Bozo Service Department Of the Year Award Nominees

[DIESELMAN]

While installing my new BFG 315-70R17's on my truck, I noticed that the lower sway bar link bolt on the right side was broken. Didn't ever notice, but was obviously broken from day 1 or 2. I've not over extended the front, yet, and the break point and head shows signs of overtourque on installation.



Anyway, I took it to Diamond Dodge Sales and Lameness in Flagstaff, AZ. and requested they look at it and get the replacement parts in to repair it.



Gee, were just too busy, maybe you could leave it and we'll get it on the rack by thursday, maybe.



I asked why can't you walk outside and look?



Well, we have to have it up on the rack to see the suspension and only the service tech can do that, motioning to his service man with a coffee cup and 2 empty lifts in the bay.



But, the link is obvious if you just walk 15 feet and look at it, then you could get the parts ordered in and fix it when you put it on the lift if you really think you have too.



Well,, no, see, we have to put it on the lift, and it needs to be written up first, and we can't even look at it till Thursday or Friday, maybe. Just leave it ( today is Saturday) and we'll get to it.



Why can't you just walk out and look, it'll take 30 seconds.



Well,, thats not our policy, see, we have to have the tech get it on the rack ( puts more sugar in coffee) and write it up, then we'll order the parts, see, it'll take about a week or so.



I paid more for my truck than these clowns make in a year, and I paid cash. Wanna guess where I didn't buy my truck? Wanna guess where I'll never buy another truck? Wanna guess where I recommend everyone avoid? Wanna Know Why??



Diamond Dodge Service in Flagstaff AZ, Bozo of the Year Award goes to you hands down. ( their normal position of course )

 

[jryan11518]

LMAO. Sorry it had to happen, but it sounds like that service man was having a real good time (at your expense) pulling your chain. Better luck at your next dealer.

 

[D808]

Dieselman,

The replacement of that bolt sounds like only a five minute job! That dealer service manager may have been more interested in doing customer repairs that weren't needed than doing repairs that were. (Like selling unneeded $500 oil leak repairs to little old ladies). That happened to my Mother at a Buick dealer in Toledo, Ohio. They spilled used oil on the underframe of her car when changing the oil (intentionally I suspect), then told her that her car had an oil leak! Luckily she had me look at it before spending money for those bogus repairs. There WILL be a special place in hell for people that try to cheat the old folks!!!!

Federalman

 

[John_M]

DIESELMAN,



Your story pushed one of my hot bottons. It reminds me of some of the non-productive, incompetent service providers from various industries that I have encountered over the years. They spend more time making excuses about why something cannot be accomplished than they would have spent fixing the problem. Incredible!



John_M

 

[Dean Upson]

Dieselman,



I would have seen the owner/general manager or God and I would have made such a ruckus they probably would have thrown me out, but I would have had the attention of some potential customers. Sometimes it's not what you say, it how loud you say it, tell everyone in earshot what a bunch of lazy -------s they have loafing around in the service area.



Dean

 

[cdpsrjc]

Policy huh?

I have a few 'policies' of my own. First and foremost, I don't do business with companies that have policies against good customer service. I provide excellent customer service daily, and expect the same from all my service providers. If I don't get it, They see the back of my shirt one last time.

 

[DIESELMAN]

Wait... . Theres More... .



I talked to the freak at the parts counter, seems that, well, no we don't stock that part, AND ITS NOT A WARRANTY PART (??) ANYWAY, and you have to BUY the entire link assembly for that bolt, but its ONLY $115. 00 ( plus Flagstaff tax of 8. 099% ).



I'm going to Back to my Purchase dealer on monday in Tempe, dollars to donuts they have the part and none of the hassle.



Hell, I've given them over $120,000 in the last 6 years, they better



Thats $120,000 that Diamond Dodge in Flagstaff Arizona DID NOT get because of the Morons they employ there. This includes the Sales People who don't even know their product either.



Good thing this doesnt p**s me off, ain't it

 

[rbattelle]

This is slightly off topic (not service department, directly), but last weekend I was told by a dealer in NY that "the turbo-diesel is not available in the 2500".



Later, when I commented that I wanted a 6-speed, he replied "oh, yeah, the 6-speed automatic".

 

[Rattler]

Sounds like the parts counter guy at my local stealer. He told me that by buying parts from cummins that i was buying off-brand parts.

 

[RichR]

I know the feeling.

A year and half after buying a CTD the service writer says "WE don't work on Diesels,we dont even sell them"!!I guess that was a good thing.

I drove 223 miles one way to Scheid Diesel.

