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How would YOU respond?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by augustson, Mar 11, 2006.

  1. augustson

    augustson New Member

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    First-- I must give some accolades to the dealer who sold me my 06 Prius, Brunswick Toyota. After learning that the port-installed leather is really only a "partial" installation when compared to the factory-installed leather, they offered to cover the cost of having leather professionally installed on the arm rests, center console (front and rear) and the rear seat panels to the outside of the seatbelts. The dealer had this installation done by Florida Automotive Restyling in Jacksonville, Florida. (Initial results of this installation can be seen HERE )

    Now, since the dealer trusted them with the leather install, I thought I would have them install a Rostra lumbar support and Relaxor heat and massage units in both front seats.

    So, I scheduled an appointment (2 weeks in advance) for February 20 (a day I had off). I called four days before to confirm the appointment and was told to be there at 8:00 a.m. So I left early that morning for the 112 mile drive. 50 miles into the drive I get a call saying (basically), "I'm sorry. We didn't get all of the parts for your installation. There is no need for you to come in today."

    Fellow PriusChatters-- how YOU respond to this situation?
     
    #1 augustson, Mar 11, 2006
  2. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    Honestly? I'd be glad they bothered to call when I'd only gone 50 miles, rather than tell me when I got there. If it weren't for poor service, we'd get no service at all these days.
     
    #2 jbarnhart, Mar 12, 2006
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    my response would be too vulgar to post here.

    but that's just me. ;)

    i'd ask for a discount for the inconvenience. y'know, it never hurts to ask. for example, we saved a hundred bucks on our new cellphones and activation fees today by asking if we were eligible for any discounts. and since their system was down we were there for 3 hours. monday i'm calling customer service and asking for a discount on my first bill. (i felt i'd gotten enough discounts from the guys at the store and they were a little backlogged)

    yeah, discount is definitely the best non-vulgar way to go. but i personally would still bust out a string of curses when referring to them from here on out <_<
     
    #3 galaxee, Mar 12, 2006
  4. ghostofjk

    ghostofjk New Member

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    Depends. Was it a live call, that should have been made the Fri. (or Sat., if they take delivery of materials on Sat.) before that Mon., so that the call should have been made 2-3 days before?

    Sounds like it. They basically wasted your day and a couple gallons of gas. What's that worth to you?

    Worth, oh, about $100 to me.
     
    #4 ghostofjk, Mar 12, 2006
  5. Widdletink

    Widdletink Member

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    Hi All,

    Well, first of all I agree that it was a good thing that they called you before you arrived to try to save you the trip. One thing to take into condsideration is that they may not have realized how far you were coming from and may have thought they were calling with enough advance notice. Most people don't drive as far as you were willing to for services, or anything else for that matter. I know alot of people here in So. California that rarely if ever travel more than 15 miles from their homes for any reason. Of course, they don't have a Prius so... Also, they may have been waiting for a delivery first thing that morning assuming that the necessary parts would be in the shipment.

    Did they say that they would contact you when the necessary parts arrived to reschedule? Were they polite when they called? It the answer to either or both questions is yes, then it sounds like they were trying to do right by you.

    I do also agree that asking for a discount owing to the inconvenience would not be out of line. You can always mention that you are sharing information about this transaction on PriusChat and that may spur them to action. If they turn out to be unsatisfactory ultimately, you should also probably contact the dealership that used them initially to register your ire.

    One word of advice, if/when you do ask for the discount do it nicely and possibly after the work is completed just so you don't wind up with substandard work because someone gets "pissed".

    Good luck and let us know how the install turns out. Also, just as an aside approximately how much does something like this run? I am just wondering.

    Take care and have a super day!

    Tisza
     
    #5 Widdletink, Mar 12, 2006
  6. augustson

    augustson New Member

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    Yes, it was a live call. I completely agree about the wasted day!
     
    #6 augustson, Mar 12, 2006
  7. grasshopper

    grasshopper Member

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    :) I would assume that they were waiting to see if the part would show up that morning and when it didn’t, they gave you a call. Of course it would have been nice if they had called the day before and informed you that they had not received the part but were hoping it would come in the next morning. But that is probably asking too much in this day and age.
    Regardless, if you allow things like this to upset you then you are cheating yourself out of time that you could have been happy. I personally find this to high of a price to pay. I would prefer to see it as a glorious two hour, early morning drive in my wonderful car.
    Just keep remembering, change the things you can control, and spend as little time as possible (given the fact that your human, that is an assumption) worrying about the things you can’t.

    I see no reason that you will not get an excellent installation in the end.

    Be Happy
    :) :) :) :) :)
     
    #7 grasshopper, Mar 12, 2006
  8. augustson

    augustson New Member

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    Come to think of it, I had to call them back to ask about rescheduling! And when I called, the owner's reply was: "The employee I have whom orders/checks order status been out sick for the last three days. He will be in today, and I will followup with the status of your parts."

    He did say the words "I'm sorry" when he called (I think), but it was more like "sorry you were unlucky" as opposed to "sorry we made a big mistake" sort of thing.
    This is probably the best part. When I inquired (politely) about a discount on installation, his reply was, "unfortunatly there is no way for me to offer a discount. I cannot run a business and be responsible for another companies short comings on shipping product."
    $1388.86 out the door with tax, parts and installation for both seats. Of course, if anyone knows a professional installer in the SE that can do it for less, I'm all ears!
     
    #8 augustson, Mar 12, 2006
  9. augustson

    augustson New Member

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    I think the biggest disappointment for me wasn't the wasted morning, but the fact that they didn't seem to care. I just thought it seemed like an odd way to run a business (not knowing ahead of time that you don't have parts?) and a lackluster way to apologize. I posted my situation mostly to see what others thought about it, and to give a "heads up" to anyone who might be considering doing business with Florida Automotive Restyling.
     
    #9 augustson, Mar 12, 2006
  10. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    wow, that's crappy.

    they can't run a business by giving people discounts in the name of customer service when i waste hours of their time?

    i'd cancel and find somewhere else to go. they can run a business short term by pissing off customers... but they won't stay afloat long that way.
     
    #10 galaxee, Mar 12, 2006
  11. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I almost always start with the nice guy approach. So my first sentence would be something to the affect that you so much enjoyed the service, professionalism, and treatment from your first experience that you were willing to drive more than 200 miles to see them again. Pump them up, let them know that you remember that and go out of your way to reward that.

    Sometimes, once you build them up, they feel personally obligated to maintain that level of performance.

    I just had a good resolution to a snafu with cell phones. Basically, it started on Sunday, extended to Thursday, then Friday (twice). In the end, I got two brand new phones for $0.01 apiece rather than the $20 phoneswe were originally looking at . And I feel that some of it is owed to the fact that when it initially turned sour, I told the sales rep that my wife and I enjoyed meeting him and he did such a great job explaining things and talking through things with our interests genuinely in mind that even though any sales associate could do the job we will wait until we can work with him again. The more things failed to work out, the harder he worked to keep our trust.
     
    #11 TonyPSchaefer, Mar 12, 2006
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