Genuine Scooter Company:Where is your Customer Service Dep.?

[dkfoley]

I ordered my Stella 4 stroke in Feb. 2011. It arrived in June after being in a crate so long the touch up paint dried in the bottle! After a few weeks the speedometer quit working. It turned out to be a part covered by the warranty, so I only had to wait a month to have it fixed. Then a few weeks later the electric starter quit working. I took in for service where they removed it and then put it back in and proclaimed it to be fixed. When I got it home it stopped working again. This time Wayne ( the owner of the repair shop) came to my house to try to start it, but it did not work for him either. This was mid November and I am still waiting to get it back! I sent several e-mails complaining about this situation with no response. I have never encountered a company that cared so little about customer service.

[ericalm]

What's your dealer telling you?

It's the dealer's responsibility to handle all warranty issues, which is part of what they sign on for when they take on any line of scooters. An electric starter should be an easy replacement. Genuine isn't set up to handle individual owner issues any more than Vespa, Honda, Ford, or any other company that provides sales and support through a network of authorized dealers.

Any idea what's causing the delay? Others have had starters replaced pretty quickly.

[lempira]

It arrived in June after being in a crate so long the touch up paint dried in the bottle! After a few weeks the speedometer quit working.

My touch up paint came that way too. My speedo works, gas gauge not so much from day one.

Built Stella Tough

[Lokky]

It arrived in June after being in a crate so long the touch up paint dried in the bottle! After a few weeks the speedometer quit working.

My touch up paint came that way too. My speedo works, gas gauge not so much from day one.

Built Stella Tough

I have yet to see a bottle of touch up paint not come as a dry husk
The gas gauge is something that has always gone bad even with the original PX design, good thing we have a reserve!
Also I remember on this one trip on the highway my speedo started acting crazy and jumping all over, then stopped, then again, and it has not done it since

[lempira]

The gas gauge is something that has always gone bad even with the original PX design, good thing we have a reserve!

they shouldn't bother putting one on then, like my P. It's like buying a new car and the heater doesn't work. true I could wear a jacket but it said it came with a heater!

you could say it's nit-picking but I don't think so. I just like things to work when I purchase them.

[ericalm]

FWIW, None of the scooters I've owned or ridden has had an "accurate" gas gauge. Usually, it's a matter of experience telling you how much you can go on when the gauge is at point X. Most are, at least, consistent in their inaccuracy.

[Lokky]

The gas gauge is something that has always gone bad even with the original PX design, good thing we have a reserve!

they shouldn't bother putting one on then, like my P. It's like buying a new car and the heater doesn't work. true I could wear a jacket but it said it came with a heater!

you could say it's nit-picking but I don't think so. I just like things to work when I purchase them.

Blame the Italians, back in 79 we did not know how to make a working gas gauge apparently, and can you blame the indian factory for keeping consistent with the original design?

[ericalm]

The gas gauge is something that has always gone bad even with the original PX design, good thing we have a reserve!

they shouldn't bother putting one on then, like my P. It's like buying a new car and the heater doesn't work. true I could wear a jacket but it said it came with a heater!

you could say it's nit-picking but I don't think so. I just like things to work when I purchase them.

Blame the Italians, back in 79 we did not know how to make a working gas gauge apparently, and can you blame the indian factory for keeping consistent with the original design?

Still wonky on my '06 LX!

[desmolicious]

The thing with the Stella gas gauge is it is pretty accurate if you ignore the markings but just look at the total sweep of the needle.

When you fill the tank to the brim, the needle rests quite a bit past the full mark. When the tank actually is empty, it is about the same distance the other way, i.e. quite a bit past the empty mark.

The 4T only takes about 1- 1.1 gallons to fill up from empty (ignore the bogus claim that it holds 1.4 gallons cuz even if it does it is not useable) which means about a 100 mile range.

I have owned dozens of motorcycles, of all makes, and none of them had a satisfactorily accurate gas gauge.

[Dooglas]

you could say it's nit-picking but I don't think so. I just like things to work when I purchase them.

Probably not the comment you need - but a 30-year-old P200 and a Stella are not the first two scooters that come to mind if low maintenance and high reliability are your priorities. Older design shifties are what they are .

[lempira]

Probably not the comment you need - but a 30-year-old P200 and a Stella are not the first two scooters that come to mind if low maintenance and high reliability are your priorities. Older design shifties are what they are .

Thanks for your 2 cents 'Dooglas'. FTR I've had my my P for about 13 years and have hardly had any issues with it. I don't know how familiar you are with "vintage" scooters but the P models are one of the most reliable "vintage" scooters you can own.

