars, for a model currently in production, is completely
unnacceptable. Ducati should be ashamed of themselves.

[Byron Kauffman]

It is not easy to get parts here in the US.
I waited for 3 months for a front axle when I changed the forks on my bike. I gave up on a few other small parts and found matching hardware at a BMW shop. My local shop says he hates to see a crashed Ducati come in because he has to tell the customer it could be a year before he can get every part.
I hope you have better luck.

[chas]

Thanks Byron

That fill's me with confidence in Ducati, It's not too bad the bike's running it's just rough at low revs and low constant speeds but it's usable.

Chas

[JR]

The one and only rule of customer service is "give them 1 chance only" then write to the Managing Director at the Head office of the company. In Your case Ducati in ITALY. Erks at the bottom of the supply chain cant do anything. When the the top man or woman passes on your complaint to his underlings you will get action.
Managing Directors LOVE customers. Italy by airfreight is a sameday delivery or overnight - overnight by by truck is the norm from Europe for automotive parts so no excuse. Remember "Customers make paydays possible" and the "Pen is mightier than the sword.
So dont sit back - take the initiative - write a letter a polite letter if you want action.


JR

[simonw]

At the Milan dealer conference Ducati recognised they had some problems and that it would improve this year. We ( I own Red Dog UK ( also trading as Red Dog Superbikes )) are still having problems getting all parts including warranty items ( it all comes direct from Italy ) even though we order it on the day requested it can take weeks and weeks. Not the UK dealers fault as long as they have ordered it .The last thing we want is bikes sitting around the workshop.
The more feedback Ducati UK get the better for us all.

[Catspoon]

I'm not really conversant with how Ducati has set up the dealer network, but is the supply chain the factory through to the UK importer and then you, or is it direct? If it's a case of dealers having to deal individually with the factory then would getting together to collate your information on late deliveries etc be helpful in shouting a bit harder at the factory to get their act together? If you're dealing via the importer then maybe getting round a table and discussing how it could be resolved might bring up a way forward.

In my experience, some words at a conference don't mean a fat lot other than getting in a reply to potentially uncomfortable questions before they get asked in public.

I have to say I'd be surprised (in fact a bit alarmed) if there is no buffer stock held here in the UK for stock items in order to keep service turnaround times down.