No emotions, only facts - and I hope my story will help you to make a decision if you want to trust West London Yamaha with your bike (and your life).
I was waiting in their shop to complete 3,500 miles service on my bike. Finally someone came out and asked to pay for the service. After paying, I received my bike back from a relatively cheerful lad.
I put my helmet and gloves on, started the engine, engaged the first gear and started moving towards a busy road the shop is on... Left indicator on, quick glance to the right - had to give way to a fast approaching car, pulling a front lever to slow down and..... here was the scariest moment of my life (Well, maybe life is not full enough) - the lever went all the way to the handle without any sign of braking. So - my bike keeps rolling right to in front of the car, I am still digesting the reaction from the brakes, and got ready for impact...... but I managed to stop just in time with my feet. Phew.
Back to the garage - 16 year old - looking "highly professional mechanic" tells me he checked everything, but soon confirms that the brakes are not working at all, indeed.
I emailed John Cooper, a director of that establishment to complain, but he seems to think that all customers dare to express dissatisfaction only "for their financial gain": he used this phrase so many times in his emails, that I couldn't help grinning when I read this same set of words in his responses to other reviewers on Google. I bet we will see in his reply there that I only wanted to get some fathom financial gain.
Anyway, in his response the owner indicated that not having a front brake is not a big deal, and my situation was not a lesson to be learnt by his business, and that I should have used a rear brake and move on rather than trouble him, a very experienced and busy person. I will provide a few excerpts from our correspondence, and will leave it to you to decide if you want to use services of this institution.
Director of West London Yamaha: "Firstly, I would like to inform you, that I have been a director and owner of this business for the past 16 years, having raised it to be one of Yamaha UK’s most successful Premier Dealerships and I kindly decline any offers of ‘lessons’ you felt you might be able to teach my business." (this is about me saying that one of the 'benefits' of the situation was that he can improve safety checks in the workshop), "The “ compensation” culture is an American phenomenon you clearly enjoy for personal gain." (that is in response to my request to refund £150 I paid for this service) , "Thirdly, your life was not in danger, as your rear break was still fully functioning and you were only about to pull out of the forecourt into a 30mph traffic zone".
I believe this is very representative of the attitude the customers get in this place, especially after they have been failed and asked to put things right.
