Friday, February 19th I dropped my 2005 GMC Sierra off at the early – drop at GMC Escondido. On the drop envelope there is an information form, which includes the time a customer will call to check on their vehicle and a place to write contact numbers, both home and work. I wrote my cell phone number in the home number section as I would be at work that day, and my work number in the work number section.
I called around 10:00am to check on my vehicle. Brian, my service technician was not available so I left a message asking him to call me back regarding my vehicle and left my cell phone number as a contact number.
I called again around 12:00pm and was able to speak with Brian directly. He said he had just called my husband and didn’t my husband call me. I told him that my husband didn’t call me, and asked what was going on with my vehicle. He said my husband had authorized the service and that my truck would be done around 3:00pm that day. I asked him what was wrong with my vehicle and he said they were fixing the problem for which I brought it in. He seemed to be in a big hurry and nearly hung up on me.
I called my husband and he said they were fixing the transmission leak and it was under warranty. At 1:00 I called the GMC driver to pick me up and she did so at 2:00. She dropped me off nearby as I had a little time before 3:00. I called at 2:30 to make sure my vehicle would be ready by 3:00pm. Brian told me that it would be. I arrived at the dealership at 3:00 and waited for my paperwork to be pulled. After waiting 10 minutes came out and said they were just finishing up. He then came in again and asked if I wanted them to wash my truck. I said no. They gave me the paperwork and I left.
When I got home I looked at the service paperwork and saw that on the bottom there were numerous “recommended repairs” that were never mentioned to me but were shown as “customer denied”. I asked my husband why he had denied the repairs and my husband was shocked. He said he had never denied any repairs, those recommendations sounded necessary and he would have agreed to those repairs had they been relayed to him as recommended.
I then called Brian and asked him what was going on since I had never denied those repairs as I had never been told those repairs were recommended. He told me my husband had denied those repairs because I needed the truck by 3:00pm for work. He said that my husband had told him to just do the transmission work because I didn’t have time for the other repairs. He also said he could tell because I didn’t want my truck washed that I was in a hurry. I asked him why he didn’t call me at the numbers I had specified. He said he called the number in the computer, which is my home number. I said that the truck is my personal vehicle and I never gave authorization to anyone to make decisions for this vehicle to GMC. He said that I had told him when I called in that I needed the truck by 3:00pm.
Since I get off work at 2:00pm everyday and do not use my truck for work I would never have said that, nor would my husband have said that. I told him that this gross miscommunication could have been prevented had he called me, the legal owner of the vehicle, on the numbers I had provided on my drop slip for my vehicle. He again reiterated that he just called the number on the computer. I hung up, frustrated. Using my home land line I then called to speak with the manager of the facility and got his voice mail, and left a message. This was at 4:00pm on Friday the 19th.
As I did not receive a call back by Monday, February 22nd at 3:00pm I called on my cell phone and left another message for the manager.
I called again on Tuesday, February 23rd, again using a land line and left a message. My boss suggested I email as my phone messages were not being returned. I sent an email Tuesday morning.
Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call on my cellular. I answered the phone “hello” and the person on the other line said “who is this?” I responded with my name, then he identified himself as the manager. I detailed the issue I had with Brian and his lack of communication. The manager said “I don’t want to call you a liar, but we make our money doing repairs so I don’t see why Brian would not have recommended those repairs to you.” I told the manager “with all due respect, if your employee had called me, the legal owner of the vehicle, and spoken with me directly we would not have this issue. “ He said it sounded like Brian and I were not a good match and that he would refer me to a new manager the next time I brought my vehicle in, and to give a call when I wanted to do those repairs. I asked him to please check my warranty and let me know which were covered under my warranty. He said he would do that.
I called in Monday, March 1st and spoke with the manager Tom again. He didn't remember what the problem was. I had to remind him, and asked him if he had forgotten me. He admitted he had. He told me the repairs were not under warranty and should have been done at 60, 000 miles so were way overdue. I told him that I had been in several times since 60, 000 miles and they were never recommended before. He said, well, that doesn't matter. At that point I realized he was absolutely not concerned about my safety or the maintenance of my vehicle.