Jeep Dealers Suck *OR* What Happened To Basic Customer Service?

[Pinky Tuscadero]

"Please and Thank-You" starts at your end - not theirs regardless of how you personally think business should operate - you walked into their lair and you want something from them, they have way more business than they can handle right now.
Just 2 days ago my response to a customer in person was "well, that was a really stupid thing for you to say" - as he wanted his order sitting on a cart ready to go when he came in while I was closing to get 13 shocks that were ordered 9 hours beforehand - I can't be ready for random acts from people who may or may not ever actually show up, and I do have a phone if your gonna be late.
Telling us you were literally standing behind the customer service rep tells a pretty big part of the story as I've never seen a dealership where this is an appropriate place for you to stand. We stand in front of them and we certainly don't breath down the back of their neck spying on the work they are doing, we wait patiently, and we are understanding of the current worldwide shortage of everything including mechanics, parts, and customer service reps and then maybe, just maybe.... they try their very best to accommodate our wishes in a timely fashion or else:

No service for You !!!

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[ABRubi]

When I first found out about the bolt issue, purchased a T30 wrench and checked them myself. It's been awhile so decided to check them again this morning. Took 5 minutes. This is how I did it. Open the hood all the way to the windshield for max room to work. Use a towel to protect hood. Put a folded moving blanket on the grill and front bumper for leg comfort. Flashlight in left hand, T30 in right. Get on bumper on knees and reach down to the right of air intake in space above steering box and both bolts can be checked. Writing this took way longer than doing this. Don't torture yourself by going to the dealer.

 

[Trini]

I called a dealership yesterday and they had me on speaker phone. The operator then got mad at her co worker that she couldn’t hear me, and the co worker had to point out to her why she had me on speaker phone. First time at this dealer and not sure I want to go there.

 

[four low]

"We have met the Enemy, and he is US"
Societal values have shifted, the Tide is ebbing, for reasons we are all complicit in. Buy or build a vehicle you can work on, if you place yourself at the mercy of others, you will get NONE. The Golden Rule still works, treat others as you wish to be treated, not for self- congratulations, but because it is still the right thing to do.

 

[Shark01]

Just like with alot of things, the internet has screwed things up. When I was a kid, the only people that invested in the stock market was like a Thurston Howell III. Now everyone places too much emphasis on quarterly returns, and corporate America knows if you can't raise profits cutting costs has the same effect.

So the best higher paid boots on the ground employees are routinely laid off and replaced by fewer less effective employees because they are cheaper. Car sales is certainly like that, turnover is rediculously high. It has been 20+ years since I stepped on a lot where the salesperson was more knowledgeable than I was.

 

[JeepinJason33]

Raising minimum wage had a big impact on many of the businesses. Fast food, cashier at Walmart, convenience store clerk, delivery driver for the auto parts store, etc.. were all meant to be entry level jobs. Nobody was supposed to be able to care for a family of four with one person working minimum wage. You either needed two people working or you had to work two jobs until you were skilled enough to get to the next level. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, but they are not meant to require a bunch of skill other than showing up on time. A service rep at the dealership, receptionist at the dental office, bus driver, etc., and other not trade jobs do require more skill, generally more training, service level, and patience. Those jobs paid a couple more dollars an hour than minimum wage.

Once we raised the minimum wage, it took many people above those that had been working for several years at the exact same job. Employers had to give everyone raises at all levels. Now they could no longer afford to make the service rep job at the dealership pay a few dollars more than minimum wage and maintain the same margin that they were getting before. So, they either take lower margins, pull back items like bolts on fake bead locks, or maybe put less into growth plans. Businesses that could pull back employees have done so and will continue to do so. It is cheaper to make you order your meal off a screen at fast food joints than it is to have someone take your order. Same with self-checkouts everywhere. Get used to it...

