I arrived at Saturn about 15 minutes before my appointment this afternoon. A young man greeted me at the door. I told him that I had an appointment with Ernie and mentioned that I was early. While I waited, one of the other sales people asked me what my appointment was for. I stated, customer dissatisfaction. A few minutes later, the young man who earlier greeted me at the door sat down next to me and asked if I minded telling him why I was not satisfied (I think he was just nosey). As I started to tell him what happened, he interrupted me, saying, "Oh you're the one with the problem with the 30,000 mile service". I thought that was interesting.
At that point I was escorted into Ernie's office. I went through the history of what had occurred and again said that I was sure it was just an honest mistake, but since George has yet to get back to me, I was quite upset. I also was not happy that George kept insisting that I came in for a tire rotation. Ernie then took out the print out he had with my service record showing that I had my 60,000 mile maintenance service in January 2006 (right before my warranty ran out) and confirmed that a mistake was made. I mentioned that it was not the 60,000 but the 30,000 that I was being charged for. He said they were all the same - 30,000, 60,000, 90,000, which really confuses me since I presently have 52,000 on my car, so why was both services done way before I hit that amount of mileage. Maybe they should call it "so many years" service. He then looked at all of my paperwork and nodded to himself when seeing that I did indeed have my 30,000 maintenance service done before.
Ernie said he would like to have George come in to help get this straightened out. I really did not want to talk to George but said that was fine. I said that I did not want him to now "make George apologize", and then went into my fake apology spiel pet peeve about people saying they are sorry when they don't mean it, and gave the example of when I ask two of my preschoolers to apologize, they both say "sorry" but they don't really mean it. He laughed. He told me not to worry; he would not force George to apologize in front of me. Ernie was actually quite nice. We chatted a bit about my job, etc. while we waited for George to arrive.
I was surprised at first when George walked in. He seemed so young. After being introduced, George immediately started talking about how I wanted an oil change and a tire rotation. What is with the tire rotation?? I again said I only wanted one tire checked to see if it was low and asked if that equaled a tire rotation charge. Ernie then for some reason started talking about how I should be getting my tires rotated. I wondered (but did not say out loud) why he was worried about me getting a tire rotation when I just did and now it was going to be for free. We talked a little about more about car care needs I guess to break the ice some or perhaps to better educate me.
Once the subject returned to my concerns, I repeated that one of the reasons I was upset was that I have always trusted Saturn to tell me what I needed to have done. Because I did not know much about cars, I needed to be able to trust Saturn to not tell me to have something done that was not necessary. I then said once again that my main reasons for being upset were that I was not called back in a timely manner and I was not given an apology for the mistake that was made.
Ernie then started to talk to George about how George needs to call customers back right away when they have concerns and then started talking about the meeting they recently had and about their new goal being better about communicating right away with the customer. Ernie then said that the least they could do for my troubles since they did not want to lose me as a customer and did not want to lose me as a person who would refer others to Saturn was to comp the charge for the 30,000 mile maintenance service (which included the oil change and tire rotation). I guess it is a good thing I didn't mention my blog.
I thanked him for his assistance in settling this matter and then mentioned that since I was there, I would like to also provide a little feedback regarding my latest shuttle ride experience. I figured I might as well get everything off of my chest. He listened to my story, admitted that since his main shuttle driver was out on maternity leave that there have been some problems, and thanked me for the information. I did not go on to tell him of my earlier shuttle nightmare. I then thanked Ernie again for his assistance in settling this matter and went with George to get my reimbursement settled.
While we walked over with the woman who would be doing the reimbursement, George mentioned to the woman that she would be giving me a reimbursement for the top line on my bill ($338.53). I stopped him right there. I asked why I was still being charged for the transmission flush ($219.28). George told the woman to wait for him while we went into his office to disuss this. He went to the computer and looked up my recent service record again. He then said I was being charged for the transmission flush because I needed it to be done. I told him that I was not asked if I wanted to have specifically a transmission flush done. I told him that Rob told me I never had my 30,000 mile maintenance service done. Rob said the 30,000 mile maintenance service was a big one and it included tires being rotated, spark plugs changed, and something about the transmission fluid. Again, possibly Rob's error, but I was ready to fight this also since I never personally asked for anything being done regarding my transmission.
