How would you handle this?

[Mavrik]

I'm a service advisor for a GM dealership here in ontario, and I come across some of the most interesting... unforgetable people, some who I hope don't have a twin lol. Through the course of my day, things happen that either make me glad I work there or wish I didn't.For example, how would you handle this?Customer calls in, says she is late for her appointment and would like to rebook it at a later date but would call me when because her sister just died an hour ago. This happened today and I didn't know what to say other then "I'm really sorry to hear that and my thoughts are with you... call me any time when your ready." But other then that... I had no reaction... I printed off her address and I believe I'll send her a card...A couple of months ago I showed up for work at 7:30am and found a car parked outside. The drop off envelope with the keys had the customer's name and request for an oil change and tire rotation, and required the car to be ready by 4pm. Sure no prob, I had the tech to all that and the car was ready way before 4pm. Customer comes in and I was out of the building at the moment and claims to the cashier she didn't ask for the tire rotation. Cashier doesn't know so has her pay for the oil change only and sends her on her way. I contact the customer when I find out, explain why I did the services I did because of a request of hers... as a message on her answering machine. I called her several times afterwards but never heard back from her. Last week she comes in for another oil change and complains how we did more then she asked for last time. I explained to her about how we only did what she had requested on the envelope. Her response?"I didn't drop my car off, I waited for it. I never wrote anything on the envelope, your lying." And here I thought men only had selective memory... I told her I could go get the envelope but she gave me a dirty look and left.GM vehicles have a 3 year 60,000km warranty, what ever comes first. Try and explain to someone who's vehicle is 5 years old but has only 20,000km that its out of warranty. "It has very little km, it shouldn't be broken. This is warraty I tell you, GM will hear from me and have your (removed)." Yeah.... okI deal with awsome customers but there are a few out there with little to no common sense. I'm sure you can say the same about some dealerships to lol... Hey it all goes around.We have an auto club here in Woodstock/surrounding area, pretty well known through ontario. We have a parkinglot that used to be owned by Wal-Mart till they moved. Now we do time trial races around a course. I've never done one but I saw a guy race his around the lot several times, then he came in wanting warranty on his fast wearing tires and brakes. "Its a 2003 sunfire, 15,000km on it, this is abnormal wear." he says. I then told him this only happens with cars that are raced and hinted that I saw him just up the street racing on the weekend.I could tell you endless tales of rattles in the dash and other places that exist in the customer's mind. Hey some rattles are real in the car but some leave your head shaking.We have service loaners, I lent one out to a fellow who returned it and claimed there was a weird noise in the back and the car pulled to the right. Well no kidding, he had put it in the ditch and had tore the rear axle just about right off. Good thing I had his signature on the loaner agreement. He paid for that repair. Whats funny is he had bought a new rim and tire to try and correct the wrecked one but he couldn't put the axle back on the suspension and the rear right wheel was rubbing against the inner fender. He think he could get away with it?Well, theres a glimpse for ya all. I just had to express myself a little tonight.

[Jahntassa]

I don't know your pain, but I feel it. I have similar issues when dealing with installing car audio."It says same-day installation, why should I come back tomorrow?""At this point, if you leave it with us, you'll get it back tomorrow."People just don't understand that when they show up 1 hour to closing, that there's no way we can do anything. Especially when they want four hours of work done. We don't make the cars the way they are...if cars were designed by audio people, everything would be done in minutes...As for some of your pains...yeah...it's pretty stupid. All around. People need to own up for what they do to their cars, and what they ask for. I make sure to be -very- specific when I bring my car in for service, and I keep an eye on what's going on. Not standing on the side, openly watching the mechanic...but I try to keep tabs on what's going on..If you race, and try to get it fixed under warranty...you're doubly stupid... One for racing, one for trying to get it fixed without paying.

[Mavrik]

The one I like is when the customer calls in to make sure we are running on time so when they show up for their 10am oil change appointment, they will go right in. Well you are running on time at the moment and tell them so... but what do they do? They show up late, like 30mins to an hour late and expect you to take their car right in cause you said earlier you were on time. Well now because of them being late, they messed up your whole appointment times and are not running on time and they have the nerve to get pissed off?They drop their car off at 9am for oil change, new tires, transmission service, fuel filter and a concern that the abs light is coming on, and there is no warm air coming from the heater. They expect you to have it all done by 10:30 or 11am. Absolutely no concept of time.

[redlava]

Welcome to the wonderful world of retail. Nothing makes you feel like a God more than serving the public. You think to yourself, I have just met the stupidest person in the world, then behold a new idiot makes an appearance. That is why I got out of the retail business, just couldn't handle it. All it takes is a few seconds of thinking, and those people can come up with answers themselves, but no. My favorite story is when I was working at Payless, a hardware store for those of you who a unfamiliar with it. I was working the lumber counter and I saw a woman come in and speak to somebody in the plumbing section. The guy in plumbing pointed over to me and she came over. She then proceeded to ask me if I knew where the lumber counter was. I just pointed up above my head to the four foot red and white sign above me that said "Lumber Counter." That job and many before it made me hate the general public.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by redlava »I just pointed up above my head to the four foot red and white sign above me that said "Lumber Counter." Maybe she thought that it meant that you were the guy who counted the lumber??? Some people are scary stupid.