RichR

 

[DPKetchum]

Well some of us guys in service do understand. I spent 25 years as a service adviser/shop foreman etc and the attitude of techs and some shop owners floored ME! As time went on it has gotton much worse. Now techs dont take offence but the ATTITUDE of lots of them this last 10years really suXXX. The dealer prinicals etc would back them because they would quit in a flash if not catered too or guaranteed big bucks. It made my 12hour 5 day a week job really STRESSFUL! I didnt always know the answer but I worked hard and pushed hard. Knew when I was getting bs from eaither end and knew how to usually take care of a customer but the bs that sometimes went on behind the scenes was harder to deal with. I've been face to face with techs many a time and customer didnt have a clue to the scene that was occuring in his behalf. Most shops today are tails wagging the dog outfits. There was a time that NO coffee drinking/eating or sitting on a stool WAS allowed in service drive and if a lift was empty and it just took a quick look it happened!Now lots of young service writers just take orders and dont have initiative to make things happen becuse some one will override if he hurts a techs feelings etc. I could write a book on this stuff and how times have gotton worse in this aspect. Enough for now.

 

[jmtandem]

customer service

Too bad customer service is so hard to find. Getting treated better at a McDonalds that has indifferent service from a kid that makes minimum wage and has his girlfriend on his mind than a place where employees make a nice wage and customers spend tens of thousands of dollars is incredible. Of course, you could go to your airport and compare the customer service that you receive there as a valued paying customer expecting some modicum of service as you stand in line waiting your turn to prove to somebody you are not a bad guy. All things are relative, still I hate dealing with service departments. Last year I dropped off my '91. 5 to get a new fuel injection pump and they asked me if I wanted their porter to give me a ride to work. I replied that I brought my bicycle (it was in the back of the truck and I was getting it out to ride during this conversation) and would ride it the couple miles to work. They found that amusing and made some comments about it. So after a few minutes of the bantering I asked them how far they could ride a bike! That pretty much ended the conversation.

 

[BigUgly]

I believe that the quality of the service can usually be tracked back to the attitudes of one person. There is usually one person in the shop that's been there a while and sets the tone for the rest of the shop. About 2 years ago, I had an oil-pressure sending unit go TU. Took it to the dealer (had it towed, wasn't sure it was the sender) and started talking with them. There was this one service manager or something that looked yonger then I was (23). We were talking about what happened and he walked over to the truck and poped the hood. Took one look at the oil filter and said, "Oops, looks like it's your filter. We're not going to warrenty it. We only warrenty Mopar filters. Tough Luck. " He said the last part with a little smirk. My gut reaction was to get real ****** quick. But instead, I just grinned. I "escorted" him over to his boss (the one really stand-up guy). Well Junior proceded to tell his boss that since I didn't have a Mopar filter, then that was it. Well, I've know the stand-up guy from back when he was my first parts-guy and he knows me. He just looked at me with a puzzled look and asked what kind of filter I had. With a big s**t-eating grin, I say "Fleetguard". Well the old guy gets a quick grin and then procedes to take the new guy all over the parts and service sections getting him to tell them all. It pretty much made the parts Gal's day. We finally told him that Fleetguard makes the filters for Cummins, which supplies the filters to MOPAR. If Junior had been the boss and not inclined to listen he could have voided my warrenty work at that point. It's really good if you can get a dealer that's got a real stand-up mechanic in charge of it.

Josiah

 

[Pit Bull]

I hope I never can tell these types of stories about my new dealership. When I bought my new truck I questioned them about service and what they covered under warranty. Even asked about lift pump replacement. My salesman had been a service writer and has been with the dealership for many years. Most employees were veterans. My first oil change experience was good and I was able to watch the work. They also had no problem using my Stratapore filter that I supplied. I agree that the service you get depends on a lot of factors and we are part of that puzzle.

 

[DPKetchum]

The problem i've been seeing and seein real up close is that the stand up guy thats been at it for years from service manager to service writers(including some techs) is that they are(have been)getting ousted from their postions. Several i've known,myself in one dealer is the removing the really sharpe older guys for young think they know it alls becuse of MONEY. I've known service managers who came early(4 and 5 in the morning)stayed until 8 and 9 at night to set up systems,pricing guides,gross profit percents,warranty claims etc. Let go when it got smooth and area grew and the money in their pockets grew for the young YES men that would work for 1/2 the money or less. I worked 14 years for a very large multi product outfit that in a year chopped many heads some while on vacation(one guy had'nt taken one in 6 years)for really young upstarts. This outfit was threatend with age type lawsuit. Hard to prove in this state. These outfits generaly see failing csi scores and lots of unhappy customers and in meetings scream to get csi back up and in private say dont worry profit is higher then every. The only time this isnt the case is techs for the most part. I've recenty seen a mass quiting of techs at one store(16)because of $4,000 signing bounus at the one down the road. Come stay 90 days get four grand as well as a assured 45 hour pay week at 22. 00 to 28. 00 dollars hour. I did have a store approach me because they said they had a bunch of young guys scewing up big time. I stated what i had made in past,they rolled their eyes and then informed me they wanted 6 days a week and some nights as well. I said no way and that was one of the reasons they only had these none automotive inexperianced guys. Their still running same way last i heard. I telling you i could write a book over last 25years working in dealers. Enough said again

