A Merry Christmas Yamaha tale

[Team Lazy]

Once upon a time, in a land far far away... Well, not really. Just in front of my house after a large snowstorm Thursday actually.

I fired up my 2014 XTX with a mere 3500 kms on it and warmed it up, thinking it'll be a cool surprise to pick my son up from daycare on it. I ride about 50 metres down the road slowly, and see a tractor with his flashers going so I stop to see if he's ok. He lost a bolt in his blower attachment and was trying to figure out what to do, so I walked him back to my house and found a perfect match for the bolt he needed and got him on his way. Neighbourly and all, right?

I keyed the Viper and was met with this horendous crunching noise. What the? Weak battery? No, but let's grab the truck and run booster cables anyways. Oh good lord that grinding noise again! It's like somebody is trying to run bolts through a blender! Weird. But I only have 3500 km on it, so it can't be any big deal right? Pull it back to my garage all of 30 seconds away and watch when I key the starter, and nothing is turning inside. Ohhhhhh?

OH EFF ME! THATS A BLOWED UP STARTER!!!

But I only have 3500 km on it! So the panic starts. I Google, I call dealers, I cry, and I don't eat or sleep. All signs point to a catastrophic failure of the very same snowmobile I bought because its RELIABLE! And all signs point to a $4000 repair bill. So, family time, discussions, deep breathing exercises, and the sled gets loaded up late last night. I've prepared myself for the outcome, and despite JUST buying a Bravo and 120 to get the family into snowmobiling, just like that, I've made the decision I'm done with snowmobiling. Period.

I'm out. Fix it, sell it, don't look back in anger. Off to the dealer this morning, Georgian Bay Yamaha. I feel like I'm going to puke. This is terminal, and the only new toy I've bought since my son was born just castrated me.

Then, this afternoon from the Spirit of Christmas herself. This amazing person from the dealership has called Yamaha Canada, told them about my sled, and without batting an eye tells me Yamaha is going to pay for the repair! Really?
Really.

So, I am the new Ambassador for Yamaha, and I've called everybody that I know that may be in the market for a snowmobile to tell them the story. I am going to be a shill for Yamaha, and sing their praises from the highest mountain. I've been disappointed by GM, Jeep, Dodge, and every cable company on earth to name a few, but Yamaha, you had me at "Hello". Or, more appropriately had me at "This was our bad, we fix."

Thank you Yamaha, thank you Georgian Bay Yamaha, you have a customer for life. Merry Christmas!

More details in a few days when I get it back and see the bill. I might actually sleep tonight!

 

[YukonMP]

Right on! It doesn't always go down like this but it isn't that rare either. You did a nice job of describing just how expensive this sport is for some of us and what a difference a good manufacturer and a dealer can make. A lot of us on TY are problem solvers so ... sometimes we get a bit to wrapped up in the problems. Kudos for you for sharing the good news.

 

[yamamarc]

nice thanks for the story
I bought my sled from Georgian Bay Yamaha they are awesome to deal with! Great to hear the service dept is A+++( 5000km and never had to experience there service dept) and Yamaha is backing there product!!!
only issue I have with them is they put there logo on my rear bumper (www. gbayyamaha.com) and my wife decided to put white tape on the "b" to make the logo say "www.g ay Yamaha.com" and I rode around like that for a whole season without noticing!! Dam women i'm going to get her back just not sure how yet!!