Unpleasant dealer experience
04-14-2008, 12:26 PM
#21
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
The service writer's attitude was definitely uncalled for. That is definitely poor customer service.
My brother in law was a service writer for Performance Ford here in Omaha, and he was their top service writer for many months. He got a survey back that was less than 100%, and was reprimanded. He told me that good service writers were fired for getting just 3 surveys back that were less than 100% positive. It's a high pressure job, but still, you can't take that out on the customer.
My brother in law was a service writer for Performance Ford here in Omaha, and he was their top service writer for many months. He got a survey back that was less than 100%, and was reprimanded. He told me that good service writers were fired for getting just 3 surveys back that were less than 100% positive. It's a high pressure job, but still, you can't take that out on the customer.
04-14-2008, 12:57 PM
#22
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: WA
Posts: 840
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
ORIGINAL: Scotts197GT
Had an eye-opening experience at Stillwater Ford (Stillwater MN.) last week. Took my '05 GT (27K miles)in for the airbag recall and a few other items. Car is still under warranty. I had only taken it one other time and it was to the same dealer. Then I had parking brake cables replaced, interiorrear seat side panel re-installed, andA-piller and bellhousing rattles "addressed".I had what I thought was a geat experienceduring thatfirst time. Tech adviser was pleasant. I had asked him to not take it for a test drive and he understandably explained that for rattles they prefer to do the test drive. I acknowledged that but said that if rattle(s) came back I could bring it in again at some other time. Shortly after this appointment I got a survey from Ford asking me about my service experience. The bellhousing rattle did come back almost immediately, so I made mention of this on survey. I noted on it everything else was addressed and that experience was very positve.
Last week I pulled into same dealer's lot, and drove slowly by a long line of beautiful 'Stangs including a Shelby GT and a black Bullit..thinking trade-in thoughts, or, perhaps waiting until '09 re-design. I pull into service garage and was greated by same tech advisor. We started to talk about what work I wanted done, first Airbag recall, then a seat seam rip, and then the bellhousing rattle...
At that moment the advisor's demeanor totally changed. His face flushed and he got noticeably upset. He stated in a accusitory, and hostile way"you didn't allow us to test drive it last time and test for rattle last time you were in". He then said "that was on the survey you sent in and it reflected poorly on ME!". Mind you, survey I sent in was overall positive, and it was truthfull.
I was pretty floored by his attitude and told him so. He didn't back off though and then said "you didn't even buy your car from us, you bought it from another dealer" - as if this made any difference! (I bought the car from a dealer 80 miles away because in early '05Stillwater Ford couldn't get me a car I wanted without waiting at least several months.)
At this point I was becoming very angry and I thought it crazy to do any more business with this dealership. I left immediately. Though this experience was a shocker, and I've written off that dealer, there are others in the area I can buy a new 'Stang from... and maybe a new Edge?
When I drove off that lot I wasn't going back. Is this treatment by Ford for warranty service "normal"? I hope not. For the past 25 years I've bought only Hondas, andNissans. I WANT to buy American now. But...
Had an eye-opening experience at Stillwater Ford (Stillwater MN.) last week. Took my '05 GT (27K miles)in for the airbag recall and a few other items. Car is still under warranty. I had only taken it one other time and it was to the same dealer. Then I had parking brake cables replaced, interiorrear seat side panel re-installed, andA-piller and bellhousing rattles "addressed".I had what I thought was a geat experienceduring thatfirst time. Tech adviser was pleasant. I had asked him to not take it for a test drive and he understandably explained that for rattles they prefer to do the test drive. I acknowledged that but said that if rattle(s) came back I could bring it in again at some other time. Shortly after this appointment I got a survey from Ford asking me about my service experience. The bellhousing rattle did come back almost immediately, so I made mention of this on survey. I noted on it everything else was addressed and that experience was very positve.
Last week I pulled into same dealer's lot, and drove slowly by a long line of beautiful 'Stangs including a Shelby GT and a black Bullit..thinking trade-in thoughts, or, perhaps waiting until '09 re-design. I pull into service garage and was greated by same tech advisor. We started to talk about what work I wanted done, first Airbag recall, then a seat seam rip, and then the bellhousing rattle...
