Service Advisor forgot to schedule my car

I took my car in Wednesday afternoon after work to leave it for a Thursday appointment to upgrade the front and rear brakes per TSB's. The dealer had ordered the necessary parts the week before.

I went to pick up my car this afternoon after work and when I approached the Service Advisor's desk he pulled up my vehicle and then looked at me with this blank stare. He said "Do you have your insurance card with you?". The first thing I thought was what have you done with my car.

Then he walked around to the courtesy car girl and told her to set me up with a courtesy car. Then he turned to me and said that he had totally forgotten to schedule my car with the technician

At first I was just irritated that my car was not ready but then he just apologized and apologized. At least I do have a courtesy car tomorrow, 2011 Camry, and my wife will not have to do without her car.

I have had some really strange "events" happen with service departments but I have never run in to this situation. Anyone else had this happen before?

 

When I dropped the car off the Service Advisor acknowledged the appointment, pulled it up on the computer, and verified that the ordered parts were on hand. He asked when I planned to pick up the car the next day and entered the time in the computer.

I prefer to wait on my car rather than leave it for the entire day. This time I could not wait for the car so decided to leave it overnight and pick up the next day.

 

Yes, I typically do similar and they act like it irritates them when you do this and question their abilities

The one thing I did not do was call about mid-afternoon to verify that the car was ready for pickup. I also did not get a call from them saying the car was ready. I got busy and just went straight to the dealership. I will not do that again.

 

I drove the Camry to work today. Like you said, I miss my Prius I did not realize how boring another car is to drive after having a Prius. Nothing to watch but a speedometer and tachometer

 

The saga continues.... the SA called my office phone and left a voicemail that my car was ready to be picked up this afternoon. I arrive and he hands me the key and then explains that they are not through with the service yet.

The parts for the front brake TSB had been shipped and were installed. The parts for the rear brake TSB were backordered so were not shipped. He said parts department did not tell him that all of the parts were not here when he callled.

He went on to explain that the Toyota parts depot could not give him a date for the parts being available but hoped to be in a week or two. The SA says that he is keeping my service ticket open until he completes both TSB's. In the case that I go over 36k miles before the parts are received they willl complete the work under warranty.

I questioned the fact that Toyota has issued a TSB yet the parts are not available. His response was "it happens all of the time with warranty issues. Toyota only buys and issues so many of the required parts at a time." I would love to hear Sielerts comments on this.

Oh well, you can get pissed and raise hell or not. Either way it does not change anything. The SA knew that I was not a happy customer when I left. I will be glad when I get this warranty work completed and hope I do not have to go back to the dealer again.

 

The events unfolded pretty much the way that you presented it.

 

If I had to make an extra bike ride on two different occassions I would be upset too I am still upset at the ineptitude of the SA not only once but twice on the same service appointment.

I am waiting to see if I get a survey from Toyota like on my last service where I had a good experience. It is going to be interesting to see if you get a survey after a bad experience

The only bright side is that it is not my nickel they are working on and they did provide a loaner car. It is just going to cost me the inconvenience of two extra trips to the dealership.

 

Update ... my SA just called to let me know that the parts for the Rear Brake Squeal TSB were in. He said if I would come in and swap cars he would put me in a loaner while they completed the TSB service. So, I will swing by this afternoon after work and pick up the loaner.

This may have a satisfactory ending after all. I will work with anyone, and give them a second chance, if they will be willing to work with me and be fair

 

I picked my car up last night and returned the loaner. After having both the brake TSB's completed the brakes do appear to be stronger than before. I am sure the new pads on the rear are probably most of the improvement.

They had washed and vacuummed out my car. The SA could not have been nicer and went out of his way to apologize one more time for the delays and multiple trips.

I am going to remain neutral on this dealership. I have had more good experiences than bad. I have had a couple of experiences that should not have happened.

Now that I have passed the 36k mile warranty period I plan to do the rest of my routine maintenance myself. Hopefully I will not have to return to the dealer for a long time, except to pick up DIY parts and supplies. If I do, I feel like I have a good relationship with them which may help in the future.