Booking Royal Enfield bike online - reasons to not do it

I booked my Royal Enfield Himalayan bike online from the official website of Royal Enfield.

I even paid 5000 rupees online for the booking!

That was a stupid thing to do.

Here is what happened.

It was 2019 that year, Royal Enfield started taking online bookings.

As I was seriously considering buying this bike, booked it online and paid 5000 rupees.

When I approached the local dealer, any chance of a bargain or selection was not there, because I already booked.

You have to select one dealer while booking and that cannot be changed.

Booking from third-party websites.

There are many third-party aggregator websites that offer great discounts if you order through them. 

These are basically just lead/prospect-generating sites. They just collect customer data and sell it to local dealers.

So if you provided any kind of personal information to any such website, expect many sales calls starting from dealers to insurance agents and financiers. 

Some websites promise to provide full service starting from booking to insurance to registration.

But I won’t recommend any of them. It is still better to approach local dealers and get a few quotations.

Booking directly from the official website.

Booking from the official manufacturer’s website is another option. Nowadays many manufacturers are starting to provide online booking services. 

But many of them are just taking customer information and booking money. The remaining process is very similar to buying from a dealer. 

There is no benefit in terms of money or time saved.