Very poor show from Ducati

are you a member of Ducati GB as well ? I had tried to organise a trip for this June direct with the Bologna factory with no joy at all. So contacted Ducati GB and it was all sorted within a week. Could be worth a go. I can only speak of the experience we had, and it was all organised really well and they did seem to care. But I suppose everyone can have an off day at work, which isn't helpful if you're dealing with Joe public. I hope it all gets sorted for you. P.S. keep away from the factory shop too many shiny must haves there... lol

We are talking about Italians here remember. I love the place however they have a different mentality to ours, as do most other countries populace.

This is so disappointing from the Italians. I was thinking about this tour but to be honest it just seems like you are an inconvenience for them and the nonsense with the car park??? What is that about. Surely you would want to try and convert riders of other manufactures by getting them on the tour. If i turned up to the tour on my R6 and was not allowed to park in the car park i will tell them to shove the tour and their bikes up their ar*e . Slightly different, but a couple of years ago i did a tour of the new MINI factory in Oxford (i was MINI mad at the time) and that was a brill day. The two old chaps who had worked there for what seemed forever gave the tour and where amazing, they could not do enough to show you everything and gave us loads of goodies. They where obviously soooo proud of what they where knocking out. Maybe the that's the difference here, Ducati obviously know they are still a bit sub standard in terms of quality and dont want you to see the guy finishing off a bike with a spray can or insulation tape !! then again, like someone above said, this is the Italian, Different mentality.

I spent two weeks this summer riding a Vespa round the Amalfi Coast and loved the place but yeah, different people.......makes the world go round i guess !

Seems a bit strange about the car park thing.

If you look on the Google Earth 3D image you see ALL manner of makes in their car park.

[pompone]

Car park thing only applied during WDW

[Darren69]

Not according to the Web site. FAQ number 6 and 7

http://www.ducati.com/faq_visite_fab...ica_e_museo.do

[Darren69]

Just remember to take your Ducati card if you turn up on another bike

[pompone]

Well I stand corrected. However is their house, their rules..

When we went had no issues parking my 900 hornet in carpark, had great time at factory, but that was about 2004, was concerned at lunch the workers were going to change its appearence

If you want to cause a storm join their FB page and air the dirty launch in public. Done it in the past and it has worked wonders. Had refunds, upgrades and extras offered as "compensation" or to shut me up, you decide

[d8mok]

Originally Posted by bluestoesonnose

If you want to cause a storm join their FB page and air the dirty launch in public. Done it in the past and it has worked wonders. Had refunds, upgrades and extras offered as "compensation" or to shut me up, you decide

This is probably my next action , but I'm giving them chance to sort it first. Twitter is also an idea , but I've never used it so need to sign up.

[d8mok]

Update-

Ive had some contact with Tim Maccabee from Ducati Uk , who said he would look into it for me. Today i got a call from ducati who have managed to sort it o we can still do the factory tour for sure. However the mueseum may not be available but they will try for us. They have also got us some BSB VIP tickets for a round of our choice.

So thumbs up to ducati uk for sorting out my problem.

[Dirty]

Glad you got it sorted and WSB tickets into the bargain, great result.

Cancelling your tour at late notice was indeed out of line however the other little idiosyncrasies such as who can and cannot park in their car park are to me all part and parcel of Ducati. If you want cold hard efficiency look to BMW. If you want a bit of character, Ducati every day.

[SunEye]

Happy to hear that everything has been resolved to your satisfaction.

Quite often with these type of things someone at the bottom of the chain is just doing what they've been asked to do. Once the right person further up the chain is told of the full picture things get sorted. It's usually down to a lack of thought by someone in the middle that these things happen. Within companies it is very easy for people to lose focus on the fact that the most important person in their business is the customer.

We wouldn't want Ducati to stop behaving like Italians, but occaisionally they do need reminding that customers are important to their business.

[Darren69]

All's well that end's well. Don't forget to take some proof of Ducati ownership with you, card or key etc and you get discounted entry unless you are DOC in which case I think you get in for free.