bad dealers

[ftb87]

Is their a location where we could list very incompetent dealer? I would hate to see if anyone purchase or took their truck/car to this dealership.



Frank

 

[roadranger]

Yeah, go to www.dodgeram.org



On the left side you'll see a button for 'dealer survey'. Make your entry, and BLAST the stealer!

 

[ftb87]

Thanks for the information! Hopefully everyone will read it or this will happen :-{} to you. Life is too short to :-{} about problems.



I was wondering if I could post the dealers name here?

 

[illflem]

By all means post it

 

[1tuffram]

Yes please post thier name and what happened. Inquiring minds of Denver area members NEED to know!!

 

[mediccummin]

dealers are lurking

Yes Please post your poor dealer, see if you get a phone call like I did. I posted my poor dealer many times (Crown Dodge of Ventura Ca. ). Then one day I get a phone call from my service manager cussing me up and down that I have no right posting my feelings on the internet. Thats why I have'nt posted in awhile. Now it is time to speak up there will be more to come on this later. :--) :--) :--) :--) :--) :--)

 

[1tuffram]

Re: dealers are lurking

Originally posted by mediccummin

Yes Please post your poor dealer, see if you get a phone call like I did. I posted my poor dealer many times (Crown Dodge of Ventura Ca. ). Then one day I get a phone call from my service manager cussing me up and down that I have no right posting my feelings on the internet. Thats why I have'nt posted in awhile. Now it is time to speak up there will be more to come on this later. :--) :--) :--) :--) :--) :--)

Did you ask him if he would still say the same thing if you had posted about out-standing and excellent service from his shop



I kind of had the same thing happen years ago when I had some service work done (supposedly done) at Grizzly Auto in Missoula, MT. Went to another dealer to have the repairs acutally done. Wrote a letter to DC customer service. DC sent the letter to the service manager at Grizzly Auto and told him to handle it. He called me up and proceeded to chew me out for taking the matter to another dealer and DC before tring to resolve the isuue with them first. He asked why, I said you have the letter in your hand, read it and find out. I told him why would I go back after the lack of competence from their first showing, was something going to change and all of a sudden they where going to be competent and know what they where doing?? He did not like my response and hung-up!! Oh well, I warned him whenever opportunity came (like now) I would tell people about his ****-poor service dept.

 

[illflem]

1tuffram, one thing good about Grizzly is they don't screw up the work they do, they just don't do it and say they did. Avoid them even in an emergency.

 

[1tuffram]

Originally posted by illflem

1tuffram, one thing good about Grizzly is they don't screw up the work they do, they just don't do it and say they did. Avoid them even in an emergency.

When I lived in Missoula I heard many similar stories from people at work about Grizzly, either did not do the said repairs or you went back multiple times for them to attempt and fix something. Also heard stories of vehicles leaving the service dept with damages it never entered the shop with (cracked windshield, scratches, dents, etc), of coarse they deny it and say it was that way when they got it. For these reasons I drove the 240 mile round trip to Dave Smith to have all service work done. Dave Smith was not perfect, caught them once saying (and writing on a work order slip) they did work and replaced parts that they never did. I had an oil leak where that silicon type hose that connects the turbo drain tube to the fitting at the bottom of the engine block area. I drove over for them to verify the problem. They ordered all sorts of parts (when all I needed was that rubber/silicon hose). I drove back over again when parts came in. They finally got my 8am appoint in the shop very late in the afternoon. They finished right at closing and pulled my truck out and closed-up shop before I could inspect. It was dark out so I could not see. The next day I noticed NONE of the parts had been changed and the oil leak remained. I called them up a few days later and said nothing had been done even though my work order slip showed all these parts (gave them the part #'s) and larbor time units for performing this supposed work. They had to call me back over it and said "on the shop copy the tech made a note and said he found no oil leak and no parts/repairs where needed" I informed them the oil leak was very real and questioned why they wrote they had replaced this stuff when they hadn't. I made a snide comment about I bet they where going to turn it in to DC and try and collect $$ for services they never did. The service guy said they could re-schedule another appointment for them to see if I really had an oil leak and they would have to re-order the parts again if they determined it necessary (what happened to the parts they supposedly installed just a few days before? was told they had already sent them back to the factory since they where not used). I said 2 more trips out there (one to inspect and order parts and another to come back and install the parts) for a stinking hose I could get at an auto parts store for a fraction of the fuel cost and 2 wasted days to travel over. I went to Cummins NW and got a piece of the correct hose for around $10 and cut it to size. No more oil leak. Guess even the best of 'em can be decitful at times





