Turned Into a Nightmare

 

A.I. Generated

What follows is a timeline of what happened when I took my main vehicle in for a new fuel pump, estimated to take 5 hours to replace. To make matters worse, my wife was away at a medical conference so we were down to just my vehicle. I ended sending this timeline to management part way through the process.

Day 1

I called at 8 am and got an appointment for 8:45. As part of the check-in process, I told them about the chainsaw gas and the noise. The technician standing there said that little amount of oil shouldn’t be a problem and that it was probably a coincidence. I was told to wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes while they diagnose the problem. At 10 o’clock, 75 minutes later, hearing no word, I went to check with the service department and was told it needed a new fuel pump. One would be ordered and they would install it the following morning. It would take about five hours to complete.

Day 2

I called at 10:00 am having heard no word, and was informed that the fuel pump had arrived and they were already working on it. My van should be ready after lunch.

At 4:00 pm, I still hadn’t heard anything so called and was told they would check and call me right back.

At 4:45 pm, having still not heard anything, I had my daughter drive me to the service department and upon arriving was told that they were wrapping things up and had 90 minutes of work left so it should be done first thing tomorrow morning. Was told that a dedicated technician was working only on this project to get it done as soon as possible.

Day 3

I hadn’t heard anything by 10:00 am so called and was told it would be ready by noon.

Hadn’t heard anything by 2:00 pm so called and was told that it wouldn’t be ready until the evening because the tank was still full of gas at this point, something that I had told them about two days ago and apparently not figured out until now.

At 3:30, I received my first phone call of this entire process from the service department saying that “all the oil” which was less than 2.6 oz mixed in 1 gallon of gas at a 50 to 1 ration and mixed with the first 20 gallons of gas and later diluted with 10 more gallons of gas, was the problem and now I need a $600 evaporator cannister and three more days (Since it was Friday and the wouldn't get the part until Monday) in the shop before it would be working again. I asked about how many hours the fuel pump replacement was supposed to take and was told 5.1 hours. I asked how many hours have been logged on this thus far and was told 12 but I would be only charged for the 5.1 hours. At this point, my vehicle has been “on the rack” for nearly 20 hours being worked on full time according to them. When I asked about the discrepancy in real hours versus billable hours, I was told that the technician can only work on it for half a day each day for unexplained reasons despite having been assured that he had been working full time on it for two days. I asked for a loaner vehicle. I was told they didn't have any and I was 9th on the list of people waiting for one. I mailed in this timeline to management about lack of communication from the service department.

 Day4

Service called to apologize. Said the evaporator cannister had been ordered and they would get to work on my van first thing April 22 and call me. Should take 2 hours to install.

Day 6

I received no call so called service at 4 pm asking for an update since the promised one hadn't arrived. I was told the part hadn’t been received. Told me they would follow up with ordering about why it hadn’t been received and work on it tomorrow. As always, they promised to call me with an update as soon as they knew more information.

Day 7

Nearly four hours after the shop opened, and double the time they said it would take to install the evaporator cannister, I couldn't take waiting another day for a call that would never come and called just to see if the part had arrived so I could plan my evening, and three meetings accordingly. "Coincidentally", they had just finished when I called. I had them send somebody to pick me up and take me to their shop. When I arrived, the service manager again apologized and told me they had reduced the labor hours on my bill for all the time it had taken. I was still being charged for 5.9 hours of labor. I assume that I was being charged the 5.1 hours they told me on Day 3 along with the billable hours for the evaporator and nothing for the two extra days they never could explain to me what they were working on. How generous. I bit my tongue, wrote a four figured check for the repair because they now charge 3% of your bill if you pay by credit card, and left. 

To rub salt in the wounds, I had just filled my tank up with $50 worth of gas the day before I took my van into the shop. Now the tank was empty so I had to pay another $50 to refill it just to get home. If I get sent a link to review my latest service, as they normally do, I plan to write a thorough and honest review. As I told the service manager, I don't fault them for the bad fuel pump or evaporator cannister. Coincidence or a fault of mine for adding old chainsaw fuel to the tank, that isn't their problem. Their problem is the lack of communication about what was happening and why. Had they just promptly communicated why it was taking them a lot longer than expected, I could forgive them.