jessydog
Member
- Joined
- February 8, 2007
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Memphis
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '07 EB
Can't have brand loyalty without great customer service!
You make a good point, 'truth. Here's a story:
So I'm minding my business, rolling along at about 55mph with cruise control engaged, and my '07 EB (V6...about 3k miles on her at the time) downshifts to keep speed going up a hill. Over the top of the hill, it upshifts back into OD and then all he!! breaks loose. The thing starts shuddering and wheezing bigtime. I was positive at least one engine mount had popped. No idiot lights, no info displayed in the message center, nothing. Just severe vibration, whether moving or stopped/at idle, and very little accelerator response. Happened 2 or 3 miles from the dealership where I bought it, so I limped it in. (Don't anyone even think about starting back up with the safety stuff...I rode the shoulder and hardly crossed paths with a soul.)
Anyway, I pull into the service bay, put it in park, kill the ignition, jump out and tell the service advisor that either it blew an engine mount or it's possessed. He gets in, starts it up...yep, you guessed it, now it purrs like a kitten. *&%$#@! You gotta be kidding me! Service advisor says he's gonna plug'er up to the computer and run diagnostics, and he'll call me later.
They didn't offer me a shuttle ride to work, a loaner, a cab voucher, or anything else. I didn't even ask...I called a bud to come get me. I knew the policy because I asked while car shopping. We could get into a big debate about whether or not they were obligated to do that, but the bottom line is that they DON'T do it. But those guys were genuinely concerned about the problem with my vehicle, and they regretted my inconvenience. The way they treated me made all the difference, because I honestly got the impression that they cared about fixing the problem. I didn't go away mad, because they had a great attitude. It was like, this sucks for you, and it's embarrassing for us, so you go do your thing while we go figure out our thing. I can't explain the difference very well, so I'll just say that they made it clear that they KNEW that this was an unacceptable situation, and that I deserve better reliability from the product. Clearly, though, they didn't have a team of valets waiting around for someone to snap their finger, either.
I bet if their attitudes had been poor, and if they had seemed not to "care," I'd probably have been inclined to log in here and complain about how $30k oughtta get you something that's not a p.o.s., etc., ad nauseum. Let's face it, stuff happens...the warranty is an acknowledgment of that. I just think I'd rather have it this way, than to pay a higher price for a vehicle because the dealer baked in a bunch of "support" expenses. But there's no doubt, I'd blow my stack too if all I got was the shoulder-shrug, and the "hey I just work here...I didn't build the thing."
Turns out there was a TSB out on this issue...just needed to download the equivalent of a software patch. Apparently, some program that deals with the torque converter got into a disagreement with the "shift strategy" programming. I guess neither was willing to relent until I shut off the ignition.
When my co-worker dropped me off, the service manager even went out to apologize to HIM for HIS inconvenience, for having to go out of his way to drop me off. To me, customer service makes all the difference in the world, because once you own the vehicle, they are as much of a reflection on the brand as anything else. Don't promise me a car that won't break...that's not realistic. But if I can have confidence in the folks that maintain the car, that's pretty good. I hope someone renews these other owners' trust in their Explorers, because I want the folks I trust to stay in business.
You make a good point, 'truth. Here's a story:
So I'm minding my business, rolling along at about 55mph with cruise control engaged, and my '07 EB (V6...about 3k miles on her at the time) downshifts to keep speed going up a hill. Over the top of the hill, it upshifts back into OD and then all he!! breaks loose. The thing starts shuddering and wheezing bigtime. I was positive at least one engine mount had popped. No idiot lights, no info displayed in the message center, nothing. Just severe vibration, whether moving or stopped/at idle, and very little accelerator response. Happened 2 or 3 miles from the dealership where I bought it, so I limped it in. (Don't anyone even think about starting back up with the safety stuff...I rode the shoulder and hardly crossed paths with a soul.)
Anyway, I pull into the service bay, put it in park, kill the ignition, jump out and tell the service advisor that either it blew an engine mount or it's possessed. He gets in, starts it up...yep, you guessed it, now it purrs like a kitten. *&%$#@! You gotta be kidding me! Service advisor says he's gonna plug'er up to the computer and run diagnostics, and he'll call me later.
They didn't offer me a shuttle ride to work, a loaner, a cab voucher, or anything else. I didn't even ask...I called a bud to come get me. I knew the policy because I asked while car shopping. We could get into a big debate about whether or not they were obligated to do that, but the bottom line is that they DON'T do it. But those guys were genuinely concerned about the problem with my vehicle, and they regretted my inconvenience. The way they treated me made all the difference, because I honestly got the impression that they cared about fixing the problem. I didn't go away mad, because they had a great attitude. It was like, this sucks for you, and it's embarrassing for us, so you go do your thing while we go figure out our thing. I can't explain the difference very well, so I'll just say that they made it clear that they KNEW that this was an unacceptable situation, and that I deserve better reliability from the product. Clearly, though, they didn't have a team of valets waiting around for someone to snap their finger, either.
I bet if their attitudes had been poor, and if they had seemed not to "care," I'd probably have been inclined to log in here and complain about how $30k oughtta get you something that's not a p.o.s., etc., ad nauseum. Let's face it, stuff happens...the warranty is an acknowledgment of that. I just think I'd rather have it this way, than to pay a higher price for a vehicle because the dealer baked in a bunch of "support" expenses. But there's no doubt, I'd blow my stack too if all I got was the shoulder-shrug, and the "hey I just work here...I didn't build the thing."
Turns out there was a TSB out on this issue...just needed to download the equivalent of a software patch. Apparently, some program that deals with the torque converter got into a disagreement with the "shift strategy" programming. I guess neither was willing to relent until I shut off the ignition.
When my co-worker dropped me off, the service manager even went out to apologize to HIM for HIS inconvenience, for having to go out of his way to drop me off. To me, customer service makes all the difference in the world, because once you own the vehicle, they are as much of a reflection on the brand as anything else. Don't promise me a car that won't break...that's not realistic. But if I can have confidence in the folks that maintain the car, that's pretty good. I hope someone renews these other owners' trust in their Explorers, because I want the folks I trust to stay in business.
love my explorer tho!!
