Stealership strikes again!

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:50 pm

Ok, recap for those who haven't been following the saga:
Fuel pump sounds like a tea kettle whistling. Dlr says they can't take it into primary dealership for 3 weeks :cry:

(happens of course, the week before my vacation) but try our sattelite repair center (owned by same dlr, they just do some of the work that requires vehicles to be in the shop for longer periods of time, collisions, etc). They have an opening in 2 days.

So I take it there......

Now, I call the day before to verify they have the pump in stock. They say they do.

Bring it in and the serv manager says "gotta drop the tank, 4-5 hrs labor, you should have brought it in empty. :shock:

I tell him the serv manual says tank drop not required, 2 hrs labor. He says "We'll see".

Go to pick it up the next day and they tell me they don't have the rivets neccessary to reinstall the tie downs in the cargo area where they accessed the fuel pump through.

Tell me to just "drop in in the next couple days" and they'll pop em in. I pay, go home a look at the bill - $325 for the pump alone. :shock:

I look it up on line MSRP of $240!!

I call the original dlr, retails at $275.

I call another dlr - $269.

I go back in today to get the rivets in & I'm told they can't do it today.

So of course I say "By the way, why was I charged 35% more than the MSRP for a pump when your other dlrship (where I purchased it from) quoted me $275? Serv manager says "I don't know, go over to the parts dept and ask them the price." I do & they say $269!! Now I'm gettin pissed. Service manager says "Hmmmm.... don't know how that happened, let me give you a credit." (This was while he was answering phones and helping other customers and took like a half hour) Then the GM comes in and asks what's goin on and I calmy explain the situation, of course mentioning the fact that I WAS thinking about buying an Unlimited from them but if this is the kind of csr service they have.......

Serv manager then comes up with some BS story that they didn't have the pump in stock and had to "purchase" it from another dlr and that's why there was a price discrepancy. Yeah, right. :roll:

Anyway, I'm still waiting for the rivets but I got a $60 credit to my bill.
Whatever happened to making sure you had all the parts in stock to do a job before you actually started the work? :?:

kolesy · **Posted:** Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:49 pm

Screw the credit!!! Why didnt you get the money back! What they did was just wrong!!!!! :evil:

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:59 am

Credit back to my credit card.

kolesy · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:31 am

Ohhh Gotcha! :wink:

chetos · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:57 am

Now if I was doing this at home what would I do? Look up the service manual, see what needs to be done--to estimate time so I can fit it in my schedule. Next look up the parts see what I am going to need and order BEFORE I start. Then look to see if I need any special tools. I am not trained in anyway to service a vehicle but even a dolt like me would make sure all of this is in place before anything happens. I've been to my dealership a bunch of times since I've purchased my KJ. Once for an oil change and the others where for Mopar accessories :twisted:

. They've been good to me and prices have been just a little bit more than the interenet but I like to keep the money in here in town. I think LOST KJ sticker on my rear window helps let them know that I am an informed person.

Elwenil · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:23 am

Ok, just to defend a fellow dealer's parts dept. there are two pumps listed for an 2003 KJ. It goes by the build date. Granted, I always try to get the VIN number to verify build dates and specify parts exactly to the model, but sometimes that is not possible, especially when the service dept takes the appointment and does not consult the parts dept when the appointment is made. It is easily possible that they had one of the pumps and thought it was correct, but when the vehicle was brought in the part was incorrect by the build date. It is then common for us to search the DCX parts locator to find a nearby dealer that has the correct part in stock. We have no control over what the other dealer will charge us for the part. It is perfectly within the dealer's rights to charge whatever they want for a part, be it for another dealer or for a walk in customer. Generally most dealers follow the suggested retail and larger dealers will even offer a discount across the board, or on seasonal items or specials. At any rate, I'm sure they took their cost of the part and then marked it up by the normal percentage, which is handled in most dealerships by the parts point of sale and inventory software, and then sold to the customer. If it were me, and this had been my mistake, I would have eaten the profits and left the list price at retail and just made the customer happy. It's up to the dealer and the Parts Manager on how they run their store.

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:39 am

Elwenil,
Not to put down your theory:

Quote:

Ok, just to defend a fellow dealer's parts dept. there are two pumps listed for an 2003 KJ. It goes by the build date. Granted, I always try to get the VIN number to verify build dates and specify parts exactly to the model, but sometimes that is not possible, especially when the service dept takes the appointment and does not consult the parts dept when the appointment is made. It is easily possible that they had one of the pumps and thought it was correct, but when the vehicle was brought in the part was incorrect by the build date.

