[captmiddy]

Okay I love my truck, and I am not letting it go, but I am becoming increasingly grumpy with my dealership. I ordered certain things to be delivered with the truck, the carpets which should have been delivered with the truck were back-ordered twice and then I had to go pick them up 40 minutes from my house because they couldn't seem to figure out how to get them shipped to my house (UPS returned them twice). I bought the lifestyle package which comes with the bed extender, the bed extender seems to fall apart easily and one of the buttons on the tailgate has fallen off, rather a pain. And when washing my car this weekend it finally dawned on me that my rear splash guards aren't there even though I paid for them. How I managed to miss this I don't know, I caught most everything else they messed up and got it fixed before I drove away, but somehow the rear splash guards just slipped my mind.

This will make 5 parts they failed to have available at delivery that were part of the purchase package, 2 of the parts they ran into the parts department and grabbed before I left, one was back-ordered, and 2 I have had to get later by informing them they missed them (the locking pin for my trailer package and now my splash guards). If it wasn't for how good the salesman has been about fixing everything as quickly as possible and apologizing for the mistakes of the prep guys repeatedly with me I would call up AHM corporate office and scream loudly about this, and I still have yet to finish the paper survey so my chance is still there to stick it too them where it hurts.

 

[jrebot]

I feel your pain, had a similar experience.

What I did was have a checklist with my options and thoroughly reviewed the car before giving them my money. At least I have to do this because I get psyched up when buying a new car and I need to organize myself and check everything before I hand over the cash. This has worked well in the last few years. It paid of on my recent Ridge purchase and my wife's new Lexus.

Joe

 

[methodtim]

I really hate how a sub-par dealership can almost ruin the experience of owning a great product. I hope everything works out for you and that you can concentrate on enjoying your vehicle.

 

[captmiddy]

I feel your pain, had a similar experience.

What I did was have a checklist with my options and thoroughly reviewed the car before giving them my money. At least I have to do this because I get psyched up when buying a new car and I need to organize myself and check everything before I hand over the cash. This has worked well in the last few years. It paid of on my recent Ridge purchase and my wife's new Lexus.

Joe

Yes, and I did this but somehow my brain glossed over the fact that the rear splash guards weren't there. I asked him inside if they were all installed and he said yes, when I went out I saw the front ones I guess and just didn't even notice they weren't on the back, I am used to having to have all four installed if they don't come with the vehicle, this deal of installing them just on the front is hard to fathom, so remembering to actually look at the back when I had so much going on in my head was hard. I caught the fact that they missed the ball for the trailer, the sliding pin for the trailer (but forgot it should have been a locking pin because I didn't have the accessory list with me), noticed that the carpets which he told me were in the trunk were not there. So overall the delivery of accessory was two right two wrong. Not a good track record for a car delivery.

 

[captmiddy]

I really hate how a sub-par dealership can almost ruin the experience of owning a great product. I hope everything works out for you and that you can concentrate on enjoying your vehicle.

Oh how can I not enjoy the vehicle . The only issues so far have been minor issues, splash guards means that the back gets dirtier than I would like, the button is minor because I have been using the extender in the front position to hold things in there, the locking pin didn't mean anything when I noticed because I still had under 600 miles on the truck so no towing allowed anyway. So while each time I call the dealership I get a little more agitated, the reality is I still really enjoy my vehicle.

 

[shingles]

I would call Honda's 800 number and lodge a complaint. I think it's important that Honda knows about some of these poor dealerships.

 

[rogerstruck]

I feel sorry for you, it all goes back to Honda policy of not including alot of accessories in the model purchased. Alot of these items should be factoy installed items, so you do not have to dismantle a perfectly good truck.o. A poor dealer can really screw things up for you, and spoil the joy of owning a great vehicle. Ask for a refund, call Honda, your state attorney General and get a full refund. Go and find a good dealer to put the extras on your truck. But enjoy your truck & try & stay calm and remember "it does not pay yo piss off your dealer or mechanic. Another club member had a simular experience, they really screwed his truck up.

 

[Long Gone]

F.Y.I. regarding surveys.
Not this it should be done maliciously, but a bad survey returned to a dealership is a black mark against that dealership with Honda. In essence, if a dealership does not receive all 5's or all 100's on sales and service surveys, there will be h-e-doublehockeysticks to pay in all levels of the dealership. Honda doesn't like their dealers getting bad grades but sometimes it's necessary when a dealership is not performing as they should in the best interest of the consumer.

 

[Tiger]

Fill out the survey form and include your experiences. Ladyridge is correct, a good (100%) survey is very important for the dealership to have.

Tiger

 

[rtbaron]

I had issues with the dealer I purchased my Ridgeline from and hit them hard on the survey from Honda. Any additional accessories which I wanted installed was done from another dealer in the area. The selling dealer will never get any more business from me....their loss.

