Funniest Stories from the dealer or repair shop

[SLugg]

heres mine
Monday I took my car in for its 20k service (i supply oil and filt)
change Gbox oil (i supply) and ask for a clutch flush as mine seemed very dirty.
heres the Gem of an answer I got

Oh yeah thats because some of the clutch dust gets into the slave cylinder and makes the fluid dirty....:hmmm:

I never bothered to ask him if the dust gets in what stops the fluid from leaking out..?

lol thats why he works behind a counter at a dealership
the sheltered workshop was full...:lmao:

[planetdavo]

No offence, but a rather funny story is the spelling of a couple of words in your subject line!

[motomk]

No offence, but a rather funny story is the spelling of a couple of words in your subject line!


Now corrected!

[SLugg]

No offence, but a rather funny story is the spelling of a couple of words in your subject line!

always someone who wants to be my mother and correct my mistakes

[planetdavo]

always someone who wants to be my mother and correct my mistakes
The way I see it is that you're trying to have a bit of fun at other's expense, but the very first person that has a bit of fun at your expense caused you to crack it!
Just take a deep breath.

[Jac001]

Oh yeah thats because some of the clutch dust gets into the slave cylinder and makes the fluid dirty....:hmmm:

I never bothered to ask him if the dust gets in what stops the fluid from leaking out..?

lol thats why he works behind a counter at a dealership
:

This bloke is probably sitting with his mates having a few beers and telling the story:

" you know, this guy came in to book his car for a service, and wanted his cluch flushed cos it was dry.

You know i told him that it dries from the clutch dust!
And he bought it.. LOL"


Only kidding... :)

[spanks]

5th gear vibration in a brand new BA XR8(2003 this was).This was 1/2 hour after taking delivery.Was told that that is normal and it will wear in.....WTF.I knew the gear was stuffed...after several arguements later and a visit from thier gearbox specialist from BTR they agreed to replace the box. (especially after the guy from BTR found out that i actually build gearboxes and do know what i am talking about...

Or that a distorted windscreen rubber(same car) is caused by the wind.Funny thing was i can't remember trying to set the land speed record on the salt lakes in that car.

Or a great one i heard a customer being told at work the other day...Yes sir you car is overheating and running rough because the fuel is vapourising in the combustion chamber.....pmsl...Thats a winner...felt sorry for the customer though.

[bermudablue]

On the other foot.
Someone comes into the workshop.Never seen him before.Gets a service from me.Comes back next week for a pink slip.I knock him back and then he raves on about how good a customer he is.
Another time i rebuilt an auto...The customer asked me if we could go for a test drive before paying.No problems mate...So off we go with him behind the wheel.We drive down some sidestreet he pulls up and about 6 of his mates come out and tell me to f#ck off.So i f#cked off...what a sting that was.

[spanks]

On the other foot.
Someone comes into the workshop.Never seen him before.Gets a service from me.Comes back next week for a pink slip.I knock him back and then he raves on about how good a customer he is.
Another time i rebuilt an auto...The customer asked me if we could go for a test drive before paying.No problems mate...So off we go with him behind the wheel.We drive down some sidestreet he pulls up and about 6 of his mates come out and tell me to f#ck off.So i f#cked off...what a sting that was.

Thats the tranny that you just prey a part failure on...while he is in the middle of know where..no payment=no reciept...no reciept = no warranty.:lmao:

[SLugg]

The way I see it is that you're trying to have a bit of fun at other's expense, but the very first person that has a bit of fun at your expense caused you to crack it!
Just take a deep breath.

(deep breath)....
i think you should take everything said on here in good humour and not assume that I was as you so carefully put "CAUSED TO CRACK IT"
as for a bit of fun at my expense the so called spelling mistakes were due to typos from my lousy typing , if you check these forums youll find numerous typos , spelling mistakes etc so you can rack up many posts by being the english teacher if you wish , or you can reply to the forum title and enjoy.

PS thanks mod for fixing my errors I humbly appologise for being a below par typist...


This bloke is probably sitting with his mates having a few beers and telling the story:

" you know, this guy came in to book his car for a service, and wanted his cluch flushed cos it was dry.

You know i told him that it dries from the clutch dust!
And he bought it.. LOL"


Only kidding... :)

dislexia maybe i said Dirty not dry....

[michaels1v8]

On the other foot.
Someone comes into the workshop.Never seen him before.Gets a service from me.Comes back next week for a pink slip.I knock him back and then he raves on about how good a customer he is.
Another time i rebuilt an auto...The customer asked me if we could go for a test drive before paying.No problems mate...So off we go with him behind the wheel.We drive down some sidestreet he pulls up and about 6 of his mates come out and tell me to f#ck off.So i f#cked off...what a sting that was.

OMG :lmao: that must of been interesting. I hope you had his details for you and 6 of your mates to pay him a visit...

then again I doubt the details he gave you were real...

[planetdavo]

(deep breath)....
i think you should take everything said on here in good humour and not assume that I was as you so carefully put "CAUSED TO CRACK IT"
as for a bit of fun at my expense the so called spelling mistakes were due to typos from my lousy typing , if you check these forums youll find numerous typos , spelling mistakes etc so you can rack up many posts by being the english teacher if you wish , or you can reply to the forum title and enjoy.
Touchy, touchy....
I did reply to the forum thread title, just not the way you are easily dealing with!
Best joke we get EVERY DAY at work?
I'm your best customer, so I want more discount.....:lmao:
Another story from "the other side".

