Category: Home

My car is finally fixed. And it only took three trips to the dealer. To recap:

Called on 9/25 to schedule the first appointment for 9/27. The purpose of that trip was to get the car inspected, get the oil changed, and get the emergency brake cable replaced.

On 9/27, I go to the dealer, wait for two hours, and find out that they don’t have the e-brake cable. They have changed the oil though, so I guess I don’t go home with nothing. But they won’t do the inspection because the e-brake “won’t hold enough weight.” They order the cable, it arrives 9/29, and I get a call to schedule another appointment for 10/2.

On 10/2, I go back. Wait another two hours. Find out that they missed a part and they need to reorder. But this time, they pass my inspection. I guess the e-brake was good enough for the inspection this time.

Call on 10/11 to find out status of cable. Cable just arrived. Schedule third appointment on 10/17.

Third appointment on 10/17. Car fixed in about two hours.

So all in all, I got to wait for six hours for this e-brake cable to get fixed. After all this, there are a couple obvious things to suggest.

One more thing. Just a quick thanks to President Bush. You came to Greensboro yesterday, pushed the awful No Child Left Behind Act, raised $600,000 for the RNC, and left. Oh yeah, you blocked up traffic all along my commute home, so a 30 minute ride took nearly an hour. Thanks!

[tags]Bush, VW, Volkswagen, Customer Service[/tags]

Continuing from my rant last week, I find myself again in Panera, again waiting for my car to get fixed. And as with the problems last week, there were problems again today.

I came prepared this time. I dropped off the car, went across the street to Costco to get some pictures developed, then got a hair cut. Only after waiting for two hours did I finally get an update. The part I had originally mentioned last Monday, was ordered on Wednesday, delivered on Friday, and found to be missing parts today.

I had waited two hours to find out I would have to go through this whole process again. They are ordering another kit (or whatever it is), and wait for it to come in again.

The suggestions here are obvious. First, when I want to bring in my car to get fixed, and specifically mention what part needs to be fixed, how about verifying the part is in inventory? Second, check to make sure said part is in inventory before starting any work on the car. Third, include a parts list with any kits that are ordered. Check the parts list against what actually came with the kit to make sure that nothing is missing.

These suggestions not only help me out, but they help out VW. I don’t have to waste my time waiting on my car. VW doesn’t have to waste their mechanics’ time essentially doing rework. Their throughput increases, and they are happy. I only have to wait once to get the work I want done, and I’m (relatively) happy.

[tags]VW, Volkswagen, Customer Service[/tags]

So I’m killing time here at Panera waiting on three things to be be done to my car: an oil change, an inspection, and a cable replacement on the emergency brake. When we first moved into the house, the car sat on a hill quite a bit, and stretched out the cable, so the car won’t pass inspection now.

I call VW on Monday, and made an “appointment” for Wednesday. I rattle off the three things I need done, they ask when I want to come in, I tell them Wednesday. I inquire how much the cable would cost, and I’m transferred to the parts department. Everything seemed fine, and I went on my way.

Of course, it hasn’t been so far. I get to the dealer, and they don’t seem to have any idea what I am talking about. I repeat what I need done. It’s not a big deal as it’s not very busy, so I give them my info and I’m off to Panera.

After reading about the sad state of the Justice Courts in the NYT (it was a very interesting read, read all three parts), I get a call, and they tell me that they don’t have a cable in stock.

Wouldn’t it make sense to find out if that part needed is in stock before making me waste my afternoon? Now I need to repeat this whole bit on Friday, when when they actually have the part. I can understand it if there is an unexpected repair, or they are not sure of what they need. I would think that by making an appointment, and with them knowing what they needed, the parts would be here.

Quite the concept, making parts to service appointments. What am I missing here?

[tags]VW, Volkswagen, Service[/tags]

So I’m finally happy (for the most part) with the site redesign. I’ve bumped up the size of the thumbnails. And with the new theme, the shadow doesn’t have that annoying line in the bottom right corner.

What do you think? Any comments on what does and doesn’t work?