What recourse(I use the term loosely) do I have for a dealership that attempted
 

to reccommend me almost $1000 worth of service before I needed it?

Background

Not too long ago I brought my car to a major dealership, Rosenthal Jaguar, for guidance with the climate control and navigation. While in the process they tell me my front brakes are damn near gone, which I find odd because they feel solid as a rock. I then circled back with my PPI guy and went to Meineke to double check the dealerships findings. My guy said when he did the PPI it had 8mm of pad left in the front and Meineke said the same thing. The dealer recommended $900 brake service prematurely and I think it was done deceptively. I am considering filing a complaint with the BBB. How would you seek retribution for a business recommending $900 service prematurely if you all were in my shoes?

File a complaint with the BBB if you want. Just make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

What did the dealership say and write on the invoice, *exactly*?

Cheers
DD

+1

well i can tell you I have twice now, sold pads to a customer. I mistakenly quoted on wrong car, and the other I had a visual malfunction and looked at the metal part of the pad and not the pad material. Both times i told the customer I dont know what i was thinking but they didnt need pads afterall when I took off the wheels to do the work. Not bad for 2 in 14 yrs. but still mistakes happen. And when we find techs that have issues happen like this, theyre gone quickly. We just lost a Land Rover tech for recommending uneeded work to the preown sales dept on a Rover. Its not a first time youre gone, but a repeated poor service and it doesnt take much to notice a person that doesnt need to be working here. Its hard enough to overcome preconceived ideas about a dealership without throwing fuel on the fire. I would just go talk to the service manager and make that person aware and see what response they give you. Just dont be accusational. That person is not the one that gave you the quote, but is in most cases wants to run a good service dept that people trust. thats how you get and keep business.

BBB... and you could always post Yelp, Google and Yahoo reviews.

What about jaguar NA and having their district rep come and examine your car?

My $0.02:

1. Use another dealer and move on. It didn't cost you any money and it's not worth losing any sleep over this - it's not a big deal in the overall scheme of life.
2. To err is human, to forgive...
3. If I had a penny for every incompetent person I've had to deal with, I'd be...
4. Pick your battles wisely.

It's OK to vent on a consumer's opinion website, such as Kudzu.com or Angie's list. It's cheaper than a psychiatrist.:icon_doh:

Judging from his silence since the original post I'm thinkin' that Quaker13 is already "over it" :-)


Cheers
DD

Name names,write letters. Be specific.

Recourse
 

If you did not have the work done, you really have no Recourse, that said, If it is a long established Dealership, then voice your concern to the Service Manager, Depending on how he reacts, you may want to talk to the General Manager of the Store, he will listen, and if he truly cares about his business, he will be more than happy to assist you when you do in fact need Brakes.

I can tell you from experience that good, honest Techs, Service writers's, and Service Managers are hard to find, when you get them you fight to keep them busy with work, as that is how they are paid, if you can not keep work coming in the door, then no money. If the Service Dept is trying to sell pre-mature or wrong work ( and that may not be the case, it may just be a mistake) the General Manager of the store will want to know about it.

Hope this helps

Good point! :icon_goodpost:
I should have checked this before wasting my time replying.

True enough. But remember Quaker13 wasn't after recourse. He wanted retribution. Similar, but not quite the same to my ears...but then again I'm no S.I. Hayakawa :-)

Still, though, the BBB and/or dealer management should be informed. No dealer *wants* a bad reputation...although some don't try very hard to avoid earning it.

The BBB would likely perform at least a cursory investigation to determine the veracity of the claim and seriousness of the offense, and go from there. If the same dealer has numerous similar complaints filed against them, they (the BBB) would probably go further.

My experience with BBBs, FWIW, is that they are pro-consumer but usually save thier bullets for serious gunfights. They're not interested in being the super hero who slays the dragon in every squabble that comes across their desk.

The BAR---Bureau of Automotive Repair--- in California is a force to be reckoned with. Very pro-consumer, and that's good. If a shop owner is dishonest he'll regret ever being born if the BAR gets ahold of him. OTOH, if the shop owner is a square shooter, the BAR will back him up to the bitter end against unfounded complaints. Or at least that's how it was in the 80s-90s.

Ramble switch turned "off" :-)

Cheers
DD

The thing is I was just about to blow $300 on the audio connectivity module and another on $300 on installation at this very dealership. I don't feel like I was raped, but I do feel like the assailant had performance anxiety before he was going to do the deed. Luckily I squirmed out the frat house before the intoxicated alpha male could take advantage of me.

Thanks for finally replying! I noted from your profile that you own a Prius in addition to your XKR. That's an interesting "Odd Couple" in DC - polar opposites: the former is boring and politically correct, the latter is great fun and not so PC. So, what action, if any, did you finally decide to take against Rosenthal Jaguar?

I was going to call, but I figured that probably wouldn't be very effective. I spoke with the gentleman/dealer that sold me the car and he recommended I file a deceptive practices complaint with the Virgina DMV. The BBB won't do much in the way of retribution, but the complaint to the DMV could spark an audit which works out to be alot more than the $900 they would have made off me. Obviously if the service manager is contrite and maybe offers to take some labor costs off my ACM module I won't pursue it, but any curtness will be followed up by an immediate phone call to the DMV

Ahhhh, how revealing! Now I think we're getting to the real heart of the matter.

Party A has done something wrong. Party B can report it to the authorities but is willing to forget the whole thing in exchange for monetary consideratioon from Party A

I think there's a legal term for that.....

DD

Why indeed, yes there is.

Plums, I like your tagline: "The purpose of proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and formatting is to convey information in an understandable manner." Precisely; otherwise, people would make too many misteaks!:icon_doh:

And don't forget the importance of proper pronunciation. A person who confuses the pronunciation of "burro" and "burrow" doesn't know his arse from a hole in the ground!

What recourse(I use that term loosely) do I have for a dealership that attempted
 

I got around to visually inspecting the brake pads myself and dag nabbit, they were right all along. I do in fact need new pads and rotors and I am overwhelmed with contrition and remorse that their name was prematurely sullied and dragged through the mud.

Dear Rosenthal Jaguar, can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?

Are your rotors gouged or warped excessively?