(some would argue a P is not 'vintage')

[Dooglas]

some would argue a P is not 'vintage'

Well, okay . I'm certainly not going to argue the merits of whether a 32 year old scooter is "old" or not. I just made the observation that 32 year old scooters and Stellas (new or old) need more owner attention than many other rides. And, yes, I've ridden a P and several other 2T scoots.. I'd say my Buddy has required about as little rider attention as any in the 5 years I've owned it. A couple of my Hondas were about as trouble free.

[lempira]

yeah, I'm the 'classic not plastic' type.

my gripe about the stella was that it was purchased new and it would've been nice if all things worked properly for say a week maybe? that's all.
in fairness it has all been stuff that could be considered 'minor'.

new scooter is new...or something like that.

[ericalm]

yeah, I'm the 'classic not plastic' type.

Welcome to Modern Buddy!

[lempira]

Welcome to Modern Buddy!

touche! I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for the Buddy...don't tell anyone.

[Spiffy]

took me a month to get mine back after the exhaust broke...

the dealer says that it always takes 3 weeks to get warranty parts from Genuine...

I emailed Genuine after a couple weeks asking why it takes so long for dealers to get parts and I never got a reply...

the time it spends in the shop fixing things under warranty is the worst part...

[ericalm]

While I'm not saying that Genuine doesn't have issues or delays, it always irks me when someone joins the forum, posts once to make a bunch of complaints and accusations, then never responds or comes back to the forum.

For one thing, it calls their story into question. Not the behavior of a credible person who is sincerely seeking help or even commiseration.

Also, MB isn't just a complaint box. It really does no good to simply come here, leave a gripe, then never return. It's good to know if people are having recurring parts issues, but we want members to be part of a discussion and to also, in some instances, offer suggestions or advice for resolving things faster.

If not for other complaints in the thread, I'd probably lock this one for being a "rant." Because when you show up, bitch, then don't bother listening or responding to what anyone else has to say, that's precisely what you've done.

[Skootz Kabootz]

took me a month to get mine back after the exhaust broke...

the dealer says that it always takes 3 weeks to get warranty parts from Genuine...

I emailed Genuine after a couple weeks asking why it takes so long for dealers to get parts and I never got a reply...

the time it spends in the shop fixing things under warranty is the worst part...

Not having parts in stock is a dealer issue, not a Genuine issue. Genuine has plenty of parts readily available. It's your dealer that doesn't have needed parts in stock.

[jimmbomb]

Ive had 2 Stella 2t and 4t and a 05 Bajaj autorickshaw.
I have fine tuned the fuel gauges on all of these vehicles...
And here's how...:
Open the gas cap and you'll see the thin but stiff rod that hold the float just out of site to the rear..
Grap that wire rod with a long handled needle nose thru the fuel fill opening..
pull it up as much as you can... now take another needlenose and grab the wire close to the rear of the hole ..
Bend that wire rod so it's now curved instead of straight..
if you went one way... remember it and test the fuel gage...
if it's way off then before... bend it back, then the other way.. concave or convex...
all you want to do is move the float really to hit bottom sooner or later depending on which way your gauge need adjusting..
You'll get it... keep bending till your gauge is accurate..
good luck.

[ericalm]

Ive had 2 Stella 2t and 4t and a 05 Bajaj autorickshaw.
I have fine tuned the fuel gauges on all of these vehicles...
And here's how...:
Open the gas cap and you'll see the thin but stiff rod that hold the float just out of site to the rear..
Grap that wire rod with a long handled needle nose thru the fuel fill opening..
pull it up as much as you can... now take another needlenose and grab the wire close to the rear of the hole ..
Bend that wire rod so it's now curved instead of straight..
if you went one way... remember it and test the fuel gage...
if it's way off then before... bend it back, then the other way.. concave or convex...
all you want to do is move the float really to hit bottom sooner or later depending on which way your gauge need adjusting..
You'll get it... keep bending till your gauge is accurate..
good luck.

Wow, this is great. Thanks!
Going to be a while before I have time to test it out.

[lempira]

Ive had 2 Stella 2t and 4t and a 05 Bajaj autorickshaw.
I have fine tuned the fuel gauges on all of these vehicles...
And here's how...:

Thanks!

[JHScoot]

well i read this thread with some interest. being i saw these awesome scooters at my dealer a few days ago i have been reading this forum. neat scooters to say the least

but just looking at them on the showroom floor the last thing that comes to mind are quick turnaround for repair. i mean its a replica of a vintage scooter that comes from India. so you could be at the mercy of world politics, too. and floods, earthquakes, all that

i understand Genuine is the distributor, but they are "America's Smallest Scooter Company" for a reason. if not for them Stella would not even be here. so thats a good thing right there

so find a good dealer. but even if so, they are somewhat "at the mercy," too. parts come in as they come in, small crews doing big jobs

