Bear with me guys - gotta vent! This is a little long....

Here's the deal: I was out of town all last week moving equipment to a new jobsite. Wife's F350 was in need of a little work - oil change, lube & tire rotation. I was planning on doing the oil change tonight when I got home - rotation next weekend.

She decided to have the local 'dealer' do it on Friday to save me the trouble of doing the work after working on the road all last week. Now my wife's not dum when it comes to auto stuff & she knows how picky I am about service so: She buys 4gals of Delvac 15W40, grabs an oil sample container and a Fleetguard filter then heads to the dealer to get the work done. She told the service advisor: "Please use the oil & filter that is on the passenger side floorboard. Also please fill the sample container about halfway through draining the oil" Service Writer says: "no problem maam, will do" She asks: "Can I see where you wrote my instuctions on the service write up please" She says: "The Service Writer Showed me the computer screen and the comments were there"

Here's what she got when she picked the truck up - Bill for 149.95, 4 Unopened Delvac Containers on the floor, Unused Fleetguard Filter and an Empty oil sample container sitting on the seat. They basically ignored everything she asked them to do. She asked to see the service manager and the reply was: "he's gone for the day" This was at 3 in the afternoon on friday. My wife needed to pick up our daughter @ 3:30 so, she didn't have time to wait around long. So, she asked them to note on our bill that the service was not done correctly - they refused. The service advisor said that they used the correct oil & filter for our truck so everything was ok as far as he was concerned. He also said: " maam keep the filters and oil for when your husband changes oil again we only use approved ford motorcraft oil and filters in our shop"

Now if that doesn't make your blood boil this certainly will. Guess what I find tonight when I get home? You're gonna love it!

Not only did they not follow her instructions on the oil change but, they didn't rotate the tires either! How do I know this you may ask - I mark the the rims with a grease pencil when I rotate the tires with where that particular tire needs to go on the truck. I usually take all four off at the same time, clean the inside of the rims and check the tires for wear/damage before putting them back on. About the only thing that takes that stuff off is alcohol. I checked the LF & RR both were marked LF / RR so the tires are right where I installed them 7.5K ago.

Ok, rant over. I haven't decided when/what I'm going to say to the dealer about this. I think they took advantage of her because they figured she wouldn't know any better. Joke's on them - my wife changes her own oil when she has the time!

DG

 

dam steeelerships you gotta hatem!

 

Maybe when you go down there to ask questions. You should ask who makes the oil for Ford, and if they dismount the tires to rotate them. Just being a smart a#s. Hopefully you will get something outta the messed up deal.

 

Man thats just wrong
Honestly, I go to the dealership most of the time because here at least, and maybe this is just the rapport I have with the guy, but I feel like not only will they do what I ask, even if its out of the ordinary, it'll be done right.
I've brought Delo and filters and had them use that, only charge for their time.
It probably doesnt make you feel any better, motocraft is decent oil and isnt going to shell anything, but $149 dang. Its like 80 here. Thats a kick in the sac.

 

Now that's why i don't take my truck to the dealer!

 

Well, talked to the service mgr this morning. All I got was a lame excuse....He says since a "certified technician" doesn't change the oil the service notes don't get read. They just pull them into the lube bay and change em'.

As for not rotating the tires it gets even funnier. He said we were not @ the correct mileage for a scheduled rotation. Guess they do everything by the "ford maintenance schedule"

What I told him was: well that's great I wanted the tires rotated because this truck just had new balljoints done and the inner edge of both fronts are worn. Wanted to get them onto the back to even out the wear.

All he offered up was a free "wash & 12 pt inspection coupon" I told him he could keep it & that none of our personal or business trucks will ever visit his dealership again. Just to tweak him a little I alluded to the fact that we'll be buying 08's for the business later this year and asked if he had a minute to go see the fleet sales mgr. I cancelled my order for FOUR 2008 F350 6.4L trucks in front of him. They hadn't actually been ordered yet but the paperwork was ready to be signed. I was planning on signing this week.

DG

 

Good for you Dagren99, I just bet, the stealership loosing that kind of business, once the word is higher up the food chain, you will probably be getting a phone call. Way to stand your ground. It's sad that not taking care of a customer for something as simple as an oil change and rotation, looses them that kind of business. One thing about it, i'm sure their are other lots just waiting for you to place an order like that.

 

I would have loved to see the service managers face when you cancled four truck orders over a crappy oil change! If i was the manager at the dealership he would be at the local quick lube giving oil changes.

 

He actually didn't make that big of a deal of it. No apology, nothing.

I guess they can afford to lose the business. What I actually think is going on is the fleet manager/ service mgr don't care about the sale because we're a small fish to them. He sells/leases 20-30 trucks at a time to several larger customers in the area. The Service Center also provides fleet service on these vehicles as well.

We order 3-4 trucks every other year - we're just a small earthmoving contractor. We have 20 superduties of various ages running around but we seldom if ever get service done or, order parts for them at the dealer.

DG

 

This kind of stuff steams me like you have no idea. And, like others said - good for you for standing your ground and giving them a shot to make it right. Yet, they still screwed up...how the heck can you screw up an oil change and tire rotation. I could train a chimp to do that. I'd pay good $ to see that service managers face when those 4 trucks were cancelled. Too bad you and the wife had to have such a run around just trying to get some simple service. Live and learn I guess - not all dealers are bad, that one leave something to be desired though.

I guess I have one question for them - if they don't READ the service notes, why do they bother to WRITE the service notes? Am I dense? I'd assume if I told them to do something, and they wrote it down, I've done all I can to make sure they do it. You guys did your job, gave 'em the chance to correct it...whatever...sorry for the rant, just ticks me off when people don't get the service they deserve. Plus - buck and a half for an oil change? Geez, it better come with free fill up and case of Sam Adams!

 

I thought 149.95 was a little steep last night too. Wife just brought me the invoice here's what we got charged for:

1 7.3L oil change, filter & lube - 69.95
1 multipoint diesel inspection Free -- OOOOO Boy!
1 7.3L fuel filter element - 44.95
Labor - 25.00
Tax - 10.05

Hmmm Wife doesn't recall asking for a multipoint inspection or, a new fuel filter. Granted it probably needed changing but it would have been nice to have been asked 1st.

DG

 

That makes me mad too just reading it. I know what i would have done. I might have ended up getting arrested though haha. Good for cancelling the trucks though.