foolmoon_design

Well, I have read many many Dealership horror stories on this forum, and up until now I have never had what I would consider a bad experience with a dealership.

My wife and I recently moved from Knoxville Tn, to Crossville Tn. This past week the cooling fan module went bad but I didn't notice it until sitting at the bank drive-thru, so I made an apointment at Dave Kirk Chevrolet here in Crossville to have it checked out. Upon arival at the dealership the FLEECING began immediately. I had already run a diagnostic through my Laptop, and told them what was wrong. I was immediately hit with an $85 dollar charge just to "look" at it. What BS! So I play along with it, knowing now I'm about to get hit with more ****. Sure enough, I get a call about 2 hours later, telling me 1st that they can't get the part....(Local NAPA had one). 2nd I need a Throttle body and Injector clean.(Chevy even states this is a -no-no- for HHR's, and can cause damage to the DI system) 3rd. I need a complete cooling system flush.(Dex-Cool Orange is good for 100K), and 4th your way overdue for a transmission flush(look at your computer, dumb ass, it was done at 50K). Oh and I need an alignment( done two weeks ago, when tires were rotatesd) I am so pissed off, it isn't even funny! I called my service guy in Knoxville, and he not telling me good things about this dealership. I was so livid when I spoke with the dealer this afternoon. They have lost a customer on their first visit! For recommending services that I didn't need, and could actually cause more harm than good, and for trying to fleece me. F'in Idiots. this is the first and last time I bring my car there. I will drive an hour out of my way next time. I guess all the aftermarket toys didn't clue the service writer that I'm not gonna be taken, or led astray. I will be picking up my car tomorrow, and immediately taking it to Reeder Chevrolet in Knoxville, to have them do a full inspection on the car.... That is how upset and untrusting of this dealership I am. I actually think will will cause problems to the car.

If your keeping tabs on this... they were trying to make a $100 visit into an $800-1000 visit

NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO DAVE KIRK IN CROSSVILLE, TN

PS ChevroletCustomerService....... Keep your sugar-coated band-aid BS out of my thread! There is only one person in this forum that has truly offerd Chevy Support, and you ain't it. Plus I'm not looking for assistance, I'm ranting.

donbrew

First off, I totally agree about the rip-off.

But, the Service Department has a check off list, (that they buy from a 3rd party, for instance BG) based on the mileage on the car, with NO REGARD whatsoever as to the particular model/brand/record. Every car that goes into that shop WILL get the same "recommendations" at the same miles. The problem comes when the Service Adviser starts with the "hard sell" and think that the customer is an idiot (many are). Many Service Advisers and most Technicians get sales commissions, in one form or another

I am surprised they didn't try to sell a "Power Steering Fluid Flush" mine did, and gave me the thousand mile stare when I asked how they proposed to accomplish that act.

foolmoon_design

That would have been the last straw... Bummer, I didn't chexk their customer service record. 27 posted, 24 complaints.

How about... sir we need to graphite your throttle cable(before we shove it up your ass)

I understand about the 3rd party "to do" list, but for crying out loud when you only sell and service maybe 30 models, know your product.

Point being.. Jo Ann Fabrics, is now requiring all employess to know the products within their department. I was there when some employees were discussing how they were all being paid to take sewing classes, flower aranging, etc. Now thats cool!


Another point, I am in the Theatre World. Even though I am a Scenic Designer, I must also know current lighting, construction, projection, and material capabilities for my job. I am an asset at work because of those skills that I have honed over the years. Why is that job any diffrent?

SS fan

Is it because they work for the Government now ? Sounds similar to the DMV

jay loukakis

Car dealers are like politicans they are all crooked.

Snoopy

Hmmmm, I need to understand this correctly.

You went to the dealer and requested them to do a specific repair....the cooling fan module.... and they still were going to do a diagnostic?

That is strange. I don't believe I've ever heard of a dealer doing this. Usually they do your requested repair AFTER they write, "customer requests cooling fan module". If that does not satisfy the problem then you, the customer, have no complaint. They did what you requested.

That is why I tell all my friends to give the symptoms and let the dealer determine the fault and do the repair. If you still have the exact same problem, you then have some wiggle room to argue about free or discounted additional repairs....to satisfy the fault.

Anyway, good luck with your problem.

foolmoon_design

Hey Snoopy,

Yes they marked an X on the sheet where their $85 23 point check was, and had me sign it without disclosing it. This I let fly. Telling me I needed 4 other things done to my car, of which. 2 were recently done, 1 was completely unnecessary, and 1 could actually do more harm than good.

I asked them to fix one thing, and I told them what to fix. When they opened the hood, the writer should have known I know more about this car than they do. I am pissed because we moved to a huge retirement area. {(Crossville is #4 in the country) there are more HHR's than I really care to see on a daily basis(I have yet to see another SS around here, but still, there are way too many in this town. I think half of Chevy's production run wound up here)} and I felt that the dealership was taking advantage of the situation, and treating a man in his thirties like someone in their 70's that doesn't have a clue about their car, or the ability to "know" what they have. In an earlier post, what happens to those HHR owners that actually agree to having their power steering fluid changed? and never know that they have electronic steering?

I am extreamly preventive in my cars maintence, and I am usually ahead of the curve as far as the schedule is concerned. My wife says I show more attention to the SS then I do her...(I think she is kidding, but you never know).

What happened here is a service writer, who instead of fixing my requested problem and then reap the rewards of return business, instead tried to fleece me from the word "GO".

The really pissy part..... I still don't have my car.... and I can't say for sure what the bill will be. I have a feeling that its gonna still be 2-3 bills, pluis 2 bills in parts. Bastards! I will never take it back there, and to think we were gonna buy a Camaro shortly.... Dave Kirk if your listening.... Ain't gonna get it from You! Clifton's or Reeder Baby!

Snoopy

Wow....and $85 for the 23 point check that MOST dealers provide free (watch out for this). When you said "diagnosis", I thought they were using the Tech II or whatever.

At a new dealer that I used because of a warranty issue, they did the "Free" 23 point inspection. Came back that I was close to needing front brakes, with a pad measurement of 3 mm and 3.5 mm. I almost said, "Do it", but instead thought I'll save the labor and do it myself....and declined.

Couple days later I picked up the OEM pads from my regular dealer, brought the car home and put it on the rack. After removing the wheels I discovered I had MORE THAN TWICE (something like 7 mm)what the dealer indicated. Started thinking, how could they possibly have misread the measurement. Then I realized I had special wheel locks and didn't have the "key" in the car......how did they get the wheels off to measure the front pad thickness....for that matter the rears as well.....but they had plenty of "life" (can the front pads be reliably measured without removing the wheels). Anyway, decided the Tech lied, and went back to the dealer and complained to the Service Manager. He apologized and offered the explanation that the Tech's only guesstimate brake needs based on mileage. I explained I had 30,000 miles on the car and that is a poor method of evaluating something as critical as brakes....especially when they EMPHASIZE a 23 POINT INSPECTION, charge $200+ for the brake job that didn't need to be done...

Well everything came out well after some more discussion with me getting and using a discount on future services.

donbrew

foolmoon, go talk to the Owner. At least, my local one actually reads the complaint forms. I got an email and phone call within hours of filling out the form; didn't really do any good until I contacted the BBB, but the owner actually responded and the Gen. Mgr. was on his knees doing things that wouldn't cost him money, BBB got $750 to me in a couple of days of my complaint.

ImNewHere

My local dealer tried the throttle body/injector thing on me. They also told me I needed to have my brake system flushed. I asked them where that all was in the maintenance schedule. They've never asked me about extra service like that again.