Trip to the Dealer for Service - Page 2

kymatt · #16 (**permalink**) 01-12-2006, 08:09 AM

Glad things went well. Guess I just got a fluke. I sure wish I could've got my manifolds replaced, but they could never "replicate" the problem while my truck was in warrenty...

MEvang · #17 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 06:58 AM

Matt interesting thing, I got a letter from J Toyota, a follow up letter from the Customer Relation Manager. Just says; thanks, call if not satisfied, and I might get a survey, ect, ect.
This might be routine, but just wandered if you knew they had a Customer Relation Manager and have you sent them a note about what happened?
Mike

kymatt · #18 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEvang

Matt interesting thing, I got a letter from J Toyota, a follow up letter from the Customer Relation Manager. Just says; thanks, call if not satisfied, and I might get a survey, ect, ect.
This might be routine, but just wandered if you knew they had a Customer Relation Manager and have you sent them a note about what happened?
Mike

I did get a letter in the mail that said something to the effect of "if you receive a survey, we HOPE you mark it as 'excellent'", but I did not receive a call from anyone.

I should drop a letter in the mail. I still like those guys over there, but there was really no excuse for what happened.

Busa01 · #19 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 08:38 AM

hmmm, funny. That's the same warning that I give all my girl friends before they take their vehicles anywhere. I'm a big guy that knows a lot about mechanics. Nobody ever tries that stuff on me, ever. I think it might just be that impatient mean look on my face. I hate dealers and I think it shows when I'm there.

Tom

MEvang · #20 (**permalink**) 01-14-2006, 08:22 AM

Matt,
If I were you I would drop J Toyota's Customer Relations Manager a letter about your experience. Chances are the service department took care of you problem and didn't let anyone else know what happened. If you don't have the letter from them anymore send me a privet message and I'll give you all the information.
I hear all the horror story here about bad "stealerships" and I'm quite surprised. I know that Joseph, and Performance Toyota, both in this area, have quite a good reputation for customer service.
I used to work near Performance Toyota, and once we had a customer come down to us saying they screwed up her brakes during a routine inspection. She was quite upset the tech had made a big mistake.
Instead of bad mounting the dealership service department to her as many shops will do. I called the service manager and told him what had happened. They sent a tech down to our shop and took care of the problem. I sure she still felt uneasy about what had happened but they did go out of their way to make thing right for her.
Mistakes do happen, it how you handle them that makes all the difference.
Mike

Busa01 · #21 (**permalink**) 01-14-2006, 11:08 AM

Man,

Mike's got some serious patience. I don't have patience. At work I have unlimited amounts of patience, but not outside of work. I dislike dealerships and explode when things don't get handled right. My size and my deep loud voice get things done. I don't have patience for letters. I do enough freaking out and the problem gets resolved real quick, no problems then.

Tom

kymatt · #22 (**permalink**) 01-16-2006, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busa01

Man,

Mike's got some serious patience. I don't have patience. At work I have unlimited amounts of patience, but not outside of work. I dislike dealerships and explode when things don't get handled right. My size and my deep loud voice get things done. I don't have patience for letters. I do enough freaking out and the problem gets resolved real quick, no problems then.

Tom

I kind of have to play it by ear. Sometimes I get a little more animated than other times. I think what I look for when something like this comes up is 1) Admitting they screwed up, 2) Do whatever they can to make it better. That's what kept me cool, anyway. Now, if this isn't the case, or someone is just flat being rude, I have no problem challenging them. I think it comes from negotiating for a living.

shall36 · #23 (**permalink**) 01-17-2006, 08:36 AM

There is a good bit of scientific literature on this topic. Research has found that those who are firm but polite tend to make out best. That is, you should make your demands clear and not back down, but do it in a polite and calm way. Those folks tend to get their way and still be viewed in a positive light by the other party. Those that are firm but rough also tend to get their way, but they are unliked by the other party...which in the world of customer service means that you won't be welcomed the next time you visit! Those that capitulate to the other party are liked by the other party but tend to get taken advantage of. For example, not pushing a service advisor to fix your vehicle properly will put you in a favorable light with the service advisor, but you definately won't get the service you need!

Busa01 · #24 (**permalink**) 01-17-2006, 08:50 AM

I agree. However I think I was misunderstood or I worded my comment wrong. By "freaking out" I meant just lowering (deepening) my voices, sounding more mean, and looking more mean. I don't need to get hysterical or yell or anything like that. I'm too big and obvious looking for that. Doing those type of things would just make me look like someone a cop would want to shoot

Ha!

But, if they just keep telling me "No, no, no, no,no,no,no,no,no" then I just simply have no choice but to say "well, I'm never going to come here again" and go someplace else. I'm not one to stand and argue for lengthy periods of time. Yelling FEMA this and "you can get that from the government for free" that. FEMA FEMA FEMA FEMA FEMA....being that I'm from Florida, I'm so tired of hearing about how people spend months just trying to get simple stuff for free. Jeez, get a job.

Tom