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Mark Hinchliffe·
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··20 Comments·1 min read

Scruffy customer buys Harley with cash

Scruffy customer buys Harley with cash

This scruffy and elderly Thai mechanic was shunned by several motorcycle dealerships before he finally bought a Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight Sportster with cash.

Lung Decha is reported by AsiaOne.com as being an “honest and diligent mechanic who has partially retired from work”.

He does not smoke, drink or gamble and saved his money to buy his “dream bike” which cost 600,000 baht (about $A24,000).

He paid for the bike on the spot with cash.

It seems sales people did not treat him seriously because he wore a dirty, oversized t-shirt and thongs.

Scruffy customer buys Harley with cash
Lung with his new Harley

In a MotorbikeWriter article last year compiled by a former sales person, one of the tips for customers to get a better deal is to “try to smell nice”.

“If you or your riding gear have an odour, no sales person will want to spend long enough with you to arrange a test ride or bargain. And they certainly won’t want you trying on any clothing,” the former sales person suggests

They may not also allow you to ride if you are not dressed for the occasion.

One Triumph Motorcycle dealer in India has refused to hand over a new motorcycle to any customers dressed in thongs (flip flops), shorts and a t-shirt.

However, it seems sales people should not judge a book by its cover, although it is not known whether Lung rode the Harley home in his thongs or had it delivered. If you’ve ridden in Thailand, you’ll notice that rider safety gear is minimal.

We’ve also had a lot of female riders complain about sales staff ignoring them because they assumed they didn’t ride.

  • Have you ever been shunned by sales people because you were not dressed appropriately? Please leave your comments in the space below.

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20 Comments

  1. Never in a motorcycle shop but once in a HiFi shop I was told to come back ‘ when I had a platinum Amex ‘ . Once while on holiday in Geneva a bank refused to even open its door for me , must have been the Harley T Shirt .

  2. i have come across this .And as someone who was self employed for
    forty odd years i was always well aware that customer service was number one.
    they can always go elsewhere. That “salesperson” obviously has a somewhat distorted idea of their own importance. If it was my employee…i would have sacked them

  3. Walked into a well known BMW dealer in Melbourne, I was not in riding gear. No one else in the place and I was going to spend $2k. Did not even get greeted. Looked at the riding gear for a while when no one bothered to see if I needed help, I left. Needless to say that dealership will never see me again.

  4. Not me, but a few years back my wife was ignored when she was looking to buy a new bike. We arrived at the dealership by car, as she had already sold her previous bike. My wife’s bike gear was left in the car as we were not certain the dealer had a demonstrator for the model that interested her. I soon attracted the attention of sales staff while checking out accessories and clothing. However, at the same time my wife spent at least 10 minutes closely inspecting a couple of bikes, in another part of the shop, but was not bothered by either of the idle sales staff.

    Needless to say my wife bought her next bike from another dealership where the sales person was in fact female, and provided a far more welcoming experience than the first dealership.

  5. With all but the exception of one Motorcycle dealership here in the UK, I have always found myself being ignored by sales staff and I can only come to the conclusion that it’s because I’m a female.

    I had one car dealership answer my questions through my then boyfriend rather than talking to me directly. Needless to say I didn’t buy from them.

    At a motorcycle dealership I actually had one of the sale staff ask me to ‘come back with your husband, who will know what I’m talking about’…I’m not married and a qualified mechanical engineer!

    1. Yep, same thing has happened to me for years. I have ridden since the early 90’s, and was a military motor mechanic for over 15 years. Calmly explaining that my husband knows not as much about vehicles and my trade background can help, but normally the testosterone has done the damage by then….

  7. The trouble with many of these bricks and mortar sales outlet is more and more people are buying on-line. If these outlets don’t regard customer service/satisfaction as their strength then people will not only walk somewhere else or like me buy online. I haven’t bought a bike or car online yet but I have sold two cars online without the buyers looking at the cars first. So sales staff could be a dying breed if they don’t lift their game.

  8. A wealthy quick-witted friend of mine recently entered a Sydney MBenz dealership intent on buying a sporty model worth around $380,000. He was, as usual, unshaven and dressed as a dag. He quickly assessed the salesman’s demeanour and when asked, somewhat disrespectfully, “How might I help you?”, he replied, “You can order me a cab to … ” (a Benz dealership in another suburb).

