$H!T!!!! Inteligence > Honda

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breakneckvtec

New member
Yeah, so my car recently went in for the 60k service. I know my service rep very well by now, and he knows that if he washes my car I would kill him, he makes sure they are careful with my car. Well my appointment comes today and my service rep had an emergency and called out, so some other guy was taking his place.



Fine, I give him the run down, tell him if he washes the car he dies. Get the call later in the day, my car is done and ready for pickup.



Go in he hands me the keys and says:

"Sir, despite what you told me I felt that your car really needed a good wash to remove the harmful salts from the paint, so I went ahead and had them wash it."



My reaction = :scared :mad: :(

A mix of them really, I knew what was coming.



Went to take a look at the car, it wasnt as bad as I expected. However, my car was a swirl free mirror when they got it, it has a bunch of very minor swirls now. Nothing I cant handle, I dont think, but I was looking forward to being lazy this spring, you know, wash it, wax it, admire it :D



So now it appears I will be hitting her with the buffer. The panels that look like they need it are both fenders, both doors, both rear quarters, my spoiler, and my trunk. The rest actually looked fine....even the hood looked fine. Anyway he offered a free detail, I said, "Yeah, like I want you to go ahead and make it worse, no thanks Ill take it from here." :nono



My plan of attack is going to be this:

1) Wash Meguiars NXT wash

2) 3M SMR

3) SG

4) NXT



I figure since I gotta strip her down anyway, might as well test the SG with NXT topper thing out and see what happens. Sigh, I got some work ahead, now if it will just warm up in the NE so I can get to work...these swirls are PISSING me off!



CN: Dont ever let dealers wash your car :(
 
I did not know Honda dealers did this until I went in for my free oil change. I said to the service manager, "WTF Jeff, what is taking so long?" Jeff, "Oh, they are just have a couple cars in front of you to wash first." Me, "Wash?" Jeff, "Yeah, you get a free hand wash." Me, "Ummm, that is ok man, it will be dirty by the time I get home with it so I will take it now." :lol
 
Do yourself a favor, tell the service and general managers about this incident, if he worked for me or anyone else I know that runs a car dealership (I dont run one, but I do business with car dealerships almost exclusively) he'd be walking immediately for blatantly and knowingly defying your wishes. It is YOUR vehicle, YOUR property and what gets done with it is YOUR decision. Its one thing if they forget, they're hard wired to wash the car and believe it or not a lot of people need to be informed that its not to be washed. This guy blatantly defied your wishes, and decided that he knew better how to treat your vehicle than you, and that means he's in the wrong line of work. The number one job of a service writer is to communicate and build a lasting relationship with the customer, the purpose is to sell you service, but you have the say as to what does and does not get done.



That would be like them saying "Sir it needs a new timing belt" and you saying "No, not right now I'm going to wait on that" and you showing up and them telling you "I felt it was in the best interest of the car, so we changed the timing belt anyway." Again, that is YOUR car, and YOU get to decide what gets done to it. It was not his decision to make. If you want the damn thing to rust to peices, thats your decision.



Call your normal service guy, the service and general managers, as a loyal customer you deserve to be compensated for this arrogant hack...
 
I guess I didnt really make it clear but I surely raised hell...



I dont know what action was taken against him but all honda did was offer me a free oil change and full car detail. I might have them just steam clean the engine and do the interior so all I have to worry about is the paint come spring :xyxthumbs
 
Get street market value for that detail and demand a check.



Go to the most expensive detailer in town and get a quote for a full detail including the compounding to remove the swirls, take it to them and say "This is what my detailer is going to charge me to remove the damage you inflicted, and I'm sorry but giving the car back to the same people who damaged it in the first place is not an option"



As long as you're calm and professional they'll give in. All the money at the dealership is made in the service department. If they just sold cars they wouldn't stay in business long. If a dealership holds onto one customer throughout his life on average he will make the dealership $300,000 in sales, service, and referrals. Thats a lot of money to turn away over a $170 check for a detail. They'll cave.



And if you want to use that quote its from Carl Sewell, one of if not the most successful dealership owners in America...
 
Good Call GoodnClean! Thats really irresponsible to clean it after you've specificially asked them not to.



Personally, i would prefer to forego the cheque (seems like a difficult process), and get a gift certificate from the dealer for services, parts, etc. for the amount of a detail. Eventually you're bound to spend money there, and it seems they would cave in more quickly.
 
I took the advice, wasnt too hard since my godfather...basically my father, is a lawyer. We went over there together and I walked out with a free 15k mile service, valued at 150 or so itself AND a check for 215 for what it will cost to remove the damage :xyxthumbs . I never thought that would be possible, thanks a MILLION.



