In the luxury car dealer, the cars are represented by two separate yet equally...

[GilesGuthrie]

Holy thread resurrection!

From the customer's perspective, the worst thing is these dealer chains using call centres for service booking. Cars come in, and the service managers know almost nothing of the history or status. And this means that if the car is coming in for anything non-standard, they've no parts, so it's an overnight thing.

And then, when you drop off your 5-metre, 7-seat Grand Espace, they offer you a bloody Clio as a courtesy car! Like, what use is that to me? If I could make do with a seven grand Clio, would I have spent thirty on an Espace? FFS!

They excelled themselves over the rear wheels however. Because the chappy on the rear axle in Viry-Chatillon was too busy smoking, there was no copper grease on the hubs. So the alloys bonded to the hubs.

Renault's initial offer was that I would get to pay £550 for a new set of rear wheels, plus £50 in labour. I was less than fully onboard with this plan, and convinced the dealer to pay the labour, and Renault UK to pay 90% of the cost of the new wheels.

But then, my wife crashed her car, so we couldn't afford for mine to be off the road. When hers was repaired, mine was booked in. However, Renault would not allow the dealer to order new wheels in in preparation. They had to break the old wheels first, rendering my car immobile. While they sourced new 17" Initiale wheels from France. Oh yeah, there weren't even any in the country!

So, I'm on first-name terms with the local service manager, who has never been anything other than exemplary. I can hear the exasperation in his voice as he's being asked to defend the indefensible.

 

[homeforsummer]

Thanks for the thread bump, this was before my time here so I've got some good entertainment reading all that! Ah, the trials and tribulations of customer service. I only have one amusing encounter from a previous shop job. The shop sold uniforms for the local schools. A customer had come in one day for a tie for her son, and a few days later, she returned...

Me: Hello, how can I help?
Customer (preoccupied with something behind me): I'd like to speak to that girl over there (points at my friend standing behind...)
Me: Okay, I'll just go get her (to friend there's a lady at the till that wants to speak to you.
Friend (shooting a nervous glance): Yeah, she was in the other day... (to lady:) Hello there, how can I help?
Customer: You sold me a faulty tie.
Friend: Sorry, what's wrong with the tie?
Customer: It's faulty. It doesn't tie. You sold me a faulty tie.
Friend: ...How exactly is the tie "faulty"?
Customer: It won't tie up. Myself and my husband have both tried. It doesn't work.
Friend: What would you like me to do?
Customer: I want a new tie, please.
Friend (hands customer a tie): Here's a new one.

At this point, the lady compares the "faulty" tie to the new one, and doesn't look happy. Our manager, who's fairly light-hearted and jokey, walks up behind.

Customer: No, this isn't good enough. It's the same as the other one.
(All the shop staff look at each other, then turn back to her)
Customer: I'd like to speak to the manager.
(Our manager comes forward)
Manager: What seems to be the problem?
Customer: This girl sold me a faulty tie.
Manager: How is it faulty?
Customer: It won't tie up. I've tried, my husband has tried, it won't tie up (hands the tie to my manager)

My manager puts the tie around his neck, ties it up, then unties it, puts it around my neck, ties it up again, and then turns back to the customer. The staff look at each other again...

Manager: Seems fine to me
Customer (angry): Are you saying my husband and I don't know how to do up a tie?
Manager (pauses as if he was almost going to say "YES, you half-witted, dumb bint. Your husband is clearly a moron too", then thinks the better of it): I can't find a fault with the tie. I'll get my colleague to get you a new one though, and I do apologise for the problem.

I refund the old tie, she buys the new one and walks out. The minute the door shut we all burst out laughing... Anyone else ever suffered with a faulty tie?..

I'm really, really glad I work in a non-customer service job now...

 

[Kylehnat]

Anyone else ever suffered with a faulty tie?..

Yeah, when I was five years-old

Here's a couple of stories from Olympia Nissan, with which I've only been acquainted for three months:

August 2009
Back in August, I was thinking about buying a 370Z. I wasn't really ready to buy quite yet, but I decided to head over to Olympia Nissan one evening to check out their (limited) selection and at least talk to a salesperson. I arrived a couple hours before closing, but the showroom didn't look open...it was dark, there were no cars inside, and I didn't see any people in there, either. I did see a couple of well-dressed guys with name-tags standing next to an Altima. So, I wandered over to the Z's, figuring that if they were salesmen, they would come running over. I spent a good 15 minutes looking over the two Z's they had, yet neither guy budged from their conversation. As I walked passed them on the way back to my car, they stopped talking, and gave me 'the stare'. While driving out, I saw two more employees inside near the door, and they too gave me a blank stare as I drove off. I'm sure the police were called to report a young 20-something guy up to no good.