Now, entry level employees can go work anywhere and get this higher minimum wage. Couple that with society has lost their mind and does not have patience or manners and even the fast food job sucks because customers yell at them everyday. There are not enough people that want to work right now so employers are stuck hiring anyone that can breath and are held hostage by not being able to manage their performance because they are afraid if they push the employee too much they will just quit and go someplace else.

The rise of minimum wage kicked off the inflation problem as businesses tried to just pass the rising employment cost to the consumer. Areas like Denver are impossible to live in at minimum wage due to housing cost. We can continue to raise the minimum wage but that is not going to help. There has to be pull back and I believe we will see it with the upcoming recession.

 

[four low]

"Minimum Wage" was raised to generate more taxes, not actually help workers. Minimum Wages were meant to be a stepping stone, an incentive to rise through effort and learning skills. By becoming the Mediocrity Desert that impedes the " learning curve", whole swathes of needed services are going unfilled, which causes a feedback loop, worsening the labor problem.
This plays into the rise of neo- Marxism tugging at the skirts of our democracy.

 

[SoK66]

Customer service went the way of leisure suits and VHS back in the late 90s.

 

[JeepinJason33]

Ok, dropped the Jeep off for an oil change today. I know, I should do it myself, just don't have time and it still has free oil changes.

• Garage door opens, drive into service bay, door closes
• Walk into service area where there are 3 guys on each side sitting at their desks with their heads down, no other customers in the area.
  I stand there for a few minutes, each guy looks up a couple of times, says nothing.
• Finally, I say "is there a particular desk I should go to" One guy say no, another guy says did you need help? It should have been clear as my Jeep is sitting directly in front of the service area and I got out of it in front of all of them.
• Go to the guy that asks if I need help, I stated I am here to drop off my Jeep for an oil change, asks if I had an appointment. I said yes, gave him my information.
• Oh, you are an hour early he says. I replied, yes, I was in the area and it has been my experience that the later in the day I drop it off the more backed up you are. I understand if you can't start it early, just wanted to drop it off now. He replies - well just because you drop it off early does not mean you are getting it early. I told him I understood that and that anytime today was fine.
• I ask him to walk the vehicle with me to show that there is no major damage to the vehicle. He is clearly not happy about getting out of his chair. I mention that it might sound like an odd request, but my wife's brand new Jeep was damaged at the same dealership by another tech backing a Renegade into it. If not for my dash camera, they were not going to cover it and said the damage was there before I brought it in. So, I just wanted to be on the safe side. He starts by pointing out every scratch on the vehicle undercarriage, really being an asshole as he is doing it, pointed out the diff was scratched for example and that my bead locks had rash on them. I tried to stop him and say that I am not nit picking, just wanted to point out that all the lights were not damaged, the body was not damaged, and that it had not been backed into prior to dropping it off. He points out one scratch on the underside of my bumper (from coming down on a rock) and states that he is not a body guy so he does not know whether it has been in a wreck or not. He tells me that it is his experience that people bring in vehicles and then blame the service department for every scratch on them. I repeated, that they Jeep has trail rash underneath and on the wheels, but that it is clear the body is in good shape and that is all I would like him to notate.
• Finally, get past that and he asks if I want all tires rotated, I tell him just the four that are on the ground because the 5th one is a pain to get off without damaging the back up camera wire so don't worry about it. He tells me it is all or nothing. I am completely dumbfounded and said they have done 4 in the past and that it is actually less work for them. He says it is a 5 tire free rotation and that whomever authorized just 4 in the past did it wrong. I am completely dumbfounded and do not feel like getting into a fight over this, but did ask how they do a 5 tire rotation on the Jeeps that come in without a spare. At this point the manager walks over and says he can make an exception and just do 4. Really, thanks?

You can't make this up. Guy was not happy with working the day after Christmas, I get it. My wife came in mid conversation and could not believe I did not go into asshole mode. I knew going in it was going to be a shit show and they did not disappoint so I took the higher road.

 

[ALRUI]

I realize I'm not a paying customer.

