Dealership Complaint - Conclusion - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

hippojam1 · 03-27-2006, 12:16 PM

For all of those following my little service hassle. I just spoke to the service manager at BH Porsche, Trevor, and he seemed to be defending his employee right off the bat. Then he went and talked to the idiot employee and then called me back with a little more belief of my story saying that next time I come in I should ask for him and he'll give me "some sort of discount or something." I personally don't believe it. Sounds wishy washy.

A good sales outfit will appease the customer who has a logical complaint by giving him or her a specific incentive to come back and spend more money there. Porsche servicing is a big busines and I don't understand why they wouldn't go out of their way to keep me as a customer. I don't think I'll be going back to Beverly Hills Porsche for servicing...Maybe Rusnak (the next closest dealership in Pasadena) isn't much better, but I will at least tell everyone on this board not to expect great service from Beverly Hills Porsche.

MNBoxster · 03-27-2006, 12:31 PM

Hi,

I dunno, I don't wish to minimize your plight, but there may be more important things in the World, from time-to-time, than making sure the Lumbar Support on your used car is repaired with all possible haste.

Possibly, the Tech's Mother was being operated on or was otherwise seriously ill. In that case, I'm not sure I'd want the guy working on my Car until his personal issue was resolved. And I'd like to think I had some compassion for his troubles.

I'm glad your issue was resolved, but I suspect you coveyed a sense of self-importance (as demonstrated in this thread) which put people off and this may have contributed to why your service was less than exemplary. Admittedly, they are there to serve you, but they are not your servants...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

buster356 · 03-27-2006, 01:55 PM

MNBoxster, Sorry But I think you have missed the whole just of this post.

He was upset over the lack of service. It would not matter what type of industry you are in when you make an appointment to have something fixed or corrected then it should be taken care of. If the part was miss ordered or one of the tech's had a family emergency then the service adviser has a responsiblity to contact his customers and inform them of the problem.
If not then why bother making the appointment and plan on taking time out from your day? You could just show up and hope...

buster356

z281974 · 03-27-2006, 02:11 PM

Regarding your dealer honoring the appointment, here's a related excerpt from a Seinfeld (big Porsche fan incidently) episode. Unfortunatley it seems more and more businesses are following this attitude.

JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation?

RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars.

JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.

RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations.

JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to “hold” the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.

MNBoxster · 03-27-2006, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buster356

MNBoxster, Sorry But I think you have missed the whole just of this post.

He was upset over the lack of service. It would not matter what type of industry you are in when you make an appointment to have something fixed or corrected then it should be taken care of. If the part was miss ordered or one of the tech's had a family emergency then the service adviser has a responsiblity to contact his customers and inform them of the problem.
If not then why bother making the appointment and plan on taking time out from your day? You could just show up and hope...

buster356

Hi,

I didn't misunderstand his thread, nor am I discounting the errors of the Service people involved. But I do think there's a middle ground between taking it all in stride and Off With His Head!

IMHO, the lister is making waay too much of the incident. He got inconvenienced - unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I'm sure his Lumbar will survive another day.

Do I think the Dealership will want to know of his displeasure? My 25 years running Service Industries make me certain that they will. But calling people Morons and Idiots over a Lumbar Support seems to me at least to be slightly over the Top.

There's truth to the addage about catching more flies with Honey. Service Techs get around and have occaision to meet. Even if he moves to another Dealership, his reputation as a Demanding Complainer may follow him and insure that he gets more of the same. If on the other hand, one were to express their concern politely and work with the SA, he might be surprised how far out of their way they'd be willing to go to make ammends in the future for dropping the ball this time...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

eslai · 03-27-2006, 05:09 PM

I understand you, Jim, but I think you could find a way to make your point without belittling his opinion on the matter.

I used to huff and puff over every little customer service issue. I've found over time that yes, remaining calm is the order of the day. People will **************** up and as long as they're courteous with you, they should get courtesy in return. However, if they're jackasses and disrespect you, sometimes you have to unleash the dogs of war.

mach schnell · 03-27-2006, 05:32 PM

i think one of the most beautiful things in life is how a Seinfeld episode seems to have relevance to every situation we face in life!

in my opinion, customer service (no matter what industry) in calfornia is the absolute pits! its a gamble, what you might get when you show up and i've come to think that the attitude in california is that 'it doesn't matter if i don't retain you as a customer, b/c there are 22 million other people in the state.' it stinks to have so much of what we depend upon in daily life be managed by people who don't care about anything.

Uncle Bob · 03-27-2006, 06:47 PM

I think I understand what you are getting at, Jim. In my opinion? It comes down to the "which hill do I want to die on". I save my real solid unmoving complaints for big issues, lumbar support may not have fit that. What happens next place? You gonna end up in Santa Barbara getting service?