September 2009
Olympia didn't have the car I wanted, so I got online and checked inventories. Lo and behold, Tacoma Nissan (30 miles to the north--owned by the same people as Olympia Nissan), had the exact trim and color I wanted. So, I headed up there one Saturday morning. Before I even stepped out of my car, there was a salesman on his way over to greet me. Two pleasant hours later, I drove off the lot in my new trouble-making sports car.

During my conversation with the finance manager (the most excruciating part of the car-buying process), I mentioned that I wanted to install a Lo-Jack, but would like to have it installed at the Olympia dealership, if possible. He said "no problem whatsoever--there is an independent Lo-Jack installer down there who installs at Oly Nissan all the time, and we can send the papers over to them". Super!

A couple days later, the Lo-Jack installer, John, calls me, and we set up a day for the install. He tells me to just leave the car with the service department...he installs there all the time, and they know the drill. The next day after work, I went to the service department to drop my car off. As I walked towards the counter (a good 30 feet from the door), the guy behind the desk said nothing at all, instead giving me 'the stare'.

Here is the conversation I had. Mind you, I've worked in customer service, so I know how people can be. I approach these situations with unrelenting Washington politeness. Everything the service guy said was delivered with the "you are really bothering me" tone:

Service: "Can I help you?"
Me: "Hello, I'm here to drop off my car for a Lo-Jack install tomorrow".
Service: "I don't have a Lo-Jack installed scheduled tomorrow. What is your name?"
Me: (gives name)
Service: "You're not in my system, and nothing is scheduled for tomorrow."
Me: "I bought the car in Tacoma, so it makes sense that I'm not in your system yet. John [last name] told me that I should drop my car off here tonight, and he would take care of everything tomorrow."
Service: "Fine. Do you have the papers?"
Me: "Which papers do you need?" (I have everything Tacoma gave me in my bag).
Service: "The papers Tacoma gave you when you bought the Lo-Jack."
Me: "Yeah, sure." (I rifle through my bag and dig up a couple of documents that show I bought the Lo-Jack.)
Service: "Those are finance papers. I can't do anything with those."
Me: "What exactly do you need? This is all they gave me."
Service: "Work order. I cannot take your car without a work order."
Me: "Maybe I have that. What does one look like?"
Service: (sighs loudly) "This."
Me: "No, they didn't give me the work order. They said they would send it over last week."
Service: "Well I don't have it."
Me: "Aren't you guys owned by the same people? Maybe the documents are somewhere in a common system?"
Service: "No. We don't have access to their system. Go sit down for a few minutes, and I'll try to figure this out."

I sit for a good 15-20 minutes. He returns within eye-shot.

Service: "You..." (motions with his finger and 'the stare' to come over there. Now I feel like an accused murderer being summoned back into the courtroom to hear the verdict.)
Service: "I couldn't get a hold of anyone in Tacoma." (shakes head) "Just leave your keys, and we'll figure it out, I guess. We'll call you tomorrow."

Those were the last words we exchanged. He didn't even say good-bye or anything as I gave him the keys and walked out the door. As the door closed behind me, I rather-loudly muttered "what a [lollypop-licker]". This seemed to jolt a middle-aged woman stepping out of her minivan.

When I got home, I called John (the Lo-Jack installer), and said that while the service department finally agreed to take my car, they were none too happy that I showed up without a work order. "What? I have the work order! I'm surprised they gave you a hard time. I do installs a lot, and this is never a big deal!"

The next day, I went back to pick up my car, half-expecting them to shove a $1500 bill in my face (this had already been tacked on to the price of the car). Fortunately they were no longer suffering from head-in-ass syndrome, and everything ended peacefully.

December 2009
Today I went in for an oil change. The folks in the service department were much friendlier this time (the same guy from before was not there). While logging my car in, I mentioned that I had purchased a three-year free-maintenance plan, so the oil change should be free, yes? I was all ready with the plan number and documentation of this, expecting for him to want to see it. Instead, the guy inaudibly-mumbled a couple of sentences. All I picked up was: "Maybe, but the first oil change is always free anyway, so it doesn't matter." Whatever.

I sat down for 45 minutes while they worked their magic. While signing the papers at the end, the service guy said: "Um, this oil-change is free, but your car requires special oil, so in the future, um, uh, you'll have to pay the difference above, uh, standard oil." My car uses a synthetic-blend 5W30, which last I checked, is not difficult to find, nor is it "special" in any way. I'm pretty sure the maintenance plan does cover the full cost of the oil, but I'm sure I'll get to argue with them about that next time .

