Dealership Issue / Bad Service Visit...should I be upset?

[vtecgreen]

TL,DR; Porter drove my Jeep around a bit like a madman, service advisor likely lied about the fix to my ESS, overall bad first service experience. See my thoughts/questions in bold below if you want to skip the tale:

Morning everyone,

I scheduled my first oil change on my JLUR for this past Saturday. As part of the service, I also requested that my ESS be looked at, since it hasn't worked in several months (I went from Not Ready-Battery charging, to just Not Ready now). I used the Jeep app to schedule the service, which I've done for my wife's car before with other manufacturers (Chevy and Hyundai).

When I show up at the time of the service, I had to fill everything out AGAIN. It's almost as if they didn't even look to see if I already scheduled anything. A minor annoyance (but strike 1?). I also had to tell them about the ESS again, and joked that it sounded like I needed a new battery (or two). The service advisor agreed, and even chuckled/rolled his eyes. He then told the porter to park my car as we were wrapping up paper work. As the porter pulled my JLUR out, as soon as he went around the corner, I could hear him take off like a bat out of hell (I have an exhaust, so it's not loud). He continued to tear through the parking lot (and my wife even saw him and commented as we were driving home). Strike 2?

About 90 min later, I was driving home from a little league practice, and I saw a nice JL coming down a main road...and realized it was mine (she looked good!). As it got closer, I realized it was the porter again, and he was haulin' ballz again...which I heard him again slam down on the gas going through a busy intersection (passing a car right after going through the intersection). I could tell it was the porter because of what he was wearing - a bright orange hoodie. Strike 3?

Now they said those services should be done around noon. No biggie, I had another practice till at least 1PM. So I drove home, but had not received a call. I tried calling a few times, and it went to VM after being on hold/ringing for a few minutes. OK, I figured they were just busy. About 2:00PM I received the call that they were finished with the oil change, the service advisor was going to leave the keys in the car on the lot, and that he can't give me any paperwork, because the internet was down....OK, I figured that's why they didn't answer the phone. But then I asked about ESS, and the advisor says "yeah, I had my guys do a software update, should be good to go", and promptly got off the call. Now I'm not a tech, but I am pretty handy, and have read this forum a lot....I don't think a software update will fix the ESS battery...maybe I'm wrong? Anyway, I go to pick up the car, and give them a piece of my mind...and the doors are closed, locked, and I can't find anyone (they had about another 45 min before their stated close time). So I grab the JLUR, and notice that it has about 14 more miles than what I brought it in with. And 30 seconds after I get out on the road, ESS is "Not Ready", no explanation. Hasn't worked all weekend. Strike 4/5/6?

I'm really tempted to contact the dealer or someone about this, because I have a few thoughts:

1. Why was the porter driving my JLUR, almost 5 miles away from the dealership in the opposite direction? There's nothing out by where I live that would have anything to do with vehicles; parts, another dealer, nothing. I get maybe to "test drive'" and diagnose an issue, but that should be a service tech, not a porter, and you'd see issues with ESS after a minute or two driving a mile (and there are plenty of places to drive by the dealership, it's on a major commercial road in the city).

2. Why the hell was he beating on my Jeep like that; whether or not it was a diagnostic drive, he was really giving her the beans.

3. Can ESS really be fixed w/ a software update? I get if your internet goes down, and you can't run diagnostics, just tell me that, and I'll reschedule. Don't give me BS about how a software issue fixed a problem that you could easily test for (had no problem driving my Jeep earlier in the day!).

4. I'm going to check the oil and make sure they didn't just reset the light...I need to back out of my garage and do it, it was raining all day, and Mother's day...

What do you guys think it the appropriate course here - call and speak to the service manager? General manager? I'm bummed, this is my first experience with Jeep service (different dealer than when I purchased from, since that's about an hour away). Are they all like this?

