Trouble with My Dealership (Service Related)
 

So I sent the below email to the customer relations manager, sales manager, and the sale rep that sold me my car in June at my local Toyota dealer.

I hate to come on here and spread negative word of mouth about a dealership that has been so amazing in the past for my family and me but they are really surprising me here.

So my question is.... how should I proceed? Send them another email? Walk into the showroom and speak to someone in person? Why should I go out of my way when they are in the wrong? Should I contact Toyota's corporate office?

Due to my work schedule last week I was not able to send them the pictures the next day and it actually took me an entire week. (leaving the house before the sun comes up and coming home after sunset) However, I have significant customer relations experience as part of my position within the operations department of an international retail/gifting franchise and I feel that they should have sprung into action without waiting for me to send them pictures.

No followup for a week has me very upset.

Holy tantrum.

IDK what to tell you. I can see the dirty hands and scuff marks being an issue and I would politely ask them to be careful and have them remove the scuffs. It seems like either everyone you spoke to was either having a bad day or maybe you were just a little irritated by the chirping.

This is a Subaru engine, it doesnt matter what Toyota contributed to it. The fact that the mechanic is not fimiliar with it does not surprise me in the least. Good luck, keep us posted.

Yea... when I see it as a wall of text it is a bit of a Tantrum.... but between my mother and myself we're at a loss for words as far as the service we've received recently. They've been excellent for years and years and then in the last year or so they've just been a hassle to deal with.

I feel you man. I took my car back from the dealer and there were 2 chips on my driver side door :( I love my car so much i had opti- coat for it and now.....

There's a chirping noise? I've never heard that since I've had mine.

The part thats missing from that, is what would you like them to do? You have stated your concerns, but you have to also supply what you would like to see as a remedy to make you happy with their service again. Leaving it open ended like that, if you were a service manager and read that, what would you think?

jump over them! go corporate! the dealer will just f**k around with you!

can't say to a certainty,but a ton of people are just hangin' on to what they got,and NOT buying new,(even toyotas) the economy still sucks in general,and also people are lookin' for service alternatives,because the f**kin' dealers "rape" ya on just about everything anyway! costs associated with cars are getting really (stupid) high,so people are tryin' to make 'em hold up over time! to keep costs down,and i believe the dealerships are feelin' the pinch! still! no excuse to treat ya like a bag of sh*t!

Man... sounds like a head ache.. but I am curious about what the dealer has to say... the dealer I bought mine from was totally crummy as well, and the dealer I go to get warranty stuff done at treats me like I'm a nobody.... dealers these days...

Make sure you tell them what you want when you send the extra pics. Without that they can't have a resolution.

Not sure if things are different in my country from them in the US (I mean from a legal and cultural perspective) however I'd just call the dealership, and request an appointment with the boss (not sure what you guys call them over there, I mean the highest guy they have in that dealership)

Makes no sence to start emoraging in E-mails to the world when you havent talked to the boss of the dealership yet. At the end, you're just pissing them off, and, no matter if you're "right" or not, this will not help you solving the issue.

Go talk to the boss, and put the facts on the table. Make it with less emotion than in your email. A simple "that happend then, this one then, this one then" will do, because if they did something wrong, he will see it for himself. Ask him how he's oppinion on the case is, and what the possible solution could be.
Make sure you think about what you want from them, and what you're willing to agree on.

If they do not see any issues with their behavior/work, you still can go over them and pass it on to toyota itself.

In my experience things like that mostly can be solved with a "non emotional" talk to the boss of a place.


And dont get me wrong, nothing false about being pissed by what happened. Just being angry and furious does not help in sorting things out :-)

Good luck and keep us informed pls

I left it open ended intentionally in order to give them options.

In my business when a guest makes a complaint it's best then they don't make a request because it allows us to start with a set of options that have a strong impact for the customer but minimize the effect on our profitability.

If someone comes in and says I'm upset and I want a full refund it's hard to get them to agree to something else. In my business a full refund costs much more than free product.

Thanks for the input guys. It may seem like I'm overreacting in some folks' view but I care a lot about this car and had it opti-coated to protect the paint. I'm sure that with the proper tools the scuff marks on the hood will come off and the door ding is really small....

I work at a Toyota dealership and I see this all the time. People come in with a problem, we tell them what the problem is and all of a sudden we broke it or "blew water in the rear seat vent"(because all cars have those). Dude your mom's car's A/C overflow valve got plugged, happens all the time(see recent MotorTrends Lambo Aventador write up). It then leaked into her car(from the front) and made its way under the carpet to the back. The dealership didn't 'blow water into' the car.

You didn't write what caused her to be upset and how 'they took care of her'. If they provided her with a shampoo job I'd say thats over the top! They had no obligation to do anything. When you ask for them to clean the drain thats what they do, then you can't get upset about it.

As far as the tires are concerned, there is no reason for them to say nothing was wrong but then actually do some work.
'I cannot explain the air issue but I suspect the tires were improperly balanced and they corrected this.'-Good assupmtion, I'm sure it makes you feel better. My Tire pressure light came on 2 days ago, being the lazy S0B I am I waited. The third day, nice and warm, I came out to my car and no light on...FYI

As far as the TSB, good job blasting the dealership for something beyond their control. Destroys their numbers and makes them suffer. I'm sure that really makes them want to help you and your family...