 

[Eric.]

Ha, I'm glad I've yet to have anyone this troublesome at work (local grocery store). However, I might be moving over to Geek Squad sometime. I'm sure I'll have plenty to post then....

 

[TheBook]

Minor apologies for the revival, but I figured this was worth a post.

Today, we had a gentleman attempt to use our car wash. After about five minutes of watching him attempt to pay for it through the teller machine, I walk out and ask him if he's having problems. As it turns out, he pressed the button to pay with a credit card and tried to use cash.

Also today, someone wondered why the car wash wouldn't work; he pressed the $6 wash option and thought he could get away with only putting in $5.

I wish people weren't so stupid...

 

[Teh_Loserer]

I wish people weren't so stupid...

Ofttimes, I do too. But they're so much fun to laugh at when YOU'RE not the one dealing with them!

And just to contribute:

I was working at U-Haul (moving and storage place,) and a lady came in and rented a storage space. I told her that it was company policy that all storage units be locked with a disc-style lock, to deter bolt cutters, and indicated that we sold them, prepackaged and sealed, there in the store.

She became suddenly angry, declaring that it was a scam, we had keys to all those locks and that we were gonna steal all her stuff. She changed her mind about renting the unit and left, muttering.

I didn't even wait until she was out the door to burst out laughing.

 

[Northstar]

I work at a grocery store that apparently attracts idiots. I have plenty of stories but I will post a few noticeable ones.

The Curse of Register 2

Last Tuesday I took some hours from my co-worker as she didn't want them. They were all cashier hours though and I normally work in grocery. Well I was unfortunate enough to be stuck on register 2(which is normally the first open one during the day). Common sense would say customers would go to the shortest line, however people just kept lining in the queue for my register. I could have told them, but frankly if you are that stupid you can wait.

Pumpkin pie filling, we still don't have any!

Until recently we haven't been able to get pumpkin pie filling in as there was a shortage(it affected all local stores so it wasn't just us). I really had to hold my self back from giving the "really" face a good amount of times when a customer would ask if we had any, than would tell me they have checked everywhere and they all said there was a shortage. Thankfully now we have it and just have to tell customers that something used for baking pies is in the baking aisle.

Why would we have a pharmacy?

Now before I give you this transcript I need to say two things, the guy who owns the store I work at also owns one a little north, that store does have a pharmacy in it, there are not many stores in general near that one, let alone pharmacies. However my store does not as there is both a Walgreens and a CVS literally across the street and 8(literally) other pharmacies within a mile.

Anyways:

Customer: Excuse Me
Me: What can I do for you?
Customer: Is this all you have for pharmacy stuff?(we only have 1 aisle)
Me: Yes it is, is there something specific you are looking for?
Customer: No, I just need a prescription filled out
Me: Sorry, we don't have an actual pharmacy here
Customer: Well, your St. Francis store has one(location of the other store)
Me: That store is newer so they were able to add more things
Customer: Oh, well do you know where there is a pharmacy around here?
Me: Well, there is a Walgreens and a CVS across the street
Customer: Thanks

 

[Cano]

I'm pretty damn glad this thread was bumped, because I had not seen it... some of these are pure spankin' gold.

 

[Keef]

A technician friend of mine did an oil change on a Murano a while back. He finished, lowered the car down, and pulled it out to go park it when he looked down and noticed the oil light was lit. He immediately shuts the engine off and stops the car where it is. A couple guys push it back into the bay where they check it out, fill it up with oil, and start it to make sure it runs fine. He made it halfway out of the parking lot but the engine was fine. Luckily Nissan designs a lowered reservoir into the oil pan that the pump feeds from even when all the oil is drained. There's just enough in there to keep the engine alive, even when empty. Schwoo.

 

[Kylehnat]

Common sense would say customers would go to the shortest line

If the shortest line contains an older lady with a cart full of produce items that have to be keyed in manually, I keep walking. Ditto for the mom with three kids who keep grabbing candy bars at the checkstand. Grocery line selection is a difficult skill to master .

I'm pretty sure the maintenance plan does cover the full cost of the oil, but I'm sure I'll get to argue with them about that next time

And it continues: I haven't been in yet without Oly Nissan trying to charge me $90 for an oil change which is 100% covered under my maintenance plan. I explain that every time I walk in, but they always try to give me a bill at the end anyway. I explain again that it's covered, and they say "oops, okay, it's free." I'm getting annoyed.

 

[nick09]

There is some great stories in this thread. Made me lose an hour of sleep due to me reading the entire thread on a cell phone. The world sure is filled with idiots.