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my letter to the VW dealership
Dear Mr. Podrosky:
I have just had an unsatisfactory experience with the 2004 VW Golf I bought from your dealership. We spoke on the phone earlier today, but I feel it would be helpful for me to put this in writing for your records.
On my way home from work on Thursday, September 2, my car died. At first it appeared to be a dead battery, but after a jump-start failed and the EPC light came on, I called your dealership around 7PM. The person who answered told me that your service department was closed and I should call VW's roadside assistance.
I first spoke with them at approximately 7:15. They told me a tow truck would take my car (and me) to your dealership and you would lend me a car. As time passed with no tow truck (and no return call), it became apparent that this would not happen before you closed -- and that you did not have a loaner car to give me in any case. At 8:15, I called them and they told me that they still had no idea when I would get a tow truck, but that I should walk home, leaving the car unlocked so the tow-truck operator would be able to tow it when he showed up.
After several more calls I learned that I would not get a tow truck that night at all, and I would have to call at 6:30AM to arrange a tow in the morning. (My car was in a location that would generate a parking ticket at 8AM.) I did this, but even though the tow truck got me and the car to the dealership at 7:45, I did not make it to work (on the South Side, not far away) that day until 10:30. In the meantime, I was given the run-around and at one point one of your employees threatened me with financial loss. Specifically, before we even knew how long it would take to fix my car, he told me it might be ready the next day (Saturday), a day when I could not come pick it up, and that if I didn't pick it up that day I would be responsible for the rental-car fees through Tuesday (the next day you were open). During this discussion he came across as exasperated and rude -- a far cry from the excellent service I had been promised when I bought the car.
As it turned out, the service department had to order a new fuel pump to be delivered Tuesday, so it was completely unnecessary for him to bring this up. Still, I marvel at the lack of sensitivity to a customer's needs, and found myself wondering what would have happened if I had been on my way out of town on a vacation for the holiday weekend when my car died. Would you have insisted that I cancel my vacation? (This same employee was much more polite today, at least.)
This morning (Tuesday) at approximately 10:30 I received a call saying that my car was ready. I arrived around 11:00, expecting to be in and out in ten minutes. When they brought the car up (around 11:15), we discovered that it was covered in some foreign substance. At first the service employee told me that it must have been that way when I brought it in, which it certainly was not. On further examination, we discovered that the foreign substance was an even spraying of light-colored paint on my dark-blue car. One of your employees later told me that someone had painted the fence surrounding your outdoor lot over the weekend, apparently without moving the cars parked there first. (I assume from the paint on my car that he used a sprayer.) I am astonished that no one involved in servicing my car noticed its condition before I was called and told the car was ready for pick-up. Though my car was declared ready at 10:30, it was approximately 12:10 when I was able to drive it away.
Amidst this negative experience, I would like to point out that the people who I saw cleaning my car were very polite and professional. They deserve credit for jumping in and making it right; I just wish someone had noticed and corrected the error earlier.
To sum up, then:
- My six-month-old car with 2000 miles on it BROKE. I am left wondering what other failures are in my future.
- VW's roadside service was not there for me when I needed them. As a result, I missed an appointment Thursday evening and was left wondering about the safety of my unlocked car some distance from my home overnight.
- Because of delays at your dealership, I lost several hours from work on Friday and Tuesday. I will have to make that time up.
- I am astonished that you would release a car that was visibly damaged in your care and try to blame it on the customer.
- I do not feel that you lived up to the sign posted in your service area that "customer satisfaction is our #1 goal".
When we spoke earlier today you offered me a free detailing in the spring as compensation for this experience. This sounds attractive, but based on this week's experience I find myself wondering whether this service will be prompt, accommodating, and competently done. Today's was not, and I find myself reluctant to expose myself to such unpleasant circumstances in the future. I would feel more confident in your dealership if you could tell me what procedures you will implement to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
If in the future I bring my car to you for service, what guarantees can you make about the work? If I make an appointment for a specific time, can I be assured that the work will be done at that time and that I will be given accurate information about when to return to pick it up? If work that I pay for is not done to my satisfaction, will price adjustments be made?
Of course I have been talking about this experience with my friends, but I do not intend to be unreasonable here. If you like, I will share your reply verbatim with the hundreds of readers of my weblog who have heard the story so far. If you prefer that I not share it verbatim, I will post a summary. I understand that mistakes can happen and would be happy to share the good news of corrective measures with my readers. I spoke well of your sales people (one in particular) six months ago, and would like to be able to speak well of your service department.
I hope that you are able to restore my faith in your dealership.
Sincerely, [...]
[CC to my salesman.]
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I love, love, love your new icon.
I have your keychain. All that is delaying me now is finding appropriate packaging and taking said package to the post office. I believe I have your address. I'll email you if I don't.
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I have your keychain.
Ooh, thanks!!
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It occurs to me at this point that I would have noted the spray paint on the car, asked the dealer to note and acknowledge the spray paint on the car, and then rung my insurance company to lodge a claim. They would have then claimed against the car dealership, probably for the cost of a complete panel job and respray. Of course going through the process of doing that in the car dealer's office may have gotten you a bit more than an offer of a free detailing.
The future problem's likely to like in the fact that oil based paint with lots of thinners (as used on a fence) and enamel based duco (as used on a car) are incompatible in lots of chemically interesting and unpleasant ways. If they got the paint off fast enough you may not have problems, but if it sat there for several days it's possible you might.
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Possibly. Part of the reason I used the bulleted list toward the end was to give them something to fixate on if they can't be bothered to read the whole letter. I'm hoping that when they see phrases like "damaged in your care", they'll decide to invest a couple more minutes reading the rest.
I might have been done in by a desire to support my claims rather than just making them. Probably most letters they get amount to "you suck, and you took too long besides", and there's really nothing you can do with that. I wanted to provide enough information for them to investigate and make an informed response. Perhaps I give them too much credit.
Insurance: ooh, I wish I had thought of that! It never occurred to me to make a claim under my comprehensive policy; I tend to be stuck on the idea that auto insurance is for collision, theft, and vandalism. Well, there's still time; when they reply (and with luck their reply will confirm the paint incident), I can ask what guarantees they will make for my paint job and if they balk, I'll call my agent then.
The future problem's likely to like in the fact that oil based paint with lots of thinners (as used on a fence) and enamel based duco (as used on a car) are incompatible in lots of chemically interesting and unpleasant ways.
Thank you for this information. I had no idea. Is there any sort of test I can perform to judge whether they got the paint off quickly enough, or do I just have to wait for problems to appear months or years from now?
Y'know, if there's long-term damage from this, and they should have known that, and they didn't inform all the other customers who were affected (choosing to just quietly clean their cars instead)... things could get interesting for them. Pity I didn't have the foresight to walk up to that lot and write down license-plate numbers of speckled cars.
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How much good would it have done you? I thought only the police can trace a license plate. Can an insurance company do it? And would they for non-clients?
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