OK...........

Well, I just got back from my meeting with Mr. Rahal (Bobby Rahal Acura). It went just as I had expected. I pulled up.... was ESCORTED into the dealership.... shown back to the conferance office and was greeted with Smiles ALL AROUND. I didn't have to say much at all. He offered me a drink and then proceeded to tell me that he has looked into the situation prior to my arrivel. He came out and Personally looked at my car. He said, ...

"this is completely unexceptable". "Don't you worry Mr. Norris, I've already made the arrangements for you." "Just tell Herb (sales associate) when you can come in and have it replaced". "It is our job to make sure that you are content with your new vehicle." " Rahal Acura has started out on the wrong foot with you, and for that, we appologize". "I'm having my Staff put you in our RL demonstrator until your vehicle is up to par". "And please let your first few oil changes be on us". ...

How about that for being BLUNT and DIRECT?

Moral of this post? The CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

 

That is good news.

Now its time to have fun in the RL...lol. I know i did with my TL Loaner, until my replacement TL came in...Fun Fun Fun

 

Really? Thanks for that info. I'm off to the bank to tell them to deposit that $1,000,000 check they will never find into my bank account immediately. Since I'm the customer they better do it because I am right!

BTW, congrats on being taken care of by the dealership.

 

Haha... alright..... it's got to be within reason lol!

 

So what exactly are they replacing, the bumper or the car?

 

They are replaceing the bumper.... There is no way they would be able to replace the car for another 3 months.

 

The sales guy probably didn't tell you about your bumper, if he knew, because he was afraid you'd flip out. Yelling at the sales guy isn't going to fix anything. All dealerships have a process they follow to deal with these issues. Your OEM bumper has your VIN on it. Replace it with another bumper and it won't have this sticker on it anymore. That isn't great for someone looking to see if the car has been in a accident. Having the OEM bumper repainted by a body shop should pose no problems longterm if it was done correctly.

I'm not agreeing with how the dealership handled this. But your car probably got whacked by either an employee or a customer on a test drive and they threw some touch-up paint on it and hoped the problem would go away. But getting angry isn't going to solve the problem, which I assume is what you want to happen. Feel lucky the dealership owned up to the problem. I don't think I'd return to them again.

And if you want to get a lawyer and pay $5,000 over a bumper scratch and all that then fine. Otherwise it's just empty threats. Have them redo your bumper, get a warranty for it in writing, maybe squeeze out a few free accessories, and write a letter to the General Manager and chill out. The world won't come to an end.

 

Problem was solved 5 posts ago, but thanks for the input. As for the lawyer, and the $5,000.... lol, I most certainly do not have Johnny Cockrin for an attorney. And if it would have had to go that rout, it would have been a bigger settelment than a bumper... and if they fought and I won, it owuld have been in the arrangement that they would pay for my lawer fees or something like that. But 5G's! Damn!

 

If you had been my customer I would have made sure it was fixed before you picked it up. Your sales guy should have QT'd the car before you picked it up. How did you answer his survey from Acura?

Glad it got fixed!

 

I was very honest in my survey... it's was 3's and 4's accross the board. ANd thank you, I'm glad it got taken care of ass well

 

Rahal Acura has been written up in Fortune and The Wall Street Journal for there ability to set things right with customer. I tend to agree with the statements the being a little less acousitory would have brought the same or maybe better results. The problem here is that you got taken care of but now you are "that customer" the one people hate to deal with because of flying of the handle. This mark will stick with you for a while.

Case in point I have been delaing with Chevrolet dealers for a while since I owned 2 camaros and the local dealer is a cadi dealer that hanldes my escalade. I noticed a tear on a door panel the was a gray area could have been either them or me. they took care of it with out thinking to the tone of $900. They take care of everything I bring in under warranty no questions while other escalde drivers often complain of bad service. I also theow them a bone during warranty work and get the oil done or a detail. They have to make money and warranty hours are much less than traditional labor hours.