But when the service dept called over to the parts dept to see if it was in stock, wouldn't the parts dept have seen that there were 2 pumps listed and asked for a VIN? If they didn't, then they ASSUMED the part was correct and didn't do the job they should have by actually looking it up where they would have seen that there were 2 listed. So, you are essentially defending them because they should be excused for not doing the legwork they should have done in the first place.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you've been working for a parts dept too long. :wink:

Not only did I tell them the year & model when I made the initial appt, I called back to verify that they had the correct part before I brought the KJ in. I even found out from the main dlrship that they had the correct pump in stock in thier local warehouse AND STILL DO. "IF" they in fact ordered the part from another dealer it's because thier parts guy was too lazy to call his own parts warehouse like I did after being given the phone number by thier own dealership. (Hey, I didn't say it made sense!)

You could be right about the build date because no one ever asked me for it although I did buy it there and have my servicing done there AND they have my records on thier computer which they ALWAYS pull up when I walk in to tell me what services I need. That record HAS my VIN on it. But that would have required common sense to look it up. Even though I told them during the initial call that I had purchased it from them.

When I went to the parts dept to get the price, the guy looked it up on the screen, clicked pricing (where I saw the MSRP AND THE COST on the screen as I was leaning over), then turned the monitor away from me and went to confer with another guy as to how much to charge for the part. To me this says "We don't want you to see the price because we are about to rip you off. We just have to determine by how much."

And what about the rivet situation? Isn't it up to a good service dept to be sure they have the required parts before starting a job? At the very least they should have called me and let me know they didn't have them when they called me to tell me my "WATER pump" had been changed and I could pick it up. After all, they did call me to tell me the fuel filter I wanted changed wasn't in stock.

And this is a "Five Star" dealer!

Elwenil · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:05 pm

The rivet thing I'm not going to comment on since that is a Service Dept issue and I can guess what happened there also. On the Part issue, I'm not saying they did their job, just saying that there is a lot of stupid BS and red tape involved in this crap and if one person drops the ball on a single piece of the puzzle it goes all to hell. And believe me, I have been doing this waaaaayyy to long, lol. On the pricing thing, the cost price is what Mopar charges the Parts Dept for the part. That cost is for the Parts Dept only. If the Service Dept is working on a used car off of our own lot, I sell the parts to the Used Car Dept and put a percentage of markup on it. You have to think of each dept as a separate store and they make a profit from each other as much as outside customers. So the part cost is sort of important, but only to the Parts Dept since it is the Parts Dept that has to show a profit at the end of the month. the Parts Advisor's joking comment about ripping you off is sort of accurate since they had to take into account that the part cost more then the normal cost price from Mopar since it was purchased from another dealer and how much they could afford to cut your price to app lease you, but still not have them lose money on the part. The longer something like this goes on, the more man-hours are spent on it, and more money is lost in wasted time. It's a very intense science sometimes, lol. I was a Parts Manager for over 2 years, and I won't go back to it because of the amount of stress involved. either way, your case should have been handled better and if you registered an Email or snail mail address with the dealer and DCX when you purchased the vehicle you will be getting a survey shortly that you can voice your displeasure to Ma Mopar on how you were treated. DO THE SURVEY! You have no idea what an effect those can have on a dealerships FFV and Customer Satisfaction scores that the MUST keep at a certain level to retain the 5 star status. Lets just say that dealers really, really want you to put in a good survey for them. Tell the truth, if they have a problem then it needs to be addressed.

wilfredcruz · **Posted:** Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:41 pm

I had done my fuel pump on 02.
Had a write up. too bad I don't come here tas often as before.
it took me maybe 2 hrs, it could be done in one.

I had the steel rivets from dealership, and silicon.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:12 am

The only times I’ve gone to the dealership it when I was purchasing my Libby, recalls notices, and only if my Libby was still under warranty. Other than that I say F*&$ the dealer they really know how to screw over the customer. I’ve had the similar thing happen to me where the service tech is talking to me and someone else on the phone. He was answering my questions giving me info, who knows what he was telling the guy on the phone at the same time. I try to do any work on my Libby myself. I think I’ve only left the dealership with a smile on my face once and that was the time I got my Libby.

Myke · **Posted:** Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:33 pm

It seems like a lot of chrysler dealer ships are like this, is it only chrysler or are most dealerships horrible?

4wdParakeet · **Posted:** Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:38 am

All dealerships are the same whether it's Mopar, Chevy, GMC, etc. They are in buisness to make money. And really it's luck of the draw if you have a service manager and or parts manager that just want to shaft the customer for more profit, or one that wants to make money by volume not high prices. I take mine to the dealership I worked for for 7 years. They have THE BEST techs I have ever known. I was an advisor there and it was incredible how much work they could get done. They're the only ones, besides myself, that I trust working on my KJ. I don't know I might be biased but I still feel that if you have a dealership you trust, it makes it that much easier to take your vehicle in for service. Though what happened to Catcher is crock of poo. Unlucky for Catcher he is the guy that got stuck with the stealership.

Parakeet

Stealership strikes again!

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