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Anal AssPlorer said:I had a brand new 99 chevy s10 before I got my little Toyota. (Notice I did not capitalize the "c" in chevy, because they are undeserving.) I paid cash for this truck, no payments. It was free and clear.
So I had this truck 8 months and the water pump broke. This was covered by the warranty. I take it in and they tell me "well, looks like the water has lead in it, so the warranty is null. You better find the people at Jiffy Lube who topped off your water when you had the oil changed there." (There was a Jiffy Lube reminder sticker on my windshield)
Although the warranty SHOULD have covered it, I didn't argue, paid $420 to have it repaired.
One month (exactly 34 days) goes by and the water pump breaks again. I take back to the dealership that just repaired the water pump that I PAID FOR!! I say nothing but take a look here. Sure enough (different service tech this time) comes around and says "you got lead in your water pump and that is going to cancel the warranty. Want us to repair it?" I say sure. He takes it around and then I come back at the end of the day. He rings up the bill of $360 this time. (wow, it was cheaper) at this point I say hang on a minute and I walk off. Using a spare key I go over to my truck and get in, start it up and drive back by the service garage. The man is walking out with a confused look on his face. I lower the window and beckon him to come over. He walks over, I thrust the bill and receipt from my last repair job for the water pump in his face. "You see this? This is where I had a part covered by warranty repaired here the last time. See this comment, it is from lead in the water here as well. You see this date, 32 days ago. And when the water was placed in this piece, it was right here at this location from you guys. I am not paying shit. What I am going to do is, I am going to drive off and tomorrow morning I am going to have this truck at my lawyers office and we are going to call "c"hevrolet Corporate and report this. But before we do that, we are going to call the EPA and report this lead problem that you guys have here. Because I asked the buidling manager if the same water flow that went to your service department also went to your customer area and I have been drinking that water from the fountain all day long. And I am really starting to feel very ill."
This guy went solid white. He was apologizing, asking me to hold on and he would have the manager to come and take care of this, instead I drove off.
The next day they were calling and leaving messages that I needed to come out and resolve this issue. The following days after that - I never returned their calls - they were calling 7-8 times per day saying that they were going to have me prosecuted for theft. Still no answer from me. What was happening was I had an attorney friend of mine to write them a letter on company paper saying that I had informed him of the situation and he was waiting for a response from the "c"hevrolet Corporation and from the EPA. He then proceeded to type up a letter and Fed Ex it to the Regional "c"hevy office. He got an IMMEDIATE response. That dealership stopped calling me right away. Instead the corporate office asked I call them. I called and they were nothing but yes sir, no sir, will take care of it sir. They sent me a refund for both services I had there. The 420 and the 360.
Now get this. Two weeks later, after the lawyer sent them a second letter pointing out the warranty wording and stipulations, in addition to references regarding EPA's lead standards and the effect on humans, I got a call from the corporate office again. They asked what would it take to make me happy at this point. I told them that I did not care to drive a "c"hevy any longer but I was stuck with it because it was 9 months old and the resell value sucked ass. But I would be paying STRICT attention to the operation and condition of the vehicle and the warranty and inspection would be followed to the letter and I would not hesitate to call in the BBB or my attorney again if I had any problems.
They told me to take the vehicle back to the dealership first thing in the morning and I would get a refund for my purchase. next morning the dealership had a check waiting for me for the EXACT amount I paid 9 months ago. There was no deductions for the mileage or depreciation. In the end, I basically had a free vehicle for 9 months. Every single cent was refunded to me.
the moral here is... don't let a dealership use you for a door mat. They will try it. And most of the times they will succeed. Take your case over their heads to the corporation. Threaten them and tell them that you will bad mouth the dealership and call the BBB and spread the word on their shady customer service issues. Tell them you will take out an ad in the paper and describe your treatment. Tell them you are looking at an attorney service to help you recoup the unnecessary fees and costs/loss you incurred from this situation. You have to be a hard ass when dealing with them.
Thing about Mercedes now, is when I go there for anything, even just to have it washed for free, the Benz Corporation itself sends me a comment/grading card in the mail. Asking me to rate their service. The entire company, salemens, repair techs, car washers, secretaries, etc.. all lose a percentage of their bonuses when negative ratings come back in. You get five or six people to send in a negative form in one month, the corporation will come in and conduct customer service training classes to everyone again.
PRICELESS