I'm really in a pickle in WA......the next dealership is in Bellvue, about 80 miles one way! I pick my hills carefully and ask how important it really is. Over the years, the dealership has been very gracious. They assisted in having VW buy back a brand new Touareg with over 42 separate warranty items in <30k miles.....don't think I didn't have to get firm on more than one occasion. When the service dept (who mostly only do what the manufacturer tells/allows them to do) wasn't giving me satisfaction, I went around to the sales manager and told him how disappointed I was in my purchase. At one time the conversation went like this:
Sales: "Well, Bob, perhaps you just need to get angry. Sometimes that's what's needed to get their attention."
"Well, I don't think you want me getting angry."
"Well, it might be worth it"
"OK, not that I haven't given it some thought. I had an idea....I'll go to Yeager's (sporting goods store) and buy a case of Sterno. I'll fill the back of the Touareg with it, light it on fire, put a brick on the accelerator and point it at that Turbo Carrera (appx $100K) in the front showroom window. I figure I can report it (the Touareg) stolen and come out pretty good. What do you think?"
"Bob, why don't you just remain calm and let me get angry for you."
"I was thinking the same thing myself!"

It got resolved the next day!

TriGem2k · 03-27-2006, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippojam1

For all of those following my little service hassle. I just spoke to the service manager at BH Porsche, Trevor, and he seemed to be defending his employee right off the bat. Then he went and talked to the idiot employee and then called me back with a little more belief of my story saying that next time I come in I should ask for him and he'll give me "some sort of discount or something." I personally don't believe it. Sounds wishy washy.

A good sales outfit will appease the customer who has a logical complaint by giving him or her a specific incentive to come back and spend more money there. Porsche servicing is a big busines and I don't understand why they wouldn't go out of their way to keep me as a customer. I don't think I'll be going back to Beverly Hills Porsche for servicing...Maybe Rusnak (the next closest dealership in Pasadena) isn't much better, but I will at least tell everyone on this board not to expect great service from Beverly Hills Porsche.

Hippojam....Trevor is almost as annoying as Jason...If you want good service from BH go see Eric im telling you. Eric will give you the truth with no bull****************. I personally would HATE going to that dealer if it wasnt for him. Everyone there including the cashiers are idiots. Ill be heading there next Monday 4/3 for some warranty work...

Adam · 03-27-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

I didn't misunderstand his thread, nor am I discounting the errors of the Service people involved. But I do think there's a middle ground between taking it all in stride and Off With His Head!

IMHO, the lister is making waay too much of the incident. He got inconvenienced - unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I'm sure his Lumbar will survive another day.
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I agree with Jim and was thinking this from the get go. Yes, it sucks, but in the scheme of things how big is this? Inconveniences happen everyday..it's part of life. You accept it and move on. I mean, the guys mother was sick....Hippo didn't get his car worked on that day. Big wooooppdeeedooooo.

Brucelee · 03-27-2006, 07:19 PM

Personally, I have spoken to BHP several times on the phone. I think they were arrogant and not very helpful.

hippojam1 · 03-27-2006, 10:29 PM

wow, i didn't think this post would get so much attention. and that such a divisive line would be drawn about customer service.

let me first express thanks for those of you who understand my frustration and believe that it is sad when businesses don't care if we return. i think the world would be a less frustrating place for all of us if these businesses would make thoughtful (but not necessarily material) gestures showing that they understand what we're going through and are there to help us out. i had to lose three days of work because of two screw ups (the wrong part and the worker having to care for his mother). i didn't fault jason the moron for making a mistake the first time, and i certainly don't fault the worker, whoever he may be, for having a sick mother. i hope she gets better. i just wanted to be notified so i didn't lose those days of work. that's all. and if i'm not notified, then i want a little concern that jason the moron is sorry, which shows me that next time i don't need to worry about this happening. now i expect it to happen the next time.

to mnboxster, who thinks that i don't deserve adequate planning ahead or having the right part ordered because it's such a small issue, that's absurd. i'm not asking for extraordinary treatment. i'm asking for the bare minimum....just a call telling me i need to wait longer. i shouldn't be wasting three days not working having friends go out of their way to drive me around because we expect it to be ready any minute now. we're all busy people...if we had to lose three days because of logistical errors like this with every little errand we need to run, because we don't deserve the service people's attention, then we can't run our lives very well, and we certainly can't avoid being frustrated on a daily basis. if every business is so inconsiderate, that's what could happen.

and to those of you who think we should save our complaints for big problems. if there's only one dealership and you have no choice, then sure. you're out of luck. but we're paying A LOT for porsches and porsche service...why should we be getting pushed around?

hippojam1 · 03-27-2006, 10:33 PM

i will try erick out next time. i'm very happy there is a wealth of information here on other people's experiences with employees at this dealership, so i can avoid these hassles in the future.

for those of you who disagree with my reasoning, i hope you still might benefit from knowing my experiences to avoid hassles yourselves.

hippojam1 · 03-27-2006, 10:35 PM

oh, the cashiers are idiots, too. ha ha...i forgot that. every time i went to pick up the car, they ignored me and had no idea whether it was coming out or not. they kept calling people to get it over and over again. it didn't bother me so much because i thought it was amusing. they should probably redesign their processes a bit.

Uncle Bob · 03-28-2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippojam1

and to those of you who think we should save our complaints for big problems. if there's only one dealership and you have no choice, then sure. you're out of luck. but we're paying A LOT for porsches and porsche service...why should we be getting pushed around?

