As I said, the letter explains it all. Think I should pull the race card?😉
May 3, 2006
Jim B****, General Manager
**** Commerce Parkway
***, IL
Dear Sir:
I brought my 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES into your dealership on May 2nd, 2006 because my turn signals were not working.
Later that afternoon, I received a call from your Service Advisor, Tom ****** and he advised me that I needed a new multi-function switch at a cost of approximately $288.00 to which I agreed. At this time, Mr. ****** told me they looked over my car and they had some ?recommendations? that they suggested I have done.
The first item he mentioned was new windshield wipers. I was absolutely flabbergasted because I had replaced those windshield wipers on Thursday, April 27th, just five days before! I told Mr. ****** as such and asked him how they determined that I needed new windshield wipers. He stated that they checked them and they were ?chattering and streaking which indicates replacement?. I seriously doubt that anyone checked out these windshield wipers because I had checked them shortly after replacement and as you know, we have had a lot of rain in the past five days which gave me ample opportunity to see that they were working just fine. To say I was livid was understatement and I advised Mr. ****** that he had lost all credibility with me and I could not trust anything further he had to say. He then went on to say that he saw a part (obviously a part of the old windshield wiper I mistakenly left on the car when I replaced them) on the cowl screen. To make matters worse, he continued to insist that I needed to replace my wipers after our discussion!
I work in ****** ****** unit, which serves as a technical resource for our Auto ***** Staff and our affiliate body shops across the country for repair procedures of all types. As such, we have an extensive library of all manufacturer manuals and repair procedures, both printed and electronic, as well as contacts with all vehicle manufacturer engineers for repair problems. I pulled the 2000 Dodge Intrepid Service manual from the Daimler-Chrysler Corporation in our library to see what the labor times and procedures are for replacement of this multi-function switch. Much to my surprise, the procedure to replace this switch only pays .6 of an hour for customer pay and .4 for warranty! Replacing this switch involves removing a couple of screws from the steering column shroud and removing several screws that secure the switch. I then called back Mr. ****** to ask him how the labor times broke down for my bill. He advised me it was ?almost two hours? and later told me it was 1.7 hours. I asked him how they came up with 1.7 hours and he said it was a difficult job and that is what it took. I told him of my findings and he told me I didn?t know where I got my information, but that it was incorrect. I then advised him that I got my information from Daimler-Chrysler and he stood by his labor price. I have attached the pages that I copied from the Daimler-Chrysler Service Manual to support my statements.
I have been in the auto repair business for nearly 30 years. My father had a medium size repair shop when I was growing up and I worked at his shop and at various dealerships as a mechanic and I was certified as a Ford technician back in 1986. I have completed many ASA and I-CAR certification classes and I have also worked as a Service Manager, Body Shop Manager, and Service Advisor at Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and Chevrolet Dealerships all over the country so I understand how things work in a dealership.
However, whenever I was put into an embarrassing situation like the one above, I apologized for the miscommunication between myself and technician and backed off. Yet in this case, Mr. ****** continued to try to persuade me that I needed new windshield wipers and that the labor time he quoted me was correct!
I am very disappointed with the service I received and with the way this whole situation was handled.
I have bought THREE cars (1998 Chrysler Town & Country LXI, 2001 Mazda Miata, and my current vehicle, the 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES) from your dealership in the last 5 years and was planning on trading my Intrepid this summer but if this is how your Service Department treats loyal customers I do not plan on returning to your facility. Customer loyalty is hard to attain in such as competitive atmosphere. There are many dealers in ******* that would love to have my business.
A quick tabulation in my head indicates that I have spent in excess of $45,000 at your dealership in the last five years. I do not mind paying a fair price for your service and goods, but when I feel that someone is blatantly and arrogantly trying to take advantage of me, I get extremely upset as I am sure you can understand.
I would appreciate a response, but given Mr. ******?s behavior and lack of customer service skills, I do not expect one.
Thank you,
Jemcam
cc: Larry *****, Sales Department
Mike *****, Sales Manaqer
John *****, Service Manager
Tom *****, Service Advisor
*******, IL Better Business Bureau
Attachements: 2000 Service Manual, LHS, 300M, Concorde and Intrepid, Daimler-Chrsyler Corporation, 4 pages
**********************************
Update 5/5/06:
The Service Director called me last night and said they were sending me a check for a full refund. The really weird thing is, he did not want to discuss it. It's like he just wanted to call me and tell me he was sending a refund and get off the phone.
I guess he had a lot of calls to make......
Doesn't make any difference, I will not be returning. In the future, I'll go to the independent guy I've had good luck with before. Don't ask me why I went to the stealership to begin with, I guess I just wanted it done as quickly as possible. I've learned my lesson.