[SLugg]

ah ha I see that you are from the other side of the counter and my post may have jangled a nerve. I have my own business (15yrs) and If i found any of my sales staff BSing a customer of mine as I was at my holden dealer he / or she would be sacked.
as for having fun at other people expense , he started it by BSing the wrong person it may work on grandma or other counter staff just not me...
the truth sells BS smells

sorry if i offended
not all of the people I have ever dealt with behind the counter have been full of it ....just enough....to cause a thread

as for customers who want more discount just increase the margin by an equal and oposite amount :dancenana:

[planetdavo]

ah ha I see that you are from the other side of the counter and my post may have jangled a nerve. I have my own business (15yrs) and If i found any of my sales staff BSing a customer of mine as I was at my holden dealer he / or she would be sacked.
as for having fun at other people expense , he started it by BSing the wrong person it may work on grandma or other counter staff just not me...
the truth sells BS smells

sorry if i offended
not all of the people I have ever dealt with behind the counter have been full of it ....just enough....to cause a thread

as for customers who want more discount just increase the margin by an equal and oposite amount :dancenana:
Not sure at all where that's all going......:errr:
There's suddenly a whole new post on work ethic....:hmmm:

[`redoctober]

Now now girls, get some non-bunching panties and get back to the topic at hand. Sheesh, you're bickering over a few spelling mistakes as if it were the lottery winnings.

Davo, just ignore the guy, he's obviously trying to cause a stir.. :errr:

Keep the stories coming fellas! Any more interesting stories from the other side of the counter Davo? That's the first time I've really heard a story from 'the other side' (that sounds pretty sinister, doesn't it?)

[iamhappy46]

Customer with a 1995 Toyota Corolla came into my old workshop. Complained of the engine sounding like her husbands lawn mower. Her husband had put his spare LAWN MOWER spark plugs in thinking it was a dead spark plug. It turned out to be a cracked exhaust manifold... and stuffed threads in the head from the wrong thread spark plugs...

When we told her, she quickly called him on her mobile and the abuse flowed long and hard. Poor fellow :eek:

[Chappy]

Ok! Before I start this if there spelling mistake I assume I will be told in no short term by the local spelling wizz kids, so go for it there are probably quite a few you should really be able to get your rocks off on this thread.

A mate of mine asked me to pick him up from the Ford service center where he was getting his car service 20,000 K service I think from memory the vehicle was a BA XR8 manual.

Anyway to cut the story short we live in a small country town, we had knocked off work early to pick his car up and was we were driving down a road on the outskirts of town we see a orange falcon on the road ahead stop about 300 years ahead.

Now as Steve opens his mouth to say hay that’s the same colour as my car all of a sudden there are big clouds of blueish smoke flowing of the read wheels and the orange falcon fly’s past up at a great rate of knots

Steve is now really pissed of big time its his car LOL so in we go to the Ford service area and Steve walks up to the counter and asks to speak to the service manage who appeared, Steve tell him of what we seen the guys eye didn’t even blink as he says couldn’t have been your car and it wouldn’t have been one of my guys and just as he said that the car drove past the windows into the workshop.

To end the story the service manager just argued that it wouldn’t be his guys till Steve said ok let get the tires guy around the corner to come and check the back tires he will know if they have been doing burnouts I am sure.

Story ends with Ford supplying 2 new tries, free service and the 4 year apprentice apologising to Steve.

Oh and his XR8 now get service at a different workshop.

Cheers

[brentonsav]

thats a classic. wonder if the guy lost his job??
prob not a smart thing but i hear some mates of mine tell me about whe
i wont go into your spelling and grammar becoz i dont care :)

[BlueVZSS]

Anyway to cut the story short we live in a small country town, we had knocked off work early to pick his car up and was we were driving down a road on the outskirts of town we see a orange falcon on the road ahead stop about 300 years ahead.



You must have been traveling at Warp Factor 7 to catch up to him. Nice work! What mods do you have to get that sort of performance.

[Chappy]

You must have been traveling at Warp Factor 7 to catch up to him. Nice work! What mods do you have to get that sort of performance.

Why do you say that ?

The guy was coming towards us, so no no warp factor involved.

I suppose by the time he went up the road and more than likely gave the XR8 another big serv traveled back to the workshop we had toddled in as I said earler.

Cheers

[mustanger]

You must have been traveling at Warp Factor 7 to catch up to him. Nice work! What mods do you have to get that sort of performance.

He only had an XR8 .........He He He :doh:

[ratter]

Maybe he was testing the CV's :jester:

[iamhappy46]

Why do you say that ?


You said 300 years ahead, not 300 metres... ;)

[ratter]

You said 300 years ahead, not 300 metres... ;)


did not pick up on that :)

[planetdavo]

Ok! Before I start this if there spelling mistake I assume I will be told in no short term by the local spelling wizz kids.....

...............:bow:



Any more interesting stories from the other side of the counter Davo? That's the first time I've really heard a story from 'the other side'
One of the best ones we get is "the abusive customer that blames us for the ease that kids on school holidays can remove their badges with a screwdriver"!!!!
Fair dinkum.....

[ssgirl2]

One of the best ones we get is "the abusive customer that blames us for the ease that kids on school holidays can remove their badges with a screwdriver"!!!!
Fair dinkum.....

That's hillarious...sorry, but I had a friend at school (1988) who spent her evenings around Paddington/Rushcutters Bay, Sydney (wealthy area), removing badges. Her bedroom was covered with them (bmw, porsche, merc - she had good taste as she only did the prestige ones). Today she owns her own IT company. :lmao: :lmao:

Oh memories...sh*t, that's so funny that it's still happening!!!