I agree with you as well, particularly when you are treated as a replaceable commodity. However, I do not expect more service because I paid $xxx for my car and someone esle cannot expect this level of service because they paid less. I just have a reasonable expectation that the dealership will do what they say. When they don't (and they eventually will) I simply ask myself how important it really is. To be inconvenienced is, unfortuneately, inevitable.

Here's an interesting link about yet another dealership problem angle:
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=261510

MNBoxster · 03-28-2006, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippojam1

...to mnboxster, who thinks that i don't deserve adequate planning ahead or having the right part ordered because it's such a small issue, that's absurd. i'm not asking for extraordinary treatment. i'm asking for the bare minimum....just a call telling me i need to wait longer. i shouldn't be wasting three days not working having friends go out of their way to drive me around because we expect it to be ready any minute now. we're all busy people...if we had to lose three days because of logistical errors like this with every little errand we need to run, because we don't deserve the service people's attention, then we can't run our lives very well, and we certainly can't avoid being frustrated on a daily basis... but we're paying A LOT for porsches and porsche service...why should we be getting pushed around?

Hi,

Please don't put words in my mouth. At no time did I say you didn't deserve proper treatment - you do. Nor did I fail to acknowledge the Service Failure which occured - it did. I merely think you overreacted to the situation both at the Dealership and in this thread, and I think you still are. I'm sorry you don't think I'm as empathetic to your situation as you would like. One person berated me for belittling you, but I think you've done that all by yourself.

We manage our own frustrations and our own stresses in Life. We decide how much we are going to let an unexpected result frustrate us. Not every incident in life equates to the importance of Nuclear Launch Codes, and I suspect a couple problems with the local Dealer don't even make the Top Ten! Let it go!

You previously failed to note that you missed 3 days work, this does place greater consequential damage on the incident, but in my eyes at least, still fails the stink test you're trying to promote here. One could ask why after the 1st incident with this Dealer you weren't proactive enough to call ahead and confirm your reservation? I always do, and I rarely have the type of problem which you express here, Cause & Effect?

As pointed out, it doesn't matter what you paid for the Car or the Service, if a promise was made, it should have been followed through. But failing to take into account and accept Human Error isn't going to do your Blood Pressure any good. People make mistakes. That's not the same thing as "Pushing you around". I suspect you have made mistakes on the job as well (I know that I have) which may have inconvenienced others, does that make you a Moron and an Idiot too?

As you pointed out, the Service Manager did try to make ammends saying " next time I come in I should ask for him and he'll give me "some sort of discount or something". But, you seem unwilling to let it go by calling everyone involved Morons and Idiots even rejecting out-of-hand their attempts to rectify the situation stating "I personally don't believe it. Sounds wishy washy". You have to give them the opportunity to improve if you expect them to do so, they can't run back the clock, they can only make it better next time. ..

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

prOk · 03-28-2006, 04:04 AM

I just went back and read the other thread on this.. seems to me both sides have issues.. Perhaps the original poster has some anger/stress management issues and the dealer has follow through problems.. None of them in this case were unavoidable OR worth all this stress.

Next time, CALL THE BLOODY DEALER and confirm they are ready.. He did say the upholstry guy may or may not be there the next day.. so don't be mad when you leave your car and he's not there. Every business has employees call in sick or just generally not show up, part of life. Don't shorten your own life stressing too much over stuff like this..

You were inconvenienced in your mind, but it seems somewhat voluntary actually.. So the first time was a genuine mistake, they ordered the wrong part and probably didn't realize it until the car was sitting in front of them.. a forgivable offense.. The second time, you stated the service manager said his upholstry guy called in that day and yes, he should very much have called you and called off the appointment... However, when he told you the guy may or may not be there the following day and you chose to leave your car knowing the risk, that's your decision and your problem. Don't take that part out on the dealer. Seems the dealer truly made one genuine service error in not calling you to delay the 2nd appointment, the rest of it was either just a simple mistake or a decision you made.. either way, mountains out of molehills that could have been avoided if you take the time to breathe and clear your anger out of your mind.

Brucelee · 03-28-2006, 06:22 AM

Let me act as moderator and ask that we tone this down.

Clearly several of us have differing expectations of how we want our service dept to treat us and frankly, that is fine and dandy. That is why we have so many cars and dealerships to choose from.

I will point out that when a company or dealerships seeks to create expectations as a point of marketing differentiation, it will be held to those expectations by most customers. Certainly that is true for Porsche, Lexus etc.

To wit, if I buy a $90K 911 from the local Porsche guys, you can bet that my expectation on service will be much higher than if I had just landed the latest $13K Scion.

Moreover, Porsche creates a very distinct level of snobbery inside their marketing and distribution channel. I am not faulting them, frankly it works. It keeps us coming back with our checkbooks.

But it works both ways. Personally, I have a great relationship with Hoen Porsche but I do have high expectations and work to have them met. I am not an Ahole about it but I don't go away either.

Now, back to sunnier thoughts!