[VictoRoy]

Is it unreasonable to expect that if you make a 3 day advance appointment for a simple (approx) 2 hour warranty repair that they shouldn't try to hold your car for 5 days while it sits outside before they even start the repair? (water pump on a 3.6)

So, let me say I apologize in advance if I'm in the wrong section, or just out of line here, but I need to vent and hope someone here can possibly lend some advise.

I made an appointment 3 days in advance to repair a chirping and squawling water pump on my 14 SXT Plus AWD with 10K miles. This is at most a 2 to 3 hour repair, probably less. I take off work early to get there before they close on Thursday and drop off my car overnight for a 2 hour repair at most. The following day I call around 2PM to check the status of my car. After some back and forth conversation they finally tell me that they haven't even touched it and to come back Monday! I was furious, but kept my cool and asked if I could pick it up. When I arrived at the dealership, I asked what happened and the service writer offered absolutely no explanation. I asked if the mechanic called in sick and he said he didn't know. WTF! :notallthere: I check the dash cam footage once I get my car home. My car sits outside overnight, they pull it into a bay at around 8:30AM, then they pull it back into the parking lot 3 hours later and there she sits all day long. The hood is never even opened one time! Then they wanted to keep it to sit outside for even longer for 5 total days for no reason? Once again, WTF! :notallthere:

So here's my question, How would you handle this situation?

 

[neuroticdave]

I'd go elsewhere. The fact that the advisor didn't even care to find out why the car just sat there would be a clear indicator to me that they aren't very worried about your car.

I just took my car to a local dealer to have my radiator and T-Stat repaired, and I had to call in to have them tell me 1. What was wrong and 2. WHEN it was done. Now I'm going on a week for them to contact my warranty company to approve a repair on my tension struts. I called twice this week, both times got a "we'll call you back".....still waiting.

Never again.

 

[KStryker]

WOW!!! I wouldn't have kept my cool. I would never go back there. They obviously don't care. You'll need to speak with a manager. Provide names of who you spoke with and advise your car has been sitting for days without being touched and losing time at work.

 

[rob-2]

Let dodge corporate know and go elsewhere.

 

[Ddaddy]

I would also bring this to the attention of @DodgeCares. Give him the Dealer info in PM and see if he can at least makes sure that Corporate knows about it.

Stuff like this is bad customer relations and totally unacceptable.

 

[VictoRoy]

I want to thank everyone for all of the advice and feedback. The corporate call is definitely in my future as at least two Kansas City area Dodge dealers seem to need a wakeup call and remember that the customers are the ones keeping their lights on. I have absolutely no plans of EVER returning to that Gladstone dealership other than to have another chat with the service manager, and while I'm at it, the general manager too.

As soon as I got word from the service adviser, I immediately began calling other nearby dealerships to set up a "customer wait" appointment so it will be repaired as I wait and not sit outside overnight. It sounds like I'll be leaving work early again for this life sucking car. I selected a semi-rural dealership this time and will have to drive a little further. Hopefully they are more professional than my past experiences.

This isn't the 1st Dodge dealership to pull this kind of stunt. The first time it happened, the dealer had me in the waiting room for 3 hours just to tell me that they didn't have the front differential pinion seal that they diagnosed 1 week prior and made the appointment for repair. That's right boys and girls, three hours out of my life to tell me they didn't have the part they knew my car needed when they made the appointment 1 week prior! I left that place steaming mad only to return one last time when they actually got the part in. Hopefully the next dealer doesn't try to pull the same stunt and schedule an appointment just to have me wait several hours for to tell me they didn't get the part in. Or worse yet, try to tell me they can't duplicate the problem because in reality they have other "gravy" customer pay jobs that pay more than my warranty repair. I've been down that road too many times already with this car. The 8 speed transmission valve body took at least 4 trips to two dealerships to finally get fixed properly and only with video proof of what it was doing did it finally get fixed. I'm still convinced that if I hadn't made the video that my transmission would still not be fixed.

I’m afraid Dodge probably won’t be in my future. It’s a shame really, as this car is an exact fit for everything I was looking for. So far at only 10K miles my experience with this $42K gem has been nothing but negative. It’s too bad cars don’t have probationary periods. I’d fire this car and Dodge in a heartbeat. Optimistically moving forward I hope my experience with this car and Dodge will become more positive as all of these issues are finally fixed, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Once again, thanks to everyone for all the feedback and advice.

 

[FLEX]

I would have snapped a bolt myself.

I can't even imagine wtf they were thinking.

