Sac State

I went in for the 8000 (10,000) service on my Runner this morning. I have always gone to a local Toyota dealer in NC, and with my past visits (had an '02 Sport 4x4) I have befriended one of the service writers at the dealer. He knew me by name, knew my vehicle and its history and genuinely was a top-notch customer service person. I wrote recommendations to Toyota and the local dealer based on his good service.

I found out today the service writer that I prefer is no longer at the dealership and nobody offered as to why.

The point: As the new service writer was taking down my info, an elderly car porter started putting a seat cover and paper floor mat in the vehicle. I pointed to the clean, polished grey door sill and said, "notice how nice and clean that is, please make sure the mechanic doesn't rub their greasy boots over the floor lip as they enter and exit the rig."

You would have thought I was Satan himself. The car porter looked at me with a 'you asshole' look. I then said, "you look and act like you were about to say something." I kept pressing for what he was about to say and the look he gave me was, 'go to hell'. I was calmly controlling my temper and blood pressure at this point.

I don't trust dealers and when I found out my trusted service writer was no longer there I felt like some 'stranger' was going to grease up my ride and treat it like crap. Especially the little porter monkey, how dare he look and act like that after I politley informed them to be careful not to smear axle grease all over the interior, as they have done before. Basic request done politely.

I have buddies who drive Honda's, they all take their Honda to the local Acura dealer for repair & warranty and customer service. Toyota is the best automobile on the planet, their dealers suck and have a bad attitude. My overall dealer experience was none the less negative. And I have not even received my car back from them yet!

Can I take my Runner to a Lexus dealer for warranty work? I should have bought the GX470, but couldn't stomach the extra $10,000 for the "L". Now I know what I am paying for...to be treated like a customer, not like the dealer is doing me a favor. And the attitude of that porter is unexcusable.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I think I'd be writing another letter to the dealership President with a copy of my first letter attached and I wouldn't have put up with that peon's crap who was getting into my car. You should have gone and gotten a manager right then. They are in business to do one thing and one thing only, customer service. If they don't have customers, well you get the idea.

FirstToy

C'mon, give the guy a break. His job is to drive cars 100 feet. He probably doesn't even get to speak to the mechanics.

I will vouch for the Lexus service. I had a Lexus and really, really miss the first class service. What they do "behind the wall" with your car is probably the same as everyone else but they treat you like a human.
I once had a thunk coming from my Lexus every time I turned. THis was just after service. I looked under the hood and found a socket at the base of the windshield!
I called the next day and asked if a mechanic was missing a 14mm Snap-on socket.

Andrey

Sac State,

Dont' take me wrong, but I think you'll need to take things easy. I mean you come to the dealership and just because your favorite person isn't there it doesn't mean there are no more good people left. Don't blame them for "greasing" and "scratching" your rig before they even started to work on it. Put yourself in their shoes and would you be upset if someone would come to your place of work and started to blame you for something you haven't even done? That would upset any person.

Take a deep breath, let them do their job and everything will be okay!

-- Andrey

ASU4runnin

My brother currently works at the Lexus dealer in Charlotte, NC. I often take my 4runner there for service, and I must say their service far exceeds that of my local Toyota dealership. On several occasions, for rather large repairs-Toyota has presented, Lexus gave me a second opinion that I completely did not need that repair.


I guess this serves as a heads up for anyone in NC, on the Toyota of Concord dealership.

Good Times

Unfortunately, Toyota ranks one of the lowest in the Customer Service (Go figure huh, considering they sell volumes of cars).

I don't know if you can send your yota in to a lexus dealership and have them do warranty work but I'm sure they can do simple maintenance work though.

Personally, I either do all of my own maintenance or take it to my trusty mechanic where I assist him This way I know what's going on w/ my yota!

MTL_4runner

Bad Toyota dealers is why I went back to doing all my own work (used to be a professional mechanic) on my rig instead of letting them have the opportunity to do actual vehicle damage...let alone delivering the unpleasant service I have seen there (none of them were Lexus dealers tho). I would love to pay someone to do the work but quite frankly they just can't be trusted and I waste more time checking their work than I do just doing it myself. A sad but true state of affairs. I do not say that all toyota dealers are bad....I just have yet to live near any good ones yet. :pat:

BTW Todd you are exempt from the above statement!

BT17R

No.

Sac State

Andrey: If you re-read my post you'll notice that I said that the previous times I have been to this dealership they smeared grease from one end of the drivers compartment to the other. Grease on the door sills, carpet, steering wheel, etc.

I wasn't upset because my lover wasn't there, I was upset because he was the only one who actually gives a rip about my property and experience at that dealership. The new writer today didn't even write down half of what I said to be the problem, he just nodded like I was some dumb ass and didn't know what I was talking about. And then to top it off the old geezer decided to be a real jerk-off when I asked them politely to not get axle grease on my new vehicle's carpet and interior.

If I recall don't you work at a dealer?

