Re: What would you do? Car dealership question.

Citrine1 · ‎03-09-2010

I agree with lulu2. At least give the dealership the opportunity to fix the problem before you give them a bad review.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@Seannie wrote:
Hi there all,
OP here. Thank you so much for your good replies. I really appreciate your
insights. DH says to drop the issue since I can't prove it happened at the dealership.
I did notice the 1 inch dent when I picked up the car, but since it was down low by the
wheel I just assumed it was filth from the road (snow hasn't melted in weeks here!).
Yesterday, I tried to clean it off and saw the bare metal. Certainly it is hard to
prove but body gouges by the wheel would almost certainly be shop equipment.
Nobody else bangs into the car down low like that.
Anyway, I decided to write a review of the dealership online to call attention
to that sloppy employee. Maybe nothing comes of it, but it certainly feels good
to do it.

Seannie

I don't think that's fair. You should at least give them a chance to fix the problem before posting an online review. If you think they caused it, then you should speak to them. If you don't, then you should do nothing.

Posting a negative online review and saying they have sloppy employees is a pretty mean thing to do if you're not even sure they did anything wrong. They can't defend themselves or fix the problem if you don't let them know. Blindsiding them with a bad review is really unfair when you haven't even alerted them to the situation.

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@mima wrote:
Just one more view: Since you didn't notice it before leaving the dealership, is there any way it was already there from you last trip to the store, work, etc.

I know when I leave work every day, I would not know if there was a dent or scratch on the other side of my car (passenger side). I just don't walk around and look at it.

I wouldn't be able to accuse anyone of doing it. I'm not observant though.

Seems like dealerships would be extra careful and "used to" working on cars without doing damage.

I'm not saying I don't believe you, this is just another angle.

@mima

You took the words right outta my mouth.

I was thinking it could've been there unnoticed, until the other black streak drew her attention to it.

I worked many years at car dealerships and those mechanics are usually very cautious when moving customer's cars around.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@Citrine1 wrote:
I agree with lulu2. At least give the dealership the opportunity to fix the problem before you give them a bad review.

@Seannie

I agree .... posting a negative review without giving them a chance to address the problem is sneaky and underhanded, IMO.

Seannie · ‎05-19-2010

OK, OK, no negative reviews from me. I called the service manager and left a message.

I know they will fix it because several years ago a tech removed some custom parts

from my car which I did not discover for over a year. (not in plain sight) Anyway he

replaced the parts with aftermarket parts and when I brought it to the dealership's

attention, the parts manager did endeavor to purchase the correct parts for me.

As the parts are no longer available, they did issue me a check.

I'm sure most of you are groaning at me at this point. Why does she keep going

back there? Well, we bought 3 cars there, two new, one used and we can usually

get an appt without waiting weeks. The AAA repair shop (good, we've used it) is

10 miles away so we usually just opt for convenience and go to dealer.

However, my 2016 resolution is to make better decisions, so once the dent is

fixed, I'll take my car to AAA-approved shop in future.

Thanks all for your input. Every single reply was sensible and I appreciate it.

Seannie

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

@Seannie

I'm glad you have a plan!

Though I asked my car-talented husband for in-put, it would be out of place here, except to suggest that you google "removing rubber marks on cars." The reason I say this is that you can do a little research, have that info on board and ready when you speak with the Service Manager at the dealership.

Good Luck1

Wsmom · ‎03-09-2010

I'm glad to hear you're not writing a negative review until you talk to them. The service manager will want to know about the shoddy work his employee did anyway because if you were the first car he messed up, you certainly won't be the last. It's amazing how much these detail places at the car dealerships can have easily fixed.

It just depends on the dealership and how service oriented it is. Keep us posted on what happens.

Mothertrucker · ‎01-30-2015

I sell commercial trucks for a living. I do not know of any service dept who does not do a walk around in the service drive, with a form, circling on that form any damage on the vehicle when it is brought in, specifically for this purpose..

In fact, they generally have you sign it and give you a copy of it...along with your written estimate...

Call them...

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@Seannie wrote:
OK, OK, no negative reviews from me. I called the service manager and left a message.
I know they will fix it because several years ago a tech removed some custom parts
from my car which I did not discover for over a year. (not in plain sight) Anyway he
replaced the parts with aftermarket parts and when I brought it to the dealership's
attention, the parts manager did endeavor to purchase the correct parts for me.
As the parts are no longer available, they did issue me a check.
I'm sure most of you are groaning at me at this point. Why does she keep going
back there? Well, we bought 3 cars there, two new, one used and we can usually
get an appt without waiting weeks. The AAA repair shop (good, we've used it) is
10 miles away so we usually just opt for convenience and go to dealer.

However, my 2016 resolution is to make better decisions, so once the dent is
fixed, I'll take my car to AAA-approved shop in future.

Thanks all for your input. Every single reply was sensible and I appreciate it.

Seannie

I'm not groaning and wondering why you keep going back there.

I am, however, scratching my head and not understanding why you wouldn't have simply gotten in touch with them this time when clearly they helped you out with another situation, apparently going above and beyond.

Why would you even consider writing a bad review if you knew - as you stated here - that they would fix it? I'm not trying to be argumentative, just really trying to understand.

CouponQueen · ‎10-21-2010

I have to say this. I have purchased MANY new cars over the years and have taken them all in to the dealer for service. None of them have ever given me a walk over form where they did a check over to make sure everything is okay EXCEPT the day I purchased the car and that was to show they went over the options and equipment with me.

Good luck on getting them to accept responsibility. I hope it works out for sure.