TX WJ
Senior Member
Registered: Apr 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 439 |
Hendrick Honda Is Pissed at the Low Score I Gave Them on Survey
Here is some of what I just wrote to Honda:
My wife and I bought a 2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L least year. It has been to Hendrick Honda for all of its warranty and scheduled maintenance work. Shortly after we got it, the DVD player would not eject or even play the Wallace and Gromit disk that was in the DVD player. When we contacted the dealership to schedule an appointment to get this fixed I was surprised that the first words out of the advisors mouth were, “Honda won’t cover this repair if the DVD was a homemade disk”. The fact that those lines were delivered in an accusatory tone made me think that was an odd response and not what I was expecting from a Honda dealer.
A few hours after we dropped off the van we received a call from the service advisor. She asked me who installed the Sirius satellite radio in our van. I informed her that I did. She said that the technician suspected that the install was the reason we were having trouble with the DVD player. I asked her how exactly a Plug and Play satellite receiver that is plugged into the cigarette lighter and broadcasts a FM signal so that van can pick up the signal and play Sirius on a unused FM frequency could interfere with the DVD player?
A few hours later we were called and told that the van was ready for pickup, when we got there we were told that they would need to order a new DVD player and that the old one would be sent to Honda for repair. The part took a week or so to arrive.
After that we did not have any more issues with the DVD player, and our only contact with the dealership was for Oil Changes and Tire Rotations every 5,000 miles. The dealer is great when it comes to scheduled maintenance.
Several weeks ago the Odysseys navigation system quit working, saying that the Navigation Door was open. We called the dealership to inform them of the problem and schedule a appointment for repair. We took it in and they informed us that they needed to order a part. It took two weeks to get the part, twice as long as they promised. We dropped the vehicle off, and the installed the new parts. My wife picked the van up and everything seemed fine.
A few days later, my wife called me to tell me that the Navigation System was acting strange. It was not showing her correct location. I told her to call the dealership and schedule an appointment. She left work and took it in that afternoon; they looked at it and fixed it.
A few days later we went on a trip to Baltimore Maryland that took us through Washington DC. On the way up there the Navigation system once again was acting up, not showing our correct location and giving us bad directions. When we finally arrived in Baltimore, I got out the manual to see if there was a way that I could correct the vehicle position so that the Navigation system would work. I then adjusted the vehicle position and we were back in business. This fix worked for less than an hour, and then the navigation system started acting strange again.
We got home to Charleston and called the dealership to schedule an appointment to get this fixed again (fourth trip to the dealer for this). They told my wife to bring it in. After waiting for awhile, she was informed that she would have to leave the vehicle so that they could diagnose the problem. She told them that was not possible since she has to go back to work. She called me to ask what I thought she should do.
I asked her to have the service advisor call me. On an earlier visit I told my wife to inquire about a rental vehicle. We had purchased a 5 year / 100,000 mile Honda Care Extended Service Policy. This policy pays up to $35 a day (7 days Maximum) toward a rental car when your vehicle is in the shop for a covered repair. She was told that they did not have Rental Cars. I thought that perhaps they did not understand my wife since English is her second language, so I thought that I might inquire about it again myself. Rick the service advisor called me back (about 9:30 - 10:00 am I think). I asked him if the dealership had Rental Cars. He said no they did not have Rental Cars. When I told him that I found that hard to believe he got defensive and started it is Honda Corporate Policy that we don’t have Rental Cars. I told him that I found that very hard to believe, I knew that for a fact I had rented a car from both Hendrick Dodge and Hendrick Chevrolet when my truck and company car were in the shop. I know for a fact that Hedrick has an arrangement with Enterprise Rent a Car. At this point he corrects himself, and say that they don’t offer loaners but that they do have Rental Cars.
Wondering if he is just new, I ask him how long he has been there, he informs me that he has been there for 3 years. Since I was not dealing with a new employee that was just unaware of the facts, I thought it best that I tell the Service Manager that he has a communication problem; this was second employee to tell me or my wife that they did not have rental cars. I asked Rick to transfer me to the Service Manager, he put me on hold and came back to say that the Service Manager was busy at the moment. I asked **** to have the Service Manager call me. I did not hear from him that day.
That night when I got to my hotel I went to their website (www.hondaofcharleston.com) to see if there was an email address for the Service Manager. There I could not find any contact information the web page said “Currently there is no staff listing”. I looked around some more and found the email address for ****** ******. I emailed him much of what I have told you so far.
The next day I waited until 4:30 PM for a call, either from my asking **** to have the Service Manager call me, or my email from the previous day. When I did not receive a call I called back and spoke with *************** myself. ******** was very nice, he told me that he had gotten my email and that he had spoken to **** and that **** was now aware that I was asking for a Rental Car and not a loaner. I told him that I had been disappointed so far with their service when we needed warranty repairs, he said that they were better at maintenance since that is what they do more of.
He said that he would be talking to the Honda rep in the next few days and that he would call me after they had spoken.
That night when I got home there was a survey from Honda on our service experience. I filled it out honestly and told the same story (in the margins) that I have told here. I left it on my desk after I filled it out, I was going to wait until this was resolved to mail it. I had filled it out honestly with what had happened so far. I found out later that my wife put it in the mail.
The day that the Honda rep was at Hendrick Honda I waited until 5:00 to get a call from the dealership, since there was not a call I called and spoke to ********. When he found out that I was across the street on business he asked me to stop by. I did and I found ******** to be as nice in person as he was on the phone. He told me that they would need to consult the tech line to determine what parts they might need to replace, and that they would order them and get back to us.
A few days later I received a call from ******* asking me about the van, I informed him that my wife drives the van. I gave ******* her work and cell numbers so that he could tell her to bring it in. She did and after waiting over an hour they needed to order some parts. The parts were supposed to be in today August 31, 2007.
Yesterday morning at 8:00 am I get a call from ************ , he tells me that the parts that were supposed to be in Friday would not be there until Tuesday. I told him that was fine. He then says, “You really hurt me with that survey”. At first I was not sure what he was talking about, and then he told me that he was “disappointed that he thought that we had worked everything out since he had called me”. At this point I am now aware that my wife must have mailed the survey in.
I told him that the only reason that we were talking was because of what I did. I asked one of his employees to have him call me, and then had to follow that up with an email. Then I still had to call him to find out that he did in fact get my email and that he had talked with the service advisor about it. I am not sure I would have known that if I didn’t call him. Then when he said he would call me when he spoke to the Honda rep once again I waited to the end of the day, and I called him.
His tone had changed and I could tell he wanted me to feel bad, I told him that I was sorry but that he had been given the score that they had earned. He said that it would be had to overcome a “20” since his average score is a “91” I told him that if this were an issue I could take my vehicle to ********** (**********, **) for service work, and he said that I could do what I felt I had to do.
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2006 Ocean Mist Metallic, R.E.S. & Navigation. Honda: Splash Guards, Rear Cargo Tray & Wheel Locks, All Season Floor Mats. 6 Year, 100,000 mile Honda Care Extended Warranty.
Other car - 2009 Toyota Camry XLE - V-6 getting 28 MPG overall, 33.4 Best Tank
Last edited by TX WJ on 09-18-2007 at 04:21 AM
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OdyClub Forums > General Forums > Dealer Stories > Dealer Is Pissed at the Low Score I Gave Them on Survey
08-31-2007 12:51 PM
I aksed him how he called me the first time? He said that he had the number but it was wrong, and that he needed to update it. I told him that my number has not changed. The whole time I am getting the feeling this guy has not a clue what we are talking about.
I think I would have been better off on my own.
