Monarch Honda Sucks

This is a warning for anyone in Utah.  DO NOT EVER GO TO MONARCH HONDA.  Monarch Honda sucks.  Their management has no concern for any semblance of customer service.  They are ok with lying to their customers…and I’m not referring to your average employee, their upper management will lie to you.  They will do everything they possibly can to not take responsibility for doing anything wrong.  If they do, they will take as long as possible to fix whatever the problem is.  And they will make sure that they don’t take care of everything that they screwed up…basically they want to do as little as possible.  They will, however, be happy to take your money any chance they get.  This practice should not be supported and I urge you to please take your business elsewhere.  This is my experience.  I have met and spoken with at least 20 people who have had similar experiences.  This shows that it’s not an isolated occurrence but a trend from Monarch Honda.

I took my motorcycle to Monarch Honda for service.  They originally said it would take 4 or 5 days but the repair took about a week longer.  The bike had 2 problems: it had been overheating overheating and the starter switch was broken.  During the repair they found it necessary to perform “repairs” on my turn signal…which was not broken.  Just the same they billed me for it

When I got the bike back I noticed almost immediately (but after I left the shop) that there were a number of scratches on the side of my tank and a golf ball sized dent on the front of my tank.  The dent was super far forward next to the forks so there’s almost no way it could have occurred with the tank attached to the bike.  One of the tailpipes was also missing its tip.  All of these things happened at Monarch Honda…without a doubt.

I called Monarch Honda and spoke to the then Service Manager, Mike.  I told him what I found on the bike and he told me that it was “like that when we got it” and that “we didn’t remove the tank during the repair.”  One of the issues in the repair was my radiator needed to be replaced.  The ONLY way to access the filler for the radiator is by removing the tank.

I was livid.  It was a flat-out lie.  I went into the shop to speak again with someone and I’m not sure if Mike was actually there, but I don’t recall talking to him.  He had actually changed positions at Monarch a day or two earlier.  I spoke with the mechanic who worked on my bike and he immediately related the story of what happened to me.  He told me that he did remove the tank during the repair and that it did fall off the workbench right in front of this mechanic’s eyes.  He didn’t try to lie or cover it up…which I appreciated.

The entire tank needed repainting; which should have taken at max 5 days at a professional shop.  Their solution was to send the bike not to a paint shop but rather to a guy who worked as a painter so he could do it in his spare time.  It took 5 weeks to repaint just the tank.  5 weeks for what should have been a 3 or 4-day job had Monarch actually just sent it to a shop.  Instead they tried to save money and have a guy in his garage paint the bike.

During this time I called and spoke with the General Manager of Monarch Honda whose name is Rob Morgan.  The first time I called him I explained to him what had happened and he said he was unaware of the situation but was going to talk to the employees involved and get to the bottom of it.  I didn’t hear back from him at all.  A couple weeks later I called again and when I identified who I was and reminded him of my situation he said he didn’t really remember me or what had happened.  I brought up that the tip of my exhaust pipe was still missing.  Again he said he would look into it and I never heard back from him.

I called back a few weeks later and at least he remembered me this time but he said he had been busy and hadn’t looked into it.  Again I called a few weeks later and said that they “looked everywhere” for the tip but couldn’t find it.  Then he told me that “actually the tip wasn’t on the bike when it got to the shop.”  Oh really?  Just like the dent was already on the tank when it got to the shop?  Why even look for it if they were so sure it wasn’t on the bike when they got it?

Somehow he didn’t find it ridiculous to throw the same line at me again and said that their security cameras had shown that the tip wasn’t on the bike.  I’m a bit incredulous that their security cameras are so good that they would be able to determine that an exhaust pipe did not have its tip.  I asked to see that footage and he declined to show it to me.  He also alluded that he actually hadn’t seen the footage personally.

During this entire incident I was more than polite.  I understand that things sometimes happen in a shop.  Repairs take longer than anticipated and accidents happen.  As long as the parties involved take responsibility, in my opinion, that’s as professional as you get.  I got none of that.  I was first lied to.  Then given the run-around trying to fix the damage.  Then brushed off multiple times and then lied to again.  This is unacceptable.  It’s almost 2 years later and I have yet to be reimbursed for the tip to my exhaust on my motorcycle.  I’ve heard of countless stories like mine about Monarch Honda.  Good and honest people should be able to take their business to like people.  Monarch Honda sucks…plain and simple.

If you’ve had a similar experience and want to share it, or want to contact me for any other reason, use the form below.  If you want a response, include a valid email address, otherwise, the email address does NOT have to be valid.

Update: September 17, 2009. In the ongoing drama with Monarch Honda, this is where they took it next:

So I have about a million emails tonight requesting that I confirm wanting to get started taking online surveys and all manner of crap like that.  Turns out, I’m not retarded and would never sign up for something like that.  Who decided to try and submit my email address to a bunch of spammers and sign me up for a whole bunch of crap that I don’t want?  None other than Monarch Honda!  This is my public statement thanking Monarch Honda for always staying classy and taking the high road when it comes to resolving issues with their customers.  I doubt they were aware that the IP address from where they tried to sign me up for all those surveys was recorded and relayed back to me.  Well…they aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.  But tools nonetheless…

Update: December 20, 2009.  In an effort to resolve this issue (I’m being sarcastic) this is Monarch’s next move w/ me:

Recently Monarch Honda decided to send one of their employees to this site and flood it with comments that are extra classy and professional.  Here is what he wrote on the site and emailed to me:

“[insert my name] your an asshole and a liar and to make a stupid site over one little experience you had even when they did offer to fix it is kinda pathetic. ohh by the way how is [insert my company} treating? i talked to your colleages and they say your a douche too. oh i almost forgot your twitter announcements suck as well. and also what happen to your buddies at obsession. seems to me they aren’t doing to well.”

Well…let’s address them one at a time.  Clearly this isn’t “one little experience” but you haven’t seemed to grasp that.  Monarch Honda did pay for the paint job (which I already stated) but not for the extended period of time I was without a motorcycle and still have yet to pay for the parts they lost…nearly 2 years later.  He does seem to have a point with the rest of his comments though…despite his elementary school grasp of the English language.

Next quote:

“aparently you have no life seeing how you have the nerve to send me an email 2 minutes after i post.”

hmmm…I have no life? Me?  Were you getting paid to come threaten and harass me?  Otherwise, I’d say you, Herb, are the one with no life.  And if you were getting paid…then hats off to Monarch!

Next quote:

“[my name} IS A DOUCHE FOR CREATING THIS WEBSITE”

Yes indeed, trying to help people not get ripped off surely makes me of seedy character.  Another point to you Herb…and Monarch.

I emailed this clearly troubled gentlemen wondering who exactly he was and what his beef with me was.  His response:

“DOESNT MATTER WHO I AM I AM YOUR WORST FUCKING NIGHTMARE”

Says the good Mormon boy from Mapleton, Utah.  Plus he’s married too?  Geez you would think with a mouth like that it would be hard to find a good woman.  Oh well.  If you’d like more info on our good friend Herb here he is:

mxhall01@gmail.com

http://www.myspace.com/aquamoose