2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Took new truck in for first time...bad experience...

[Dixie Dawg]

Took the new truck in (at 6,200 miles) at Courtesy Dodge in Whitfield Co GA. Made an appointment last Thursday for today, Tuesday. I dropped truck off at 8:30 a. m. and made the fella aware of the problems:



1. Driver's window is slow and skips/moans when lowered.

2. Center console doesn't close properly... requires a good slam right in the middle- far different from my buddies '01 1500

3. Wipers skip on dry windshield (or on 3rd run after spray). . usually not going all the way back down. . short by 2 inches or so.

4. 2 lowest clips for left rear fenderwell liner have come out, causing loose liner.



I call at 3:00 and they still haven't even gotten it in yet. Fuming, I say I'll be there at 5:00. Upon arriving at 5:00, MY TRUCK HADN"T MOVED FROM WHERE I PARKED IT THAT AM!



They said they were backed up, only had 2 technicians, etc. Bottom line- My truck ain't fixed. Who should I complain to? The manager of the dealership? A regional manager? I was already mad enough about my new truck having these problems (wasn't even gonna mention the right rear door that squeeks on bumps), now I get shafted by the dealer. Any advice?



Sorry for rambling.

 

[B9Mile]

Your "Return Time"

Sometimes it isn't wise to be honest with a dealer regarding your return time for picking up your truck. If you say "5 PM", then they may sometimes keep deferring your work, because "there is still plenty of time to get it done" before 5 PM.



And, since its warranty work, nobody is overly enthused about working on it.



e-mail the nice folks at DC about 6 times a week for a month or so and HAMMER them with the facts: date, names, circumstances, etc. You might not see immediate results. I know of a salesman in Portland who is now a "former" employee of a Dodge dealership due to his behavior. The above method was instrumental in his "release".



I would also "CC" a copy of each message to the dealership's website (if they have one) and its manager, if you can get his e-mail address.

 

[Pit Bull]

Call the GM of the dealership and tell him what happened and ask him what his solution is. If you don't like his response, tell him what you want to have happen. If he doesn't come around to your way of thinking, tell him that you will email DC etc. etc. etc. and then go to another dealership for your service. I would want them to bring a Cummins to my work location and leave it for me to drive while they picked up my truck took it back to do what they should have done when you brought it in the first time and then when your truck was done they can bring it back to you and pickup their truck. I think a free oil and filter change would also be in order. (none of the afore mentioned will happen) But Good luck, remember if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it might be a duck If I were you I would not even give them another shot. I would blast them with DC and find a new dealer, period. Its up to you.

 

[Pit Bull]

By the way Dixie Dawg, I lived in Atlanta for about 15 years and my wife was a FDIC Bank examiner for outstate Georgia. We visited a lot of small Georgia towns and found the people to be really nice. The way you were treated was not very nice and seems out of character. You might check and see if a Yankee owns that Dodge dealership. Could be a carpetbagger

 

[Deezul1]

Had the same thing happen too me,except not only was it not ready at 5pm it took 9 more days to get 2hours worth of work done and they told me if you cant wait go ahead and take it but you go to the end of the line. No wonder people buy rice burners.

Way to go Sam Nays Waco Dodge.

 

[T-Bone]

First post, but hope I can help. We, the consumer, now have a very powerful voice - the internet. Mention the following site and remind the dealer how many people surf the net and will be aware of the dealer's level of service. Tell the dealer you will be making a post regarding the quality of their service. It is up to the dealer whether it is a good post or a bad post.

T-Bone

http://dodgeram.org/buying_info/survey_dealer/Dealers.htm

 

[wcaldwell]

I had a situation with the F**d dealer in Belen NM about 5 years ago with a Taurus wagon that needed a new heater core. They told me it would be ready at x time and when I went that afternoon after work to pick it up, it wasn't ready. I said that since it was taking so much longer, my wife needed a loaner vehicle - they gave us a 1-year old Jeep Cherokee. The next day, the car still wasn't ready, I told them I also needed a complete lube, oil, and filter change when they were finished with the heater core - at no charge. They did it. The third day when it still wasn't ready, I told them that when they were finished, they needed to send it through their detail shop. They did. Through all of this, my wife was still driving a 1-year old Cherokee at their expense. Our car was ready the next day.



The moral of the story - each day your car or truck isn't ready when it was supposed to have been, add something else for them to do at their expense - lube, oil, filter; detail; rotate and balance the tires; etc. etc. etc.

