Service problem escalation

Old Jun 19, 2009 | 09:53 PM
  #1  
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Service problem escalation

This is my first Acura - had my 09 TL SHAWD since they first hit the dealer last November. I have had a number of service problems with the dealership. From the day I ordered it, every time it has been in the service department they screw up, or break something in the process of fixing the thing I have had it in for. It was in the shop 2 times (total of 4 full days) this week to fix one problem. They fixed the initial problem the first day, the second day was fixing what they screwed up the first day... the third day was fixing what the broke on the second day while they were fixing what they screwed up the first day, etc. I got the car back tonight, but they have ordered parts and I'll have to bring it back next week to fix what they screwed up today (trying to fix their mistake from yesterday).
This is the third in a series of these messes. They are very apologetic, and say they have fired the people that made the stupid mistakes, but they keep managing to screw things up.
I took my issue to the owner of the dealership today. Told him I wanted a new car - lets start over. Of course they won't do that. He told the service manager to do whatever needed to be done to make me happy. At this point I just want this stuff fixed! The good news is that none of the problems are mechanical. This is all interior, seating, leather, trim, etc.
There is not another dealer very conveniently located - and this one is real convenient - so I am sort of stuck. Is there any escalation path inside Acura or any other escalation path suggestions, or ????
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Old Jun 20, 2009 | 04:58 PM
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lemon law FTW!
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 06:42 PM
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Sorry to hear your experience, however lemon law doesn't apply in this case, since they keep breaking a new item (i assume). Lemon law apply when they are unable to fix a single particular problem 3 times.

Well, i know you feel frustrated, if i am in your situation, i may ask them to give me some free service in the future as a reimbursement of my inconvenience. Like a couple free oil changes, or even a complete MID service for the up coming 2, 3 times service.

I highly doubt they fired that guy though.
You can try the Acura customer hotline, but after all the dealership is the one responsible for all the repair and service, i think if escalate it high enough they may review this case and may contact your dealer.

But you really should try to fix the issue with the dealer first, as you said this is the one really close to you, i assume your future service will be done here?
It's good to establish a decent relation with the dealer you will visit.

Wish you good luck.
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 07:56 PM
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Can you go to different dealer?
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Old Jun 24, 2009 | 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Piotr_W
Can you go to different dealer?

For non-warranty stuff a good friend who owns an RL but does not like our nearby Acura service dept. takes his car a few miles further to a Honda dealer. They handle all his oil changes, etc.
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Old Jun 25, 2009 | 02:42 AM
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Dang that sucks! I had my issues too, if you have time check out my post titled "what would you do". I would immediately call Acura directly and tell them this dealership is messing up your Acura experience. Acura/Honda is a great company and you should not be having these problems! My dealership fired a bunch of people too for negligence, it doesn't mean shit to us!
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Old Jul 24, 2009 | 09:24 PM
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I had one more incident with the dealer. The Huper Optik window tint that I ordered from them when I bought the car was installed poorly and had a lot of ghosting. This was already the second time the car had been tinted because they put some other product on at first and tried to tell me it was the Huper Optik. Turned out the company that finally did put the right tint on did a poor job. They agreed to have the tint removed and re-applied by a place that I had found. The company they used to take the tint off did a very poor job and the new tint placed refused to tint the car. Scratches in rear glass, etching in rear glass and left rear quarter light, cut rubber trim, stains in fabric around the inside of rear window. Obviously I was not happy!
They then started to talk about replacing the rear glass and the fabric inside. I told them I was done and again stated I want a new car.
I met with the owner of the dealership the next day and he agreed with me. Last Tuesday I picked up my second brand new 09 TL SHAWD Tech - exact same color inside and out. They also took it to the tint place and the Huper Optik was installed very professionally - looks perfect. Included all the options that I originally had on my first one and it didn't cost me a cent (they even delivered the new one with a full tank of gas!). They treated me right and I am very satisfied - just seems a shame that I had to go through all that I went through and they ended up spending whatever this cost them just because of sloppy service. Ironically I'm convinced the sloppy service was an attempt on their part to save a buck; rather than do it right the first time.
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 05:16 AM
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http://www.lemonlaws.net/texas/
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 08:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Piotr_W
Two threads now where you've told someone to use the lemon law after they've posted in their thread that the dealer replaced the car.
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Old Jul 26, 2009 | 08:58 PM
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The car wasn't a lemon - it was great. The problems all had to do with poor service, or service gone bad. With everything that went wrong there were only two issues with the car - bad spot on the leather on the driver seat and a potentially bad cushion on the passenger seat. That was it!
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Old Jul 27, 2009 | 06:06 PM
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I hope contacted Acura directly, that's your best bet. They need to know if the dealer is messin' up the car that worked on for years. These dealerships are getting worse and worse with service, granted it's a new car/model but c'mon, they should be trained to handle all scenarios?
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Old Aug 4, 2009 | 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by bmode
I hope contacted Acura directly, that's your best bet. They need to know if the dealer is messin' up the car that worked on for years. These dealerships are getting worse and worse with service, granted it's a new car/model but c'mon, they should be trained to handle all scenarios?
I have a friend who works for Acura (who doesn't? though) who says if you call Acura with issues like this, they actually take them very, VERY seriously. In this economic climate, a luxury car maker can't afford not to!
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