Dealer stepped up

This is kind of a good news/bad news story, but the dealer (Ira Toyota) in Manchester NH did the right thing and I think they deserve kudos for it especially as I did not buy the car from them.

The bad: I took my truck in for service due to poor radio reception. I have the extended warranty so I expected no problem. The service "advisor" said "no problem". I left the truck and got a ride home. Within an hour or so I got a call from the guy. He said that my aftermarket GPS was causing the problem and that they were going to charge me 1/2 hour labor as it was not a Toyota part causing the issue. Seemed a crazy charge to me as all they did was unplug the GPS to ID the problem. It is sort of a shame on me deal as I later checked on line and found that it was a "known" problem with some GPS units as they get older.

I went back to the dealer to pick up the car and found a "shop fee" of 12% on top of the labor fee. I called the writer over and complained about the shop fee which is for rags. grease, shop supplies, etc. He simply said "everyone pays the fee". I said I understood what a shop fee is, but did not think it applies in this case. He was not interested in what I had to say and he simply turned his back to me and walked away. The charge was just under $ 60 total.

The Good: A few days later I got an email survey from the service dept. and I gave them poor ratings and described the incident in the "comments" section. Within the hour, I got a call from the service manager who said I should have never been charged for the service as there was some program from Toyota which covers situations like mine.

They are sending me a check for the full amount I paid. So, in the end: Good experience.

 

Sucks that you had to go that way, but glad it worked out. I have a relative who is a car salesman at a dealership. He tells me that his livelihood teeters greatly on those surveys. I believe in using them good and bad. Fortunately, mostly good in my case.

 

Wonder what happened to that service advisor...

 

I hope any dealers out there watching. If they would not have charged the shop fee, they would have got paid the diagnostic free and you would not have thought much about it. As it is you complained and they caved.

 

I used to work at a Toyota dealer. Guarantee nothing happened to the adviser and the only reason you got your money back is because you complained. I kid you not, our manager had a box of Ipad minis in his office for extreme complaints or arguments.

 

Not all dealers are crooks....I live in NY and Huntington Toyota has excellent service bought three tacos there........Usually the dealer has a customer satisfaction rep that's the guy to talk to when theres a problem Im glad it worked out for you thanks for sharing

 

Don't think he was saying they were crooks. But the service Dept. is usually a dealers main money maker so if they can get away with charging extra and think no one will notice or complain, they will.

 

The service charge is normal for all shop services.