    He bought his Benz, with a cockpit of dials like a 747, from a sharper salesperson.

  9. Once had a scruffy guy knock on the door asking to use the garden hose. Lucky I said yes, found out later the hose was to wash down his million dollar seaplane

  10. A while (30 yrs) back I worked in my parents milkbar / cafe and we had a soft serve ice-cream maker and on this day a young female about 20 or so asked for a soft serve in a small cup with chocolate flavour as I was making it for her she asked if I had “NUTS” I turned and looked at her and just smiled,she just the realised what she had asked me, she then went red but she got her nuts for free.

  12. Most sales people be it car or bike just don’t give a shit about unknown new customers. But if U’ve brought a couple of bikes off them .totally different story

  13. A friend of mine was a trainee salesperson in a Studebaker showroom where an older looking down in his luck used to visit every week and look at a GT 2 door Golden Hawk ( being top of line model) Studebaker. This person was always shunned by the other sales manager and staff and told to speak to my friend.
    Then one day this man arrived with an old suitcase and asked my friend to sell him the car and opened the case to reveal it was full of money. Immediately the manager tried to take over but the old man refused to deal with no other than my friend on the basis that he was the only one who had given him any respect.
    The sales commission for this sale was quite large.

  14. The tall dopey looking bloke with piercings at bike biz was like that, I bought my new 1200 else where. I was in Sydney with my wife and as wearing sandals and non biking clothes.

  15. This is an endless topic. I had it recently with BMW, saved my butt off, kids went hungry and was finally ready to buy, walked out of the local BMW (exclusive) dealership empty handed and totally stunned. I wasn’t dirty or under dressed, just didn’t fit in with the set I s’pose. Contacted another dealership some 250km’s away by email, they nearly sent a car for me (lol). I travelled the distance, was welcomed and slapped down $30K and walked out with a smile. I reckon because it wasn’t an exclusive BMW dealership. Won’t mention I live in Canberra.

    I went to buy a second bike and even got rejected by local Yamaha online for different reasons. Enquired about a bike and test ride, got rejected for a test ride and I suggested that I was unlikely to buy a bike without being able to ride it first, with the response being ÖK, don’t buy it. Honda thanks you Yamaha!

    I’ve got a bushy beard, I sometimes wear flannel, but it is clean and I am educated and speak well – I know the difference between to, too and two. It happens all the time with the toffy brands – I’ve tried to buy cars with the same level of arrogance being displayed, just go elsewhere. If my money has no value in certain shops, it stays in my pocket until someone else wants to take it. I can imagine what females or younger people must suffer. Business owners must be oblivious..

  16. Funnily enough I dont like being swamped by annoying sales people and would rather be left alone. I like to go in do my own research then find someone if I have questions to ask. What is aggravating is when I cant locate anyone to ask if I do have questions.

  17. Yes we all have had experiences like that… friend who was a Vet was ignored by the local BMW (Car) dealer as he was dressed in thongs, shorts and t shirt. Local Volvo dealer had him signed up an hour later. I was given the big ignore at a Brisbane Yamaha Dealer when I was looking to buy a Super Tenere. Drove out to Dalby and was treated well at Dalby Moto. Bought the bike from them, magic service.

  18. A few years ago, I went to a local Yamaha dealer to look and buy a new XT660Z Tenere just after they were launched in Australia. I was told they had none on the floor but there was one at their Sunshine Coast Store. They could freight it down but at my cost after I had purchased it. I said I wanted to see one in the flesh and ride it before committing. Their reply was was ” no you can’t test ride it first”. I walked out.

    I went across the road to another large multi brand dealer as my Honda was being serviced there and I asked for an appraisal on it while it was there as a possible trade on a new Tenere. I was informed they cannot do that and I would have to visit their Yamaha dealer store on the other side of Brisbane for an appraisal. Obviously nobody wanted to take my money that day. I had a great trade and cash to spend. I ended up buying a new Tenere for cash from a country dealer and enjoyed the ride home. He couldn’t have been more helpful. No wonder our vehicle sales industry is going down the tubes.

  19. I had an experience a few years ago where I walked into a shop. A smaller shop owned by an older bloke. I look rather young but I had $10,000 cash to throw at him for a second hand Ducati. He ignored me for quite a while. Didn’t even ask me for help. Customer service isn’t hard, it’s easy to learn and it goes a long way.

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