While you didn't pay directly some warranty service factor I'm sure is built into the vehicle price. Beyond that the dealer DOES get paid for the book time for the repair, recall or otherwise. My son's a dealership mechanic for Ford & I tell him whenever I hear the horror stories "now you understand why I don't bring my cars to a shop for work"!

 

[richardiaboni]

No. They tend to suck now. My 22 Wrangler dumped all the antifreeze out and over heated. When I started calling dealers to see who I should send it to. I had two dealers tell me they would refuse to accept it for on the tow truck and service it because I didn’t purchase it from them.

 

[Heimkehr]

You've the patience of a saint, Jason. As I read your post, I eventually lost count of the number of instances when the employee's behavior, as you described it, would have compelled me to just walk away.

 

[Opus]

The minimum wage has nothing to do with customer service. I know this because there is poor customer service in states with a minimum wage of $15/hr just like there is in states still at $7.25/hr. It's not a question of economics.

Btw... $7.25/hr * 40hrs/wk * 50wks/yr = $14,500 (gross). Nobody is saying that a minimum wage job should take care of a family of 4... but working a 40hr/wk job should get you more than a thousand dollars above the poverty line in the US ($13,590 currently).

Most years the cost-of-living increases while the minimum wage remains constant. Every time that happens it means an effective decrease in wages because you can't buy as much with the money you're making. In my state, the minimum has been $7.25 since 2008. Meanwhile, since 2008 the cost-of-living in my state has risen a little over 36%.

 

[Mgg253]

Can anyone that works at a dealership explain to me why you continue to schedule service work when you can’t even touch the vehicle for a week? I understand part and labor shortages but even when I offer to wait a month to bring in my Jeep just to ensure it can be done timely I have no option. Control the things you can control, overbooking your short handed staff is one of those things.

the last 2 times I had to bring the Jeep in for warranty work even after being promised a loaner if I schedule out far enough (3 weeks), I show up to no loaner then Uconnect confirms my vehicle isn’t even started for 4+ days. I’m not asking for you to perform a miracle, I’m asking to not cause me to be out of a vital vehicle for a week to complete a 1 hr job.

 

[JeepinJason33]

You've the patience of a saint, Jason. As I read your post, I eventually lost count of the number of instances when the employee's behavior, as you described it, would have compelled me to just walk away.

Of course they did not call me by 4:30 as they promised. So at 6:00 pm I called to check on it and they told me it was done at 2:30 and someone should have called me... No apology at all. Turns out I could have just waited there. When I went to pick it up, I noticed it was out front with another Jeep double parked behind it. No big deal, I went inside and once again stood there like an idiot for a few minutes before anyone acknowledged me and then again asked if I needed help... While I was waiting, two other customers were asking to speak with a manager. One poor lady had a Jeep that had apparently been there for a week and a half and nobody had looked at it yet.

Once I got to the service persons desk, it was the same guy from earlier in the day. He pretended like he had no idea why I was there, even after I gave him my number and year make model... I get that he was probably busy, but I am a fairly large guy and had the exact same clothes on and my wife was with me again. He proceeded to tell me that they could not rotate the tires because they had a lug locks. I refrained from loosing it, and reminded him that he asked me this question and that the socket was in the cup holder as I told him before. He said the tech could not find it. I asked him to walk to the Jeep that was literally just outside the door with me. He once again did not want to leave the desk, but finally did when I asked for his manager if he could not walk out there with me. We walk out there and the socket is clearly in the cup holder right next to the shifter. Impossible to miss!!! He shrugged his shoulders and said I could leave it over night if I wanted to and come back the next day. Obviously, this was not an option for me. The shop was still open and they could have easily rotated these but it was not worth the battle.

Yep, it gets better. He tosses me the key to leave and I let him know I can't as there is another Jeep parked in the way. It took them another hour to find the owner of that Jeep. Apparently, a salesperson told their customer it was OK to park it there and was on a test drive with them...

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