Is Customer Service a thing of the past?

C/S is long gone. Money grab replaced it.

 

/thread

 

Well, just found out that the spring packs are a 6 month lead time.........anybody else have this same type of issue? My concern is, the warranty runs out @ 36,000 miles. I'll be well past that in another 6 months. The seal kit is in for the seeping/weeping rear end. I guess I'll have them do that, and wait for the leaf springs to come in. Not much else I can do........

 

The spring packs are on order now right, issue has been identified / documented prior to the 36k miles expiration? If so then why wouldn't the make the fix for free under warranty regardless of the miles on the truck when the parts come in?

 

I have seen a noticeable declined and customer service at my local Toyota dealership. Don’t know if it’s a millennial thing or if they know they’re going to make money regardless.

 

It's been documented. The track record at my servicing dealer just isn't the most stellar......

 

True customer service is on temporary hiatus - backlash from all the abuse by the "the customer is always right" charlatans who took full advantage. IMO there will be a return to equilibrium eventually.

 

We love people that print off TSBs.

Plumbers/Electricians/Painters/Carpenters love it when people tell them how to do their job as well.

 

Customer Service is gone because nobody wants to pay a premium for it.

This forum is full of people who would switch dealerships over $1 a month over 60 months.

 

I have certainly seen both sides of the coin over the years. I agree with a lot of what people have said here, you have a bad mixture of to many people who don’t give a crap about their job (for good reason or not), take no pride in what they do and have no values (honesty integrity ect). Mixed with customers who are entitled, know it all, expect a bunch of handouts, rude, who don’t care about the people they are talking to.. I think it’s just a culmination of our culture these days.. Neither side gives a crap about the other.. Treat people like human beings, on both sides and I think most people will find they have a much better result. We all have problems we are dealing and things don’t always go our way.. Sure some people get screwed, and some people just want to screw over everyone else.. If I had a customer who had a problem, who spoke to me kindly and explained their situation and gave me some respect in the process id gladly go way out my way to help. If get someone who screams at me and treats me like second class citizen. Don’t expect much in return..

 

I think a lot of it is giant companies not trusting employees to think or act on their behalf. So they don't give these reps the authority to act or make decisions. As an employee you start getting taught to not deviate and you get smacked if you skip a process(that was probably created for a great reason: consistency or "fairness" for everyone).

But like all bureaucracies the good reasoning and heirachcical decision making causes inflexibility...and tends to create non common-sensical things to happen.

Big companies try so hard to be consistent and fair that they create silos and bottlebecks...which from the customers perspective is unfair, inefficient, and frustrating.

Big companies are struggling with this and I think the best ones are working to address it by pushing decision making down to the lowest levels possible and trusting their people, the ones that know wtf is going on, to make judgement calls.

Some companies resist that because as you see from the latest public fiasco that happened to Starbucks, one bad decision by an employee that goes viral can crush your reputation.

So in a sense we have our selves to blame a bit too. If we gave some slack and didn't light pitch forks Everytime something happened we'd prprobab see better customer service.

 

That would be a valid argument if it was common for a plumber to hear your complaint, say it was normal, then send you on your way.

Or if electricians routinely chalked up electrical issues to the bird feeder you installed in in your backyard.

Or if any of them said they couldnt reproduce your problem.

I understand the sentiment, but a lot of these dealers are tough to deal with even if you are being completely reasonable, professional, and matter of fact. There is a reason people feel compelled to bring in TSBs when they visit.

 

Here's the thing.....when the service department tells you they "cannot duplicate problem", or they tell you that there isn't anything they can do about squeaky leaf springs, you tend to do a little research yourself. I'm not trying to tell someone how to do their job. I just want my truck fixed, per the Toyota-issued service bulletin that I was told "didn't exist". Am I wrong for requesting a dealer to do TSB or warranty work? The barely one year old truck squeaks like a 40 year old chevrolet.