[planetdavo]

That's hillarious...sorry, but I had a friend at school (1988) who spent her evenings around Paddington/Rushcutters Bay, Sydney (wealthy area), removing badges. Her bedroom was covered with them (bmw, porsche, merc - she had good taste as she only did the prestige ones). Today she owns her own IT company. :lmao: :lmao:

Oh memories...sh*t, that's so funny that it's still happening!!!
Karma comes to mind!
Has anyone badged her car recently?
Fair chance she'd be p!ssed....:flamin: !

[mido2k]

i recall taking my Charade in for a 10k service and check with the complaint of a rattle in 2nd gear when u came off the clutch, now this was under normal or hard shifting.. Box blew, so they replaced it...

I recall driving home to find no 5th gear!!
Call the service manager the next day, to get told that i have swapped the box after i took delivery of the car and that they definitely put a 5sp in......

After 3 weeks of arguing they finally replaced it, with my OLD box that had NO 2nd gear...

Seriously, some dealerships.....

Oh and yeah, i did get a brand spanker 5 sp...... sold the car almost a week after it was replaced...

[Da Burb]

Should I post a letter I sent to a Holden dealer regarding my Suburban F Up

[Hammer]

you most certainly can, just scrub out the names of the dealers....

[CalaisRider]

I had problems with my A6 manual mode not downshifting under any circumstances at 3000 rpm this was at 200k and I thought normal (albeit frustrating) Got diff and sorst done and went to PowerTorque and the box threw up an error.. Took it back to holden and after half a day of running the ruler over it they found that the box was low on oil. All good since then.

After 3000k service at Holden I took it to my local bloke to change the oils. He gave me a call - the new Calais had a Non- Genuine oil filter on it... How can that happen, I have emails from Holden as to each phase of its assembly (as it was a specific build due to the extras I wanted on it) to delivery at John Sivyer Holden Moorooka.

My mechanic said the engine oil was black as pitch and at pretty low level. He made some enquires but he is dumbfounded as to what, where or even why this would be the case...

Suppose the low fluid in the box matched the engine though????????????

All good ATM though.

[hollaz]

Thats shocking!

[Da Burb]

Well,
here it is...long!!!

My car, your incompetence!




Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing you this letter to express my total disgust, anger and frustration at the completely incompetent and unprofessional manner in which the repair of my car was carried out.

In the beginning!

I bought my car in October of last year. A 1998 ‘Holden’ Suburban. The car was purchased from a private seller in Sydney for $51,000.00 and I drove it home to Melbourne. Upon my arrival I booked the car in with your service department for a full check over and service. This cost me in excess of $1400.00. I have no issue with this as I wanted it done, and I wanted to start my ownership of this car on a clean ‘service history’ slate with a dealership I could trust to do a professional job of maintaining my new vehicle, my pride and joy.(boy was I wrong!)
On The weekend of the 28th and 29th of Feb 2004, I had planned a trip to Mt. Gambier in SA. As the car was nearly at the 10,000km service due date, I booked it in to be serviced before I went (27th of Feb).
On returning from my trip on the 29th of Feb, at the Melton exit from the Western Highway the car developed a ‘knocking’ noise. I stopped immediately and called a tow truck.
On the Monday I arranged with Greg of your service Dept to have my vehicle picked up and taken to your workshop.

The saga begins!

After a couple of days I was informed that the motor had dropped a main bearing. Why???
The car only had 83,000km’s on it! (it’s not uncommon for these motors to do 400,000 miles with no problems).
Next I was informed that the crank was un-repairable and that I would require a new one. I was told by Greg, the repair bill would be approximately $3900.00 in parts alone. He also informed me that he didn’t know if they would be able to get the parts as ‘Holden’ do not support the Suburban anymore. (Why??? The car is only 6 years old).
After 5 minutes on the internet I sourced a brand new ‘crate’ motor for $4000.00 complete from an importer in Sydney (Suburban Imports). I rang Greg to inform him of this to which he replied “Great, give me the guys details and we’ll get it”. I thought, “great, I’ve had a win”. WRONG!!!
Greg informed me that he would ring me ‘every day’ to let me know the progress of my car repair.
After a week I rang to ask what was going on. I was next informed of the need of a gasket set, no problem except for the fact that it took a week to get. I could have had it in a day.
After another week, I rang your ‘service’ department again to find out about the progress…..or lack of it.
This time I was told, “actually we haven’t got anyone to work on it at the moment”.
It had already been approximately 3 weeks and my car was sitting idle in your workshop!
Next, there was a blocking off plate missing from the fuel pump casting…..also took days to get.

Next, the car was started but developed a p1345 engine code. I was informed at this time that the ‘mechanic’, ‘technician’, ‘service dept’ had no idea what was causing the problem. Again I got on the internet and found out exactly what causes this code and what the remedy is.
Finally, the problem was solved….apparently!
Forgive me for thinking it was somehow ‘Gerry rigged’ to make the ‘check engine’ light go away. By this time I had absolutely no faith in your ‘service department’.
In picking up the car on the 1st of April, that’s right, 1 month later, as I was leaving the workshop it was raining. I switched the wipers on and guess what? Nothing!!!
I returned to have it checked and was told it was a fuse. It was replaced.(Oh, and by the way…they still play up).
When I returned home I decided to have a look under the bonnet to see what the new engine looked like. I then discovered that there was a hose, floating, not connected to anything. It had a clamp attached to it, but it was not attached to anything. On further investigation, I discovered the following.

