ENTIRE STORY
I recently purchased a 2006 Honda Shadow from ATVs and More, INC. at 1307 W. Main Street, Salem, IL 62881. When I looked at the bike, I met Dillon, the salesman. I looked at the bike, listened to it on the showroom floor, and Dillon and I reached a price that was agreeable to us both. When Dillon started the bike, he said “it was a little cold natured” and that is why we smelled a little gas. I saw that it had a set of aftermarket pipes on it and I asked Dillon if it had been re-jetted to accommodate the pipes. He said that it had and that “everything had already been done and it was ready to go”.

Before we did the deal, I asked Dillon about a guarantee on the bike. He said that if I had a problem to call him and he “wouldn’t leave me hanging” and that he would “take care of his customers”. I had already been to the ATV’s and more website where it stated “AT ATVs And MORE OUR QUALITY AND YOUR SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED.” That statement, coupled with Dillon’s promise to not leave me hanging, led me to feel comfortable about the purchase and the ultimate reliability of the bike and the business.

I rode the bike home and noticed that bike was running very rich. I didn’t ride it for the next two days because of the weather. I rode it on the third day. When I started it, the bike sounded a little “dull”. After 5 miles of riding, it lost power. I couldn’t get it over 55 miles an hour. I rode it a bit farther and it died on the side of the road. I noticed that raw gas was coming out of the pipes. The bike was flooding itself out. There was gas in the oil. I managed to limp it home by turning the gas on and off at the tank and then used a trailer to get it the 35 miles back to the shop. I called ATV’s and more as soon as I got home and they said “they would make it right”.

When I talked with Dillon, he said that they probably needed to throw a kit into the bike and that would take care of it. They kept the bike a couple of days. One of their mechanics said there “was nothing wrong with it” and “it just needed to be ridden.” I would have loved to have ridden it! He said that he just used some carburetor cleaner on it and put in new plugs to replace the fouled ones. I couldn’t get off work when it was ready so I had someone else ride it home for me. The rider said that it still didn’t act right and there was a “flutter” sound when he rode it. I rode it the next day and I agreed. The bike once again was running very poorly and it began to backfire and die.
I went back to ATVs and More on Thursday morning. Dillon was off that day so I talked to another salesman. I told him that it was doing the same thing. They said to bring it back again and that it probably needed a kit put into the carburetor. I told him of my concerns since this was the second time that I had to bring it back. I also expressed my concern about the first mechanic’s lack of interest in getting the bike to run correctly. Shooting some carb cleaner on it wasn’t going to fix the bike.

I couldn’t get it down there the next day because of the rain. On Saturday morning, I left from my house to make the 35 mile ride back to the dealer hoping that the bike would make it. It backfired and popped all the way. It also died 3 times. I managed to get into Salem (the town that ATVs and more does business in) and the bike died about a mile from their shop. I had to push the bike a quarter of a mile to get it off of the highway. I had someone following me (just in case) and she took me the rest of the way to the store. Once there, I found Dillon again and expressed my dissatisfaction. He got several people to go pick-up my bike. I also talked with a mechanic who told me, depending on whether they had to order parts or not, my bike should be done in three days.

The bike sat there from Saturday to Wednesday when I went to check on it. I saw Dillon at the door and asked what the progress was on the bike. He told me that the carbs were “in the cleaning tank” and that it took a awhile to get them done correctly. Dillon took me back to meet the parts manager, Mike, who told me that they hadn’t done anything at all to the bike and that their mechanic was out that day. I couldn’t understand why Dillon was telling me one thing and the parts manager was telling me something completely different. I told them both that I was dissatisfied with the situation and that I had just spent a lot of money for a bike that I couldn’t ride. They both told me to be patient and that they couldn’t tell me when the bike would be finished.

It eventually got done a week after I took it in. The mechanic said that someone had put a set of jets in wrong on the bike and ATVs and More ordered and installed new jets. The owner of the ATVs and More said that he had ridden the bike for 20 miles and that it was fine. We’ll talk more about the owner a little later. When the bike was picked up, the mechanic pointed to the choke and said, “see, it doesn’t even have to be choked to start it” as if that were some miraculous selling point.

The bike rode ok coming home although it still didn’t sound right. It still had some missing. I just thought that I needed to get used to the sound of the pipes.

The next day, I got on the bike to ride it again. It started fine, but as I got down the road, it started to stutter and pop. When I got up to the next stop sign, it died. I got it restarted and it backfired continuously down the road. Also, it has dead spots in the throttle. When I get to those spots, it stalled and backfired. It continued to die and, when it did run, it ran too rich still.

I called back to ATVs and More and asked Gayle who the owner of the business was. She told me that it was Mr. Pennington. I asked to speak with him and she informed me that he wasn’t available. I asked to speak to the next person in charge of the business. I was put on hold until the next person answered and identified himself as the owner of the business, Mr. Pennington.

I told Mr. Pennington that this getting a little ridiculous and that we need to get this fixed. This will be the 3rd time in the shop in 22 days. I told him that it was getting to the point that we need to get it fixed or they need to buy the bike back. He immediately got indignant and belligerent and told me “LET ME SET YOU STRAIGHT ON SOMETHING…WE’RE NOT GOING TO BUY THE BIKE BACK.” He went on to say “You can bring it in and we’ll “look” at it, but don’t threaten me with buying the bike back.” “You bought this bike “as is”.”
While it is true that I bought the bike “as is” it was also reasonable to expect that the bike would function as promised by the salesman and that “as is” was a running bike. Also, there is the matter of their website which boasts “AT ATVs And MORE OUR QUALITY AND YOUR SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED.” You can’t really promise a guarantee on the website if you have no intention of honoring the guarantee. I’m pretty sure that falls under false advertising. We’ll see about that later. Warranty or not, they started down the path of “making it right” but couldn’t figure it out.

Mr. Pennington went on to rant “I’ve already spent $500 on this bike after the sale which is more that I made off of the deal.”
That has nothing to do with anything. You’re salesman said, “If there is a problem, bring it back and we’ll MAKE IT RIGHT.” You’re office manager said “If we have not pleased you… let us know and we’ll try to MAKE IT RIGHT.” The other salesman said “we’ll MAKE IT RIGHT.” It was clearly NOT RIGHT.
Mr. Pennington went on to say “I rode that bike 20 miles the last time.” “I didn’t hear anything wrong then.”