Re: Small Ding to Interior by Dealer Service Department-- Thoughts?

This is a bit of venting to a community that I think will understand my frustration.

Last week I took my car to the Porsche dealer, where I purchased my car new, for service. I presume while performing a warranty fix on the door, the dealer chipped the little airbag symbol on the door (see below). I would like them to fix this. I presume they will resist—and I would like the Board’s feedback on how far to push the matter--- as well as potential easy repairs!

A couple of additional thoughts and background information:

** Even among Porsche owners, I take great care of my Porsche. The interior is typically spotless. I know that cars are consumables and deterioration from use will occur, but I would rather it be me who contributes to the deterioration, not the dealer. The perfectly preserved interior of my Boxster is oddly important to me.

** I live in an area with multiple Porsche dealers and despite what you would think about competition increasing quality or driving down costs--that has not happened. All of the dealer service centers I have tried in my local area are expensive. Worse, I have been disappointed with their attention to detail and work quality. For example, the last time I took the car to this dealer for a brake flush, the passenger floor mat came back with mud on it. The time before that, the dealer scratched the black door guard right above where it says “Boxster” (as we all know, it is easy to scratch this if you are not careful getting in and out of the car). On the first occasion, I cleaned the mud from the mat myself. On the second occasion, I tried reduce the visibility of the scratching with cleaners. Reaching further back, when I had my previous Porsche serviced at another local Porsche dealer several years ago, I opened my front trunk when I got home to find a set of expensive dealership tools and the plastic cover over the battery disassembled. These past experiences are influencing my reaction to this interior ding.

Thoughts and comments appreciated.

With a 'problem' that small, I'd remember the old saying, "Learn to pick your fights".

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
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I am a Porsche owner and also a new car dealer, just not Porsche's.

If someone came in to my service department with an issue like that it would be fixed immediately with an apology.

Whether they react the same I cannot say, but I do know that you deserve to have this fixed. I believe the customers rights are to have their car returned to them in the same (or better) condition than when it was brought in. If a dealership damages anything, no matter how small, they should repair it at their expense. Stuff happens; we occasionally scuff or scratch things too. It is the nature of the beast, but we do fix things with no questions asked.

I would bring it in to the service department and show it to a service writer. If you have a good relationship with one of the guys (or gals) it is even better. I would simply say "when you worked on my car, this airbag symbol was damaged and I would like for it to be repaired." Just say it matter-of-factly and see how they react.

New car owners SHOULD be picky about their cars and it should all be a matter of pride for both the owner and the dealer.

Contact me privately via PM if you'd like some specific advice.

Regards,

Sebastian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2013 08:48PM by SPG356. (view changes)

I would call them on the phone first. They may not have the item in stock and it's going to make you more upset to have to make two trips.

One time I got my car back from the dealer and there was a big black grease smudge on the (light tan) carpet. I thought about picking my fights and letting it go but in the end I called them to explain my issue with the service manager. They sent someone out to pick up the car, steam cleaned all of the carpeting, and returned it spotless a few hours later.

I agree with Kevin. Life's better if you don't sweat the small stuff.

Go for a really fast rip in your Boxster. You'll feel better.

Peter

Try not to lose sleep, or get bent out of shape over it, but at the same time, if it's buggin' you, go back and calmly explain to the dealer what happened and that you'd like them to replace the scratched part.

From my experience, calmly explaining the problem, and being reasonable, will generally produce the positive outcome you seek. Avoid allowing egos to get into it. If the first guy with whom you speak can't or won't help you, ascertain who his superior is, and arr range to speak with him. Reassure them that you wish to maintain a positive working relationship.

I'd avoid a dealership that routinely returns my car dirty, or messed-up.

Your story is exactly why I am concerned about trading in my "well used" 1999 with 118,000 miles. When I first got her, I was so concerned with where I parked, every blemis and swirl mark. Now after 11 years together (I bought her on '02 with 20k miles) we have been though a lot. She was stolen by bank robbers in '04 and has spent most of her life without a garage over her top, but is still my daily driver. She has numerous scratches and dings that would drive me nuts if she was new, but they're simply badges of honor today. I recall Chris in NH's remark about the inability to enjoy an unsharpened pencil and tell myself that everytime I see a new blemish.

That said, you brought the car in with a pristine air-bag tag and should expect the same when the job is done. If it bugs you, they should make you a satisfied customer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2013 02:23PM by BoxsterBob - San Carlos. (view changes)

You should not pay good money for them to damage your car. You can and its your right to do that all by yourself. That being said its an awfully small scratch at a place you hardy ever see... So I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.

Jeff

My god, I feel like I'm reading my own post! I agree with you completely. I expect the dealer to return the car to me with no additional wear/damage. Unfortunately I have had several instances like this. They have always repaired the damage, but there are times, upon repairing it, they caused additional damage, requiring additional repair. I wish I were the kind of person that didn't sweat this stuff, but I have experienced scratched paint, including outside and door jams, cut and scuffed seats and trim, cut cab top, and various incorrectly performed work. And this was all from Porsche dealers.

I am shocked at the lack of respect the staff at these dealers have for the cars. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.

Sorry, now I'm the one venting.

As a follow-up to the original post: I returned to the Porsche dealer and pointed out the damage they did to my door in four specific spots. The dealer replaced all the scratched parts and properly completed the original repair (which was not done right the first time). This is a good news story in that the dealer did the right and proper thing without complaint. I have to say that their response made me feel much better about the matter, the dealer, and Porsche service in general (Customer Service 101). I like the service department personnel, but had they not repaired/replaced everything, I do not think I would have returned.

Thanks for all the comments and allowing me to vent.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Quote
AS2003
As a follow-up to the original post: I returned to the Porsche dealer and pointed out the damage they did to my door in four specific spots. The dealer replaced all the scratched parts and properly completed the original repair (which was not done right the first time). This is a good news story in that the dealer did the right and proper thing without complaint. I have to say that their response made me feel much better about the matter, the dealer, and Porsche service in general (Customer Service 101). I like the service department personnel, but had they not repaired/replaced everything, I do not think I would have returned.

Thanks for all the comments and allowing me to vent.

You did the right thing and they did the right thing, plain and simple.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you should not worry about the "small stuff" when a service department damages your car, no matter how small.

I think many times these "battles" are waged inside people's heads and not in real life. Yes, we all have service department stories of bad service, but it would be hard to imagine that any dealership or independent service shop would squawk if they obviously did damage to your car.

We, as a dealer, scratch and scuff items while working on cars. We send 100+ cars through our service dept daily so it is going to happen eventually. When it does we apologize and repair immediately if we don't catch it ourselves first.

Don't wage a battle in your head, just talk to the writers or service manager and get it resolved. They are not the evil doers some believe them to be.

You did the right thing.

Regards,

Sebastian