Okay, so I think I am finally recovering from my two weeks of Anita and Rio, and I'm sad that they went home yesterday. So now onto different bloggy things....
Let me first preface my story, by telling you that we had a tire blow-out on a major interstate 15 minutes from my grandmother's house during Memorial Day weekend traffic. It was scary, because traffic was going 75MPH, we were in the passing lane under an overpass, and there were infants in the back seat of my CR-V. Phil and I fixed it with the help of a state trooper, and Leah and Rio let us have it while we did that. We were very fortunate to come out of that incident safely. Phew!
Yesterday is when I took my car into the dealership to have the blown-out tire looked and get it replaced. The service rep came to me an hour later and told me that the tire had had a patch on it. You must understand my shock at this, because the tires were brand new in March, put on by this dealership! I called the guy out on it, since we bought our car there and have never had any work done anywhere else, ever.
He disappeared for 20 more minutes and came back to tell me that he was wrong and I hit a nail or something, and would I like to see it. Uh, YES! The service repair person just stood their silent while I looked at the perfectly round spot on my tire where the damage had occurred.
Obviously I had to replace the tire, but I definitely chewed the service rep out about safety and the amount of business we've given them. When the repair was finished, I was charged $118 and he winked at me as he handed my paperwork to the cashier. Demeaning, yes?
I gave hubby an earful as soon as I left, and this morning he called the service manager to find out what happened. The manager told him that the service repair guy took a short-cut and looked at the tire without taking it off, and was mistaken and that the rep was very embarrassed by the gaffe, blah, blah, blah. No offer of credit for this repair or future repairs, no acceptance of responsibility, and certainly no phone call to us to own up to the mistake.
Needless to say, I am not bringing my vehicles back to this dealership for anything ever again. The whole episode smells fishy, and looks like they're trying to cover their tracks. I am not thrilled that my life, as well as my infant niece and nephew and their mother's lives, were placed in danger because of their carelessness.
I am sure you all have nightmare stories like this one too, and surely I am venting about getting hosed, but putting lives in danger and not trying to make it right is way over the line for me. Now I am just wondering how long it will take before these guys wind up on Dateline. I expect that we have always been, and will often get screwed, where car repairs and service are concerned. Everyone does, but safety is where I draw the line.
Can you see the steam coming out of my ears from where you are sitting?
6 comments:
Ali, I hope you shook your fists at him. I hate car dealerships and repair shops. Someone highly recommended Apex Auto works to us. We did like them when they did our last repair....
I think that if that happened to me, I would have been on the phone with my hubby attorney right there in front of the rep- I can use the "red hair" when it needs to be. And that is why I HATE dealing with repairs of any kind.
What a scary ordeal! I'm glad everyone ended up safe and I'm glad that the dealership knows they lost themselves good customers.
I feel your fury, and I support you whole-heartedly. Those sleazy punks. For shame.
I also don't love car repair stuff, mostly because I think they treat girls differently. I know a little more about some car stuff than my hub, although he is quickly learning more than me, now, and Tyler gets different quotes than I do. Same car. Same problem. I used to take my car to my gpa, then to the repair place, wait for their diagnostic, then tell them what my grandpa and uncle had told me needed to happen. They would agree with gpa everytime, and it would always cost less than their first analysis. Hmmm. Luckily, we have found a guy here that we trust. So, next time you need anything done, its the guy with the goatee at the Hyundai Dealership in the repair area. He even lets Tyler come after hours while he is doing paperwork to pick up the car.
I had a similar thing happen to me when my mom, mother in law and sister drove my car across country. The wheel came completely off in PA!!! My dad went down and yelled at the guys who put on the BRAND NEW tires not more than a week before and the whole thing has been an ordeal ever since. No one takes accountability anymore for errors. So frustrating!!
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