 

[ftb87]

Dixie Dawg,



You can fix the center console yourself and save some aggravation.



Take a pair of vice grips to the lower post (on the center console). Turn counter clock-wise. This will raise the post. Do this until you get the console to latch correctly.



Hope this will fix you console problem (without taking it to the dealer).





Frank

 

[1tuffram]

Had a similar experience with Grizzly Auto in Missoula, MT. Traveled from out of town for appoint. Was there before the doors opened. Truck sat till after lunch, then was moved for a half-a$$ car wash. Truck did not go into shop until close to closing. I had a long list of things to fix, they supposedly fixed it all in less than an hour. As you can figure out nothing was taken care of, had to go to another dealer (Dee Motors in Anaconda, MT) to get my problems resolved. I sent a letter to DC and guess what, they (DC) did absolutly nothing. My letter was re-routed to Grizzly Auto for them to handle the complaint. Got call from the service manager, who was all upset, saying I did not handle the matter properly and should have contacted them first and not have gone another dealer to fix the problems they didn't. The manager then had the gall to say it was inappropriate for me to contact DC before them, etc.



This is the way you are treated when lodging a complaint, DC turns a blind eye and the dealer chews you out.



I told that service manager at Grizzly Auto what I thought of him and the competency of the people he oversees. Also told him I would spread the word of my experience with Grizzly Auto's service dept.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

I must be the envy of all CTD owners. My 5* dealer has the best service I've ever experienced.



Took truck in for an unannounced service opportuity at 0800 and truck was ready at 1130 same day. Rear seal of transmission was leaking.



Dealer is Lewis Chrysler in Fayetteville, AR. If you ever need service while passing through see Bill.

 

[Alaskaskiff]

Put issues in survey form

I have taken the time to put my issues with dealerships (good and bad) in the survey form that is at the link that T-Bone listed. Enough of a track record in that forum could prove very damaging to a dealership that isn't above board, while supporting the good ones at the same time. I like it!



I move every couple of years (Coast Guard) and don't have time to find the 'good dealerships' and don't have the luxury of having the same dealership that sold me a vehicle actually work on it, 'cause I won't be there anymore. Info like that is invaluable to me.

 

[Dr.Kayak]

I had a Dakota for 7 years before I got my Ram. I have never had a good experience at a Dodge service department. Every time they have kept the truck for a week or more. Once after fixing a oil leak on the front diff. they called me a week later and said, " we found some parts laying around and we think they are from your differential" Of coarse, I was not allowed to see the parts or talk to the technician who made the repair.



I would rather live with small problems than deal with the dealers.

 

[wtrenholm]

I have 9 years working at Chrysler dealerships. 8 as a tech and 1 as a service manager. As a guy who was on the other side of the fence and am now a Joe customer I try not to get too concerned if something doesn't go right. I've made multiple trips for something that didn't really require it.



Your probably not happy about having a broke truck that is causing a visit to the shop. So you want it to go smooth.



But in the shop things go bad way quick sometimes. It's 7:30 you have 35 customers scheduled, the schedule is looks good, you have a few open blocks of time to compensate for walk-ins or other issues, should be able to keep everyone busy all day. Then BAM, one of your guys calls in sick, or a job that should have taken an hour or two blossoms into a major project and that tech is busy the rest of the day. Your day now offically sucks. What do you do with all the work sitting outside?



Does this justify treating the customer like crap? No it doesn't. But the shop and it's customers (former customers?) need to try handle the situation somehow, and sometime both sides don't do a very good job of it. I don't think there is any way to handle or plan for all the variables that happen everyday. That's just the way it works sometimes.



After a blissful year of getting chewed on and not being able to make most of my customers happy, you could have drove a truck through the holes in my guts and I said heck with it and quit.



Venting completed, thanks for listening,



Wayne

 

[1tuffram]

wayne,



I can see your side but still if the dealership doesn't have time to make repairs properly, then why can't they be honest and up front with the customer? Instead they rush thru things and do half-*** repairs or use the ol canned response "unable to detect problem" If only I had a dollar for every one of those responses.



I know the customer will be pissed when told after waiting all day "sorry we could not get to it and need to reschedule". But do you think it's any better by lying and telling the customer repairs where made or saying no problems where found and all those things are "normal"??? Is dishonesty going to make the problems better?? The latter happened to me and for this I will never set foot back in that dealership and use every opportunity I get to trash their name.



