I bought a new Jeep last fall, and have been meaning to buy a receiver hitch so I can tow my boat with it and use my cargo carrier and bike rack. We were planning a camping trip July 6, so I finally got around to ordering a Curt hitch (at a good price) on June 7. I was aware Covid is disrupting delivery flow but figured a month is ample time to order, ship, receive and install.
I was keeping an eye on my order status, and was disheatened that it took them 2 weeks to prepare my shipment and get it out the door. Oh, well, I’ve still got 2 weeks - that should still be enough time. It’s shipping USPS, which doesn’t thrill me. Another week passes without any update, and then I get a message from Amazon indicating my package may be lost, and if I haven’t received it in 24 hours I can apply for a refund or replacement. The next day, I get on Chat and request my refund, but I don’t get it. What I get is a bit of runaround and a $10 gift credit on my account. Tick tock. My camping trip is 11 days away.
The next day, I get back on Chat and politely demand they do something. They claim they can’t re-order for reasons, but agree to refund my money. I immediately get to shopping for a replacement. As indicated, the original item is no longer available, and the cheapest one I can find from Curt is 50% more (which, in my opinion, was too much). So I do a bit of research and buy the Draw-Tite receiver hitch at about the same price as the Curt hitch I tried to get. Not my first choice, but whatevs. On check-out, the shipping time flips from 2 to 10 days! What?!? So I immediately go on chat and hector the CSR about getting expedited delivery. No dice. I request escalation. No help. I request escalation again and remind them that the item was allegedly Prime Eligible and all I want is the two-day shipping to which I’m entitled. I get a $15 gift credit, but that’s it. It’s shipping UPS, and they’ve got their act together, so there’s still a chance I can get my hitch in time. I just need to chill. Chill. In the misdst of all this, I’ve approached 10K miles on the Jeep and the dealer has offered me a complementary oil change. My appointment was Friday 7/3, and I opted for a tire rotation, as well, for $20 (this factors in later).
I’d been tracking my shipment of the replacement hitch, and (awesome news!) it had arrived on Monday at the local UPS distribution hub from which I receive deliveries. Looks like I’m gonna get my hitch after all. Friday morning rolls around and there’ve been no updates to my shipment. It pretty much stalled out at the distribution hub. I’m up early because I’ve got the oil change appointment at 8:30, and the place is 30 minutes away. Around 7:15 I hear the magical sound of a delivery truck outside, but it’s not UPS. It’s USPS. It’s the Curt receiver hitch I ordered almost a month ago, that was allegedly lost and for which I’ve already received AND SPENT the refund! My camping trip is Monday, it’s Friday and I’ve got my hitch. Installing it shouldn’t take more than an hour. I toss the hitch in the back and head to the dealership.
On the ride up there, I decide two things: 1) I don’t want the tire rotation, after all. I’ve got a long road trip coming up in a few days and don’t want them meddling with the tires* and 2) I’m going to try to get them to install the trailer hitch if they can do it cheap. I tell the service manager I don’t want the tire rotation, BUT if he can install the hitch for the same price ($20) to go ahead. He’s initially skeptical, but I tell him it’s literally a 10-minute job and only 4 bolts, which are already in the frame. He makes no promises but he takes a look at the trailer hitch in the back of the Jeep. I’m encouraged. Fast-forward 45 minutes and my oil change is done, hitch is ON and he’s rotated the tires. LOL. He said he updated the work order to delete the tire rotation but the guys in the shop didn’t read the update and did it anyways. For the sake of Good Customer Service, he “threw in the trailer hitch install for free”. So, oil change, tire rotation and got my hitch installed, all at the dealership, for $20.
And we got to bring the bikes on our camping trip. Win-win!
*Years ago (2 Jeeps ago), a mechanic failed to tighten the lug nuts on drivers side front wheel and it fell off while I was driving 40 MPH. Caused extensive damage and 2 weeks to repair.
