Mixed feelings with GP Bikes -- and my own lack of mechanical knowledge.

[absolute]

@ tek
my buddy had the same problem with dainese boots he orderd from GP cuz they didnt have his size in stock, 2 months of waiting and nothing, finally we went in to cancel the order, no restocking fees.
and went to snow city to buy visors afterwards, talked to ronnie i believe at snowcity parts guy(who used to work at riders choice). apparently the reason GP takes so long to deliver dainese gear if they dont have it in stock is because Riders Choice is the only Dainese Authorized dealer in town, Gp is just snaking around them to get the Dainese gear and i was told that whenever the owner of riders choice finds out that another company has put orders in for gear he cuts them off right away.

then again this is what i was told by the parts guy at snowcity, how accurate it is, im not too sure. However it does seem like a reasonable explanation for why GP can never give a soild delivery date on Dainese gear when they order it in.

so...i guess only buy Dainese gear from them if they currently have your size and colour in stock lol

[2live&ride]

^ I personally prefer buying from GP bikes because of how close they are to my house.
I called in to see if they have the Dainese Tattoo jacket and I was told "nope and it's been discontinued".
I called Rider's choice and sure enough, they had it in stock and the size I wanted...
GP bikes is just starting to get Dainese gear while RC has been doing it for a while, can't have all the connections over night.
It takes time!

[absolute]

oh dont get me wrong i buy stuff from GP all the time, they are both kinda 30 mins ride from my place, but i tend to go to GP first over riders choice

just because of:
huge selection GP offers
close proximity to royal which also offers a huge selection
lower prices by a bit for the gear that they both sell

and to be honest i've had all positive experiences at GP minus the fact that i bought a Soumy Apex helmet from them a few weeks back and it didnt have a DOT sticker on it which i found out when i got home. but that issue has also been resolved by Tom hes been great at following up with me through that process

though my friend who ordered his dainese boots and didnt ever get them after 2 months, when he was promised delivery within 2 weeks, swears he will never buy from them again, i overall have a pretty good feeling about GP

[JonnyWyshbone]

I dont know why people go to GP for Dainese stuff. They have good deals sometimes but it's not on Dainese gear. Check out sportbiketrackgear.com, I got my T. Avro Two piece for 899 when GP had it priced for 1099 before tax. The customer service is also top notch as well

[TekNinja81]

I need to follow up and conclude this thread after my experience at GP over the past 2 days.

My friend and I stopped in yesterday afternoon to drop off the bike for my scheduled service. Jeff at the service counter informed us that somehow, a part that was needed for the work had not been ordered/processed properly. We had both taken time off work to go out there and felt like, once again, someone dropped the ball at my expense. I was obviously ****** off, and my friend who's had a few bad experiences there lately (but not with the service dept specifically) kind of snapped at him, which caused things to get heated. Didn't feel good about that, I work retail myself, and being the guy behind the counter sucks when you usually get all the heat for something you didn't directly cause.

Worked through that, and another gentleman at the service desk (sorry, didn't catch your name) worked out a compromise. The gasket they'd ordered for my bike was as a precaution in case my original one would be damaged during the work -- if it wound up being needed, I'd have to leave the bike for maybe 2-3 business days to get it replaced, but if so, they'd deliver it back to my home afterward at no charge, as I'd have no ride out there during the week. Otherwise, if all went well, I'd be able to pick up the bike today. Fair enough, worked for me.

Turned out the gasket wasn't needed, the bike was ready by 3PM today, AND they additionally cleaned my air filter and replaced my spark plugs at no additional labour charge. Knocked off 1hr of the labour fees as well, which resulted in a very reasonable bill.


Thanks Jeff & co at GP Bikes for making things right; it's not just about the money, but knowing that you'll make the effort to satisfy customers' needs while remaining professional and friendly, especially when faced with some possible internal problems within the company. GP Bikes as a company needs to plug some of the holes that are appearing in their quality of service/control over product orders and the like; a problem even the sales/service reps are frustrated with and are obviously trying to handle, so they deserve credit where it's due. If anything, it's the management who may not be keeping on top of things well enough, as mistakes are being made that could snowball into a much bigger problem. That said, in the end the guys there went out of their way to make sure I was taken care of and happy after a situation that could have turned out much worse. For that I am very grateful.