 

True.... I will be known as THAT customer... the one that is going to check every last nook and cranny and make sure that when my vehicel leaves their service dept. that it is in the same or better shape than when I brought it there. Now, that said, they KNOW I will be watching with an eagles eye for anything and everything... and I'm sure the last thing they want is me "flying off the handle again" so my guess is I'm that customer that they are going to be extra careful with. Thats a good thing by the way.

 

hey glad to hear that all worked out for you.

i am in a similar situation as you my friend as i am also in my early 20's and have purchased a 3G TL. and also like you, i am VERY meticulous when it comes to my car... shit, i paid good money for it (i dont even drink water in it.) anyway i would be totaly upset with the situation as well but don't think i would have gone out guns blazing and all. because even if you are treated with extra care from now on, the fact is is that you ARE labeled as THAT customer. but again, it all depends on how you choose to be viewed. if your motto is the end justifies the means, then hey, you got what you wanted right? i guess there is a certain level of professionalism that should be invested when it comes to these things. and yeah it kinda is YOUR responsibility to look over the car prior to agreeing to purchase it. I made the salesman stand out in the lot with me for over an hour inspecting the car, all the while having casual conversation on how awesome this car is. yeah they should have told you, but even then, i never leave those small details up to the dealer. i may be in my early 20's, but shit, they definitely do not treat me like the atypical 20 year old. and never once did i ever have to raise me voice. you may get what you want in the end because as you have stated, they may want to just give you what you want and get you out of there, but its completely different when THEY WANT to make sure you get what you want BECAUSE of mutual respect. but hey again, the ends justifies the means right?

anyway, in regards to the guy that said you "paid 38,000 for your TL? LOL" that is kinda steep regardless of what mods you had put on it.

I got my car with everything you mentioned, minus the aspec kit. and still i paid literally $31,000 cash EVEN. and if i did get the ASPEC kit i would have paid a maximum of 32,000-32,300 or whatever.

but hey, you got your car the way you want it right?

enjoy friend.

Tsurugi

 

What year and model is your TL? Reason I ask is because I could have picked one up for 32,000 as well....and 05 Auto Red with Camel int Non Navi. OR I could have done what I did do and Made my car... 06 MT NBP/Ebony Navi 1.6 miles on it. BIG difference.

 

04 manual, navi. SSM, ebony

bought it when they first came out

Tsurugi

 

I went to the dealer last Monday, taking a vacation day off from work to attend the dealer needs (needed a A1) since the dealer is far from my work and since the weather was so beatiful i said what the hell...

Anyways, i get there and drop off the car @ 9:30am exact and the service man told me to come back at 3pm (5 hours for A1?). So i get into a 2006 CSX and waste my day waiting for my car to be ready. They offered me a WAX job so i figured what the hell right?

Well, i get there at 2:30pm figuring i should be there 30 mins earlier just in case and the guy told me all they did was change the oil and havent completed tire roation nor Waxing it. I was furious but kept my cool. As i was hassling the service man telling him i had to take a vacation day off since the dealer is far away from my work and etc he starts giving me excuses how 2 of their service men called in sick yadi-yadah.. He also mentioned that SINCE he gave me a CSX for the day he figured i wasnt in a rush (WTF?) and that my car could stay there for a day (lol? pick up time said 3pm same day). So i saw the manager listening in on our conversation... thats when i RUINED the service guy at the desk, by ruined i mean i literally destroyed all his excuses he threw at me in a calm and fashionable day. I didnt scream nor ever swore but got my point across.

How the fuck does he figure that a A1 takes 6 hours to complete and that he let other cars get serviced before mine because he gave me a csx? word by word this is what i said to the manager "I spent about 60k (cnd) at this dealership, and ive always loved the service but this time around i feel like i got robbed. Lost a day from work, didnt get my service completed and the wax job wasnt done" He offered me 20$ off total price and a acura hat.

