?130 Genuine Honda Undercow Kit sold by Doble on eBay not genuine at all!!

[KathyL]

?130 Genuine Honda Undercowl Kit sold by Doble on eBay not genuine at all!!

Like many others I was excited to be able to purchase a genuine Honda Undercowl kit for a significant saving. Doble, a UK based authorised Honda dealer, were offering them on eBay for ?130 instead of the recommended retail price of more than ?220 - they stated that they were "Offered here at an exceptional price package to clear some old stock."

However, what I received was not the genuine Honda Undercowl kit - the pieces of tyre inner tube fitted with double-sided tape and the photocopied set of installation instructions were the first things that made me suspicious. Then, as I checked the installation instructions and sorted through the nuts and bolts I'd received, I realised that many parts were missing or of the wrong size/type - this is definitely not the way Honda does accessories kits!

Prior to taking Doble to task over this matter I contacted Honda UK and asked them to confirm whether or not I had received a genuine Honda undercowl kit (I sent them photos and details of what I had/hadn't received). They confirmed that the genuine Honda undercowl kit they supply contains all the parts shown on the installation sheet and there have not been any parts substitutions.

To say I'm disgusted with Doble is an understatement - they advertised that they were selling "an OEM, Genuine Honda, undercowl kit to fit on any year model, 700cc Deauville. Complete its Honda Part number is... 08F71-MEW-800" and this is what I expected to receive.

It turns out that Doble were buying some of the replacement undercowl parts (ie, the left and right undercowl pieces, the five mounting brackets and two collars) at a retail cost of less than ?40 (they would have paid much less as trade price), adding a collection of nuts and bolts, some pieces of tyre inner tube fitted with double-sided tape and a photocopied set of installation instructions and passing it off as a genuine Honda kit (see attachments). Their behaviour was nothing sort of deceitful and fraudulent!!

The response I received from Doble when I asked them why they did not send me the item I had purchased but instead chose to defraud me by supplying a substantially inferior product was as follows:
"We have been offering this solution to customer for the past 3 years without anyone ever being dissappointed by it. The ?100 saving from the official Honda price is what I and I would have thought the customers are looking for."

My issue with Doble is not that they made up their own version of the undercowl kit and sold it at a substantially lower price than the genuine Honda kit - my issue is that they advertised they were supplying the genuine Honda Undercowl kit (they even quoted the part number for the kit) and they didn't.

So, for all of you who bought the ?130 'genuine' undercowl kit and wondered why the parts you received didn't match the installation instructions now you know why!!

 

[dnktng]

It is clear that Doble is repackaging all the OEM Honda parts and substituting Honda's hardware with off-the-shelf hardware, then selling it as a kit. The package even included a sheet stating the substituted parts, and the substituted parts were in plain plastic bags with no reference or claim to being genuine Honda. The parts substitution sheet had no reference to Honda, it was simply a printed sheet of paper. Not much deceit going on in the package, but the ad was not perfect. There were some elements of truthiness in the ad since all the brackets and undercowl are genuine Honda.

Doble accepts returns, but you pay shipping. You may want to ask for full refund including shipping if you are not satisfied. Doble also has another ad for an undercowl for ?220 that they say is their last one. It may be the genuine kit that you want. Ebay is always an adventure, especially international transactions.

I think Dobles price is high for their repackaged kit, but Hondas Genuine kit is priced.....yikes, 70% higher....really. What's the extra 70% for, the instructions? The undercowl kit is not avialable in the States, so our choices are: 1) buy Dobles for cheap and be happy, 2) buy Genuice Honda and be happy with less money in your pocket or 3) buy a Skidmark and Honda makes no money. Ahhhhh......can't win.

Just my opinion. I felt no less deceived with Dobles repackaged undercowl kit than I did when I bought an overpriced Genuine Honda NT700V top box bracket & base kits that has enough spare hardware (that Honda sells to me at a nice profit) to attach a.....undercowl kit. Don't even get me started on the Honda heated grips useless attachment-kits-for-extra-profit program. Sorry for the rant.

Doble should rename their "undercowl kit" to a "undercowl overhaul kit." Problem solved. It's still overpriced:mad1:

 

[KathyL]

As I said my issue was that they stated they were supplying the genuine Honda kit (they even quoted the part number for the kit) and that was what I expected to receive..

If they had been upfront and honest about the fact they'd put their own kit together for a significant cost saving I wouldn't have had an issue because I would have known I was getting something different.

 

[dannyjo]

I can see the point being made. I was happy with the substituted kit and especially the price.
I see the same problem occasionally here at the John Deere dealership I work at. We sometimes come up with a kit we can make up out of parts that saves the customer substantial money over the deere assembled kit.
One that comes to mind is the lawn mower service kits Deere pushes for convenience, containing the filters, oil, spark plugs packaged in a pretty box and labled for a specific model. We can pull the separate parts, drop them in a used cardboard box, and sell them at about half the price. So our 5 dealership locations don't even carry the pre-packed kits.

 

[charlie b]

I have been on the uk nt site and the undercowl pricing thing has been hashed to death over there. So when Doble came up with their "kit" i was not surpriser. I do think their description is a bit misleading to those not familiar with the issues involved. I woulf be happy with their product as i was going to go to the trouble of ordering the parts separately.

 

[CommuterNT]

Kathy thanks for the heads up. I kind of wondered about the rubber pieces and some of the parts not matching the pictures. I do agree with you that I wish they would have correctly stated what they were selling and why. To others purchasing the undercowl kit at the lower price; I had no issues installing it and I felt all pieces that were "substituted" where of acceptable quality. I would order it again if I had to but again up front advertising builds trust and I now trust Doble a little less.

 

[freezingalaskan]

Hmmm....it now starts to make sense.....I received the Doble shipment and had some hardware missing. I emailed Doble and they claimed they sent all parts.....oh well. Luckily the parts missing were screws/bolts I could easily find at the local hardware store.
So, it appears we all got the right Honda plastic pieces, with the right metal braces that go between the plastic halfs and those who wrap around the square frame of the bike at least.

freezingalaskan