Things like this really tick me off. Bought a new Prius 2 weeks ago. Had some issues with the dealership that I won't get into now, all seem to be resolved now, although I was really stressed for a while about this. I got the standard form letter from the dealer's "vice president", thanking me for my business, yada yada yada, and to contact her if anything was less than satisfactory. So I wrote a 2-page letter detailing what I went through, highlighting both the negative and the the positive parts of the experience. Faxed it to her. Called, spoke to her to confirm that she go the fax, she hadn't received it yet, said she would get it, review it, and call me back to discuss it. No call back. Later that day I went to the dealer to pick up my car from service (they gave me a loaner), afterwards I went to the showroom to see if she was there. She was not, I left a message with the receptionist, I could see she wrote down my name and number, to call me back. Still nothing, no call back. Wouldn't you think that someone at that level would call me back? It's been 2 days now. Brand new customer. Two main issues -- when I went to pick up the car the day after I did the paperwork and paid for it, it had a small dent in it (was since repaired and looks fine, nothing I could do since I already paid for it). Also the spare tire was dirty and used (the car had 12 miles on the odometer: they replaced it. Just venting.
Judging from the dent and used spare tire, this is not a very honest dealer from the beginning. Toyota has a new car inspection and check list to make sure the car is in prestige condition before delivery. Do you expect the vice president will call you and apologize. BTW, if I see a dent on the car upon delivery, I will refuse to accept the car and cancel the contract.
What's a fax? Seriously I'd give it a week to give them time to look into your issues, but I wouldn't let it drop. Like you say, you're a new customer and one or two things weren't right with the car when you got it and this needs addressing. Perhaps you might want to post the letter directly to her just to make sure your concerns are actually reaching her desk!
I guess I'm not quite sure what I expected from a phone call, but I expected a phone call. Given that I had already paid for the car the day before -- actually the prior Friday, this was on Monday -- plus in my deal, they installed other new tires that I supplied them, they were on the car by then -- I didn't think canceling was an option. I'm sure I could/should have handled this better.
I probably deserve some of the blame here. I first looked at the car after 7 pm, although they brought the car up front where it was well lit. It still had the protective stuff on it from being shipped. I looked it over closely, or so I thought, and it looked OK to me. When I came back the next Monday to take delivery, it was earlier in the day in the bright sunshine, and the small dent was apparent. I can't believe that someone at the dealer -- either the person that cleans and preps it for delivery, or the guy who changed the tires, whatever -- didn't notice it though.
Yeah, that stinks. You can always write a note to corporate headquarters. Also you should get a survey in the mail soon too.
I am going to give the dealer's VP the benefit of the doubt for a second. Perhaps she does not know you are expecting a call back right away? Or, perhaps she is researching what happened so that when she calls you back she can have something intelligent to say? As a general rule, i find it is best to make sure the other party knows your expectations and agrees to them. In this case, you spoke with her, and she said she would review and call you back. I would have then said something like, "When can I expect your call? Next day or so?" Or, "No matter what, can you call me back within the next couple of days?" If the VP had agreed to the next day or so but failed to, THEN I would totally agree with you that they did not take your customer satisfaction seriously.