At that moment the advisor's demeanor totally changed. His face flushed and he got noticeably upset. He stated in a accusitory, and hostile way"you didn't allow us to test drive it last time and test for rattle last time you were in". He then said "that was on the survey you sent in and it reflected poorly on ME!". Mind you, survey I sent in was overall positive, and it was truthfull.
I was pretty floored by his attitude and told him so. He didn't back off though and then said "you didn't even buy your car from us, you bought it from another dealer" - as if this made any difference! (I bought the car from a dealer 80 miles away because in early '05Stillwater Ford couldn't get me a car I wanted without waiting at least several months.)
At this point I was becoming very angry and I thought it crazy to do any more business with this dealership. I left immediately. Though this experience was a shocker, and I've written off that dealer, there are others in the area I can buy a new 'Stang from... and maybe a new Edge?
When I drove off that lot I wasn't going back. Is this treatment by Ford for warranty service "normal"? I hope not. For the past 25 years I've bought only Hondas, andNissans. I WANT to buy American now. But...
Why did you post your experience in a technical forum? I think this question contributes to your thread, overall.
04-14-2008, 01:35 PM
#23
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 341
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
yeah well welcome to the list of unpleasent dealer visits. My passenger ambient lighting has yet to work on my car since i purchased it and i believe i have been in to have them fix it like 2-3 times. I plan on heading back up there later this week, to get them to do everything at once.
Also get this my front right tire is put on backwards. Talk about some stupid ****'s working at ford.
Also get this my front right tire is put on backwards. Talk about some stupid ****'s working at ford.
04-14-2008, 01:35 PM
#24
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Wheeling, IL
Posts: 3,748
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
Sorry to hear about the stealership crapping on you. However, wrong move ont he Survey. Honest or not.
Short story. I had similar rattles in my car, and they asked to take it on a test drive. Well, when I dropped me car off, when the porter took my car, and I was in a different room; I heard my car start,and then heard my car being revved to 4K+ RPM quite a few times. Then I saw my car being pulled out of the garage, on it's way to the oil change, and the porter peeled out. I let that one go.
So, I asked if I could go on this test drive for the rattles. They insisted I don't so they can get a proper analysis of the rattling. I said fine. So, 25 minutes after the test drive, 1/2 gallon of gas left, and tread all over the side of my car, they did not find any rattling. I stormed out. Even though the porters were dic*s, the service manager was very apologetic before my storming out, and was very nice overall. I wrote a 100 overall, and a 100 on each item in the survey.
Short story. I had similar rattles in my car, and they asked to take it on a test drive. Well, when I dropped me car off, when the porter took my car, and I was in a different room; I heard my car start,and then heard my car being revved to 4K+ RPM quite a few times. Then I saw my car being pulled out of the garage, on it's way to the oil change, and the porter peeled out. I let that one go.
So, I asked if I could go on this test drive for the rattles. They insisted I don't so they can get a proper analysis of the rattling. I said fine. So, 25 minutes after the test drive, 1/2 gallon of gas left, and tread all over the side of my car, they did not find any rattling. I stormed out. Even though the porters were dic*s, the service manager was very apologetic before my storming out, and was very nice overall. I wrote a 100 overall, and a 100 on each item in the survey.
04-14-2008, 01:43 PM
#25
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: League City, TX
Posts: 722
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
ORIGINAL: Novelty goat
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer. Between that, and you not wanting them to drive the car, I would have not wanted your business again. They tried to take care of you and you screwed them over. Sorry, but I am with the dealer on this one.
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer. Between that, and you not wanting them to drive the car, I would have not wanted your business again. They tried to take care of you and you screwed them over. Sorry, but I am with the dealer on this one.
your actions first on doing that survey were dumb to begin with but then you trumped yourself with "i don't really know how these survey's work anyways" bit. i'd be upset too if i was that service tech but i wouldn't have jumped down your throat. i would have just calmly told you to go to another dealership as your business was no longer welcome.