He thought with a fucking hat and 20$ off id be happy. though i agreed (he managed to get 3 guys working on the car asap) i do regret it. The wax job was rush rush and little thing si had asked for werent done.

Point of the story: Do not go to ACURA LAVAL and dont ever let the dealership roll over you with their petty excuses.

 

I never gotten a survey from acura, even when they replaced my TL.

Do the dealership send it out or Acura Corp?

Maybe cause i called Acura Corp and filed a complaint about the dealership.

 

Wow thats funny... i got about the same response except i brought up my issues calmly and im in my 20's as well..... try the guns blazing in other situations and you'll learn the hard way....

 

I have a strategy that has worked for me. I go the other direction when it comes to issues with my car. I beleive that the "honey attracts more flies that vinegar" theory works well. I had my tires checked the last time I went in and they forgot to tighten the lugnuts, I got home missing quite a few (lucky the tires did not pop off). I evened the lugnut distribution all four tires, tightened the remaining and went back(slowly). They took care of replacing the lugnuts, but I wanted to ensure them I was not upset as "accidents happen", so I came back with "gas gift cards", $25 each for the service managers who assisted me. Now when I go in, they do not hesitate to go the extra mile to help me, including free services, etc. So I have "distinguished" myself as "that guy" that gave gas cards to us even though we screwed up. BTW the carsd have already paid for themselves in teh service I have received.......any thoughts?

 

You are Def in your early 20's. It shows.

 

An east coaster in his early 20's. The most feared kind of american lol

 

u shoulda inspected the car before purchaseing it.....also the dealer should have told you about those scratches too

 

Not sure if you read the first post but they had touched up the scratches. They touched them up good enough that an untrained eye would pass right by them (me). I came accross them when I was detailing my car (cleaning every last nook and cranny). My face had to be 3 inches from the car to notice.

I'll bet my pink slip you didn't hold your face 3 inches from the vehicles entire exterior body work when you picked your car up. Cut me some slack.

And yes, any respectable business would let you know of an inperfection on ANYTHING new OR USED.

 

 

This is why you have to thoroughly inspect your car BEFORE you drive away with it. Once you drive off the lot, anything cosmetically wrong with the car becomes debatable.

 

Right...... especially when the Acura Dealer admits to touching the car up upon delivery. And if you read the rest of the posts you will see that we already covered the topic.. (having to be 3 inches away form the car to see them ect. ect. ) But thanks for your

 

welll anywho....dealer shouldnt have kept that from you. so its not like everyone inspects their car entirely either.

 

If I was the dealer, I would have taken care of your car right away and when it was done say "We're sorry you had to go through such trouble with your new vehicle. We've done what we can to fix the problem and hope you are satisfied. However, in the future, we ask that you bring your vehicle to another dealership for service because we try to treat our customers with respect and expect to be treated the same."

 

I can tell you as the person in charge of customer service for my organization - people who come off trying to sound like they are important or bigger than they are get WORSE treatment than those who act polite and decent. You are right in saying that from that point on no one wants to deal with Bob - not because a manager bitched (because good managers support the team), not because Bob threatens them (because Bob is full of himself, hot air and other excrement) but because Bob is an asshole. So when Bob comes in again - he gets crappy customer service, the money gets slapped on the counter and people can't wait until he walks out the door. The Bobs of the world usually end up wondering why no one wants to deal with him and why he can't get decent service from his dealership, his bank, his dry cleaner..........

 

Exactly, I'll bend over backwards to correct a problem that was presented in a professional manner. I'll do the bare minimum to help a customer that acts like a complete ass.

 

Exactly. Back in the early days of PC's, I had a customer who got their IBM XT with the wrong video card. This was a middle aged man who called me and immediately came off like the 20 year old who started this thread. Without giving me a chance to to at least say "sorry, we'll correct the mistake made by our delivery dept", this shmuck threatened me with a lawsuit. I turned it over to my boss at the time who also thought this guy was a real asshole too. We straightend out his machine then ignored him after that and forever more.