 

[jmtandem]

unpleasant service; profits

I realize dealerships need to make money or they will not be around for the next time you need something. But a profit driven motive to the exclusion of customer satisfaction is really suicide. Most customers just won't stand for crappy attitudes. They go someplace else. Virtually every Getrag manual transmission in the first gens failed that I know of, most at 80,000 or less miles. The dealership even admitted that they were a high failure rate item. Mine did, too. They would not warranty it because the miles were slightly over (2000 miles over warranty) warranty even though manual transmissions generally fail over time and miles. They knew that they transmission had been going for some time even while still under warranty. My mistake was not getting on it right away and insisting that it be fixed. To give a customer that bought more than one vehicle at this dealership the impression that they are not looking out for the customer; rather the amount of warranty work that they turn in to the factory each month leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I realize they can't fix cars for free all the time, but for items with a known high failure rate, why not give the customer at least a 50 % break in the repair cost. Customers might even come back and drop $35,000 in a new CTD dually quad cab or they can go buy something else. Who is really the long term loser, the unhappy customer or the dealership?

 

[cdpsrjc]

We must remember we are INFORMED consumers. There are many who are not and will only trust the dealer to perform work, even after warranty expires. Example... my boss. Owns a Lexus. Dealer told him all repairs had to be performed at dealership. He bought his last set of tires from them. Buys all replacement parts for all his vehicles from respective dealerships. Even for his kids firebird. Dealer ONLY.

 

[D808]

About a year and a half ago, I took my '96 in for the throttle cable replacement recall. The old cables could stick, preventing the engine speed from returning to idle. After leaving the dealership, things seemed OK for a mile or so. At that point, a traffic light changed to red and when letting up on the fuel pedal, the engine speed did not drop! Luckily I had the manual transmission and could stop the vehicle by disengaging the clutch. If I'd had an automatic, I would have been shoving the car ahead of me down the road for quite a distance. Well, when I popped the hood, I found that the idiot tech had not tightened the lock nuts on the throttle rod. It had rotated, and the offset in the rod had fouled against the engine block. After pulling off the road, I properly positioned the rod and tightened the lock nuts with a pair of pliers and a crescent wrench. While continuing my journey home, I began to notice a serious reduction in power. I later discovered that the worthless tech had also failed to properly connect the intake air duct to the intercooler. When I complained to DC, they made the dealer call to apologize and sent me a letter to back it up. That letter also advised that DC would take care of any further problems arising from that improper repair. That was very good customer service on the part of DC, because the disconnected air duct had pulled quite a bit of unfiltered air into the engine before I reconnected it. Hopefully, that tech was fired before he killed someone! I know there are a lot of excellent and dedicated techs working at dealerships. But unfortunately there will always be a few bad apples in any occupation. We just need to beware of that unfortunate fact when others work on our vehicles.

 

[Pit Bull]

Had a Lexus Mechanic forget to put oil in my wifes Lexus At Lexus they only allow the Mechanics to do oil and filter changes, they don't truth your car to a low paid oil jockey :-laf Isn't that reassuring The GM was real embarrassed when I drove back into the dealership, popped the hood and there was no oil in the engine and a wrench laying on the air cleaner. They gave me some free service and extended my warranty for an additional 30K miles. I traded the car 40K miles later because it was starting to use oil. Go figure



PS- They were nice people to deal with and talk about customer service. Got a loaner car even when I just rolled in for the old oil and filter change. Liked Lexus so well that I have owned an LS400, SC400 and ES300. Great cars and great service. Except for the one mentioned mistake :{

 

[Duane George]

2 encounters........

i bought my trucked w/ 10000 miles at an auction. it had the light package but the end plug was not there. local dealer said i would have to buy the entire light kit at over 100 bucks. said no thanks. had to go to another dealer and asked them and the guy walks over to a bin and goes is this it. only cost 15 bucks.



installed my fuel pressure gauge. i had no psi. dealer put his meter on it and got a 10 psi reading at idle. he guaranteed me the lift pump was fine. he also has some issues on how i had the gauge hooked up at the fuel filter. i went home changed it to his way and still had no psi. went back the next day and left the truck. stopped back and he said he learned a few things.

come to find out he didn't even have the right transducer to read the psi to begin with. he said bottom line i needed a new lift pump. went to cummins and got one and installed it myself.

a week later the dealer calls. i just went in a picked it up.

now i have a back up.



Duane