So I'm still trying to get this straight, you have a black mark on your hood and door. I mean seriously thats the only legit complaint on this whole RANT. I hope they gave you a free clean.

As far as the rest: I always play Devil Advocate. I've had people walk all over me to find out later they were lying and makes me look like a fool. You 'think' it was the Civic next to you and you 'assume' they corrected the tire issue. I know you are writing your perspective, there may/must be more than what we read. And since you did write that all at once it may just get lost in the mix.

I'm sorry I don't gush all over and say you deserve a new car and that you were treated poorly because I don't see it. You HAD a legit complaint with your new car but used the wrong survey to convey the message. Now I'm sure you've pissed off a few people, especially because they know you.

This totally sucks...no one should be treated poorly...the tech should have acknowledged he didn't know about the engine because it was new, not because it was another brand, the woman you emailed should have politely emailed you back to say she was in receipt of your email and would be in touch when she had time to consider her response (or something to the effect). However, you need to understand that your expectations are based on your industry experience (client service dependent environment) and you want them to be perfect (I know this only too well, I'm the same way). The real problem is too many owners just don't give a shit about water on their floor or a door ding (see the parking thread "over protective" where people chime in about how it's just a $28k car at best), it blows my mind b/c cars are freakin' expensive but people don't value what they can afford, only what is out of reach. Your dealer has merely lowered it's efforts to the expectations of the masses.

My advice...sometimes it's better to pick your battles, since you may need to go there again in the future...call her as a follow-up and calmly ask if she got your email. Express your intentions to go to another dealer (you probably already have one in mind but don't mention it by name). If her response expresses interest in keeping your biz then they're probably worth a second chance. It's not as though you can ask for a free oil change and I don't know what else they could offer you in that price range not included in your Scion service package.

Some rubbing compound should take the scuffs out and depending on how much of a ding the door mark is, you may be able to blend with a touch up. Try A Marvelous Carwash in Middletown, they don't look like much but every car we've taken there has come back with a better than showroom shine and they recently used touch-up paint (we provided) to fix a bumper blmeish in our Lancer, if you didn't know it was there you would never notice. I plan to take the lil car there in the Spring for a clean-up.

You did not read.

I explained things from my perspective because I was not provided any further information from them. With my mother's Matrix they kept saying that there was nothing wrong until the point where I was able to pinpoint the source of the smell and the cause and only then did they offer to look into it and, yes, they did shampoo the carpets.

I did not blast the dealership publicly (until I posted here) and did not fill out any surveys suggesting they were anything less than stellar. The reviews I quoted were from BEFORE when I was beyond pleased with how they took car of me. I wanted to show them that I am what is known as a 'promoter guest'. The best kind. And I was displeased with my recent experience.

I sent this message to them and them alone. Their lack of response after a week led me to followup with them and post here.

I do not want a new car. I just want my car cleaned and the scuff marks removed. I'd do it myself if I had the ability to do so right now.

i too hgave the chirp but since my best friend works at a toyota dealer a a tech the A techs said there is no fixed part for the pump yet. when it comes it he will let me know since all the part #s are identical still. my dealer iwent to was fantastic and many people i am friends with go there on the regular for service and for purchase they have very polite considerate professional business people.

i can understand your frustration. but again like stated take a deep breath. id call up the dealer ask to talk to the head or ownhanchoer of the dealer. tell him what happened hand how you are disappointed in the service in short terms. and say id like the ding taken out and the scuffs to be buffed out. if they cant be buffed out. please either have the painter at the dealer or any body shop they use to either recoat the clear or give you a new hood if its that terrible which im sure i would do the same thing.

best bet is if you go in with a cool head and say id like this done and this done. im sure they would accommodate you if not then call Corp. and say the dealer is doing nothing for me and damaged my car due to negligence thats my best advice.

Sorry to bump an old thread.

Did you get the scuff marks removed? What about the door ding?

I can see the dealer claiming the ding was there when you brought it to them. It's your word against theirs that it happened while it was in their care.

can't say to a certainty,however,i suspect the dealers MAY not be getting compensated for warranty work performed right away from corporate.IF this is so,it my explain,why they really don't care,and act indifferent...just sayiin'

why should he care if he pissed them off? they didn't mind takin' his money!
$25,000 or better! IF he has to deal with indifference,then corporate NEEDS to take a look at that! he has a right to deserve to be treated with a measure of respect. he chose to spend money for a product with them,and he should have his warranty concerns taken care of too as timely as is possible by the dealership! after all,what f**king asshole would treat a customer that way just because he has legitimate concerns over his $25,000 car? i'm glad i am not any where near these "'clowns",because i would cook 'em with toyota corporate,and the bbb...just sayin'

I read most but not all of this thread. That huge email is a nightmare for the recipient. I would have kept it straight and to the point. It's not a court case and there is just too much info.

State the issue, request the remedy. Then, balls in their court.
The way you did it, this woman is probably hiding under her desk.

sometimes "being diplomatic" doesn't work! stronger measures may be in order!
just sayin'