arggh… but thankfully …
Just a quick note to say hi & thanks for the sweet and neat comments.
Glad y’all liked the new drawing. I’ll make a promise to get back to the drawing board with more regularity. My writing muse has been scarce mostly due to an overwhelming and all consuming work load. There’s a couple more weeks in front of me that will have to have my undivided attention on matters other than the web. If the ‘gods’ are with me and our team, things will go the way they should.
Hey, here’s a little side note & follow up to my post about my car. 
I must say I like the evolution that seems to be happening just because my outlook and approach has shifted. Last year when I had encountered a significant frustration my response would have been irate and the outcome would have been fatigue, more frustration and regrets. For the last 5 months I have found that simply expressing my displeasure but not my anger has resulted in very different outcomes. Hotel upgrades are one benefit I’ve already shared, but guess what else happened just this week?
I was so distressed about the prospect of having to deal with the service guys at the dealership where I bought my car that I actually called ahead and begged them to promise me that all the work was done and my car was ready and that if I came mid day I could get in and out. I made an appointment to get my car back. I kept it. Did they? NO! I went there at 10 AM and at 12:08 I was still in the service office. Not only was the safety inspection not done, but they had totally lost the check that the claims guy had cut the week before. I had to ask if the tune up and 10,000 mile check I asked for (even though the car has barely 6,000 mile on it - it’s been on the road 2 years). I was asured it was and shown the technicians’time logs for each element of work done. They’d just not noticed the inspection on the work order. Nobody billed it, nobody did it. & I’d watched the techs come in and log the work they were doing on multiple cars during the time I was there.
So, I very quietly told the manager that I was really tired of being held hostage EVERY time I brought my car in to them. I told him that I really couldn’t afford to have to sit there for two hiurs after having called ahead to assure all was ready & I told him that I was really VERY tired of the lack of service interest offered customers once any vehicle purchase was final. I asked for a contact so I could communicate with volkswagen about my perceptions of the quality of service offered here. Sell me a car, make me happy about buying it, then when you’ve trapped me with a warrantee that is only valid if I use the ONLY approved service agent and allow that service agent to be shoddy is simply not going to fly.
They gave me the contact info, but they also wrote off every penny of my bill that was not covered by insurance. That’s more than a $400.00 discount on the billed amont by the way. Will that change what I have to say about their service ethic? I’m sorry but no. I must say that I would far rather pay exactly what I owe and experience a seemless, hassle free service experince. They get 99 % for service recovery in that I’ll trust that taking a hit in excess of 400 buck isn’t something they’ll let slide and will try and improve on… but I still expect some assurance that that performance improvement opportunity actually bear more fruit than giving random discounts to hassled and shafted customers.
I must say though that I am appreciative of how being quiet, reasonable and matter of fact about my perceptions and at the same time trying to be supportive of the challenges service providers face has resulted in me being offered fair and above and beyond treatment off the cuff - without prompting or demand.
Does getting a freebie on the repairs help me when it comes to procrastination about dealing with these people? Maybe. It’s possible that I’ll remember the relief that I was spared more than $400 in charges … or it’s possible I’ll remember just how helpless it felt to still be there at 12:47 (2 hours and 47 minutes after I got there way over three hours after calling to verify the car was ready to go and actually making an appointment to settle up and get my car.) and find that after being promised at 12:08 that my car was being driven around front for me “right now” my car was held up in a car wash line for 40 more minutes and yet somehow NEVER got washed.
I left work at 9:50 after calling to assure all was ready & it was little more than an in and out process, I got back to work just before1PM. They had my car and all the significant and incidental work orders for 13 days.
Why do I procrastinate over seemingly simple things like car maintenance & service? Guess. My honest question is why does it have to be like this? It’s always been like this. ALWAYS. In Canada, In KY, in TX in OR … every where I’ve ever lived long enough to need car maintenance….
Boy do I need a spanking….& it’s coming. In your silent wishes for me to get that, would you take a second to ask the fates to remind me that I said that while I’m getting it please. I know I’m going to forget and beg for a lesser intervention when the reality *hits.*.
TY
Love
patty
September 27th, 2006 at 6:00 am
I hope you get exactly as much and as many as it take to leave you utterly satisfied!
Take care! Theresa
September 27th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Patty, hope you don’t mind my taking a look around. Been out of circulation for awhile but ready to rejoin the “fray.” I’m glad to see it looks like you are doing well. I’m interested to learn more about this “friend” of yours. You need to give him a name girl even if it’s not his real one.
good luck with your upcoming session!
xoxo,
kitten i.e. carrielily i.e. carrie (I know I know too many names LOL!)
September 27th, 2006 at 9:53 am
Dear Patty, I second Theresa’s sentiment, but with the addition of just a few more to be sure you stop on his terms, not yours, as that is what you truly crave and most need (me, too, so I do understand, as do both of our men, I’m sure).
