Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 at 12:22
After nearly 50 years in business and many years of buying and running substantial amounts of high dollar value machinery, vehicles and equipment - I can tell you this much;
1. No matter what the brand or make, the standard technique of all dealers/manufacturers is to fob you off when a customer rolls up with a complaint.
They will deny everything, claim there is no problem, use the other party as a foil (dealer says manufacturer won't act, manufacturer says dealer is the problem, Australian agency will say parent company in the U.S. will not approve/listen/deal with complaint.)
2. They will collectively deny there's a problem.
They will never agree to independent analysis of the problem, stating that outsiders have no understanding of the engineering involved.
They will insist its all in the customers mind.
They will produce the classic; "You're the only one having this problem!"
Then you start asking around and find 50 others with the same problem.
They use divide and conquer tactics, fobbing off tactics, delay tactics, obfuscation tactics, and every other corporate act of deviousness, to ensure that you lose interest in pursuing your complaint, and it ends up costing them nothing.
3. You will find you will have to fight tooth and nail to get even basic consumer rights. The dealer service manager is under constant pressure to ensure that his workshop does not involve itself in any job that costs the workshop/dealer money.
Workshop service managers are there to ensure that they extract a minimum of $1000 from customers wallets every time they walk through the door.
Workshops have huge cost inputs and someone has to be paying out big dollars every day. That's the customers job.
"Re-do's", "comebacks" and "warranty repairs" are horror words to service managers. They lose money on every one of these problems - if the customer wins. They have to ensure that the customer pays, every time a spanner is produced.
4. Manufacturers don't want to know about problems with their product - until the gripes become an overwhelming roar.
Look at Toyota - the U.S. Govt had to drag them through the courts for years before they extracted a confession that Toyota knew about faults and QC problems with their vehicles - and Toyota did everything in their power to hush up its problems, fob off complaints, and brow-beat Toyota owners who complained.
5. You're dealing with some of the most devious corporate people around with U.S. companies.
I know, I've spent time in boardroom discussions with senior execs and CEO's and seen the lack of ethics and morals.
I'm not alone with that experience, my stepdaughter works in an important position in the oil and gas industry, and she produces stories of the same lack of ethics.
You need to consider engaging a Rottweiler lawyer if you can't get any satisfaction with a serious consumer complaint.
These corporate people only understand you're serious when you start to make it look like it will cost them serious money, if they don't come to the party.
Warranty and consumer complaints are so often based on "good faith" in contracts and agreements.
Unfortunately, "good faith" is seriously lacking in many of these corporate operations and their contracts.
I agree with the bloke who said you will do
well with contacting
John Hughes directly.
He's known as a straight-shooter and is a rare find amongst car dealers - he's actually honest, and interested in resolving customer complaints, if it's humanly possible.
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824164