Ignition lead mounting brackets not mounted, just hanging(actually laying on the exhaust manifolds)
Bonnet out of alignment
Inner guard skirts hanging off. (of which the fixing holes are now torn, but instead of offering to replace them, they were just clipped back up).

The car was AGAIN returned. I was given a courtesy car (the second one, the first one they gave to me, they had lost the key for…..gave me the wrong key, and then couldn’t find the correct key).
The next day I received a call from Greg to tell me the car was ready AGAIN!!!
When I returned to pick up the car, I was informed by another ‘service person’ (the same one who uttered vulgar language out of earshot from another disgruntled customer, but not out of earshot of me. If you wish to speak to me about this I’d be happy to do so ), that the ‘floating hose’ was not supposed to be connected to anything and that it was simply a breather hose. When I pointed out that it had a clamp attached to it with a fixing barb so ‘it must fix to something’, he proceeded to argue the point with me.
On getting the car home, I checked again to find, out of the 4 bolts holding the radiator fan shroud together, only 3 were actually there, and of those 3 only 1 was the correct bolt. The other 2 were the wrong thread and had only been done up as far as the crossed thread would allow….approx 2 turns. Also one of the bolts holding the aircon lines (I think) across the front of the car above the radiator had been stripped, and had been replaced with the wrong bolt and therefore the line wasn’t actually fixed down at all.

It gets worse!

Whilst looking over the progress (or lack there of) of my car’s repair I was asked by one of your mechanics if I was ‘interested in selling’ the old motor. I asked him what was wrong with it to which he replied, “It all looks alright, it only needs new bearings and a crank”. I replied with, I have no idea what it’s worth to which he replied that he also had no idea. I got the distinct impression that if I had said “oh, just give me $500.00 bucks for it” he would have taken the deal, thus ‘stooging’ me yet again.

Sir/Madam,
You could not possibly understand how angry I feel knowing that all my car actually required was a crankshaft and bearings….a cost of LESS THAN $500.00. (plus labour and extra’s of course).
I spent $4000.00 on a new motor (unnecessarily) and another $3230.00(approx) on extra’s and labour. That doesn’t include the month without a car during which time my wife was unable to go to work, thus costing us in excess of $2000.00 in lost wages.

I was never once offered a courtesy car during the major work period. The phone calls I was promised ‘every day’ (I would have been happy with every second day) never happened. On the rare occasion that I was called, it was in the late afternoon (after 4pm). Then I had to try and organize transport for the following day.
I am extremely, EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY angry and upset with this whole saga!!!
I will take this matter as far as I can. I will take it to Consumer Affairs and the VACC as well as GMH head office.
I also have a contact at Channel 9 with ‘A Current Affair’. Maybe they’d be interested in a story about ‘rip-off mechanic’s’ or some such. This sort of thing always seems to whet their appetite.
I was never, once offered any sort of reasonable explanations as to why it was taking so long to fix my car.
I believe in your case, the terms ‘------ Holden’ and ‘Quality Service’ are an oxymoron and you should take the sign down. Maybe it should be replaced with ‘------ Holden, leave your car here at your own risk’ or ‘------ Holden, let us have a crack at your car’.

I hope you actually bother to read this letter, maybe you’ll get a good laugh out of it, maybe you’ll take it seriously….I am taking it very seriously!
Either way, rest assured after the warranty on the motor is up I will never set foot in your dealership again.
I have lived locally for 35 years and will be telling everyone I know to avoid your dealership like the plague.
Statistically, for every customer you upset, you loose another 30. That is a fact!!!

Sincerely

Howard

Extremely dissatisfied customer

[vyssbeast]

Basically you have already annouced which service dept it is that you had these issues with ... 2 clues in there were enough ...
i could be wrong, but just as easily people would assume just as i did ...

[Da Burb]

You're right...it 'might' be the same stealership! ;)

[vyssbeast]

well i think it comes down to a mater of opinion as my family gets our THREE holdens serviced there regularly ... and the fella you mentioned takes good care of us n knows the family name... All 3 cars are up for servicing within the next month so i'd be happy to report back ... (btw i got a few things i want them to look at in my car, we'll see how they handle it)

[Da Burb]

Hey VY, I hope all goes well.
I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when I was standing in their dealership and there was a guy going off his nut about two brand new Rodeo's he had just bought around a week earlier(top of the line...so around $100,000.00 all up I guess ...for 2). He was complaining of a really nasty noise coming from the gearbox of one and they said "Oh, we can't look at it for atleast a week..just keep driving it! It'll be OK".
Then as he was leaving, the guy at the counter called him for everything he could (out of earshott of course).
I just thought, "boy, this guys MAD".
Well, then I experienced it for myself.
A mechanic mate reckons they ran my truck without oil!
They ended up coughing up $2000.00.
Then said "that's all you're going to get".
That is proof alone of someone's 'screwup'.
I was amazed at the fact that I had to source the parts and I had to offer advice on a fix! They straight out told me they had 'no idea' what was causing the code!
Oh, and when I went to pick up the old motor, after being promised it was all sitting in a crate waiting for me. I got there and it was all in bits laying on the ground under one of the benches! I had to pack it all up myself!!!
NEVER AGAIN!!!

Hope your experience is better.

Howard

[mustanger]

Mate, I just want to say , that post was longer than my year 12 English essay.