i understand the frustration with TS as multiple things were wrong with his scoot, and then a long wait. but if you need it for essential transport, you gotta have a back up of some sort. spouse, friend, public transport, or god forbid....a cage! but to rely solely on a scooter such as a Stella and blame Genuine when it breaks? nah, its a scooter. could be long wait times for repair

best yet of course is to realize Stella is niche scooter. a very small niche. so perhaps have a "mainstream" scooter, also. even a cheap ass one. park it and when Stella breaks just let her sit there and look pretty awhile. yeah, its broken but damn....that scooter looks good

and it will be fixed in two months, yeah. but the other scooter will keep you riding fine until the jewel comes back, shifty and all

anyway i did like the scooter. dealer has a ton of them. on the fence about owning one down the road. its a shifty, and its handlebars seem close in to my knees and make me bend my elbows more then i like. it wouldn't seem comfortable to shift from my seating position. foot brake, awkward

it would be a vanity scoot for me, most likely. probably pass...

[Spiffy]

Not having parts in stock is a dealer issue, not a Genuine issue. Genuine has plenty of parts readily available. It's your dealer that doesn't have needed parts in stock.

I understand that... but are they shipping them by steamboat? does it really take 3 weeks to get a part shipped?

the dealer said it was a paperwork issue... they submit the claim and then it takes 3 weeks to get approved and get the part...

there should be some central US warehouse that can get a part to any dealer in under a week...

[ericalm]

Not having parts in stock is a dealer issue, not a Genuine issue. Genuine has plenty of parts readily available. It's your dealer that doesn't have needed parts in stock.

I understand that... but are they shipping them by steamboat? does it really take 3 weeks to get a part shipped?

the dealer said it was a paperwork issue... they submit the claim and then it takes 3 weeks to get approved and get the part...

there should be some central US warehouse that can get a part to any dealer in under a week...

Almost all parts are warehoused centrally in Chicago if the dealer doesn't have them. Occasionally there's back order, but I doubt they've run through a shipment of stock Stella 4T exhausts. If it's a paperwork issue, that's something else entirely; I hadn't heard of that turnaround time.

I do know Genuine is constantly trying to improve on the parts supply and heard they have some plans in the works for this.

Though this doesn't explain or justify the delay, that kind of timeframe is unfortunately pretty widespread among all of the scooter companies, big and small. The possible exception might be Kymco, which I've heard is really good with parts supply. I've experienced much longer turnarounds with Piaggio/Vespa and complaints about Honda, SYM and other scooter companies are pretty common. (Alliance has reportedly vastly improved SYM parts availability in the past few months, though.)

[JHScoot]

^ Mike put me in touch with Chip the Kymco warranty guy when my engine broke. took three weeks to get the parts, another 2 waiting on more, and another 4 weeks to fix. this was after the scoot just sat at the dealer nearly a month

sure, once Kymco was contacted they got right on it. but it still took 5 weeks for all the parts to arrive so work could begin. i consider this good service as everyone was really helpful and friendly and supportive. BUT, the dealer i had it at dragged their feet the first month. think they were hoping i'd get it out of there. no such luck

anyway i thought this was just par for the course with scoots and cycles? the major japanese brands notwithstanding. i asked the parts guy at the major dealership if they had a dipstick or drain bolt and he said they had NO Kymco parts in stock. "as needed" he said

anyway thats why i said all that stuff up top. Stella? think i want a gutted one to put in my place. like a decoration. that would be AWESOME

[roasteroo]

I called my closest dealer the other day for a clutch cable inner for my stella. I would have taken a complete if they had it. The reply was we can order it. The last time I asked for a couple of jets, they said, we drill'em to makem bigger.

This is the area where a scooter dealer lacks in my opinion. All of the ones that i have been to. Except one, and they work on vintage, not sell new, been doing it a long time and have a nice little web presence. You need parts to work on vintages.

Any successful dealership has to be anchored by an outstanding parts dept. Most dont have a parts dept at all. Having a proper parts inventory is just too much overhead from what i have seen. I got a cable that day, and some really friendly advise about installing it. As well as smiles. I just had to drive a bit farther to what some people i know consider a not so friendly "hood".

The lesson i learned, stock your own parts. Maybe even in your glovebox.

[ericalm]

I called my closest dealer the other day for a clutch cable inner for my stella. I would have taken a complete if they had it. The reply was we can order it. The last time I asked for a couple of jets, they said, we drill'em to makem bigger.

Those are very easy to obtain parts. Clutch cables should definitely be unhand, as well as stock jets. Glad I have access to a good shop that would never tell someone to just drill theirs out.

You're right about the overhead, though. Scooter shops are mostly small mom & pop operations, different even from motorcycle and powersports dealers. It makes sense that they may not stock something like a Stella 4T exhaust or other part that's seldom needed. Stuff like cables, though, should be on hand.

At the very least, I want to know that if they don't have what I want or need they can get it for me and will do their damnedest, not give me the brush off.