Car Repair Story Conclusion:
If anyone is interested, here is how my car repair situation turned out:
I was supposed to get my car on Friday, but when I called they said they needed extra time, and so it carried on to Monday. So when Monday came around, I received no call. Annoyed, I called the dealership. After another round of excuses, they again said they needed another day. They were also telling me about all the extra work and hours they had to put into it … translation = This is going to cost you more money!
Tuesday came and I heard nothing. Angry, I called the manager to complain. This is not my usual move and often reserved as my last resort, but I had had it. I wasn’t getting updates, they were adding on more man hours, the rental costs were getting out of hand, and we just wanted this whole thing to be done.
Unfortunately, it is often the case that the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease. The next day bright and early, the car was done and they “forgave” any additional expenses beyond my initial estimate. This is yet another situation where sometimes it pays to complain about unsatisfactory service.
Blogs You Should Check Out:
In case you missed them, here are a few great stories you should check out this weekend:
- The Frugal Path – Retirement Planning Versus You only Live Once
- Frugal Rules – Things That Make me Pull My Hair Out
- Femme Frugality – Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
- Financially Integrated – An investment in time maximizes wealth
- Dividend Growth Stock Investing – Dividend Growth Investing is Not for Everyone
Carnivals & Mentions:
- My Money Design was featured on the following sites this week:
- Carnival of Financial Independence, seventh edition
- Yakezie Carnival (There’s a Blizzard in April Edition)
- Carnival of MoneyPros
- Lifestyle Carnival – April 21 2013
- Carnival of Financial Planning
Thanks to everyone for linking to my site and enjoying my posts. I really appreciate your support and hope you continue to visit!
Posts This Week:
- Another Reason Why You Need Emergency Money – For Stupid Car Repairs
- Is Financial Fear Paralyzing You From Being Financially Free?
Image courtesy of eCard
I would have had them take the extra rental days off the price of the repair too! They’re the ones who set you back by giving you an incorrect estimate.
The extra days on the car rental was one of the costs they forgave. I really think the entire car rental should have been free as well, since I came to find out that other dealerships in the area do that as a perk.
That’s good that they didn’t make you pay for any extras! Hope you have a good weekend.
Thanks Michelle. They would have heard about it A LOT if I had to pay for late repairs and extra costs.
Wow, sorry to hear about your experience MMD. Glad to hear that they did not hold you responsible for anything extra beyond the original estimate. Thanks so much for the mention. Have a great weekend sir!
You’re welcome John. I’m just glad to have it all be over too. But now the power steering sounds kind of funny … 🙂
Sorry about your car troubles. My mechanic has the same philosophy as yours. If I don’t call it could take forever for me to get my car. However, every time I call my car is magically being looked at (yeah right). And they’ll call back about three hours later telling me what’s wrong.
Thanks for including my post. I hope you get a chance to enjoy this weather.
Thanks Justin. I did get out for my kids’ soccer and a nice 3 mile run on Saturday. It was beautiful – as Spring should be!
Working in customer service, I know how frustrating it can be to get nothing but radio silence when you’re waiting for something. I hate to call people’s bosses, but they had their chance to make it right.
Argh, that is so frustrating! We had a similar experience when my car broke down over a holiday. They just took forever and didn’t give us any updates. Eventually we did get it back! Glad they forgave your extra charges!
Thanks Cat. It was very frustrating because basically there is nothing you can do about it except wait and complain – two things I don’t really care to do.
Glad you got your car back, but sorry it was such an ordeal. It always amazes me when people don’t call you back. Do they think you will just forget?
I really think its a matter of that they probably just didn’t want to deal with me. No one likes to call to deliver bad news because they know it will be uncomfortable. But avoiding it does nothing except make the situation worse. Unfortunately that’s what my service rep found out.
Yeah, sometimes, you just have to be mean or they won’t take you seriously. Good for you for finally having your car back and at no additional cost.
Thanks KC. It’s too bad you have to make some noise to be seen, but that’s the way it works sometimes.
Great links! Hope you had a great weekend.
Thanks Mike.
I’m glad you went ahead and called the manager. While it is a last resort, as I’m sure you noticed, it can be effective. That’s too bad that the repair shop was so shady about it. Good thing you didn’t have to shell out for all of the “extras”.
I hate to do it, but sometimes that is the only thing that works. Thanks Daisy!
Just like you, my partner and I prefer to just stay at home and have some petty talks over a glass of wine rather than go outside and hang out with friends.
It’s a great way to end the night!
Thanks for the mention! Sorry to hear about your rough car experience
Thanks Integrator.