Poor customer service from Toyota.

I have reviewed a few threads on this forum with people dissatisfied with Toyota's customer service. I am now in a position of dealing with Toyota and I am in the same camp. What happened to Toyota and why the poor customer service? I have owned Toyota's since 1985, and this has been by far the worst customer service experience. You try to be reasonable and work through concerns, and that doesn't work.

 

What are you going through and is it dealer based or are you actually talking to corporate?

 

^What he said...

 

Wat!

 

Toyota Customer Experience Center 1-800-331-4331
as a 20 year veteran Toyota service advisor I would tell you to give them a call and open a case, it will generate a phone call and email to that dealer and will require them to respond to it and take some form of action.

 

Complete opposite for me, Toyota has been the best.

After I purchased my Tacoma I emailed Toyota telling them what a great experience I had with my local dealer and they responded within a couple of days. When they responded they were very thankful for my email and guess what, they sent me a check for $350 to use at my local Toyota dealership for any parts, accessories or services. We have owned many Toyota's over the years and always had the best service from Toyota.

On a side note, I emailed GM to give my local GM dealer some positive reviews after they really took care of me when I had my wife's Acadia in for service......recall stuff of course, it is a GMC. They never got back to me, other than a automated email stating they received my email.

When I told the guys at my GM dealership that I tried to get them recognized for their great work, all they could say is that GM is too busy with recalls and lawsuits to deal with positive emails.

All I can say is try to contact Toyota customer service again, because they have some amazing people who really know customer service.

 

That's the trend now-a-days, not just Toyota - just had a horrible customer service experience with Lowe's yesterday!

 

Lowes gave you horrible customer service or you had horrible customer service at Lowes?

 

So are you gonna post what you're wanting and not just that its bad customer service?

 

Some details:

I have a sound coming from the front that mimics an out of balance rim or tire. Went in for rotation at 8000 miles and mentioned the issue. I also had a concern with the weights on the outside of the rim, and recommended a balance, move the weights to the inside, remove outside weights since they were extremely large, and replace those with tape weights. The weights also appeared loose. These rims are the aluminum rims.

At first the dealership didn't understand why the weights were on the outside of the rim. They accused me I having the tires rotated elsewhere. One of the techs confirmed it was a Toyota weight and its should not have been installed on the outside lip due to damage.

The dealership agreed to road force balance, and move the weights. Now there is damage to all 4 rims due to the huge size of weights on the aluminum rims that Toyota installed. To make matters worse the noise is still there.

I emailed Toyota Customer Experience and addressed the issue. The Southeast Rep stated the rim damage is cosmetic and not covered by warranty without looking at the damage.

So I am now left with a vehicle that is 6 months old, damaged rims, and a constant out of balance sound. To add insult to injury, I have also noted other issues, some which I can live with:

1. Whistling noise from drivers side window at above 45 MPH.
2. Pinging/Knocking unless I run premium. Toyota should have disclosed that these vehicles will not run properly unless using premium.
3. Windshield wipers don't set back all the way after you shut them off. You have to keep turning them on and off to get it to set down all the way.
4. Passenger front tire has three small holes on sidewall that look like they were filled with a black sealant to conceal them.

The rims and the tire issue is the only thing we requested get taken care of. I guess it doesn't pay to be reasonable. I don't off-road and take meticulous care of my vehicles. The damaged rims bother me.

 

I guess I had a horrible customer service experience with Lowes, but there really wasn't any customer service for basis.

Not trying to but here's the story:
In short, I bought something, got it home and realized it was defective/broken. I returned it WITH a receipt but the store Manager refused to talk to me but instead told the CSR in returns not to return it & tell me "sowy" until I asked to speak with him. He then decided to honor my return (exchange for a non-defective product actually) "just this once" as he said. I got the new product home and after unpacking it found that this one was FUBAR too. So I went to a different Lowes in town and they don't stock that item and the previous return/exchange receipt was so screwed up by the returns CSR they had to give me an in-store gift card. WTF

 

Hey I thought mine was the only one that did this. I don't know why it stops short of all the way down sometimes, but I found going to max speed then off quickly will get them to reset.

 

Yes, they are defective. I don't know what the deal is.

 

You had a concern, they provided a solution. You received service.

I have a concern, no solution, no service, Big difference. I am in the customer service business too.

 

My truck came with factory weights on the outside

 

I get the rim thing, mine had scrapes after one month because I put better AT tires on it right away. When they removed the outer weights, it left many scrapes and they used some force so they messed them up more.

I actually just refinished mine this past weekend. It was super easy to do after searching on the web how to refinish a rim. I just sanded it down nice and smooth, applied some puddy were needed, sanded it smooth again and painted. I then sanded again with 800 grit paper and clear coated, you can't even tell there were the blemishes are from the weights. I also dropped a lug nut on one of them which left a nasty gash, I know, don't ask.


It was not Toyota that did the scrapes, it was my local tire shop, but I figured it would give me a new skill so I did it.

I wish you the best of luck getting things squared away, your local dealer needs to step up and fix all your concerns.

 

Thanks for the responses, I really appreciate it!

 

What we will do. Since we have dealer signature, and Toyota backing a denial of a Warranty Claim. We will give them one more shot by contacting the 1-800 number. Since we are dealing with a Breach of Warranty Claim, dispute resolution will automatically be submitted. If not resolved we will file a claim against Toyota for Breach of Warranty.

At this time we would advise anyone considering a purchase to use due diligence. We believe Toyota is not honoring their warranty commitments.

 

Good luck. Keep us updated. Out of # 1 - 4, the pinging would bother me the most.

 

I have the same noise coming from my front. However, it doesn't affect how the truck handles. I've noticed that I only get the sound when I accelerate with the engine (not like accelerating by coasting down a steep hill).

I would ask them to check the wind noise and wipers. My wipers don't have any problems resetting. As for premium vs regular, I was running premium since I bought the truck 2 months ago and just put in regular for the heck of it. I have no pinging or knocking issues. I filled up with regular 87 with 10% Ethanol, so it's not even that great of fuel. Maybe your ECU needs to be reflashed for that issue?

Good luck getting it resolved. IMO, the dealer is the that damaged your rims. It's cosmetic, so toyota isn't going to warranty it. That fight is between you and the dealer.