Joy ride behind your back. -NJ

[IloveBaldEagles]

Originally Posted by Logical

Yes.

They are actually suppose to let you know if they ever take your car out on a "test drive". YOU pay for the car, not them. I'd be furious if something I paid for got taken out on joy rides without me knowing anything about it, especially since the OP's got damaged.

I'll stand by and say it again. No.

We do not know if there was ever a joy ride. We do not know how or where it got damaged and by whom. Could be dealer, could be OP. Could be OP.. I used to work for a service department and most customers only notice damage to their car after it leaves the dealership. Why? because there are people out there who would blame anyone and anything to get it for free. A lot of people come in with minor freckles on their vehicles and we would point them out to them just so they know, because we know if we did not it would look 10x bigger after their car got serviced.

Paranoia. Paranoia everywhere. I still stand by what I said, the dealership is not to be blamed.

And just because of paranoid customers, innocent until proven guilty.

[thill]

Originally Posted by Sekal

I'll stand by and say it again. No.

We do not know if there was ever a joy ride. We do not know how or where it got damaged and by whom. Could be dealer, could be OP. Could be OP.. I used to work for a service department and most customers only notice damage to their car after it leaves the dealership. Why? because there are people out there who would blame anyone and anything to get it for free. A lot of people come in with minor freckles on their vehicles and we would point them out to them just so they know, because we know if we did not it would look 10x bigger after their car got serviced.

Paranoia. Paranoia everywhere. I still stand by what I said, the dealership is not to be blamed.

And just because of paranoid customers, innocent until proven guilty.

Umm, even the dealership stated they had to "test drive" the car after replacing a tail light. Which is total BS. You don't need to "test drive" a car to replace a tail light.

[zaptorque]

Keep calling and bitching until this is resolved, completely unprofessional on the dealers part.

[gily25]

These threads always make me so angry because it keeps happening and there's no accountablilty. I'm so picky about the shops I pick now and I will wait hours if I need to while the service is performed until I trust the shop.

Definitely need to get in contact with the general manager (not service manager). Tell them that you want to settle this like businessmen but you're prepared to approach (whatever local news outlet in your area does stories on scams) or if you need to the Attorney General's Consumer protection office. Tell them you want it repaired (by a third party shop).

My story: When my Jeep was 6 months old (early 2006) I took it for some body work. I drove up to check on it, the freakin' top was down. Took pictures, they tell me it's another Jeep and I said, okay show me the paperwork for the other Special Edition you coincidentally had in the shop. It was not at fault so there was no money from me; I ended up with a $250 gift card for Jeep service and parts at any dealership. They hadn't re-installed the emblems and decals they removed so I had them pack 'em up and I did it myself.

[SVTSHC]

Originally Posted by Logical

Yes.

They are actually suppose to let you know if they ever take your car out on a "test drive". YOU pay for the car, not them. I'd be furious if something I paid for got taken out on joy rides without me knowing anything about it, especially since the OP's got damaged.

Sekal is correct, service centers are not required to inform a customer of road tests. Road tests should be expected, they're part of the quality control process. It's how you prevent comebacks for concerns that could have been uncovered the first time the car was in.

Say a vehicle is brought into the shop to have a bulb replaced. Customer has bad control arm bushings but hasn't noticed the vehicle feels like it's floating. If the customer got into an accident because of said bushings and decided to sue the service center for not letting her know (which they'd have had to road test it to do) they would win the lawsuit.

Originally Posted by thill

Umm, even the dealership stated they had to "test drive" the car after replacing a tail light. Which is total BS. You don't need to "test drive" a car to replace a tail light.

See above.

[SVTSHC]

Btw all of this could have been avoided with a "walk around" sheet.

[n2oinferno]

Originally Posted by Sekal

Paranoia. Paranoia everywhere. I still stand by what I said, the dealership is not to be blamed.

And just because of paranoid customers, innocent until proven guilty.

You're right that it might have been OP's fault and they didn't notice. But it might not as well. I've come to notice a few dings here and there on my vehicles that I don't remember having before, but something larger would stick out since I go over the car at least once a week while washing or whatever. You're assuming the OP doesn't do something similar.

Here's the problem. Paranoia exists because dealerships and service departments have put themselves in the position that a lot of people, especially enthusiasts more involved in their vehicles, do not trust them on the whole. It's their own damn fault, really. Stop fucking over your customers, establish a base of trust, and there won't be any more paranoia. Go ahead and ask me what happened when they took my car on an unauthorized "test drive" after they told me to come pick it up. I still have the pictures.

