That ended well.

Kinja'd!!! ".jdb." (brockmjd)
12/19/2014 at 13:43 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!8 Kinja'd!!! 5

So the earlier post about dealership turnaround times was part of the last straw - I've had this issue with my minivan since October and the dealership has been dropping the ball like it was greased with Ebola. I realized I had two auto-emails from the service department that were "Hey, how'd we do?" messages. (note - both were generated after some work was done but the issue was still unresolved. This is not a good idea)So I clicked the survey link and wrote out everything that had happened - the times I never got calls back*, the time they didn't put my car back together completely, the time they left sharp and pointy tools in my car where the kids could get them...just misstep after misstep.

Literally an hour later I got a "HOLY CRAP I'M SO SORRY" call from the service manager. She said she called my adviser into her office and said "This...isn't as bad as this guy is describing, is it?" and she said he said "actually, it kinda is".

So I'm getting a super end-to-end detail and everything fixed and a loaner for as long as I need it. Honestly, that's nice, but what's equally nice is first: Recognizing that they screwed up kinda repeatedly and constantly and apologizing for it. And second: Now I have a point of escalation if stuff doesn't get done again.

*-No, I don't expect an immediate callback when I call them. But there were multiple instances of "I'll call you back in 30 minutes once I've spoken to parts" or "You'll get a call back on _____ when the parts are in" and those calls never came.


DISCUSSION (5)


Kinja'd!!! SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > .jdb.
12/19/2014 at 13:45

Kinja'd!!!1

Good luck! Hope they sort it out for you. At least they seem to be honest, even if flaky.


Kinja'd!!! Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > .jdb.
12/19/2014 at 13:46

Kinja'd!!!3

Sometimes you really have to just blast them on those surveys to get anything done. I had to last year, and ended up taking the car to a different dealer because I refused to give them another chance. Had the service writer tell me the burning coolant smell was my air freshener. Uhh, nope, not acceptable.


Kinja'd!!! Squid > .jdb.
12/19/2014 at 14:03

Kinja'd!!!1

Those surveys are the lifes blood of the service advisors. It also reflects back on the SM. By far it is the easiest way to get a point across as one bad survey really gets them chewed out.


Kinja'd!!! .jdb. > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/19/2014 at 14:28

Kinja'd!!!0

Mostly. They're really nice and polite as they do nothing. And they did have a ... disagreement internally. SM told me that my SA told *her* that he told me "Hey, do you want to drop off the loaner or bring it back in and pick up your car since it'll be a few days"

What he actually said was "We need you to bring the loaner in or we're going to charge you for another day"


Kinja'd!!! BZiel > .jdb.
12/19/2014 at 15:51

Kinja'd!!!1

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: When it come to dealership service departments, if you don't get the service, the quality, or the response you think you deserve in two contact attempts, escalate to the next level in the food chain. If that fails to get your desired results, go regional and raise holy hell.