I too, have an idea which dealer you are talking about and I hope that you have resolved your issues with them .....:argue:

[Da Burb]

Mate, I don't have any issues with them...I refuse to deal with them anymore!
I should have known better when I booked it in and the guy at the counter said "A Suburban? I'm gonna come outside and see that. I've never seen one before".
Oh well. Live and learn.
I bought all of the software and I tune and service my own vehicle now.
I get alot of help from guys in the US. Alot of guys ship parts to me if and when I need them.

Howard

[mjf5700]

rather annoying one but seems to come up in my line of work (electrical, i know its not dealer related but relates all the same)

go and do a job for someone and they ask... if they pay cash, can they get it cheaper, being true blue aussie you say yes...then they pull out the cheque book. Never seen someone's face drop so far when you tear up their cheque and you say 'thats funny looking cash'.

cheers

[planetdavo]

He also informed me that he didn’t know if they would be able to get the parts as ‘Holden’ do not support the Suburban anymore. (Why??? The car is only 6 years old).

Unfortunately for yourself, the Suburban was a failure in the market place for Holden, with a very small number of vehicles sold relative to the parts support required.
Eagle Auto Spares became the supplier.

[German Statesman]

Unfortunately for yourself, the Suburban was a failure in the market place for Holden, with a very small number of vehicles sold relative to the parts support required.
Eagle Auto Spares became the supplier.

I remember the dealer network hated them - we had one come into a dealer I worked at, and it had done 200,000kms, and the newby service advisor got stuck with it because the other advisors ignored it.

I think it stayed for a month too from memory.

[Da Burb]

I understand that all too well. I can't even buy a wheel nut here! I needed one and they're 99c in the US. They wanted $23.00 to ship one to me :lmao:
I bought 6 for $6 last time I was in Arizona...which is every year.
Eagle bought up all the spares and now charge rediculous prices for the parts.
Ebay is my number one parts supplier. That and guys on US Chevy forums.
'A' dealer quoted me roughly $1000.00 for a fuel pump and $500.00 to fit it. I bought one online and including shipping it cost me around $220.00 Oz dollars. I fitted it myself. Would take me around an hour to do one now, if need be.
I cracked a windscreen driving to Sydney. Quoted $1000.00 from the dealer.
O'Brien's replaced it for $246.00 installed at my home (zero inconvenience)!
It would have been nice had I been told by the dealer of the situation relating to the support of my Burb earlier when I had taken it to them for servicing and they said "yes, we can look after you".

[German Statesman]

Holden missed a huge opportunity with the Suburban and C/K series truck range - they would've had a 3yr jump on Ford with the F250, and the rural and mining markets would've stampeded Holden showrooms to buy them if they had been marketed and serviced properly.

Instead, they appointed 'Suburban' dealers and aimed them at the mumtruck market - wrong, wrong, wrong.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. :D

[ssgirl2]

I giggle to myself when the old fellas say "Goodmorning missy, I'm arrrrfter a grease'n oil faaaaaaaaar me rig" (or something along those lines!!) :D

SS :lmao:

[SEMPER FI]

Jesus !!! F@#$**#$G dealers.......................SHARKS !!

[mjf5700]

took my SS into my local holden dealership, after getting diff done to get speedo recalibrated, only to be told that they couldnt do it

but they ring me when they figure out how to said the service manager.......still waiting for that call.

[Da Burb]

mj, there is software you can buy which enables you to do that stuff yourself.
It's not cheap but it saves you paying for things like that...ever!
Any 'tuner' should be able to do it for you.

Howard

[Y2kGoofball]

well the next 2 weeks Im working "at the front counter" as a "brain dead, no idea" service advisor. Started it mid this week. Im sitting alongside our assistant service manager, but theres nothing that says thats his job role except for the cards in the card holder, he just looks like an average service advisor.

An old bloke comes in, I ask "can I help you"

"no - I want to talk to someone who knows what their on about" and sits down at the other desk and starts yabbering on. My collegue says "Im on the phone" so the guy gets the shites and waits impatiently. Finally he gets off the phone and says "yes, can I help you"

Old bloke - "I need to know if you can still get these remotes". My collegue says "you'll need to speak to him about it" and indicates to me (because Im a parts bloke I can tell you the answer straight away .. no).

Old bloke - "Fine, I'll need to talk to someone from spare parts". We run 3 brands and theres 3 guys ... do the math. So I said "hang on, I'll grab him" and walk out the back. I spend a few mins there telling my story, then walk out.

"Good afternoon sir, I believe you have a question regarding your remote"

By now hes mega pissed off "NO. I TOLD YOU BEFORE I want to talk to someone from spare parts who knows what their on about. Why are you making this so difficult"

He then storms out, sits down with my collegue and says "Right, I want to speak to your manager. Ive asked several times to speak to someone with the knowledge I need to answer my question and several times youve sent a child on work experience to attempt to answer my question. This is ridiculous and I am not leaving until I have spoken with the manager"

My collegue grabs one of his business cards and says "yes sir, but only if you would like to discuss the matter with me rather then carry on about it".

He then says "no, in that case I wish to talk to your superior about it". By now we'v got a few customers waiting to drop their cars off so we sent him upstairs to the service managers office to have a chat. Me and my collegue laugh and wonder where this is going.

Next thing I get a call. I can hear the service manager in the background saying "just a moment I'll get our parts person up here to sort this out ... can you please come up to my office".

I then wander in, pissed off because not only am I trying to look after parts, but Ive also got customers to deal with. I walk in, look at him and say "If you refuse to talk to me for a 3rd time sir then unfortunately we cannot assist you".

