by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 04/20/2017 at 12:56
by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 04/20/2017 at 12:56
Tags: excellent
STARS: 2
I had both my Hondas in the dealership for scheduled maintenance this week. As always, it was a good experience. I’ve got a fantastic service advisor, and I gave him a glowing review on the dealership survey. But I just got this email from the dealership:
Thank you for completing the E-survey! Your feedback is very important to us.
I wanted to let you know that you will also receive an email survey from American Honda.
This Survey is very important to us. If there are any questions that you cannot respond EXCELLENT please let me know before you send it in. We would like to do anything we can to earn an EXCELLENT survey from you.
This sort of thing always bugged me. If you’re that concerned about getting excellent ratings, just be excellent in the first place. And if you’re not being excellent, maybe American Honda needs to know about it?
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
04/20/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 0
I don’t do their surveys because my dealer has on occasion not excelled at their job. But I like the service advisor and she works very hard to make things right.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
04/20/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 5
This is taught to all aviation executives who want to add anonymous reporting to their safety management system:
Don’t do it if you can’t take bad news
Don’t take bad news if you’re unwilling to make changes
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
04/20/2017 at 13:07, STARS: 4
They really take shit from corporate if they don’t get 10s across the board. Thing is, no one can make everyone happy 100% of the time. So, they are really between a rock and a hard place.
I just found out last week that my long standing service manager got sacked by the new owners. I feel bad for the guy. He wasn’t perfect, but I always felt he tried to do right by me.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 13:13, STARS: 1
It’s extremely rare that I give any survey top marks, unless they went above and beyond, etc. Good service should be expected, not a surprise. That said, my service guy really is tops. He has gone out of his way to save me money and headaches, particularly when I had to do an engine swap on my Odyssey last summer. I would have given him an 11 for that one.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 13:14, STARS: 1
Plausible deniability FTW.
"ateamfan42" (ateamfan42)
04/20/2017 at 13:14, STARS: 2
Thing is, no one can make everyone happy 100% of the time.
I learned this early working retail in high school. Some members of the public just like to be pissed off, and NOTHING you do will ever please them. A successful business had the luxury of telling such customers to go pound sand, because their business is unnecessary (and unwelcome).
Some people are not happy unless they are not happy.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
04/20/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 1
I think one can submit a note along with the scores to point out things like that. Or at least they should be able to.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
04/20/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 1
This is true. I feel sorry for those people, but mostly I just want them to go away.
"facw" (facw)
04/20/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 2
I feel a little better about this wording where they are at least saying they’ll make it right if it wasn’t excellent. I really despise the ones that just tell you anything less than perfect is considered a zero and try to guilt you based on that. Even if their goal is the same, saying “we want to know, and we’ll fix it if there is a problem”, is a much better approach than “give us a good rating or you’re a horrible person who’s going to get us all fired”
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
04/20/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 2
“We didn’t fix the problem because we didn’t leave a way for people to tell us that there was a problem”
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
04/20/2017 at 14:05, STARS: 1
What they need to do is educate that the survey reflects NOTHING about the car or Honda as a company, and that its more a report card for the dealer.
And mommy Honda gets VERY ANGRY if they do not get all A+’s.
"asenna" (asenna)
04/20/2017 at 14:20, STARS: 0
My wife had a honda fit, and every time I took it in for an oil change I was charged upwards of $350. She now has a nissan rouge and when I take that to the dealership its $60 or on a big service $150. My experience is Honda dealers way overcharge for service.
"My bird IS the word" (mybirdistheword)
04/20/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 1
Companys do this because they get bonuses and such from reviews, but most people aren’t inclined to give the highest score regardless of service. they “encourage” people to give the best score.
I get why you don’t like it but there is a reason.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 0
It all depends. My A1 service today was $70. A bit more than Jiffy Lube, but I can be confident that they won’t strip the oil plug or forget to fill it with oil. Last December, I needed a new starter. Honda wanted $400 for the part alone. I bought one on eBay for $150 and had a mobile mechanic install it in my driveway for $100. I gave him a big tip. My Honda guy has never charged me for unnecessary work, or even recommended something I didn’t need. Last summer, they put a donor engine in the Oddy and only charged me $750 for the motor. Today, I had them check out the front end because an independent shop said I needed new control arms and bushings and wanted to charge me $600 in parts. My Honda guy said it was fine, and needed nothing up front. It pays to develop a long term relationship with a good, honest service advice advisor.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 14:28, STARS: 0
I understand all that, but if I’m answering a survey I’m going to be honest. I’d rather my dealer not try to rig the system.
"hike" (hike15)
04/20/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 2
The survey from American Honda isn’t the dealer rigging the system, it’s the poor survey system just about every auto manufacturer uses. If it isn’t a 9 or a 10, it’s a failure.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
04/20/2017 at 15:33, STARS: 0
The standard is usually around 930-950, so technically a couple 9s is failing.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
04/20/2017 at 15:43, STARS: 0
Hate the system not the dealer. If they didn’t send out those emails most surveys would be considered failing (less than 10's) because like you most people answer honestly and rarely give full marks unless they’re absolutely earned. Problem is, less than perfect is considered failing and many dealer personnel are paid based on survey scores. Usually some combination if paltry base pay + commission + survey bonus, where the survey bonus can sometimes make up half the paycheck and if you don’t average something like 950 you don’t get the survey bonus. Enough bad scores and you better lol for a new job. And some of the survey questions are things that employees can’t even change, yet they still get docked. It’s absolutely stupid.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 0
On the contrary, I love my dealer. I’ve bought two vehicles from them and continue to utilize their service. The system is stupid.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
04/20/2017 at 22:37, STARS: 1
Oh sorry I didn’t mean to imply you don’t love them. Poor choice of words on my part I guess.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/20/2017 at 22:57, STARS: 1
No worries. I knew what you meant.