 

[Ultra-HOG]

Bingo rtbaron! If the owner of your selling dealership does not care enough to make sure that all departments and all employees are doing what they said they said that they were going to do, and do their #1 job which is taking care of the customer, they do not deserve your business. Obviously they do not care about repeat business from their existing customers. Honda is very fortunate that you found another dealer. A repeat of that bad experience would cause most people to become a customer of their competition.

Filing out the survey honestly or lodging a complaint with Honda is actually helping the substandard dealer. If Honda cares, which I suspect they do, we like to believe that they will insist on improved performance from the dealer, hopefully before it is too late.

 

[JimVickers]

Grumpy Buyer - Delivery Issues

captmiddy ... I can sympathize with you.
Good you have been able to view the problems as agrivating but small. I am in the same boat.

The Prep Dept dented and scratched my RTL during delivery ... .
The Sales Dept responded with a dent specialist, and to my amazement the repair was perfect. What a relief.

The Dealership excuse is that they originally antisipated Honda monthly sales at ~250, but sales have been ~750, and they have been overwhelmed and understaffed to handle the workload.

So far my salesman has been good to me and patient which has helped to keep me calm.

Since this is my first full size Honda vehicle I am still "testing the waters" of Honda quality and how Honda responds to customers and problems.

 

[NJDevil5]

I seriously question what, and if Honda does anything about these surveys. Since moving to central Illinois 4 years ago, I know dozens of Honda owners who can't stand dealing with our local dealership. They're unwilling to deal on new vehicles and their service department is unimpressive as well. I'm sure they've all roasted the dealer on the survey, but yet there's no improvement. Short of driving 90 minutes to the next dealership (which I did on the Ridgeline), they're the only game around.

 

[Long Gone]

I seriously question what, and if Honda does anything about these surveys. Since moving to central Illinois 4 years ago, I know dozens of Honda owners who can't stand dealing with our local dealership. They're unwilling to deal on new vehicles and their service department is unimpressive as well. I'm sure they've all roasted the dealer on the survey, but yet there's no improvement. Short of driving 90 minutes to the next dealership (which I did on the Ridgeline), they're the only game around.

Honda does what they can to get the information to dealers needed to fix issues. I was personally on the recieveing end of their completed surveys at the dealership and there are many many issues that they try to resolve. Selling cars and Customer Satisfaction are taken very seriously with AHM and you should never hesitate to let them know your experience and what you feel. The more they are informed, the more they can do. They have a Customer Satisfaction program in place called E.X.C.E.L.L. which I was in charge of before I left last month. EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATION LEVELS FOR LIFE. I attended seminars and meetings and online webinars consistantly in order to keep up with the Honda requirements. My suggestion to all of you?? Stay on your dealers and stay on Honda and make them aware you are there and you have issues if you do. Put your first and last name and what you drive on the tips of the tongues at AHM.

 

[NJDevil5]

Honda does what they can to get the information to dealers needed to fix issues. I was personally on the recieveing end of their completed surveys at the dealership and there are many many issues that they try to resolve. Selling cars and Customer Satisfaction are taken very seriously with AHM and you should never hesitate to let them know your experience and what you feel. The more they are informed, the more they can do. They have a Customer Satisfaction program in place called E.X.C.E.L.L. which I was in charge of before I left last month. EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATION LEVELS FOR LIFE. I attended seminars and meetings and online webinars consistantly in order to keep up with the Honda requirements. My suggestion to all of you?? Stay on your dealers and stay on Honda and make them aware you are there and you have issues if you do. Put your first and last name and what you drive on the tips of the tongues at AHM.

I should have clarified. I do believe they react to vehicle quality issues pinpointed on the surveys and as far as customer service from Honda NA, it's tops. If they've made any effort to react to dealer issues in my market it certainly doesn't appear like it. Sounds like others may have similar experiences. I'd much prefer to deal with the guy 2.5 miles away than 90 miles away from a convenience standpoint. I've always been of the opinion that if they don't want my business, there's someone that certainly does. In the past, I've always used the surveys to voice my opinion, but I'm going to take your suggestion and contact the GM directly to raise the issue. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Long Gone]

I should have clarified. I do believe they react to vehicle quality issues pinpointed on the surveys and as far as customer service from Honda NA, it's tops. If they've made any effort to react to dealer issues in my market it certainly doesn't appear like it. Sounds like others may have similar experiences. I'd much prefer to deal with the guy 2.5 miles away than 90 miles away from a convenience standpoint. I've always been of the opinion that if they don't want my business, there's someone that certainly does. In the past, I've always used the surveys to voice my opinion, but I'm going to take your suggestion and contact the GM directly to raise the issue. Thanks for your suggestions.

Thats the best thing to do to start. Some GM's feel they are untouchable. Don't let him pass that attitude off on you no matter what. Dealers hate the media. Just a side note.