🚀 go-pugleaf

The letter, below, was mailed 09.10.05.  To date, no response has been 
received.
I will post any reply that is received. 
Thanks

------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Serge Zoritch
Address deleted
Canada
09-09-22

Takashi Kajikawa
President & CEO
Yamaha Motor Co. LTD
2500, Shingai,, Iwata, Shizuoka
438-8501, Japan


Konnichiwa, 

I am a long time customer of Yamaha motor products, having owned five 
Yamaha motorcycles over thirty-five (35) years.  The reason I am writing 
you this letter is because of my most recent Yamaha motorcycle purchase.

In 2004, I bought a new FJR1300 and all of the available Yamaha 
accessories.  This was my dream motorcycle come true.  

A short while ago I took that motorcycle to a Yamaha dealer in Salmon 
Arm, BC, to have them diagnose a loud ticking noise coming from the 
engine.  I assumed it to be something that required an adjustment.  A 
few days later I received a telephone call from the service manager 
(XXXXXXXX) of that dealership and was told that the exhaust valve guides 
were failing and that it would cost about thirty five hundred dollars 
($3,500) to repair.  The gentleman explained that he had called the 
local Yamaha Representative who explained that it is a known design flaw 
in that year of FJR1300 motorcycle.  Apparently the dealer's service 
manager asked the rep. if Yamaha would cover the some or all of the cost 
of the repairs, seeing as it was a manufacturer�s flaw.  The rep's reply 
was that the motorcycle is five years over the warranty period and that, 
had the failure occurred within two years of the warranty, Yamaha would 
have covered it. 

I should add at this time that the motorcycle now has just over 17,000 
km.  The motorcycle is in pristine condition, has been dealer serviced, 
according to the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual, and has 
been garage stored for six months of the year, every year, since it was 
bought. The winters where I live are harsh enough to make motorcycle 
riding dangerous.

Having found the local Yamaha rep's response unacceptable, I called 
Yamaha's Canadian headquarters in Toronto and talked to a two people in 
the customer service department.  I asked both of them if they thought 
it reasonable to expect a twenty thousand dollar motorcycle to have a 
motor life expectancy of 17,000 km?  Neither of them would answer the 
question and kept on repeating that it is five years over the warranty 
period as if it were some kind of mantra.

This letter is an appeal to your sense of fairness.  I refer to your 
Management Principles from the 2009 Yamaha Corporation Fact Book.  �We 
strive to achieve our corporate mission by adhering to three principals.  
#1.  Creating value that surpasses customer�s expectations.  We must 
remain keenly aware of customer's evolving needs, in order to provide 
them with quality products and services of exceptional value that 
surpass their expectations.  We can and will earn a fair profit by 
making all-out efforts to satisfy our customers.�  (The other two 
principals refer to management objectives.)
 I ask you:
- Do you think it reasonable to expect a $20,000 dollar motorcycle to 
have a motor life expectancy of 17,000 km?  Is this a reasonable 
expectation?
- Does it sound like my expectations have been surpassed?
- Is this an example of your definition of either quality products or 
services?
- Is this really an all-out effort to satisfy me as a loyal Yamaha Motor 
Product customer?

I await your response.

Sincerely yours,



Serge Zoritch

P.S.  The motorcycle was parked in my garage for almost three years (I 
had seizures due to a brain tumor.)  The tumor was removed in Feb. 2007 
but I could not drive for two more years as I continued with more 
seizures.  This accounts for the low mileage.

The seizures are now under control and I would like to ride my 
motorcycle.


S.Z.
Cc: Yamaha newsgroups