I know this is long, but I’ve had to live through it, so imagine how I feel.
So I’m on the way home from work last week, and I pick up the Mrs. at work. She rolls down the window to let out the hot air while the air conditioner warms up (cools down?) but then cannot get it to roll back up all the way. We stop at Subway to get supper, and I look at the window, and discover after several attempts that it has slipped out of the guide, and that the door must be taken apart to fix it.
I figure, no problem, I’ve got a week off in between the end of school and the start of summer school, I’ll take it in then. Mrs. Six has Tuesday off, so I call the service department at the dealership five days in advance, explain the problem, and ask for a service appointment on Tuesday morning. No problem, they schedule one for 10:00. I think everything’s going smoothly, and I’ll be in and out by noon.
Tuesday: I arrive at 9:45, the “service counselor” does the paperwork, gives me an estimate, and tells me I should take the shuttle home and he’ll call later when I can come pick up the car. At 1:30 he calls and tells me that there are two minor recalls for my car (windshield wiper motor, gas intake), and would I like to have these free repairs made while the car is in for service? I ask how much longer it will take, because if it means another day, I’ll just take the car as is and bring it back the following Friday for the recall repairs. He tells me they haven’t begun repairs yet, they just ran the service history and discovered the recalls that needed to be taken care of.
Me: Why is it taking so long to start repairs?
He: There were 22 cars ahead of yours when you came in, and we had to start processing them first.
Me: I called a week ahead so that that wouldn’t happen. Why would you schedule so many appointment for that early?
He: Most of them were drop-ins, but department policy is to process service requests in the order in which they were made.
Me: That’s why I called a week ahead. I made my request a week ago.
He: We have to do the repairs in the the order the cars come in.
Me: Then why do you schedule appointments?
He: It helps us know how many cars we’ll have.
I tell them to do the repairs, and ask him if I can pick the car up in the morning. He tells me he’ll call when the car is ready
Wednesday
Mrs. Six takes a cab to work. I watch movies on the high-definition HBO and Showtime channels. At 11:00, I call asking for my counselor, and am forwarded to his voice mail. I leave my message. I do the same at 12:30, only to be told he’s out at lunch. I call again at 1:30, and this time he answers. He says he’ll check on my car and puts me on hold. An operator comes on and asks me who I am holding for, and I tell her. She transfers me to his voice mail. I hang up and call back.
Me: Do you know when my car will be ready?
He: Hey, guy, I’m with a customer right now, can I call you back?
Me: I thought you were checking on my car?
He: We’re really busy right now, I’ll have to call you back.
He hangs up.
He calls back 10 minutes later, and tells me the technician is just finishing up with the recalls, and will be starting on the door when he’s finished. I ask why they didn’t do the door first, so that I could pick the car up and bring it back for the recalls later, as I had suggested yesterday. Policy, I’m told, is to make recalls first priority. He’ll call me back when the car is ready.
4:30: It’s getting close to closing, so I call again. Voicemail again. Counselor calls back, says the recall repairs are complete, and they’ll get started on the door tomorrow. He’ll call when the car is ready.
Thursday: Mrs. Six has a friend working the same shift take her to work. I get up at 9:00, watch a dvd, and call the dealership at 11:00. Counselor tells me that the technician is getting ready to get started on the door. They may need a part, so he ordered it just in case, and the part will be there the next morning. If it’s not needed, he’ll just keep it in inventory, as if this is some great generosity on his part. I ask why the part wasn’t ordered a week ago when I scheduled the appointment and explained what was wrong, or at least on Tuesday when I brought the car in. Counselor says that they’ve been really backed up.
1:30: Counselor calls back, says the technician just removed to door panel, and the part that was ordered will be needed. He also tells me that the door was damaged by “unsafe operation” (meaning that something broke when Mrs. Six and I tried to roll up the window) so the repair will not be covered by warranty. I tell him I need the car for work tomorrow, so I’ll pick it up now and bring it back later. He tells me the door has been disassembled, and the car is not drivable, so I can either have them reassemble the door and pay for the labor already done, or wait until tomorrow and the repair will be complete. I agree to wait, and he asks if there is anything he can do. I say I’ll need a car for tomorrow, and he generously volunteers to set me up with a good rate at their on-site car rental agency. I’m not eligible for a loaner or rental coverage because the repair is not covered by the warrantee. He says he’ll send the shuttle to pick me up.
I watch one of the worst movies ever made, “Megaforce”, and wait for the shuttle. The phone rings once, but no message is left (I always screen calls, it serves the same function as caller ID and is free). 1:40 later, I call again, and the counselor tells me the shuttle driver called twice and left messages. He can’t find my house. I give directions, and 10 minutes later he’s here, and it’s the same man who dropped me off two days ago when I dropped off the car. I ask to look at my car so that I can understand what the problem is. Counselor tells me the technician is working on another job right now, but if I stop by in the morning he can show me then. I decline, rent a car so that I can go to work in the morning, and leave.
I’ve sent a similar version of this to the complaint department at the dealership and the manufacturer’s complaint department, but with the names of the counselor, repair technician, and clerk who scheduled the appointment. I also called the manager of the dealership and left a lengthy message on his voicemail detailing all of the incompetence and outright lies above (but using much nicer language than that), and did the same for the manufacturer’s complaint phone number.
Four fucking days for what should have been three or four hours work (according to the recall notices they gave me, the recalls are supposed to take “about an hour”). Damn I’m frustrated.
