New stealership SNAFU... arrrrghhh

[pipspeak]

I'm fast running out of Toyota dealships in the Bay Area to rely on. Having written off Shitty Toyota for their staggeringly moronic mis-diagnosis and attempted rip off I started using SF Toyota, even though it's less convenient.

Until today.

Took the truck in on Tuesday morning to get one door glass panel replaced. A two hour job, max. Get a call Tuesday evening saying the part never arrived so they'll finish it first thing in the morning by, say, 10. Wednesday morning arrives, and goes. Finally get a call after lunch saying it's ready. Yippee.

Rearrange my schedule and get down there at 5:30... pay... and no truck. Wander into the service bay to see some flustered employees and discover that some moron had left one of the doors open with the ignition on all day, thereby totally draining the battery to the point it couldn't even turn over the engine.

They offer a jump start and I told them to piss off becuase I'm not going to drive around for hours for the battery to recharge. I just wanna go home, about six miles away. Ask for a loaner and they don't have one. Instead they have someone drive me home, which means I'll be waiting around tomorrow for someone to pick me up, no doubt at their convenience, not mine, more than 48 hours after it went in for a two-hour job.

I wonder what else they'll manage to screw up? Needless to say I'll be inspecting my truck very carefully tomorrow.

So what should I ask for as compensation??!

 

[CRDNLPLT]

Why didn't you just ask for a new battery?

 

[pipspeak]

didn't occur to me as I stifled the urge to punch someone and everyone had gone home for the day by then so I'd still have had to wait until the following day.

Perhaps I will tomorrow. It's probably three years old and I'm sure draining it like that ain't gonna do it much good. How much do Toyota batteries normally cost?

 

[alaskaman]

new battery and 4 free oil changes.

 

[sharp4runr]

yup, best time to ask for some free stuff to make up for wasting your time.

 

[pipspeak]

new battery and 4 free oil changes.

Damn, you're harsh! I'd be happy with a new battery. I'll hammer it out with them when they call tomorrow to arrange a pickup.

Edit: Does draining a fairly old battery like that do any lasting damage?

 

[kimboy]

I have full glass with geico, and they'll come to your car where ever its parked. It doesn't impact my premium and I'm satisfied with the service (3rd party vendor that is). What happend to your truck, and why did you take it specifically to a dealership?

 

[pipspeak]

Mine was an insurance claim, too, but have a $250 deductible and all the quotes I got were between $250 and $350 so I figured I'd just get OEM glass and be done with it. Looks like they did a good job with the glass (new seals and channels etc.) and, hey, I might get a new batteray out of it, too!

 

[kimboy]

Deductable for glass, i gotcah. 250 bones is a lot. Luckily I don't have a deductable for glass. I pay around 900 annually, and break a window once a year, so I guess it evens out.

 

[pipspeak]

y'know I gotta get me one of those free glass deductible policies. Sadly last time I got a quote from Geico it was over $250 more than my current policy, which has served me well. Perhaps I'll try again.

 

[BuckyBadger]

Reminds me of when I took in my last Jeep for service, was a heck of a story and the reason I now drive a 4R. The tranny went out on my Jeep so I took it in to see how bad it was. They said it was not bad and that it would cost about $800 to fix what was wrong. They also mentioned I was due for a tire rotation and oil change. Well they call the next day and say they looked into the tranny issue more and it was pretty much shot, they said a rebuild was not worth it and they could drop in a refabbed tranny with install and this and that bringing the bill to close to 5K because the was a leak in the radiator etc etc etc. I tuned them out after hey said $5k and told them not to do anything as I was going to just trade it in and it was not worth it to fix anything.

Well I go there the next day to pick it up and first I get the bill which I expect to just be an inspection fee only to find out they decided to do the oil change and the tire rotation on it. I looked at them with a "you must be sh*tting me" look. I just got done telling them not to do $5k of work on the tranny because I was going to trade it in and they go ahead and do $100 of oil change and tire rotation.

It get's better after that, the service manager must have realized I was about to hit him so they agree to take off those charges. They then go to get my Jeep to drive it around. After a half hour the manager comes back and says they can't find my car key. He thinks the mechanic has it in his pocket but went home an hour ago an lives an hour away. WTF!!! I would have thought they were F*ing with me but the manager will drive me to my house to get my spare. They manager gives me a promise they will get the key from the guy in the morning as it had my keyless entry on it. the next day he calls to say the mechanic doesn't have the key either and they have a new key on order and they will give me two free oil changes and 4 car washes. needless to say after years of dealing with Jeep dealerships I drove down the street the next day to the Toyota dealer to investigate 4r's and that lead me to this board.


FYI the Jeep dealiership did call a few days later to say they had my new car key. Never went to get it....

I do like my Toyota dealer, only thing I can't stand is they obviously get paid bonus money or something from Toyota based on the client surveys. Every time I go in the local dealer keeps mentioning that from time to time Toyota will send out a survey and if for any reason I can't give them a "5" score to let them know what the problem is so I wll score them a 5. And just in case I didn't understand they mail out a letter saying thanks for choosing us to do your service and the same reminder that Toyota may send me a survey, please fill in 5's.

 

[pipspeak]

heh... I actually had no serious mechanical problems with my old Jeep (I must be one of the few) but the dealship was another issue. Had a couple of non-mechanical insurance-related things done there and they botched both so bad I never sent back.

I really hoped Toyota dealerships would be better but alas I guess all stealerships are the same... staffed by rank amateurs and con-artists.

I just got a message from my current snafu dealship offering to drop off my car at home... prolly so they can just dump it and run. Fat chance. Knowing my luck the delivery guy will ding it on the way here.

 

[robsrunner]

Be careful about pissing off people at the dealer and making to many demands. Yeah it sucks they didn't do the job in the time and killed your battery but do you want a pissed off mechanic or porter handling your car next time you bring it in for freebies?!

Take what you can for compensation and run! If they can mess up something like your window imagine what else could go sideways?! I've had mostly bad experiences with dealers but I always try and give them a chance to make it right. If you get the right person who cares and understands your position I'm always surprised how "we can't do that" turns in to "no problem we'll take care of it". I'm very critical about who does what and how to my car. Most of the time they are in a hurry and don't pay attention. If you find a good dealership that does what they say and does it right, I'd drive out of my way to go there. Honest people with dignity and integrity are hard to find.

 

[pipspeak]

I'm with you on that... I tend to be fairly non-confrontational anyway and felt a little uncomfortable asking for too much.

In the end I had them do a load test on the battery and it passed with flying colors so I'm not too worried about any deep-cycle damage. They also delivered the car to me (even though I said I'd come get it).

I did vent to the service manager over the phone after he maintained his cheerful "everything's normal" attitude suggesting it would be nice to get some sort of compensation for messing up my Thursday. In the end I was happy with the offer of a full detail (inside and out) whenever I want it.

 

[Uneek]

In the end I was happy with the offer of a full detail (inside and out) whenever I want it.

The manager of detailing at SF Toyota is a cool guy, Darryl. The worst ja***ss at SF Toyota is a d*****bag at service on Geary and 2nd named Raymond. I hate that f***er with a passion.