Originally Posted by SVTSHC

Btw all of this could have been avoided with a "walk around" sheet.

+1
The better service stations I've been to do this. And it's never a bad idea for the customer to look over their vehicle before they drop it off somewhere.

[riaadiculous]

Yeah that's me.. lol

[Rustyspoon]

When you drop it off, walk around the car with your camera phone. Repeat when you pick it up. Then if you notice damage later you can check your footage and see who done it.

[WolfsFang]

Originally Posted by Rustyspoon

When you drop it off, walk around the car with your camera phone. Repeat when you pick it up. Then if you notice damage later you can check your footage and see who done it.

If she took it to the mahwah service center, which I know she did because the Ramsey dealer doesn't do any repairs or anything along those lines. The service center does there own walk around and write anything down so they can use that against her.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[Meehow86]

Originally Posted by Sekal

I'll stand by and say it again. No.

We do not know if there was ever a joy ride. We do not know how or where it got damaged and by whom. Could be dealer, could be OP. Could be OP.. I used to work for a service department and most customers only notice damage to their car after it leaves the dealership. Why? because there are people out there who would blame anyone and anything to get it for free. A lot of people come in with minor freckles on their vehicles and we would point them out to them just so they know, because we know if we did not it would look 10x bigger after their car got serviced.

Paranoia. Paranoia everywhere. I still stand by what I said, the dealership is not to be blamed.

And just because of paranoid customers, innocent until proven guilty.

And right there is where you lost all credibility.

Originally Posted by SVTSHC

Say a vehicle is brought into the shop to have a bulb replaced. Customer has bad control arm bushings but hasn't noticed the vehicle feels like it's floating. If the customer got into an accident because of said bushings and decided to sue the service center for not letting her know (which they'd have had to road test it to do) they would win the lawsuit.

Yeah.... that's total bs. You can't win a lawsuit that way. If the service center doesn't know there's an issue with the bushing since they didn't test drive it then how the hell are they supposed to tell the customer? By your very flawed logic I can go to the doctor with a broken foot, get it fixed, and then sue for malpractice because I ended up having a tumor no one knew about.

[Razz]

The problem is:

There is no way to tell if the OP is lying.

He had a tail light fixed and never went to look at it at the rear of the car?

Damage on vehicle is offsite.

People make false claims all the time.

Rule # 1

Walk around the car when you drop it off with the service manager.
Have them write down any damage to car or note there isn't any damage.

Then when you pick it up, examine your car.

If there is a problem, NEVER NEVER take it off the lot!

Once you leave the dealership, there is no way of telling who did the damage to the car.

[M-17]

Originally Posted by Razz

The problem is:

There is no way to tell if the OP is lying.

He had a tail light fixed and never went to look at it at the rear of the car?

Damage on vehicle is offsite.

People make false claims all the time.

Rule # 1

Walk around the car when you drop it off with the service manager.
Have them write down any damage to car or note there isn't any damage.

Then when you pick it up, examine your car.

If there is a problem, NEVER NEVER take it off the lot!

Once you leave the dealership, there is no way of telling who did the damage to the car.

I don't get what goes through some minds, but that is some bs to take a car for ride when it doesn't need. Anyway the dealership I go to always checks my car and double checks with me that we're are in agreement of any scratches, dents, or miscellaneous damage that was there prior they perform any service.

[SVTSHC]

Originally Posted by Meehow86

Yeah.... that's total bs. You can't win a lawsuit that way. If the service center doesn't know there's an issue with the bushing since they didn't test drive it then how the hell are they supposed to tell the customer? By your very flawed logic I can go to the doctor with a broken foot, get it fixed, and then sue for malpractice because I ended up having a tumor no one knew about.

First, why are you so hostile. Check your tone.

Second, that's not BS and the very same thing happened to the previous service center I worked for. They're supposed to know because they're SUPPOSED to road test every vehicle after EVERY service. It's part of the quality control process, I've sat through class after class where they drilled the quality control process into our heads to avoid situations like that.

A doctors office and an automotive service center are at two very different ends of a spectrum. They aren't the same just because it's technically a form of customer service. When a vehicle is brought in, one of the requirements is a multipoint inspection. A multipoint inspection isn't just a visual inspection, part of it entails alerting customers to future concerns and a present concern that weren't mentioned. That's the job of the technician and the service writer; any monkey can do what he's told but someone in customer service is expected to go above and beyond that.



I've got experience in this, and have been working in service for BMW for over half a decade and spent 3 years prior to that as a Ford Technician. What's your experience Mr. Aficionado?