[SPARTAN sui]

Yeah I never understood the whole making an appointment thing to just drop off your car and have it looked at another time. I drove three hours to have my powder coated wheels mounted at the dealership since they're willing to take the time to mount the tires without damaging the wheels, but I had to wait like 6 hours at the dealership before they finally got to my car. I had an appointment in the morning and didn't get back home until 9 at night. That's not how appointments work!

[Hulkamaniac]

You were "spot on" brother!

I've had too many dealerships tell me, "You can't expect the car to be perfect." when I was looking for another Krypton Green 2SS.

I went to several dealerships who said this and my answer is, "I can expect it to be perfect since I'm paying for a new car."

I walked away from several cars in my quest cuz of the dealership's attitude.

Route 66 Chevrolet, in Tulsa, was the only dealership who offered to pay for paint decontamination, paint correction, buffing, and polishing. I bought from them and drove from Iowa to get my car.

Other dealership's and their cars were far from acceptable. Most of the new Krypton Green cars have been sitting for over 18 months on dealer lots.

During that time, lot dust and fall out get embedded in the clear coat and they've been "lot washed" so they've got scratches. They all needed decon, paint correction, etc.

Yes, I could have bought a less expensive Krypton Green 2SS from somewhere else, but in the end it would have cost the same or more than what I paid at Route 66 due to decon, paint correction, etc.

I'm willing to pay a little more for a car at a dealership with great customer service than pay less and get treated like a freaking burden or that I'm intruding upon their day.

I'm the freaking customer and I'm not always right, but I'm polite(even when I'm wrong) and will take my money and business elsewhere.

Whatever happened to customer setvice???

[ZED SLED]

If I make an appointment at 8:45 they're working on my car at 8:46. But I do use a small town dealer with a competent service dept close to work.

[VinnAY]

When I bought my Camaro a few months back my sales person (great) grabbed the service manager as he walked by. blah blah...usually small talk and he says we do all this service and we'll take care of you...I say in return "you won't be seeing this car again unless its catastrophic and has to be towed in here". I don't mess around with dealer service for any thing at all. Shit happens in shops all over but I don't mess with dealer service for any reason. I recently had a horrible problem with a flat tire that I had to have towed in, no spare, on a Friday 45 minutes prior to closing. Refused to patch it, and basically stranded me overnite over a fracking flat tire.

[Kiteboarder85]

Originally Posted by ZED SLED

If I make an appointment at 8:45 they're working on my car at 8:46. But I do use a small town dealer with a competent service dept close to work.

I had a built Jeep (below) and the Jeep dealer took the Jeep back at my appointment time. I guess some dealers have good business processes and some don't!

As for the small town size, my now ex-dealer is in a town of 5,200 people. Its pretty small!

[Kiteboarder85]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

When I bought my Camaro a few months back my sales person (great) grabbed the service manager as he walked by. blah blah...usually small talk and he says we do all this service and we'll take care of you...I say in return "you won't be seeing this car again unless its catastrophic and has to be towed in here". I don't mess around with dealer service for any thing at all. Shit happens in shops all over but I don't mess with dealer service for any reason. I recently had a horrible problem with a flat tire that I had to have towed in, no spare, on a Friday 45 minutes prior to closing. Refused to patch it, and basically stranded me overnite over a fracking flat tire.

Exactly! I was hesitant, because the last time I had a Camaro in there, they put my 305's in the front!

[Lethal Z]

Car dealerships are a pure commodity anymore. They don't care about you, it's all about the next deal. They know very little about the product they sell and they use marginal staff to service your car. Use them to get the best price you can and have minimal expectations after the transaction and you will be better off.

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by SPARTAN sui

I drove three hours to have my powder coated wheels mounted at the dealership since they're willing to take the time to mount the tires without damaging the wheels

Use Discount Tire. The name makes them sound misleadingly cheap, but they are generally great. They have all sorts of extremely specialized equipment for fitting low profile tires onto painted and powder coated rims. I messed around with a few places before going there.

To add to the "bad customer service" stories, I had somebody at Firestone tell me to go ahead and ship new tires to them directly only for me to come back for the install and have a manager tell me they couldn't guarantee no damage. I pointed out they never mentioned this earlier and that I would not have done business with them had I known. I pressed the guy until he eventually agreed to load them up in his personal truck and take them to Discount Tire down the road. I was not being unreasonable -- I had a car barely sticking together with fix-a-flat, and they were expecting me to transport each tire one at a time in my Camaro's tiny-a$$ trunk. I said "you've got to be joking, right?"

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

If this really happened as you say a full and thorough investigation needs to be done. No not by the FBI but by GM.

[Sheriff37]

Originally Posted by Lethal Z

They know very little about the product they sell and they use marginal staff to service your car. Use them to get the best price you can and have minimal expectations after the transaction and you will be better off.

This exactly.
I had been very lucky to find a salesman that actually knew anything about my car (even let me have it for the weekend to make sure I wanted this exact one).

When we were shopping for a new car for the mother, we checked Audi and Land Rover. The Audi salesman knew everything down to how much torque to put on the lugnuts.
I asked the Land Rover saleswoman (our second salesperson, the first one left us on the lot because he had forgotten about us when he went back inside to get the keys. I asked for a new salesman.) what the MPG and 0-60 on the Evoque was (coming from a Rouge, couldn't get out of it's own way and was a danger to get on the highway) and she said, "I'm don't know, but you can Google it...aren't these seats so soft?"

If I wanted to Google the car I would have bought it online!

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

IMO, if I am reading the series of events you listed correctly, I am not seeing why the dealership is being blamed. It sounds like you held an expectation in your mind that the car would be serviced immediately at drop-off. You happened to be incorrect on that point. They offered a loaner, which I think is a good gesture because many dealerships would offer a shuttle service at best or expect you to take a cab. It sounds like you got angry and things went downhill from there -- did you even ask them if you could use the loaner while you're out of town?

I think what they offered you is pretty common practice for large dealerships. I once went in just to get my rotors replaced, and they said they were backlogged with other work and offered a loaner. I asked if I could keep it a few days and come back at a time convenient for me, and they said sure.

The general rudeness by other people is something to probably complain about, but you can't always lump these things together. Sometimes, different people in different job roles at the same dealership have very poor communication. All you can do to some extent is be calm and clearly go over the options with whomever you ultimately meet at the service counter.

No reason in the world for a dealership employee to be yelling at a customer unless the customer is threatening him or cursing him out.

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

Originally Posted by Airfuel

All that hassle for a loose bolt?
Why not tighten it yourself?

Because he has a warranty and maybe can't craWL under his car.

[Sheriff37]

Originally Posted by YARBIE 1

Why did you share this? I guess to vent to everyone else?

Pot calling the kettle black huh Yarbie? You've posted more "vent" posts on this forum in the last week than I've seen since I've been on here.

[DFWZ28]

Originally Posted by YARBIE 1

Why did you share this? I guess to vent to everyone else?

i would think to warn others in the area.