[Charlievibe]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »"I didn't drop my car off, I waited for it. I never wrote anything on the envelope, your lying." And here I thought men only had selective memory... I told her I could go get the envelope but she gave me a dirty look and left.I've met a lot of women with selective memories. She is unreal, but they all are....when I waited tables for Applebee's, I had this customer who had asked for a piece of bread with his pasta dish. I thought I was doing something nice when I brought him a basket of bread at no charge to him. He complained to my manager, after eating all of the bread, that I had brought him the basket of bread and he had not asked for it. As my manager passed me on his way to the kitchen, he called the guy a f'in idiot. I about died.

[drunkenmaxx]

well, you do have her phone # right? i would wait until the weekend when i had a good buzz, then have a little fun w/her!

[champcaracing]

i work at the local toyota dealer here in michigan. and being the motor city, everyone else thinks they have it TOUGH???, i could type pages of crap, but i know where your coming from. today people think everything is covered. a runner board could be loose...but look down the side of the truck...its all banged up, "that should be warranty". uh sorry ma'm but look at the side of your truck, call the insurance company. but their already repairing the other side....(in a whiny voice). ok, now on to the loaner, "the other body shop will give me one the SAME as this". you aren't getting one that size here, take the corolla or nothing, or how about this answer. THEN WHY THE HELL YOU HERE IF THEY'LL GIVE YOU THE SAME SIZE AND WE WON'T???" endless horror stories....gotta go, i'm mad about all this....J/K

[Mavrik]

LOL I bet you have great stories, ever get those "your out of service loaners? give me a dealerplate and a car of the lot then."Uh... yeah right ok...I had someone wanna bring their car in and borrow our plow truck as a loaner. My response was "4door sunfire, take our shuttle or wait for your car but you can't have the truck.Some people you just can't explain "wearable item" as opposed to "part defect" specially when it comes to warranty. GM will warranty their car for defects only, not something you broke, cracked, burned out, wore out or put a nail through. lol

[threekrows]

I've worked at a dealer for over 10 years,I've heard a lot.But today I had a new experience.I had a customer that had such bad body odor.I couldn't sit in the car to scan his service engine soon light.It literally made me gag,10 minutes AFTER he left.It must have stuck in my nose,I had to spray air freshener in my bays.Needless to say,I was pleased to hear he is moving far away.........*gag*

[Charlievibe]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »LOL I bet you have great stories, ever get those "your out of service loaners? give me a dealerplate and a car of the lot then."Uh... yeah right ok...I had someone wanna bring their car in and borrow our plow truck as a loaner. My response was "4door sunfire, take our shuttle or wait for your car but you can't have the truck.What ever happened to having someone pick you up? My dealer here always offers me a loaner, but I either get someone to pick me up, or I ride the dealer shuttle to work, then someone either takes me back to the dealer or home. People want EVERYTHING for nothing.

[Mavrik]

We offer shuttle service to every customer, we only have two loaners so they go to people that really need something to drive. We don't pick up cars much because we also lack the personal to be on call to do that all the time.You guys complain about smell of customers.. had one who was a doctor believe it or not and the cigar smoke coming from him gagged you right out. His car was just as bad.Now I have a mini van in the shop right now thats being worked on... get this... its such a mess inside that when I opened the "customer claimed inop sliding door" out fell lolipop sticks with partly sucked off candy, a deck of cards, popicle sticks, cheezies and on goes the list. I mean there was cheezies stuck in the sliding door tracks even.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »Now I have a mini van in the shop right now thats being worked on... get this... its such a mess inside that when I opened the "customer claimed inop sliding door" out fell lolipop sticks with partly sucked off candy, a deck of cards, popicle sticks, cheezies and on goes the list. I mean there was cheezies stuck in the sliding door tracks even.lol. hmmm. wonder why they can't get the door open, huh?

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe »lol. hmmm. wonder why they can't get the door open, huh?Well their attempts at opening the door without cleaning their van broke the sliding door roller bracket...

[Ponyota]

The dealer I have here is great with me. Sometimes they take my car right in and fix the problem. They have never been nasty with me nor have I had to be nasty with them. I actually enjoy going to the service dept to have my work done. They always treat me fairly and even go the extra mile to help out. I have a good time while im there watching the guys work and even learn a few things about my Vibe while im there. I don't think Im suppose to be in the service dept while they are working but no one has ever asked me to leave. I even got to help put in a new window seal with the trim guy. He was the same one that fixed my clicking noise when the door catch was bent and clicking on my window. He showed me how to take the interior door panel off and showed me a way to make sure I didn't break the tabs on the window control covers. Just remember you can't please everyone! There are several people out there that actually have a high opinion of dealerships. I'm one of them. So just keep up the good work and don't worry about the bum-holes....

[Mavrik]

customers like you make a job like that a great one.The rest can't be pleased because they simply do not want to be.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by Charlievibe »People want EVERYTHING for nothing.Ahh, the Great American sense of Entitlement.The one time I worked retail, what pissed me off the most was managers would actually give jerkoffs whatever they wanted. Just helps encourage it. (They wanted product X but had a sale advertisement for product Y. After demanding the advert said 'X' was one sale (even though it obviously a different product) the manager gave them X for the Y price. Or there was a 21" TV on sale on display. But they wanted this other 21", not on sale, obviously not the one on display. "You show the 21" TV on sale right there! I want the sale price!" So they get it. GRRRRRRR!)

[Mavrik]

yup worked retail for a bit myself and experienced that. People with the courage to be the rude loud wheel on the wagon do get the grease.