TOR

Yo man I appreciate the little exception Mlt. Yeah man I've seen and heard first hand on both sides these arguments. The problem is this, money is involved. Every time money is involved people become greedy and deceptive in their motives to obtain it. I hate to hear of such experience but am not surprised or alarmed to hear about them.
It is hard to find good service advisors and when they leave it is hell on their old team as well as their customers. Cars are definitely a tricky business, people are EXTREMELY particular when it comes to them. I expect to get the service I paid for and if not you can bet I will raise some hell. Unfortunately that is the only way to get things done when it comes down to it sometimes. I encourage any and all in the local area reading this to bring your cars or trucks to my Toyota of Richardson in Richardson, TX. Doesn't matter if they are Toyota or not you can rest assure we have honest people working on them. How do I know, I wouldn't let anyone into my home and around my children if I didn't trust them. Pretty much everyone in the tech bays has been to my house or met my wife and kids. We are truly one of the last family style run dealerships around. Call us country hicks or what ever you want. But Gulf States Toyota calls us one of the top 5 dealerships in the states.

TP

Mohamed

I don't mean to be rude Sac State (hey that's my college name for my Bachlor's) but you sounded like an ass with your remark to the porter.

I understand your concern with prior mechanic uncleaniness, however in the way you said it:
and then remarked with something even more blood boiling because the poor porter doesn't make that much money and may be jealous of your stature:


That's not polite bud not that yours was any better.

Trust me on this, common courtesy goes a long way. You could have simply told him, "hey can you do me a favor, last time I was here someone smeared grease on my trim, can you tell the mechanic to be careful? follow with a smile and a simple thank you, will get you more respect from the porter.

Personally, I may not work at a dealership, but for all the vehicles that come in, generally if the customer is pleasent, I will usually go above and beyond in their repairs for them.

mt_goat

I have always been told I was too fussy all my life, but I think you have even me beat with this one. How hard would it be to wipe off some grease on the floor lip, isn't that just plastic?

Sac State

Mohammad-Guess what that is where I went to school also.

But you and everybody is missing the point. I am in sales, I am in customer service, I have a graduate degree in communication, I UNDERSTAND timing and tone are everything.

But remember, this is my vehicle, my money, and my problem if and when they smear grease all over the vehicle, AGAIN! This morning was not a quick popoff by me but due to the fact I STILL have grease all over the sunroof headliner when this same dealer delivered the vehicle to me originally. And another 4Runner I owned before that.

My customers rip me a new asshole when they are not happy. They hold me to high expectations, they expect me to be a professional. And believe me they tell me what they want, when they want it and if they want it.

I think I have every right to be demanding and protecting of my property. I wasn't expecting them to lick my balls or anything, just say, "As a valued customer, I will inform my mechanics to be careful of their grease in your vehicle and that I will personally make sure the repair is made to your satisfaction."

That is one of the biggest problems with America now. Whatever happened to customer service?? Whatever happened to the customer is right?

I can, and do, agree with being treated like a jerk if I was a jerk. But, these people were asked nicely and responded like assholes.



:wtf:

Sac State

Have you ever seen black lithium grease spread over a light grey cloth interior? It turns to brown.

Churnd

I agree with mohamed. Nobody likes to be told how to do their job by somebody who doesn't work there, which is probably how the guy took your remark. I would have done the same thing had I been in the porters shoes. The best way to get good customer service is to ask nicely instead of demand rudely. That'll go for any business no matter where you are.

It's like the rich guy that takes his car in and starts "talking down" to the employees because he thinks he's better than them. That will usually wind up in a pissed off mechanic that might intentionally sabotage the guys car. So think about that next time you leave something valuable of yours in someone elses care.

mt_goat

Oh now grease on cloth is a totally different story. I'd raise hell about that too. I once had to clean a quart of graphite oil out of a guys Mercedes when I was in the carpet cleaning business, not fun. But isn't that lip just plastic that you were telling the guy to watch out for?

Sac State

Lip, steering wheel, seat, carpet, dash, you name it the grease was every where in small spots.

EDGE

I agree with Sac State, I took my 4Runner in for an alignment and when I got it back all 4 wheels where scratched, the service advisor told me to deal with it and except it, basically what he said was when we do work on your vehicle expect it to be damaged when returned to you:pat:

I should have bought the GX470,

My problem with the dealers are you pay such money for these vehicles and they don't care, last time I took the 4Runner in for service the tech shoots out of the parking lot and almost got hit by some guy exiting the highway, truthfully I would have loved to see that big rig t-bone my 4Runner, at least I would have been done with them.

I don't think Toyota cares cause soon as the sale is complete your on your own, I don't think to much of dealers, how is it the 15k service is 229 for a corolla and 229 for a V8 AWD Runner, just take the basic stuff to change between the 2 and you gotta ask why the corrolla is paying so much for nothin, even Im suppost to over pay and except it.

mt_goat

I usually am tickled pink when they are putting a seat cover and paper floor mat in the vehicle. That right there says at least they are trying to keep it clean.

FirstToy

Yeah I didn't even think about service when I bought. This is my first Toyota but I assumed they were ok based on Lexus service. The only black mark for my 4Runner is the service.

Next time I'll go with Lexus again.