I will be buying some new detailing products and I used the rest to help with the room I booked at the Fiore suite in AC at the Borgata for 2 nights with all first class accomadations for my girls 21st birthday :cool:



I owe you one, now if you could make the weather in NJ warmer so I could get rid of these swirls :xyxthumbs
 
That is awesome, happy I could help ;)



Thats one thing that people tend to do is the underemphasize their power as a customer...



And you know what? They'll never treat you wrong again!
 
I can't count the times that I've gotten free or reduced goods & services for following up with a consumer problem...One time I got a free set of Kelly Radial tires for complaining about too much vibration while driving the car...I only had replaced (Bought) three of the tires at that time, but Kelly insisted that I get four new tires to replace the three (Plus the older [4th] one) that had been on my car a little while...So I got four for the price of three!
 
Originally posted by GoodnClean

And if you want to use that quote its from Carl Sewell, one of if not the most successful dealership owners in America...
Click to expand...



His book, Customers for Life is a must read. It is subtitled "How to turn a one-time buyer into a lifetime customer".
 
What a GREAT thread!



Mods oughta archive this.



GoodnClean is spot on in every aspect.



Sewell's book is valuable, regardless of your profession. I first read it maybe 6 years ago, while still in the restaurant biz. Reread it as I was starting my detail shop... Highly recommended.



I have a 'poster' for my personal vehicles (and a few clients) that in a sleeve protector, and clearly reads:



Please Do Not Wash This Car Thank You



Por Favor No Limpie Gracias



Make something similar and place it prominently in the car.



GoodnClean was correct in pointing out that many people within the service facility need to be aware of the 'no wash' policy.



Jim
 
Since we are on it, this is my plan to fix the situation:

1) Wash, thinking of QEW but not sure on this yet...it worries me ;)



2) DACP, LC yellow pad, PC



3) NXT or Klasse SG, havent made up my mind yet...MAYBE SG topped with NXT.
 
I went a little ape sh*t the last time I took my car in for servicing and saw them pulling it around to wash it. I was in the waiting area looking through the window and started pounding on the glass to get their attention. I told them before they took the keys that I didn't want them to wash it. I had just washed it a couple days before and it didn't really need it anyway. Regardless, I don't pay them to wash my car. I was paying them for something entirely different and if they want to give me something free then give me a pen. Don't screw up my car and make it sound like you are doing me a favor. Its getting to be that time when I have to bring it in for its scheduled maintainance and you better believe I'll be waiting at the window guarding it like a hawk the whole time.
 
I'm glad my Honda dealer doesn't do this. They tell me they don't do wash a car unless told to by the customer. The Acura dealer next door is a different story. Rotary swirls all over everyone of their cars and I've heard stories from friends about them washing their cars. Someone should set them straight.
 
Maybe its just the caliber of people that Honda hires. I was at a Honda dealership this summer when they got the first of the '04 models in. There was a brand new silver Civic on the show room floor with buffer burn from hell on it. I couldn't believe how bad it looked. Why they would buff a brand new car that aggresively is beyond me... I pointed it out to the sales person who I was talking to and told them that they better get it off the floor because it looked terrible. If that was the way they treated the new cars that came in then I certianly didn't want to buy one from them.
 
My regulars are very upfront with Moritz BMW about why they don't want them to wash or wax their cars, yet Moritz still does nothing to change the way they prep cars. Unbelievable!
 
I start the conditioning early, when I make the appointment "Oh, and remember I don't want it washed"



"Oh yes sir, I remember"



When I call to confirm the loaner the day before "Oh and remember, no wash"



"Oh yes sir, I know you dont want them to wash it"



When I turn the keys in "Oh yeah, skip the wash remember?"



When I call to check on the status the day its being serviced "Oh yeah, dont forget, please don't wash the car"



At this point the service rep (she's a nice girl, and doesn't let a dealership wash her car either) gets a little annoyed, but she's never slipped and let them wash it since the first time when I had to jog back there and stop the guy...



The real problem is that everyone, all the techs and porters really have it drilled "Wash the car" its just like with a purchase, it pains them to let it leave unprepped. Customers complain if their cars don't get washed, porters get fired if they don't wash them. I suppose a sign is really the best way, mine goes in Monday for a $230 oil change (shoot me please) so I'll try it this time around and see if I can skip the terrorizing of the service rep lol.



And everyone read Carl Sewell's book if you deal with customers, it will make you a successful businessperson.
 
Steve...apparently a lot of us have read Customers for Life.



And here I thought I was the only one who ever heard of the book. My Dad got it for me after I'd been in business for a couple of years. Said it was a very good read....and he was right!
 
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