Polaris Management yelled at me and said I didn’t fall within the Indian Philosophy
This all occurred several months ago but Indian decided to solicit my opinion on the purchase just a week ago. Then refused to post my review. This is what I wrote: (spoiler alert, the last paragraph is why this matters)
I went to the Indian website and purchased a manual that was described as being for the Scout and larger motorcycles.
I received a call from a Dealer who was to fulfill the order. He informed me that to avoid problems, he wanted to let me know that the manual was not as described. That corporate refused to correct it. I told him fine, I didn’t care if there were two different manuals as long as I got what was advertised for the stated price.
He said that only corporate could do that. Kilo the fulfillment company that directs orders received by corporate to individual dealers was no help at all.
I contacted customer support and was later contacted by Chris Sasse, Manager of Resolutions. Mr. Sasse acknowledges the long standing problem on the website but refused to supply the manuals for the price advertised. We went back and forth and somewhere between emails (voila!) the website was magically corrected! Imagine that. Over a year of having an error like that online and FINALLY fixing it when someone complained loud enough.
Then it really got interesting. Sasse asked why I needed both manuals when Indian records shows I only have a Chief Vintage. Helllooo Big Brother! I told him the truth. It was none of his business why I purchased any product freely offered for purchase from his company or any other company. I own, or have owned BMW, HD, Kawasaki, Honda, and yes, even a Vespa and not one company asked me to justify a single purchase from them.
Then Cris Sasse takes an interesting position. He will only sell me the manual he thinks I need. Saying that I am not sharing in the same mindset as the Indian Motorcycle’s Rider Philosophy. By god it sounded like I’d been excommunicated from the Indian Motorcycle Cult. Heartbroken as I was, I somehow managed to soldier on.
Chris Sasse, in a less than respectful tone, gave me 48 hours to decide whether or not I would buy a manual from him. So, after a brief search on the internet, I found the big engine manual factory manual free online, and took Mr. Sasse’s offer to buy the Scout Manual. Confused, but no longer asking me to justify my selection, he finally agreed.
So I learned that Indian Motorcycle, as a matter of corporate policy, does not feel compelled by fairness or State Laws to provide the products they advertise. I learned that Indian Motorcycle marketing policy allows them to say anything about any product just to get a pending sale, then make you select from what is actually available. I learned that even on a small dollar sale like a manual, Indian Motorcycle will access your purchase history and what they have about you in their records will determine how they will deal with you. I learned that Indian Motorcycle has an internal Philosophy by which they operate. Customers are judged as to their fitness for inclusion. If you are deemed unfit, or your idea of fairness does not align with the corporate interests of Polaris, you are persona non grata, and will not be treated as a customer but an adversary - no matter how small the issue or consideration of how Indian themselves contributed to the problem at hand.
Dude, why not be that "stand Up' guy and get over yourself....damn, really?
Oh. Chris, the reason I wanted both manuals was simply this: I wanted to see if Indian/Polaris would accept responsibility for a minor problem. It was a matter of character. If you were a stand-up company on small issues you can be trusted on large issues. You proved that Indian/Polaris was willing to coerce, bully, and use its full corporate leverage simply because of an insignificant error. One can only imagine what lengths Indian/Polaris will go through when the error involves product liability or rider safety. Then there was your unwillingness to pass it up the chain. That indicates an aloofness of a Management that is unwilling to meet the customer on any other terms than ones they carefully orchestrate. Again, another indication of a dangerous lack of transparency. Thank you Chris Sasse. You represented your company well. I truly believe you acted in full accordance of your Managements wishes and policy.