The service manager then introduces me. The guy cracks a mega shite and says "this is total BS. Im going to such and such dealer". I looked at his remote and said "thats fine sir but a waste of time. Remote entry in that particular model was an aftermarket accessory which was included standard in all Australian spec cars but fitted and serviced by such and such, their main service center is in Ryde, there is nothing any dealer can do but direct you there"

Bet he got to "the other dealer" to be told the same thing.

***
I agree that some service advisors just dont know what their talking about because I too have come across some, hell i even work with a few, but be fair, not all are incompetent d!ckheads.

[ssgirl2]

I agree that some service advisors just dont know what their talking about because I too have come across some, hell i even work with a few, but be fair, not all are incompetent d!ckheads.

Can't agree with you more Y2k.

I dealt with this type of attitude on a regular basis as a young "female" service advisor, but I just directed them towards my certificates on the wall behind me. When I became Service Manager :D my staff loved directing the customers to me - the looks on their faces...classic!!! :lmao:

SS :)

[Da Burb]

Hey Y2K,
that's a great story!
I know they're not all dickheads..I'm sure some are very good, and very passionate about their jobs and looking after peoples cars. I just got a dud!
A VERY BIG dud!
I'd love to find someone I can trust...I just don't though!
After all the hassles, I was told "we'll stamp your file VIP and make sure such 'n' such is the only one to touch your Burb, he's done all the training on them...though he hasn't been on the tools for some time".
I said...."Aaahhh...I don't think so! Infact, as soon as the motor is out of warranty I'll never be back"...and I haven't been, and won't be...well...maybe as soon as you can buy an icecream in Hell! :lmao:
Howard

[planetdavo]

Hey Y2K,
that's a great story!
I know they're not all dickheads..I'm sure some are very good, and very passionate about their jobs and looking after peoples cars. I just got a dud!
A VERY BIG dud!
I'd love to find someone I can trust...I just don't though!
After all the hassles, I was told "we'll stamp your file VIP and make sure such 'n' such is the only one to touch your Burb, he's done all the training on them...though he hasn't been on the tools for some time".
I said...."Aaahhh...I don't think so! Infact, as soon as the motor is out of warranty I'll never be back"...and I haven't been, and won't be...well...maybe as soon as you can buy an icecream in Hell! :lmao:
Howard
There are very good people in dealerships (just as there are total d!ckheads in well known, highly recommended small workshops), but most people wont get on here and say so, as many poorly informed cave people on this forum lump every dealer in to one "Holden" block, and flame the poster at every possible opportunity!

[ballbreaker]

Ok! Before I start this if there spelling mistake I assume I will be told in no short term by the local spelling wizz kids, so go for it there are probably quite a few you should really be able to get your rocks off on this thread.

A mate of mine asked me to pick him up from the Ford service center where he was getting his car service 20,000 K service I think from memory the vehicle was a BA XR8 manual.

Anyway to cut the story short we live in a small country town, we had knocked off work early to pick his car up and was we were driving down a road on the outskirts of town we see a orange falcon on the road ahead stop about 300 years ahead.

Now as Steve opens his mouth to say hay that’s the same colour as my car all of a sudden there are big clouds of blueish smoke flowing of the read wheels and the orange falcon fly’s past up at a great rate of knots

Steve is now really pissed of big time its his car LOL so in we go to the Ford service area and Steve walks up to the counter and asks to speak to the service manage who appeared, Steve tell him of what we seen the guys eye didn’t even blink as he says couldn’t have been your car and it wouldn’t have been one of my guys and just as he said that the car drove past the windows into the workshop.

To end the story the service manager just argued that it wouldn’t be his guys till Steve said ok let get the tires guy around the corner to come and check the back tires he will know if they have been doing burnouts I am sure.

Story ends with Ford supplying 2 new tries, free service and the 4 year apprentice apologising to Steve.

Oh and his XR8 now get service at a different workshop.

Cheers

Mate whats the chance of catching that d/head in the act.Would have paid to see your mate face.LOL not my guys :lmao: :lmao:

[cam502]

Not a funny story, just my experience with a Holden Dealership that have 2 workshops in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The main workshop have, in my experience, arrogant service advisors that trot out the same bulls**t to everyone that walks in.The one particular advisor that i spoke with had no idea what he was talking about but expected me to swallow his crap. The satellite workshop for the same dealer were fantastic with everything being done quickly and efficently. When the customer service rep phoned me to follow up if i was happy with the servicing just completed i told her not only the bad points of the main workshop but gave the satellite workshop 10 out of 10. I just wanted to give credit where credit was due.

[Y2kGoofball]

As far as Im concerned whether Im at the back counter serving mechanics or Im dressed up in suit and tie at the service reception, my passion with the job is to ensure the customer is satisfied.

My experience has been not alot of advisors do that, they only seem interested in making money and thats that.

[German Statesman]

Yep, there's good and bad...

SSGirl2, I've seen the oldies come in and ignore the female advisors and say "I'd like to talk to someone who knows their stuff," and that was just an opportunity to say, "you'd be best off talking to XXXXXX here, because we are all product specialists in most models, and your (insert customer's car) is exactly what she knows back to front." The looks on their faces were just gold.

Favourite story??....Buckle up, you'll love this one...

A HSV owner comes in with a modded VN Group A that he had bought from the yard, and reports that the gearbox is too notchy - three days before his stat warranty expires. Foreman with 15yrs experience goes for a drive, nothing wrong with it, typical billiard-cue-in-a-bucket-of-gravel shift of the VN Grp A's 6-speed ZF 'box. During the test drive, the owner reveals he is a retired tech, and has modded the car with a 5.7 crank & rods and a fairly big cam - it wouldn't idle below 1250rpm - and actively enters the car in racing events and motorsport gymkhanas.