I think the service coordinators are a very important role and some dealers just don't get that and hire dummies. The dealer I used to have my SRT8 serviced at had an absolute moron service coordinator. Took my car in for an oil change and fog light bulbs replacements in the morning while I was at work. I told the guy I was waiting for it, but I would be walking down the street to Best Buy but I would be back and if there were any issues call my cell. He had the number on the work order. So I walked to BestBuy and back then had a seat in the waiting room. Seemed like it was taking forever, so I went to ask him WTF was going on. He said your car is done it's outside. I was like WTF? And he said "I went to look for you but couldn't find you." I said dude I told you I was going to Best Buy. Then he says "Well we only had 1 fog light bulb in stock so we ordered another one it'll be here at about 2pm this afternoon." I was like dude I am at work, do you think I'm going to sit here for 3 hours to wait for a fog light bulb???

I don't think I was ever so pissed off at a service company in my life.

 

[DodgeCares]

VictoRoy,

Please check your PM, as I've sent you a reply. Thank you for reaching out about this!

 

[G-Pop]

You my friend have a pretty cool temper. But I also know that if you call for an appointment and they don't have the part in, they won't order it until they determine there is a true need for it. But the indifference of the advisor to not find out what went on with your care is totally intolerable. I would have asked to talk to the owner of the dealership.

 

[VictoRoy]

You my friend have a pretty cool temper. But I also know that if you call for an appointment and they don't have the part in, they won't order it until they determine there is a true need for it. But the indifference of the advisor to not find out what went on with your care is totally intolerable. I would have asked to talk to the owner of the dealership.

Thanks G-Pop for the cool temper compliment. They teach that sort of thing in anger management classes. >

It makes sense not to order a part based upon an average customers diagnosis. However, here's what it looks like from my perspective. (Not an average customer here)

In a nutshell: (Prepare for a long run on sentence)

I make an appointment on Monday for a common issue (water pump) to get it in on Thursday so that my car can sit overnight and they can tell me on Friday that they didn't look at it and it needs to sit outside all weekend with storms predicted so they can look at my car on Monday and then they might need to order a part and perhaps then it might get fixed on Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe even Thursday depending on if the part gets in?

So I'm asking myself again, why did I make this appointment?

Now that I read that back to myself, it's almost comical, but perhaps it's the hard cider? :beerchug:

No worries however. I made an appointment with another dealership a little out of the city and they actually wanted to make sure they had the part in stock before ever scheduling an appointment. The service writer at that dealership indicated that there was a service bulletin and that it was not uncommon. He actually left me two messages today to let me know that they were out of water pumps but they had more coming in tomorrow or Wednesday and he would call me to schedule the appointment. Wow! there may be hope yet! Good customer service may not be dead after. We will see.

 

[Turbo301]

More and more, garages don't seem to care about the significance of appointments, but you can sort of see why: it's hard to know how long each car is going to take, so it's hard to know when exactly they'll find time to work on a particular car. All it takes is one guy to be out sick, one car to have more things wrong with it than originally thought, etc. and the entire day's schedule is shot. This is why getting your car in first-thing on a given day is no guarantee that it'll be done first-thing. Thus, although frustrating, I can't really fault the dealership for not necessarily getting started on your car in the first day.

However, what IS inexcusable is their not willing to tell you why there was a delay; as well, they should be able to prioritize you after a day's wait, unless their operation is REALLY messed-up.

As for parts, if a garage knows what part is needed, then they should order it in advance if you make an appointment in advance. If it's a "surprise" need, then it may take time to get them delivered. Americans get it much easier than we do in Canada: any kind of rare or slightly unusual (read: anythign but a beige Civic sedan!) car up here in Canada can be very tough to get parts for. My brother's G8 is in the shop right now, for over a day, just to get brake pads and a transmission filter!

 

[VictoRoy]

Now this is how it is supposed to be Done! There may be hope yet. :banana:


This new dealership verified my part was in stock and scheduled the appointment for 2:30 this afternoon. I left work and arrived at the dealership at 2:20 PM. My car was finished at 4:00 PM. There was no BS, no run around, and no "were going to keep your car outside for 5 days for a 1.5 hour job after we scheduled the appointment 3 days in advance". It just got done, period.

Plus I got to check out one of the new Scat Pack Challengers. Wow, what a beautiful vehicle.

The people were friendly and professional and didn't pull any crap. Moving forward, I'll be making the extra drive to this dealership for any further service.

 

[Drew661]

Yep, sadly you have to shop dealers for a solid service department

 

[G-Pop]

Have to agree sometimes its a shopping trip not just find a vehicle, but also to find a service department. I know when I bought my Challenger I took it back for a TSB before the oil change and never ever went back for anything. They couldn't pay me enough money to go back there.