Sorry for the wall of text, I was just a bit steamy this weekend, but didn't want to go nuts w/ it being Mother's day weekend. and all.

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[Crawldad]

simple fix - use another dealer. some charge higher prices some lower, you might even save money on service

 

[somedude922]

Absolutely start with the Service manager. Many times the techs will take cars and test drive them and maybe grab a lunch while out. In my book not a big deal. HOWEVER a porter has no business driving a vehicle except from service lane to parking lot. Thats it. Many times management doesn't know this stuff goes on, so they should at least be made aware.
And learn to do basic maintenance on you jeep yourself, it will save you plenty of stress while getting to know your vehicle.

 

[TheGreatCO]

1. Why was the porter driving my JLUR, almost 5 miles away from the dealership in the opposite direction? There's nothing out by where I live that would have anything to do with vehicles; parts, another dealer, nothing. I get maybe to "test drive'" and diagnose an issue, but that should be a service tech, not a porter, and you'd see issues with ESS after a minute or two driving a mile (and there are plenty of places to drive by the dealership, it's on a major commercial road in the city).

This does seem odd. I would start by simply asking with an abundance of innocence. There may be a good reason, there may not, but wait to hear it before raising hell.

2. Why the hell was he beating on my Jeep like that; whether or not it was a diagnostic drive, he was really giving her the beans.

I think it's a valid complaint here. These aren't sports cars and driving them as such can be very risky.

3. Can ESS really be fixed w/ a software update? I get if your internet goes down, and you can't run diagnostics, just tell me that, and I'll reschedule. Don't give me BS about how a software issue fixed a problem that you could easily test for (had no problem driving my Jeep earlier in the day!).

It is possible. I've been in software engineering for a long time and flashing an update or even re-flashing the same firmware can reset any learned values to the default. It's not a bad first diagnostic step, though they shouldn't be returning the vehicle to you without verifying it fixed the issue.

What do you guys think it the appropriate course here - call and speak to the service manager? General manager? I'm bummed, this is my first experience with Jeep service (different dealer than when I purchased from, since that's about an hour away). Are they all like this?

A calm, collected call to the Service Manager would be where I start. If you don't like the answers, bring it up to the General Manager. As soon as you freak out, they're likely to get defensive and you're unlikely to make it very far.

 

[Fatboy97]

Agree with all responses above, However after seeing and hearing the way my vehicle was being driven at the dealership I would have walked around to where they parked my vehicle and left with it.

 

[vtecgreen]

All good points. I am going to check the oil here in a little bit, but I plan on calling them today.

And learn to do basic maintenance on you jeep yourself, it will save you plenty of stress while getting to know your vehicle.

I'm very familiar with doing maintenance on all cars; and usually do. But I'm still in my free 4 oil change period, so I figured why not. Might have to just give up on that now.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

I'm very familiar with doing maintenance on all cars; and usually do. But I'm still in my free 4 oil change period, so I figured why not. Might have to just give up on that now.

Even with the jeep wave free oil changes, I'm going to do them myself. There's been post after post about dealers not changing the oil and resetting the light and overfilling the crankcase with oil...maybe not an issue today but may cause a RMS leak in 5 years. I've always changed my oil and fluids and at least I know it's getting done properly.

As for the porter, I would be upset. Not only because they were driving like they stole it but because you weren't expecting it. I'm sure it happens more than we think but I would be upset about it.

For the software update. It could possibly fix it. My wife's car (not a Jeep) would almost stall out when it came to a stop sign after the warranty was over. I brought it in and they flashed the computer to the latest. I thought oh great, I just paid $130 for nothing. But to be honest, it actually did fix the problem. If you're that motivated, you could probably look through TSB's to see what the firmware updates do.

 

[Electrified]

I agree with what others have said. Start with the SM and then to the GM if needed.

I have no intentions of using my “free” oil changes or using a dealership for anything other than that which is absolutely necessary. Nothing but thread after thread about horrible dealership experiences.

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