Customer gets angry when foreman reports that the shift is normal, and starts on me saying service advisors are just paid BS artists who don't tell the truth to customers (endearing himself to his advisor) and I was fobbing off the truth to avoid warranty repairs. Once he realises he has an audience of other service customers, it turns into he couldn't stand the dudding of customers that dealerships he worked for on a regular basis, so he left and set up his own workshop and now looks after heaps of dealership customers. Foreman pats me on the back, winks at me, mutters "Go get him, tiger," and leaves me with him.

When I was in the trade, I had the utmost respect for the independent techs in the trade - I worked with them rather than against them, and a lot of them helped us out and we did the same within the boundaries of the agreement we had with Holden. We learnt of an immobilser problem in RA Rodeos through an indy auto electrician, and that resulted in a fix being developed by Isuzu-GM based on the info he supplied.

This guy, pushed the wrong buttons.

In a unashamedly patronising way, I lead the guy out of the service reception area and lead him down the workshop driveway, talking soothingly and reassuring him that its been a while since he's been in a dealership if he thinks that we're out to rip him off. Once we got out of earshot, I gave him both barrels.

I can't remember exactly what i said, but I told him how dare he think that the foreman and I were *#$%#ing idiots. Did he know that the foreman & I worked together in another Holden dealer where we had prepared a VN Group A for the Cannonball Run, that laid waste to every other V8 entered in the race? Did he know that we brought up issues with the clutch and gearbox directly with the gearbox manufacturer and we made some modifications that reduced some of the 'characteristics; that he, the customer, was complaining about? Lastly, and more importantly, how did he think he was going to get anywhere if he burnt us in front of the decent customers that we were happy to invest time with, instead of some overweight burnt-out spannerhead that made an arse of himself by treating other people in his trade like morons??

He had this deer in the headlights look, and whined something about his stat warranty, and I told him he had lunched his warranty the moment he modified the car in a major mechanical way, and admitted that he campaigned the car actively in motorsport.

I ended it by saying I was happy to investigate his concerns in the gearbox, but it was going to cost 10hrs labour as a minimum to remove and refit the gearbox, not to mention a teardown if the problem wasn't apparent in a generous 2hr period after the removal. This would be invoiced to his parts account immediately and was NOT refundable.

There was this awful silence for a couple of minutes when I thought "Geez, I've pushed him too far," but he stunned me by shaking my hand and thanking me for an honest, no BS assessment and I was to thank the foreman as well. With that he hopped in the Grp A and drove off.

It turned out he was an old mate of the PD Dept manager, and they had been on the floor together in the VK Commodore days. The PD guy came up to me the next day and said I had been given a good wrap by a bloke that used to work at the dealership, and had been upfront and honest in my dealings with him.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Another bloke who owned his own shop did his own servicing and repairs and only brought his Maloo in for warranty - funny how it continually blew diffs yet we saw it a Willowbank on regular occasions laying down 12s. He moved to another dealer soon after I went to work for them, and I told him bluntly, that there would be no drivetrain warranty work from now on because of the number of techs that would sign stat decs saying they had seen the car racing, and if he wanted to get nasty I would demand evidence that the car had been serviced in the manner laid down by the manufacturer otherwise no warranty. The smartarse smile on his face that he'd always worn slipped away, and he apologised for any previous probels he had caused.

Sometimes you just have to pull the reins hard.

Flame suit on :lmao:

Cheers

JOHN

[exwrx]

Flame suit not needed German Statesman, I am sure some customers ask for it.

Having said that, dont make me dig up the 'nice' letter I sent the Service Manager at Bay City Holden 3 months after buying my used VTII. If memory serves me correctly, it included generous praise of the dealership, including:

- The car was overdue for its service and a condition of purchase was that it would be done - they 'forgot';
- 3 unsuccessful visits to fix a PS leak that ended up being done elsewhere at my expense;
- the defective wiper stalk that clicked incessantly that they refused to replace under warranty as they 'couldnt hear it';
- they denied that there was any driveline snatch even though changing the doughnut at my expense cured the problem;
- the promised replacements for the mismatched rear tyres that were bald on the inside when I picked the car up never materialised.

Good way to treat customers...:cussing:

[ratter]

Some of you guys with used car warranty stories

Do you realise that in most dealerships the service department is not in charge of what happens to your car under used car warranty.
They have to get authorisation from the used car manager as the repairs are paid for from his department, sometimes it's just they are the bunnies that have to tell you "no" to your warranty repairs.
In some cases the service mechanics do not work on used cars, there are used car mechanics that do all used car work.

I know at the end of the day, it's still all the same dealership, but each department is run individually and one depatment can not spend another departments money.

[Y2kGoofball]

the first time we ever see a "used car" is if or when the customer brings it in for its first service.

We have a workshop which sits alongside our PD department, which is about a 2 hour drive from the dealership/workshop (because we have a dealership in Newcastle and Sydney it sits somewhere in between the 2 just off the F3) and any used cars the dealership is considering keeping gets sent there, if not it goes straight to wholesale and we never see it again.

[waggy]

a few years ago it took my old skyline into a well known nissan performance workshop in melbourne. asked them to fix anything that was wrong with it and up the boost.
when i picked it up it was making a massive noise from underneath. i asked them and they said, it came in like that!!
i told them that for starters it didnt come in making that noise and i had told them to fix anything that was wrong with it anyway. eventually they agreed to take it back in and it turned out that when they had the turbo and manifold of they had dropped a spanner down the exhaust and it was bouncing around in front of the cat!!!!