George looked a little defeated and I am sure quickly weighed whether or not he wanted to try to fight me on this new charge. He then said ok, we won't charge you for that either. As far as I am concerned, although I needed many of these services done, I was told I needed a 30,000 mile maintenance service and that was what I agreed to have done and to pay for so I should not be paying for any of it. The oil change I did ask for and that was what I was being comped for. I guess it was lucky I did not know more about what cars as I might have asked to have some of these other things done. He finally agreed that I would only have to pay for the service to fix my car for stalling.
I now have Ernie's card and know I can call him if I have any future problems. My trust has somewhat returned with Saturn, although I think George still needs a little more training in customer service and the shuttle service still needs improvement. I will be writing a detailed letter about the shuttle service when I get my customer satisfaction survey.
After being reimbursed $548.09, I drove into town. I stopped at one of my favorite little stores in town, Mauka to Makai. I was so happy that I was reimbursed over $500.00. I splurged on a new pair of OluKai slippers with great arch support and comfy little foamy bumps on them and then headed on to my doctor’s appointment. Interesting and shocking news there...but I will save that for another post.
Comments (9)
Hooray - good for you for sticking to your guns and getting at least some satisfaction in the end!!
But now I'm all worried about your health. I suppose "interesting and shocking" doesn't necessarily mean "bad"news, but I'll be anxiously awaiting further details.
Posted by Anne | April 29, 2008 1:37 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 01:37
Yay! Happy to hear that everything got settled with Saturn. I don’t recall reading about your shuttle experience? Did you blog about it?
I have my annual check-up today and hope I get a passing grade. Waiting to hear your interesting and shocking news.
Posted by María I. | April 29, 2008 4:35 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 04:35
Hurray for persistence and standing up for your right and beliefs. I applaud you. I was thinking if I would be persistent if it happened to me. Probably not, so you are an inspiration!
Posted by Eden | April 29, 2008 4:48 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 04:48
George needs to learn that old saying, "the customer is always right." I can't believe he was still arguing points of the bill. Grrrrrrrr.
I'm disappointed, I didn't see any groveling. While I'm glad they refunded the money for the service, I still don't think they went far enough making it up to you. Would a few coupons for some oil changes have hurt??
Posted by Jill | April 29, 2008 5:11 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 05:11
Bravo for sticking to your guns, Girasoli, because it seems that was the only way you were going to get satisfaction. It is a shame that everything related to cars has to become a battle. But you won, yay! And those sandals on the OluKai website look great!
But you must post soon on your health issues, if you're up for that. The allusion to "interesting and shocking" is kind of alarming.....hope all is well.
Posted by sandrac | April 29, 2008 9:00 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 09:00
Way to go! I agree with Jill...they could have groveled more but still, a refund is a good thing. And I love those shoes - just checked out the website. I've never seen that brand before and I really like them.
"Interesting and shocking" ....hmm. The first thing that popped in my mind was "pregnant." ;)
Posted by Annie | April 29, 2008 9:53 AM
Posted on April 29, 2008 09:53
Ditto what everyone else said!
Posted by Chiocciola | April 29, 2008 3:54 PM
Posted on April 29, 2008 15:54
Wow, I really appreciate everyone's concern! I didn't mean to worry anyone. I just was too tired after that long day to write about everything and thought I would finish up the car story first. I do still need to tell the shuttle story.
Yes and no on the groveling. "Yes", because I really got what I wanted out of all of this mess. I wanted to be reimbursed for everything but the stalling out clogged fuel induction thing so and really I needed many of those services so in a way, I was given free service as far as an oil change, tire rotation, transmission flush, and perhaps a few other things. "No", because George should have apologized right away instead of continuing to go on and on about my mystery tire rotation request and then when he started on the transmission fluid change. I thought I was going to lose it for a moment, but kept my cool and yes, he has obviously not taken the class yet on "the customer is always right".
My new shoes are very cool. I have never heard of them before either. I probably would not have bought them if I didn't feel that I all of a sudden found $500.00.
And no pregnancies for me at my "old age".
María, good luck with your appointment. I hope all goes well.
Thanks again everyone!! I really appreciate all of the support!!
Posted by girasoli | April 29, 2008 7:14 PM
Posted on April 29, 2008 19:14
As it should be. Good for you!
Posted by Kim | May 7, 2008 1:26 AM
Posted on May 7, 2008 01:26