What do you knuckleheads think??

[Oldfart]

I'm looking for some opinions from the esteemed members of FRF. When I took delivery of my new factory ordered truck, to say the sales manager at the dealer did a really ****** job of delivering it would be a giant understatement. I never bothered getting into it with them too much because I figured, what was the point, it was done. When I did the Ford customer satisfaction survey I gave the dealership 1 star out of 5 and actually talked to someone at Ford on the phone about how poorly I was treated. I got an email now from the dealership owner that asked, "How could he make it right?" I told him in an email some of the ******** that went down at delivery and I just got his answer.

He says he's really sorry and he would be more than happy to offer me free oil changes and free state inspections for however long I own my truck, and he would personally make sure only their top technician will be able to work on my truck. The free inspection I already know is a scam. They replace unneeded parts every time they do a "free" inspection, and charge you out the ass for them, so it's not free at all.

Now, "free" oil changes, I don't know? I'm thinking that might be worthwhile, but I'm also trying to think if there's a crooked angle with that too. What thinks you?

 

[nikhsub1]

Uhh, I loathe taking my truck to the dealer. I would rather spend my own money fixing shit I can, rather than take it to the dealer and have them 'fix' it for free. Most times, you get the vehicle back with a new issue they created. Sorry, if I do it myself I know it is done right. So to answer your question, I'd tell him to pound sand. If your sales experience was that bad what makes you think the service will be any better? I think you already know all of this though - are you too old or incapable to do your own oil changes (not a dig but a serious question).

 

[JohnyPython]

IMO, hard NO on the free oil changes. Don’t trust them with any aspect of the oil change. Plus, I can do it faster in my driveway.

Ask for a discount on some accessories. Then vote with your feet and never go there again.

 

[Oldfart]

No, I have no issue doing oil changes. Been doing them for a long time now. I have nice ramps, a nice floor jack, Snap-On tools, whatever I need. I'm not big on having dealers do my work either, if it's something I can do myself.

 

[GCATX]

That's good. I gave my dealer 1's across the board. I guess they were happy to get them, I never heard a peep.
Tell him you want to run a tune, 37's and a lift kit. Then tell him you want it all to be under warranty if you should have an issue. ;^)
If you have plenty of time and watch the techs actually change the oil, the oil changes would be nice. It's faster to do it in your garage though.

 

[Mister Pinky]

Here’s the problem with that survey. It’s called CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index), and it’s a tool the manufacturer uses to screw the dealer out of money.

A service writer can have an excellent month in sales, but if he gets one bad CSI score, he loses his bonus that could add up to thousands. Same for sales. It’s a really ****** scheme, but unfortunately, it’s what they do.

I do not believe in bombing surveys because it affects the livelihood of the dealership employees so directly. A car dealership is already a fantastically miserable place to make a living, so I try not to make it worse.

For future reference, you are better off getting a hold of the dealer principal and working out the situation directly while informing them you are doing so to avoid a survey situation. They will be much more willing to work with you to correct the situation.

it’s unfortunate you had such a bad experience. What happened?

 

[GCATX]

Here’s the problem with that survey. It’s called CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index), and it’s a tool the manufacturer uses to screw the dealer out of money.

A service writer can have an excellent month in sales, but if he gets one bad CSI score, he loses his bonus that could add up to thousands. Same for sales. It’s a really ****** scheme, but unfortunately, it’s what they do.

I do not believe in bombing surveys because it affects the livelihood of the dealership employees so directly. A car dealership is already a fantastically miserable place to make a living, so I try not to make it worse.

For future reference, you are better off getting a hold of the dealer principal and working out the situation directly while informing them you are doing so to avoid a survey situation. They will be much more willing to work with you to correct the situation.

it’s unfortunate you had such a bad experience. What happened?

With all due respect, cry me a river. I am sure a Raptor is not anyone's first car purchase. There is a right way and a wrong way for dealers to do business. My experience was horrible, I will never go to that dealer again. Ever. The only thing they had going for them was price. It was like pulling teeth to get the deal done and out the door.

Picture 5 fat guys in short sleeves and short ties, all of them had to look at the deal and fat finger a calculator. And some other stuff. Hopefully they will get the message.

 

[Kazoo]

Free SYNTHETIC oil changes might be worth it...

 

[Mister Pinky]

With all due respect, cry me a river. I am sure a Raptor is not anyone's first car purchase. There is a right way and a wrong way for dealers to do business. My experience was horrible, I will never go to that dealer again. Ever. The only thing they had going for them was price. It was like pulling teeth to get the deal done and out the door.

Picture 5 fat guys in short sleeves and short ties, all of them had to look at the deal and fat finger a calculator. And some other stuff. Hopefully they will get the message.

If you had that terrible of an experience, then by all means bomb the survey. But the fact is that many customers come into a dealership with a mindset that they’re going to get screwed and the dealer is out to get them. That’s not always true, but it clouds their judgement on every interaction.

Will you have bad dealers? Certainly. But I think certain issues get blown far out of proportion. I’m not referring to your case but saying in general.

 

[Rocsteady]

Here’s the problem with that survey. It’s called CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index), and it’s a tool the manufacturer uses to screw the dealer out of money.

A service writer can have an excellent month in sales, but if he gets one bad CSI score, he loses his bonus that could add up to thousands. Same for sales. It’s a really ****** scheme, but unfortunately, it’s what they do.

I do not believe in bombing surveys because it affects the livelihood of the dealership employees so directly. A car dealership is already a fantastically miserable place to make a living, so I try not to make it worse.

For future reference, you are better off getting a hold of the dealer principal and working out the situation directly while informing them you are doing so to avoid a survey situation. They will be much more willing to work with you to correct the situation.

it’s unfortunate you had such a bad experience. What happened?

I'm going to add on for what should help somebody out in the future. As Pinky said, these CSI surveys are like gold to the dealer and it only takes one bad one to jack up your whole month. Here's how you play this (sorry, a little late for the OP)
You have a crap experience and you can either wait to get the survey and have it in hand when you go in or talk to someone before and mention that you haven't filled out the survey yet. If the dealership is worth anything, they will bend over backwards to accommodate you and make you happy. I did the dealership gig for a good while (parts counter to service writer to service manager) before I went into federal law enforcement and I had a terrific CSI score because I gave a shit about my customers and when something went wrong, intentionally or not and a customer got the short end of the stick, I had all the power in the world to make it right as the dealer was desperate to keep those CSI scores as high as possible. Everything the manufacturer did for the dealer was based off of those scores. It did have to be within reason of course, I couldn't have done the tune, 37s and lift kit that someone mentioned earlier, but generally things weren't bad enough to warrant that sort of response.

Bottom line, use that survey as a bargaining chip, it has tremendous street value to the dealer.