[iamhappy46]

When I was buying my ute, I asked if there was any rust or damage inside the tray(under the hard cover) and was told, 'it is in good condition' and my reply, I will prob get a tray liner, their reply... 'Yeah, that would be a good idea.'

When I arranged to have the car test driven, I asked for the keys to the locks on the cover... turns out, that the keys were not supplied when they took delivery of the car. Funny that they could check the interior of the tray without the keys...

Upon having the key barrells removed, the car actually had a tray liner and a few minor problems with the boot water seal. Removed the tray liner recently after buying the car and found surface rust across msot of the tray.

Wonder if they will repair that under warranty... Also found a broken r/h brake light lense, which I found was on the car when I photographed the car prior to purchase/test drive. I doubt that would be repaired either...

[pussysoldman]

Preston Motors Essendon.
Got a deal that I was happy with on my Thunder.
Recently (about 20,500 km) the little silver ring around the indicator light in the tail light assembly fell off, and was rattling around in the bottom of the assembly.
Also the hazard light fuse blew, and when I replaced it(look at me mum, I'm a mechanic)it blew again straight away.
In it went for 20000 service and waranty fix, a week late cos they were a little busy.
Got a call Thursday afternoon asking if they could keep it longer. I said yes and asked what the problem was.
When the new taillight assembly was delivered to them, the little silver ring was dislodged and rattling around in the bottom...LOL..and the couldn't trace the cause of the fuse problem.
Went in Friday afternoon to see how it was going, and the Service Advisor/Manager? said they still couldn't find the problem with the fuse and would arrange a loan car for the weekend.
Went to have coffee with the salesman, and he took me to have a chat with the mechanic...a younger man(maybe 17)...who was scratching his head...replaced ecu..flasher can...this...that...the other...
No probs, got a loan car, it's all good.
Not even 5 minutes later my car is fixed and this young bloke has the biggest grin on his face.
Great bunch of people, great service, good looking women, awesome coffee.

[ACT_Cross8]

Was told by dealer that my diff whine was actually wind noise from my "non-Holden" roof racks.

Well, would be funny if it wasn't so rediculous. Just another reason I'm never going back there.

[igniton]

heres mine
Monday I took my car in for its 20k service (i supply oil and filt)
change Gbox oil (i supply) and ask for a clutch flush as mine seemed very dirty.
heres the Gem of an answer I got

Oh yeah thats because some of the clutch dust gets into the slave cylinder and makes the fluid dirty....:hmmm:

I never bothered to ask him if the dust gets in what stops the fluid from leaking out..?

lol thats why he works behind a counter at a dealership
the sheltered workshop was full...:lmao:

if you came it my workshop with all you materials you would be told to go and do it your self.:werd:

[GRMJ]

About 10 years ago I had my then VS Calais in for a service at the local Holden dealer - when I picked it up I noticed that they had rotated the directional tyres diaginally across the car with the result that they on backwards - the service guy wouldn't believe me until I (almost) forcably dragged him outside and pointed to the arrows on the tyres that were pointing backwards - even then he didn't seem to understand the problem - I then explained the concept of arrows and what the pointy bits meant - at this point he could tell I was getting enraged and he got someone to fix it.

The same dealer about 5 years later managed to crack a tail light lense when replacing a globe - after realising I wasn't going to accept their explanation that it was broken when the car came in, they then tried to tell me that a mysterious backwards flying stone must've been flicked up from the road and hit it - after a very heated argument they agreed to fix it wiithout ever accepting responsibility.

[gasguz]

if you came it my workshop with all you materials you would be told to go and do it your self.:werd:

Dude it is bad enough that you pay top dollar for labor only to have an apprentice do the service on your car, why go & pay big markup for consumables, my Holden dealer wanted to charge me $235 for some Mobil 1 10/30, I got the oil myself for $80. What is so wrong with supplying your own?? it should be no problem at all, but then again there is plenty of other shops to get work done in though

My dealer funny/horror story was when I got my clutch replaced in the SS, I had not driven more than 1k up the road after picking it up when things started to go pear shaped. Long story short is that they had only finger tightened the bolts that connects the tailshaft to the gearbox, these fell out while I was driving with only 1 left in when I pulled over. I then meet the "Technician" that worked on my car (2nd year apprentice) who looked me in the eyes & told me that he was not sure how they came loose because he tightened them up. My animated reply was that if this was the case why did they end up on the road just around the corner. A mistake is 1 thing but lying to cover a mistake is a whole different story.

Ok then 1 more, I got my Sat Nav looked at in the R8 as it was playing up, when I picked it up they gave me an invoice for $480, parts included 1 x fuse & 2 x AA batteries, I ask about the price & they inform me that it took the Tech 3 hours to locate the problem. He said that it took 10 mins to change the fuse but it took another 2 1/2 hours to find the source of the problem, which he then informed me was because I did not have batteries in the remote. I replied with WTF are you talking about for starters the remote has nothing to do with the satnav cutting in & out as it is a remote & had nothing to do with the hardwiring of the satnav. I also then informed him that you did not need batteries in the remote as it never left the cradle & received power through it. This is when he told me I did not know what I was talking about as the remote needed batteries in it at all times to function. So I pointed him towards the manual in my glovebox, he assembles a few of his team to make a point & show of his superior knowledge. Things went real quiet & a face went red when he read that I was correct & infact it was he who was the ass. Seems it was just the fuse all along, So I got 2 free batteries & a fuse.

I have more but I wont bore you all