My car's been in the shop since Monday night...grrrr

[GoddessOfGuinness]

I had to take it to a dealer, because I'm sure the parts need to be ordered.

It's a mini-van; and the rear hatch handle broke off. They have an after-hours drop-off system, so I filled out the appropriate info on the outside of the envelope, inserted the keys, put the envelope in their mail slot and waited to hear from them yesterday morning.

They didn't call, so I called them around noon yesterday, and was assured by a guy named Larry that someone would be calling soon; but they were about 3/4 of a day behind schedule. Realizing that this probably meant my car wouldn't be ready until the next day, I resigned myself to being without a car for another 24 hours.

This morning I called at 8:30 am, Larry answered again, and he had no record of my name being in the computer! After going around and around for a couple of minutes, he transferred me to someone named Chris, who found my vehicle listed with a different owner!
Chris took my info down and said that the car had been "dispatched to a technician" and that he'd call as soon as he had info.

2 and a half hours later, at 11am I still didn't have any info; and being somewhat rattled since they were under the impression that my car belonged to someone else, I decided to call again. Chris answered the phone, and told me once again that the vehicle had been dispatched and he'd call as soon as he had info.

I called again at 3pm, and spoke with the receptionist rather than a service person. I explained that I'd dropped the car off Monday night, that there was confusion about the car's owner, and that I was extremely frustrated because I didn't even know if someone had looked at the car yet, and that I was beginning to wonder if my car was even there.

Naturally, she transferred me to Chris, who explained in an annoyed voice that my vehicle had been dispatched to a technician and he'd call me as soon as he had info.

I'm about to don a helmut to keep from tearing my hair out!

[mainegreen]

1. Never Ever

Take your car to a dealer. They're all a bunch of loons. Find a good mecanic named 'Bob' has a ton of 15 year old cars in the lot. Those old cars are a sure sign that

a) He's kept them running a while so he's good
b) People go back to him so he's good
c) His primary source of income is not selling you a new car once he's lost your old one!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. kicking for more thoughts...

They still haven't called and it's after 6:30pm! :grr:

[ixion]

3. leave it to a dealer to be late...

I guess I've had good and bad experiences with the dealers shop. I have a friend who just bought a new Subaru, and he's had a tremendous amount of trouble with the dealer's mechanics. They don't do the work they say they'll do, and the don't call on time.

I think the poster that recommended finding an individual mechanic was spot on. There's much more accountability there, and more concern over customer service.

That said, I've had pretty good luck with my Toyota dealer.

[patdem]

4. I did work for my son..and he got pissed when I WAITED for my car

my ONLY means of transportaion to get fixed...because it was towed in and when I asked when it would be finished they said it had not yet been scheduled. Well....that was over 24 hours after they had my car on their lot. I then decided that if I left my car the people waiting would have their cars fixed before the cars 'left' for repairs. So I sat and waited all afternoon till my car was ready to drive home. Sorry Charlie....the SQUEEKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. So if it isn't done tomorrow,

do you think I should tell them to forget it, and go someplace else?