May 3, 2006
Jim B****, General Manager
**** Commerce Parkway
***, IL
Dear Sir:
I brought my 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES into your dealership on May 2nd, 2006 because my turn signals were not working.
Later that afternoon, I received a call from your Service Advisor, Tom ****** and he advised me that I needed a new multi-function switch at a cost of approximately $288.00 to which I agreed. At this time, Mr. ****** told me they looked over my car and they had some ?recommendations? that they suggested I have done.
The first item he mentioned was new windshield wipers. I was absolutely flabbergasted because I had replaced those windshield wipers on Thursday, April 27th, just five days before! I told Mr. ****** as such and asked him how they determined that I needed new windshield wipers. He stated that they checked them and they were ?chattering and streaking which indicates replacement?. I seriously doubt that anyone checked out these windshield wipers because I had checked them shortly after replacement and as you know, we have had a lot of rain in the past five days which gave me ample opportunity to see that they were working just fine. To say I was livid was understatement and I advised Mr. ****** that he had lost all credibility with me and I could not trust anything further he had to say. He then went on to say that he saw a part (obviously a part of the old windshield wiper I mistakenly left on the car when I replaced them) on the cowl screen. To make matters worse, he continued to insist that I needed to replace my wipers after our discussion!
I work in ****** ****** unit, which serves as a technical resource for our Auto ***** Staff and our affiliate body shops across the country for repair procedures of all types. As such, we have an extensive library of all manufacturer manuals and repair procedures, both printed and electronic, as well as contacts with all vehicle manufacturer engineers for repair problems. I pulled the 2000 Dodge Intrepid Service manual from the Daimler-Chrysler Corporation in our library to see what the labor times and procedures are for replacement of this multi-function switch. Much to my surprise, the procedure to replace this switch only pays .6 of an hour for customer pay and .4 for warranty! Replacing this switch involves removing a couple of screws from the steering column shroud and removing several screws that secure the switch. I then called back Mr. ****** to ask him how the labor times broke down for my bill. He advised me it was ?almost two hours? and later told me it was 1.7 hours. I asked him how they came up with 1.7 hours and he said it was a difficult job and that is what it took. I told him of my findings and he told me I didn?t know where I got my information, but that it was incorrect. I then advised him that I got my information from Daimler-Chrysler and he stood by his labor price. I have attached the pages that I copied from the Daimler-Chrysler Service Manual to support my statements.
I have been in the auto repair business for nearly 30 years. My father had a medium size repair shop when I was growing up and I worked at his shop and at various dealerships as a mechanic and I was certified as a Ford technician back in 1986. I have completed many ASA and I-CAR certification classes and I have also worked as a Service Manager, Body Shop Manager, and Service Advisor at Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and Chevrolet Dealerships all over the country so I understand how things work in a dealership.
However, whenever I was put into an embarrassing situation like the one above, I apologized for the miscommunication between myself and technician and backed off. Yet in this case, Mr. ****** continued to try to persuade me that I needed new windshield wipers and that the labor time he quoted me was correct!
I am very disappointed with the service I received and with the way this whole situation was handled.
I have bought THREE cars (1998 Chrysler Town & Country LXI, 2001 Mazda Miata, and my current vehicle, the 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES) from your dealership in the last 5 years and was planning on trading my Intrepid this summer but if this is how your Service Department treats loyal customers I do not plan on returning to your facility. Customer loyalty is hard to attain in such as competitive atmosphere. There are many dealers in ******* that would love to have my business.
A quick tabulation in my head indicates that I have spent in excess of $45,000 at your dealership in the last five years. I do not mind paying a fair price for your service and goods, but when I feel that someone is blatantly and arrogantly trying to take advantage of me, I get extremely upset as I am sure you can understand.
I would appreciate a response, but given Mr. ******?s behavior and lack of customer service skills, I do not expect one.
Thank you,
Jemcam
cc: Larry *****, Sales Department
Mike *****, Sales Manaqer
John *****, Service Manager
Tom *****, Service Advisor
*******, IL Better Business Bureau
Attachements: 2000 Service Manual, LHS, 300M, Concorde and Intrepid, Daimler-Chrsyler Corporation, 4 pages
**********************************
Update 5/5/06:
The Service Director called me last night and said they were sending me a check for a full refund. The really weird thing is, he did not want to discuss it. It's like he just wanted to call me and tell me he was sending a refund and get off the phone.
I guess he had a lot of calls to make......
Doesn't make any difference, I will not be returning. In the future, I'll go to the independent guy I've had good luck with before. Don't ask me why I went to the stealership to begin with, I guess I just wanted it done as quickly as possible. I've learned my lesson.