04-14-2008, 02:56 PM
#26
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location:
Posts: 378
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
ORIGINAL: 07AlloyGT
+1 for the most part on this one. anything less than 100% on those survey's is not good for anyone at ford. they take those things seriously and come down hard on dealerships.
ORIGINAL: Novelty goat
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer.
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer.
04-14-2008, 03:03 PM
#28
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: League City, TX
Posts: 722
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
ORIGINAL: EricM
What exactly does that mean? I find all these comments about how seriously they take these surveys stunning, because it seems like a day doesn't go by that I don't hear a horror story about some ******** at a dealer service department giving a customer the runaround. How are these people still doing business with a big Ford sign out front if there are actual consequences for their dickheadedness?
ORIGINAL: 07AlloyGT
+1 for the most part on this one. anything less than 100% on those survey's is not good for anyone at ford. they take those things seriously and come down hard on dealerships.
ORIGINAL: Novelty goat
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer.
Any negative on one of those surveys is an automatic "fail" for the dealer.
there's several reasons. first and foremost there's no reprocussion from the owner of the vehicle. either they don't follow up, take the survey, call ford, etc for their problems. they go somewhere else.
plus, for every goon that's fired, there's one that's hired. trying to keep the dealership clean is like keeping a house clean from dust. ford does take these things seriously when it comes to customer satisfaction on those survey's. when a customer gets involved and there needs to be some fixing done by ford, it might take a little time but you have to stay vigilant.
and for every bad experience that's noted and really had the spotlight put on them, there's more good experiences. read the forums and you'll see insider information about who the bad techs really are.
in the end there's 2 parties at fault. the OP for being so dumb as to think his car would be taken to a drag race when they needed to check out the rattle (someone suggested riding with the tech. what a great idea) and doing that survey thinking things would be rosey and then the service tech losing it. i still side more with the service tech because he did need to road test it and would have most likely heard the rattle come back. not only that but if you refuse the test and then give bad marks that the problem wasn't fixed only to come back and get it fixed again, man you're going to get some retribution from me.
04-14-2008, 03:12 PM
#29
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Southern California(Orange County)
Posts: 1,400
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
I had the same issue with a Dodge dealer...they did warranty work and 1 week later the part went bad again so when i got the survey I dinged them not knowing how much weight the survey carried. The service guy called me at home and caught an attitude with me about the survey so I immediately drove down there and we 'talked' about it. He explained how the survey worked and if I ever had issues with work he would personally handle the issue. I apologized for dinging him on the survey, he apologized for calling me at home and getting emotional.He took the car in for did some complimentary service plus ordered a new part and fixed my issue plus gave me a rental car for no charge.
Kinda sucks for the service guys that all surveys have to be positive because you can't please everyone all the time.
Kinda sucks for the service guys that all surveys have to be positive because you can't please everyone all the time.
04-14-2008, 03:21 PM
#30
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago Burbs
Posts: 775
RE: Unpleasant dealer experience
I don't even understand the point of those surveys. If you can't be truthful what's the point they might as well send you a survey with one question:
Were you happy with the service: Yes/No
That's what it amounts to so if you are truthful (this has nothing to do with the OP) and fill it out correctly then you get pissed on by the dealer. I've never seen people beg and plead so much when I bought my 08 over that survey, what I'd really like is a survey about the survey so I can tell Ford to shove them unless I can fill it out truthfully without getting someone reamed out about it.
Granted I gave my dealership a 100% score, but also wrote in the comment space al though in a couple places that was a lie and I don't like to lie but you are pretty much forced into if you want to maintain a good relationship with the dealer, which IMHO just isn't right.[:'(]
Were you happy with the service: Yes/No
That's what it amounts to so if you are truthful (this has nothing to do with the OP) and fill it out correctly then you get pissed on by the dealer. I've never seen people beg and plead so much when I bought my 08 over that survey, what I'd really like is a survey about the survey so I can tell Ford to shove them unless I can fill it out truthfully without getting someone reamed out about it.
Granted I gave my dealership a 100% score, but also wrote in the comment space al though in a couple places that was a lie and I don't like to lie but you are pretty much forced into if you want to maintain a good relationship with the dealer, which IMHO just isn't right.[:'(]