A GOOD Dealer Story...
by Charles A. Quist
Howdy folks! It seems like every time I hear someone talk about a Harley dealer, it is usually not a pleasant tale. Well, I am happy to be able to reverse that trend.
On Saturday afternoon, August 28, Dave Bayles and I left town heading for the Four Corners rally. Our first gas stop was in the small town of Milano TX. We were at THE gas station, everything looking fine until I went to start my bike and...nothing. Not a sign of life anywhere. This is about 4:00 in the afternoon. We diagnosed it as a dead battery, and Dave heads off to Rockdale to the closest Wal-Mart and auto stores. He gets back with glum news - no battery to be had. By this time it is after 6:00, and we are stuck pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
A nice guy who had stopped by while Dave was battery hunting had given me his number in case we had trouble. This seemed like a good time to use it. He recommended that I call information for Bryan (about 45 miles away) and get the home listing for the dealer, Russ Welch, and see what he could do. I decided to call the dealership first to see if they had an after hours emergency number. I was certainly surprised when a female voice answered the phone. I described my plight, and she told me to hold on, she would find someone. In an moment, Russ himself came on the line, and I repeated my story. Diagnosing over the phone, he said he was 100% sure it was a battery problem, he had one charged up, and he could be there in about an hour. In case it wasn't the battery, he was bringing his truck and a mechanic. Worst case, he could get the bike back, find us a hotel, and have my bike fixed on Monday.
After hanging up, I called back a few minutes later to give him a pager number, the answering machine message told me that they are closed on Monday. That fact was not lost on me.
Sure enough, about an hour later he rolls into the gas station. As we are putting in the new battery, I thank him for coming out. His response was that he rides and everyone who works for him rides. They have all been broken, know what it feels like, and he was not going to leave me out beside the road. We also found out why he was still at the dealer two hours after closing - they had an open house that day, and his dealership had been full of people all day long. Nevertheless, he loaded up in his truck and came out to help us. Asked about being closed on Monday, he said that he would have had someone come in to get me back on the road.
The battery did the trick, and soon I heard that sweet Harley rumble coming from my bike. The time had come to settle up. Well, he had left the receipt on the counter. He thought it was about a $70 battery - would I give him $75 to cover everything? After being sure that was all he wanted, I paid up. He needed gas to get home, I offered to fill his truck for him, but he wouldn't take it. I offered the mechanic some money for coming out on a Saturday night, he wouldn't take it, saying that he was just glad they had fixed my bike.
They drove off while, leaving behind a couple of happy bikers, eager to get back on the road. I told him that I would tell everyone about his shop, so here it is.
Folks, next time you need some parts, feel the need for a new t-shirt, or are looking for a nice Saturday ride - think about making a trip through the back roads up to Bryan and stopping in at Russ' shop. Thank him for going the extra mile, and getting one of getting one of the Houston bunch out of a jam.
Here is the url for his web page. I noticed that he gives a 10% to anyone who shows a national of local HOG membership card. http://www.russwelch-hd.com
Thank ya'll for reading this huge e-mail, but this was something that I really felt strongly about sharing. It is nice to know that not all dealers sit around waiting to take your money at their convenience.
Keep the knees in the breeze, and the rubber side down.
PS - the trip to Four Corners was awesome! I'll write more about it, and hopefully include some pics later!