PS: my experience was not isolated with Grizzly Auto, I have since talked to several people at work, etc. and heard several stories of similar dissatisfaction about that service dept.

 

[wtrenholm]

1tuffram,



Please don't get me wrong. If I get horses**t service I ain't going back either. Personally, I told my customers what I had going on and took my beatings if I had them coming. Lying just makes you have to remember what you told to who. There are people at any job that are just there for the paycheck, the trick is to find a place that cares to do the job right. There is no shortage of hacks in the auto repair industry though.



On the "No Problem Found" deal. Technically a failed part can(and does) be called back to DC to verify of a honest dealership warranty claim and possibly to see why there was a failure. If the problem can't be verified, the claim is rejected by DC and the dealer eats the repair order. As a tech, the basic rule was if you can't verify the problem, you didn't just hang parts on it. But on the flip side, there plenty of parts changing out there too. Everything you did came from a labor time manual, and diagnosis time doesn't exist for the most part. The whole flat rate scenario breeds poor repair in some cases. The more you jam out the more the shop and you get paid. At some point a quality repair needs to fit the the equation.



There is so much bashing of dealerships and shops in gerneral. It just makes me wonder if this industry is really that bad or maybe we just can't please a lot of people because of the basic nature of repairing our complex vehicles.



By all means go find a shop that will respect you and that you will respect back. Some do exist.



Wayne

 

[danandamy]

I think Wayne brings up a valid point

Now, far be it from me to defend the way alot (most?) of the Dodge dealerships seem to operate. However, the fact remains, if you want these folks to help you on future claims, you need to be firm yes but also be diplomatic. There is a time for butt chewing but you will always get better results if you can be diplomatic instead. From personal experience, when I have a customer come in and we screwed something up and the customer understands that mistakes happen and is cool about it, I will go out of my way to do what I can EVERYTIME that guy comes back in to make sure that he's taken care of. However, if I get some guy in who's primed to eat someone out and he makes a total horses *** out of himself when the situation is explained, fine. I will still take care of THAT situation but do you know what I'm going to say the next time he comes in and wants something? Probably something along the lines of, "Sorry, we can't get those," or "There on backorder, you'll have to try somewhere else. "



Dan

 

[Alaskaskiff]

Wayne has a point for a dealership that has at least a basic Give a S... factor. I have been to 2 that with no prior knowledge didn't want to deal with me at all . When I did HAVE to deal with them (due to lack of options) and THEY caused a major safety problem on my truck, which they refused to acknowledge as their problem and tried to get the wife to drive it to them in a hazardous condition, once she finally convinced them it was their problem, they flat out have NO EXCUSE for their behavior. It was clear to me that this dealership was CHEAP (refused to get a tow truck), LAZY (didn't want to fix problem), and DIDN't CARE(tried to avoid responsibility). What is worse they tried to jerk around my wife while I was deployed. BTW she asked for a written release for driving in unsafe condition and they came out and fixed the problem. This dealership can KMA!!! This was 4 yrs ago and I am STILL pissed... .

 

[jbone]

Boy do I know how you guys feel!! Took my truck into Greenbrier Dodge in Chesapeake, Va... couple of weeks ago and stood at the counter for half-hour---started walking around and no one would even talk to me... ... . Went home called Dealership owner and complained and service dept called back, but it was to late!!!! Took my truck to Starr Motors in Suffolk, Va. and they fit me right in--I also spent about $500 dollars... All those in Hampton Roads read and heed!! R, J. B.

 

[CAT 385]

I must be lucky also..... I happen to be friends with the service manager/parts manager at my dealership and have had great service. But if I travel 30 miles east to New Country Auto Center the service manager wanted to change my spark plugs I told him I would,t let that stupid $%#@! touch my truck. The other dealership put in a new injector pump and all is fine...

 

[Deezul1]

I think most of us understand that crap happens at the dealership but what we want most is for them to be honest about what is happening and to act like our problem is important to them and at least try to make us happy. I know for sure that if they called me up and explained the problem and offered to come get me so I could have my truck instead of waiting till I showed up expexcting it to be fixed that I would be a lot more understanding instead of pissed, and then offered to get it in 1st thing in the morning and then DID IT it wouldnt be so bad. Quit lying to us DC.