Sometimes I just don't understand dealerships

At the last holiday party, I won a free oil/filter change from my local
Mazda dealership. Since I change my own oil, I went in to see if they would
just 'trade' me the certificate for a couple of filters. The day I went in,
the 'service manager' was on vacation, and he was the only one that could
make such a decision. I went back today, and he was at lunch. I waited for a
few minutes and the guy I had been talking to (service writer) said he had
talked to 'Ron', and they couldn't do it. They'd give me the free oil
change, or $20 off 'some service', but they couldn't/wouldn't just give me a
couple of filters. Interestingly, not even the ONE they would have used for
the oil change. Maybe there's a reason, but no one offered one. I guess I'll
order some off the internet. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying them from
that dealership.
__________________

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 14:33:49 -0500, "BK" > wrote:

>At the last holiday party, I won a free oil/filter change from my local
>Mazda dealership. Since I change my own oil, I went in to see if they would
>just 'trade' me the certificate for a couple of filters. The day I went in,
>the 'service manager' was on vacation, and he was the only one that could
>make such a decision. I went back today, and he was at lunch. I waited for a
>few minutes and the guy I had been talking to (service writer) said he had
>talked to 'Ron', and they couldn't do it. They'd give me the free oil
>change, or $20 off 'some service', but they couldn't/wouldn't just give me a
>couple of filters. Interestingly, not even the ONE they would have used for
>the oil change. Maybe there's a reason, but no one offered one. I guess I'll
>order some off the internet. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying them from
>that dealership.
>__________________
>
Probably the books are kept separately for the parts and service
departments.

"Natman" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 14:33:49 -0500, "BK" > wrote:
>
>>At the last holiday party, I won a free oil/filter change from my local
>>Mazda dealership. Since I change my own oil, I went in to see if they
>>would
>>just 'trade' me the certificate for a couple of filters. The day I went
>>in,
>>the 'service manager' was on vacation, and he was the only one that could
>>make such a decision. I went back today, and he was at lunch. I waited for
>>a
>>few minutes and the guy I had been talking to (service writer) said he had
>>talked to 'Ron', and they couldn't do it. They'd give me the free oil
>>change, or $20 off 'some service', but they couldn't/wouldn't just give me
>>a
>>couple of filters. Interestingly, not even the ONE they would have used
>>for
>>the oil change. Maybe there's a reason, but no one offered one. I guess
>>I'll
>>order some off the internet. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying them from
>>that dealership.
>>__________________
>>
> Probably the books are kept separately for the parts and service
> departments.

More likely, it's a ploy to get your car into the shop where they can farm
it for additional work.

"Chas Hurst" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Natman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 14:33:49 -0500, "BK" > wrote:
>>
>>>At the last holiday party, I won a free oil/filter change from my local
>>>Mazda dealership. Since I change my own oil, I went in to see if they
>>>would
>>>just 'trade' me the certificate for a couple of filters. The day I went
>>>in,
>>>the 'service manager' was on vacation, and he was the only one that could
>>>make such a decision. I went back today, and he was at lunch. I waited
>>>for a
>>>few minutes and the guy I had been talking to (service writer) said he
>>>had
>>>talked to 'Ron', and they couldn't do it. They'd give me the free oil
>>>change, or $20 off 'some service', but they couldn't/wouldn't just give
>>>me a
>>>couple of filters. Interestingly, not even the ONE they would have used
>>>for
>>>the oil change. Maybe there's a reason, but no one offered one. I guess
>>>I'll
>>>order some off the internet. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying them from
>>>that dealership.
>>>__________________
>>>
>> Probably the books are kept separately for the parts and service
>> departments.
>
> More likely, it's a ploy to get your car into the shop where they can farm
> it for additional work.

hey, looks like your air filter needs to be replaced, and those fan belts
look worn, when was the last time your changed the fluid in the rear end...
i say give the coupon away on craigslist. that way they will end up with
the sort of customer that they deserve

On Dealerships-- I have to tell what happened several years ago at the local
Caddy dealership.
Mt wife's parents drove a then new caddy from a Chicago suburb down to
Georgia to visit us. It was about the same time of year as now, and Chicago
was still in the throes of winter. On the way down, the headliner started to
come unglued and hang down. As they came into town the engine started
running rough. No problem, we thought, since the car is new and obviously
still under warranty. My wife went to the local dealership with her father
to get the caddy fixed. Imagine the surprise when the dealer's servie rep
refused to do any warrenty service, saying that since they didn't sell the
car, they were not going to service it. Our family lawyer just happend to be
a part owner of the dealership. A call to him was quite interesting. Also,
his girls happened to be in my wife's girl scout troup, and his wife was the
assistant troup leader.

My wife talked to him briefly, explaining the situation; then he asked my
wife to give the phone back to the service rep. About two seconds later, the
service rep turned several shades lighter in color, and started saying
nothing but yes sir, yes sir. When all was said and done the caddy wias
repaired in about two hours, with an oil and filter change as well as a
complete wash job, all for nothing. One of the injectors had clogged,
(replaced) and the headliner was re-glued without any trace of the
operation. Had I done it, I would have likely wrinkled the headliner in the
process. I would have tried cleaning the injector, simply because at the
time, I had no local source of replacement parts at a reasonable price.


"BK" > wrote in message
...
> At the last holiday party, I won a free oil/filter change from my local
> Mazda dealership. Since I change my own oil, I went in to see if they
would
> just 'trade' me the certificate for a couple of filters. The day I went
in,
> the 'service manager' was on vacation, and he was the only one that could
> make such a decision. I went back today, and he was at lunch. I waited for
a
> few minutes and the guy I had been talking to (service writer) said he had
> talked to 'Ron', and they couldn't do it. They'd give me the free oil
> change, or $20 off 'some service', but they couldn't/wouldn't just give me
a
> couple of filters. Interestingly, not even the ONE they would have used
for
> the oil change. Maybe there's a reason, but no one offered one. I guess
I'll
> order some off the internet. I'm pretty sure I won't be buying them from
> that dealership.
> __________________
>
>