So I just picked up my car from its first unscheduled pit stop...this is in regards to my previous post about the trunk rattle... They were very nice, gave me a new 6s w/ the V6 to drive (and I beat the **** right out of it...pretty fast). They called me this morning and I picked up my car. They told me that it was cause by a snow brush and umbrella I had in the trunk.

I saw red. I was F&*ck*&^ PISSED. I looked at the stupid blond service lady and said "I don't mean to be rude, but do you honestly think I would waist 3 hours of my day to bring the car up here, leave it over night, and then drive back to get it only to have you tell me that it was a damn umbrella and snow brush?"

She looked at me, rather shocked (i don't know why...this is boston remember...i'm sure she's had far worse things said to her) and I continued. "It's not the snowbrush or umbrella, its either the trunk tray system or the latch on the lift gate has to be adjusted.

Went for a ride w/ the mechanic and of course it made no sound as we were on smooth roads...fine..whatever. I took the car home and it was reletively quiet until I got onto the city surface streets. Thank good the radio plays loud enough (although I hate the sound quality of it) to drown out the incessant racket.

I am going to try and velcro the f-ing tray system together to see if that helps...if that doesn't do it I am going to drive the car up to the dealership where they can either fix it or have it driving up dumb blond service lady's ***.

Honest to god I though VW service was horrible but at least they never treated me like a idiot.

 

sounds like you flew off the handle over nothing.

If you weren't satisfied with their diagnosis you should've politely asked for a tech to ride with you in the car UNTIL the problem resurfaces. They'd much rather do this than listen to you cry about something as trivial as a small trunk rattle. Every car rattles somewhere, sometime.

I'd suggest if you want good service from your dealer you treat them like you'd like to be treated.

I know when I worked on cars I used to give extra special care to the customers who were nice to me. We had some cute women who used to stop in and drop off us some doughnuts on random mornings. They did this because we were their regular mechanics and they knew if they got on our good sides we'd rememmber them and treat them accordingly.

Food for thought.

 

Thanks for your input, however you have missed the mark with this one.

It's not a trivial rattle. It is clearly a problem which needs attention and I do not think they looked past their first diagnosis. I stated to them when I dropped the car off that the first thing I would do would be to examine the latch mechanism because they will from time to time need adjustment to ensure a secure close (and thus prevent rattling).

Second...and I can't verify this because i've not driven the car in temperatures above 55 degree's yet....I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the temperature outside. The vehical had been sitting in the warm confines of the dealership all day when we went for a ride with the technician. Things expand when they are warm. This morning I got into the car and it as a crisp 33 degrees. Every bump, hump and hole made the thunking sound sound like it was in fact getting louder.

Third...when I drop a car off and give explicit instructions as to what I think is wrong, I expect those instructions to be followed. If I tell you I think its the latch the first thing I want to hear from my dealer is "we inspected the latch and found nothing out of alignment or anything that needed adjustment" or "the latch was adjusted".

Fourth: and I quote "treat people how you want to be treated"....yes..exactly. If you want the CUSTOMER who just spend 20 grand to treat you right, I suggest that you come up with a solution to their problem. I know if I told any of my clients (fortune 500 marketing types) that their issue was resolved by something as rediculous as removing and umbrella and snow brush that they would promptly throw my *** on the street.

Fifth: It is not my job to bring them coffee and donuts in the morning. I treat people with respect as most deserve it. However, to treat me like I am an idiot and reduce my problem to a three second diagnosis is reprehensible. I gave the service lady the benefit of the doubt while speaking to her on the phone. It was when I got to the dealership and she made it seem like I had waisted their time with this issue that I acted in a defensive mannor. I spoke with the general manager of the dealership and could immediatly tell that he was not happy with the situation and offered right then and there several options to try and the problem (even offering me 20 bucks if I wanted to try my velcro solution...to cover the cost of the velcro). I declined the offer and bought the velcro myself, but again, just as with the sale of the car he was right there with the answers and suggestions.

Sixth: NO...not every car has rattles. That is a rediculous statement. I drove my VW Jetta as hard as anyone in the city of Boston for 4 years. Those who think NYC is bad haven't been to boston. We are the pothole capital of the country....no joke. I got rid of the car with 64000 miles on it and it did not shake, shimmy, rattle, or buzz.

I simply expect people to do what is asked of them, whether by a customer, a friend or other. If I come to you with a problem its obviously serious enough for me to take time out of my very busy day to do deal with it. I'd appreciate the same type of committment from those who I am doing business with.

As I said in the previous post, VW Dealers are not known for their hospitable service departments (though w/ the advent of VW cars costing as much as a hundred grand they have cerrtainly gotten a lot better). I expected more from Mazda and was dissapointed to say the least.

I appreaciate your feedback, but what I really want to know is have any of you experienced this type of issue with your cars before. This is a question I had possed several weeks ago and got 1 response with a suggestion (the afforementioned velcro fix...).

Thanks,
Timothy

 

It sounds like they need to work on there customer service.

Customer service:
"How to tell the customer to go to hell in such a way that they enjoy the trip."

 

Maybe it's because I'm from the south and we haven't given up on the golden rule yet.


p.s. You didn't pay $20K for them to fix your car. They're fixing your car FOR FREE. You paid $20K for the car. You're thinking of the sales and technical parts of the dealership as one unit. That's not how it works. Your points are noted but even in your postings here you come off as an angry "jerk" who would rather yell at someone than speak with them. I'm not saying you are a jerk but I've often found tone of voice and demeanor are critical when expecting something in return from someone. Just a little FYI, they don't EVER have to fix your car under warranty EVER. If you're nice to them they may do it though.

 

Whether your from the south or the north or mid west or west coast you should never be made to feel like a person in charge of your customer service experience doesn't care. Simply put, I paid twenty grand for a car. That price included a warrenty supplied by Mazda for the period of four years or fifty thousand miles. The dealership, sales, service, finance, or otherwise has a responsiblity and has been charged with fulfilling that warrenty promise. It's part of being an authorized dealer. Besides, they are paid to do the work whether it comes from my bank account or Mazda Corporate.

Either way, I received a phone call from the service manager yesterday and he apologized until he was blue in the face for the way that my issue was taken care of. We are meeting on Monday to hunt down the cause of this rattle and figure out a solution. That is customer service. That is not telling a customer that they are in effect the cause of the problem (i.e. leaving a snow brush and umbrella in the trunk).

I continue to be very satisfied with the car overall and my experience in the actual purchase of the car was first rate. I hope that by meeting with the service manager on Monday that I can upgrade my service expereince to that same level of satisfaction that I had while buying the vehicle.

 

Glad it's getting taken care of and you're happy with the car. My only point was that you catch more flies with honey than chopsticks.