PS: I never had the opportunity, but I heard some favorable feed back on the boys up the road in Ronan. A whole lot closer than Dave Smith. I even heard Ronan would under sell Dave Smith on truck purchases if you brought in a quote from Dave Smith. Probably the BEST all round service I ever recieved was from Dee Motors in Anaconda. It's a drive and takes them a long time to get parts, but I never had to go back and have something done twice. They always fixed it the first time. And not so strange, they where not a 5 screw dealer... just a no star dealer turning out good work and a sence of what customer service is all about.

 

[Thomas]

Crown Dodge of Ventura, CA

Ahhh yes mediccummin—this is the same Crown Dodge of Ventura, CA that threatened me with cancellation of my warranty for altering my truck. As I sat next to the service writers booth complaining about low lift pump pressure I was told that my warranty could be cancelled because I had installed two of Ray's banjo bolts—an install that allowed me to discover the low pressure problem.



Crown Dodge of Ventura, CA will never see another cent of my money.

 

[DKGross]

The mechanics/technitions are who we should follow

All,



It comes down to the mechanics in the Denver area. I bought my truck from the dealer in the college town just north west of Denver. I originally had it serviced by what was then Broadway Dodge - that dealer became a John Elway Dealer and it moved but a new Broadway Dodge appeared. Go figure that one out. Anyway my truck was serviced at the original location until two things happened - I started working in Boulder and the original moved to the south end of Denver.



So I took my truck to the dealer I bought it from and found out the mechanic was not as knowledgeable about diesels as I needed. I was so frustrated I checked with DC and found out that although there are 5 star qualifications most dealers get the rating (for sales) so it means very little. Especially to those like us who have diesels. But I also found out that there are other ratings that DC uses. To make a long story short I was recommended to another JE dealer about a mile from the house. So I tried them with a problem I was about to take to Cummins. It was in an earlier post. The problem was my mileage had dropped by 50% to around 7 towing. Yes I checked and replaced the IAT, etc. The problem was found by one mechanic at JE, a good ole boy that knows diesels, it was a pin hole leak in the waste gate. He found it when others including those at his dealership could not.



Therefore, even more important than service managers the mechanics are who we all should follow from one dealer to another. So find a good mechanic and treat them like gold.



As a side note, Bill K trains people not the garage so he recommends only people he has trained. Should be what we do in looking for mechanics for the rest of our vehicles.



I have no idea who or what Crown is, but my father was a service manager for a GM dealer for over 35 years and he would tell you the same things. We need both a service manager and mechanic and that is hard to do. But it can be done.



I am sure there are several good DIESEL mechanics in our area. Finding them is the hard part. BTW Cummins will reveal names too.

 

[ftb87]

The stealer was Castle Dodge. Castle Rock CO. I would avoid them!

 

[dewdo]

As I said in a previous post, look for a dealer that sells and installs mods such as the VA box etc. They might not be the greatest mechanics, but they aren't going to scream to Chrysler if you install an exhaust brake or VA box to get your warranty voided like Kendall Motors in Cottage Grove Oregon did to me recently. They also over charged me on replacing a lift pump that should have been done under warranty. I am taking that one to small claims court unless they come through with an out of court settlement before I file.



After a couple of trips around the US, I find the so called 5 star dealers are the ones that should be avoided. They get that rating for their profit, and there isn't much profit in warranty work!





Dewdo in the other Washington.