Thanks for this seemingly mindane post… I got something very useful out of it:
“I must say though that I am appreciative of how being quiet, reasonable and matter of fact about my perceptions” pays off…
A code to live by, to be sure. I’m trying, and with Dante’s help, I’m getting there, even if a little at a time.
Hugs,
Tiggr
September 27th, 2006 at 10:55 am
Good for you Patty, calm and collected works most times.
Do write to Volkswagen, Mel had a nice VW for years, the one occasion the official agency
let us down badly, I wrote to Germany, they were extremely helpful, reacted quickly, I was very satisfied.
I also echo Theresa’s and Tggr’s sentiments, I hope dear girl, that you get what you need and perhaps a few more, to etch the lesson more firmly on your mind, not to mention your butt..
Love and warm hugs,
Paul.
September 27th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Patti,
Next time get some support from the 20+ expert automotive women at Ask Patty to help you and to located a ‘female friendly’ dealership near you!
Check us out:
http://askpatty.typepad.com
Best Regards,
Jody DeVere
Ask Patty
October 1st, 2006 at 5:57 am
The Service Manager at your Volkswagen dealership needs replacing.
I am a Commercial Account Manager at one of the largest Ford dealers in the country. What happened to you is completely unacceptable, you MUST wrtie to Volkswagen about your experience. Don’t you get a service survey in the mail ?
It is difficult, in a large dealership, to make firm appointments to have work started but it should not be difficult to make a firm appointment to collect a completed vehicle. That should be a 5 or 10 minute process.
Good luck,
Terrence
October 1st, 2006 at 5:59 am
p.s. My passionate friend Sophia just bought me a cane to help keep her on the Path of Rightousness.
I am sure, in fact I know, she would mind watching me test it on you. Come on down to Florida……….:-)
October 2nd, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Patty,
I feel your frustration and I hate it too. I know it isn’t politically correct to say this but car places treat women differently from men. All the women should protest!
I think it is wonderful that you stated your feelings instead of ranted. Yes, a rant feels good at the time but the place to rant is with a good friend or in your blog but not at the person. so much more is accomplished by communicating honestly and rationally. I guess I better remember that the next time I am faced with the desire to blow up!
SNN
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:27 pm
yummy Theresa. If only that was possible! I did get a very sore bum though, and I’m still riding the blissful cozy aftermath…
hey kitten, nice to see you’re still scratchin… look around, make requests, enjoy…
No names, not even initials yet … sorry … unless he wants to be fleshed out with a name, pseudonym or whatever, he stays “friend.” He knows about this space and he’s been here. He deserves anonymity and he keeps it until or unless it’s his choice to come out. It’s definately his choice about what name he gets if life works out so he becomes someone stable… 
OK?
Yep Tiggr, it does really make a difference when you speak quietly even from anger. Being punished has to be from external terms, and must cross boundaries you fear.
I’ve got a letter drafted Paul. Oh how I wish I was going to get to deal with Germany on this. When I bought the car they were VERY aggressive practically demanding that I warn them if my responses were going to be less than “very satisfied.” Since I signed on the dotted line and paid in full, I’m trapped by the terms of the warrantee … a warantee with only one approved local service agent… guess who they are? I know they bank on inertia and fatigue, but hey, in this day & age of blogs and public expression, I’m betting VW & the local dealership don’t want to be associated with a spanking blog anymore than they want public discussion of their less than customer friendly tactics… little do they know… lolol
I let your spam link through Jody, shouldn’t have I know. Even after reading your blog and finding little to edify my choice. Nothing especially informative at all on your site.. Seriously my consumer reports subscription beats you to every revelation/post you’ve made, TY for your visit though. Catchy title though… ask patty… lolololol!
You said it Terrence! The service manager here needs to be replaced. Sadly there is no motivation and no reasonable candidate to replace him with. I live in a “special” “underserved” area. Even the most basic standards of service don’t seem to apply here. b It’s beyond corruption… good for your lady friend…. If Florida were even a reasonable commute I’d be happy to join you & your partner. It’s just not in the cards…
Hey Ann (SNN) PC? s’cuse me, but didn’t they (car service types) actually pre-empt PC when they so obviously descriminate and target women for disparate treatment? Fred never once had the kind of hassles I experience, and I’ve made it a point to use his questions up front. My car service bills are higher than they ever were and I never ever get an accounting of problems up front or in advance any more… yet my male peers ALWAYS getan accounting. Me just asking for it seems to send the world in to a tizzy. Yeah I know the tizzy is an obstruction/deflection/delay tactic, but you know, it’s a tactic only ever used on women, and it is just plain WRONG!
Rational worked. While it may not always be possible based on the degree of disgust and frustration, if you can corral your ire, being matter of fact, calm and still firm and resolute about your expectations for service can and SHOULD pay off.
Good luck applying it Ann. Especially when it’s too late and you’ve got a legitimate head full of steam.
:)
TY y’all