I wouldn't even begin to assume any of that.

I am a graphic artist. Does that mean I know nothing of the way things work at a dealership? In my lifetime I have been a British car mechanic, F-111 Crewchief, bouncer in a strip club, DJ, retail clerk, Federal Civil Service employee, locomotive engineer with SP & UP, NAPA parts clerk, and clerk in a gun shop.

You have no earthly idea what someone might know, when they walk into your shop.

 

MaxN,
Amen, bro!
It seems to me that MINI's service departments are totally inadequate and staffed by shoe salesmen from Sears.
Get a clue MINI !!!! These cars are being sold as upscale small cars. I had a SA tell me , when he couldn't figure out the problem, that "They are cheap cars with cheap parts".
This guy really needs to go back to McD's where his low IQ will be appreciated!

 

For some reason whenever I see/hear the word monkey I start thinking about the wonderful "Trunk Monkey"!

 

That would be cool if the Trunk Monkey could not only protect our cars but also fix them. Then we wouldn't have to worry about making Joey mad.

 

My daughter took her car in and they (not a mini dealer) claimed that they couldn't get to it even though she had an appointment. Now granted, my daughter can come off as a ditzy blonde lady without a clue so perhaps they made a few assumptions due to her appearance and "perky" attitude. They told her that it was scheduling issue, that she just had to understand because she had no idea what it was like to handle scheduling of so many cars and customers. At that she let them have it with both barrels. She is the demand coordinator (scheduler) for the entire National Oilwell/Varco downhole tools manufacturing floor. She does nothing but schedule orders and machines, time and priority. Needless to say when she finished with them they had her car in the bay being taken care of. Yup, never assume that your customer doesn't understand the "issues" you are having.

 

Like I said in my earlier post, NEVER assume what a customer might know!

 

Just remembered another silly one.

My 'other car' is an MR2 Spyder, its a (very) small, two seater, mid-engined cabrio that is used for occasionaly PCH drives.

A couple of months ago I took it to the local Jiffy-lube to get the oil changed, I watched the service and had to smile to myself several times as the 'highly trained service technicians' tried to locate various things on a car that has an unusual layout.

At the end of the oil change the 'service manager' went through the items in thier ' signature service'

"yes, we changed the oil and the filter, vacuumed the interior front and rear, cleaned all of the glass, set the tire pressures to 38 all round , topped up the washed fluid and the coolant and...."

I pointed out that the tire pressures should be 31/34, and that there is no way on earth that they had topped up the washer fluid, and wondered if he would like to explain how they did that, and how they cleaned the windows - the windows where down along with the roof.

The manager was adament that they had done everything on the list, so I asked him to demonstrate how it had been done - starting with the washer fluid.

He said that they filled the resevior under the hood.

I pointed out that they had opened the rear engine cover to change the oil but not the front hood/trunk where the washer resevoir is kept.

The guy just kept telling me that his team had done everything, I told him that they had not - why he would not admit that his entire staff could not figure it out is beyond me.

Eventually I got him to try and open it - and he could not find the lever to do it (it is in the glove box, which was locked).

I demontrated it, and showed that the resevior was 1/2 empty.

I then checked the tire pressures with him - they where 31/34 - exactly as I had left them that morning. In other words they had not be reset to 38

I then got him to clean the windows - all of them, and top up the fluids.

My letter of complaint to Jiffy Lube scored me ten vouchers for free signature services..........

 

Ahh, the further adventures of IffyLube. I avoid them like the plague.

 

i thought if you're blond and pretty, that's a free ticket to everything...

i got black hair so i get to stand in the back of the line. LOL
then they ask, do you work here? jk

 

I had to laugh when I red this whole thread because I work at Target and I have had all kinds of weird complains from our 'guest' (we don't call them custumers) and yes sometimes the custumer knows more then we do but not all the time!
One day I had a lady wanting to buy a cover for her Mini Ipod, but she called it the 'regular' Ipod when I corrected her and said that she had the Mini Ipod she got very angry and we had a 5 minute discusion about what is Mini and what Nano. She wouldn't let it go until I show her the size of the Nano...I wanted to tell her "well if you know so much why are you asking me?"
I know this has nothing to do with our MINIs and the service at dealerships...

 

That's funny.

 

Slightly OT, but years ago I bought a used Corolla. I asked the saleswoman "what's the horsepower, about 100, 115?"

She (I hope) didn't hear me clearly, and said "Yeah 1500 sounds about right."

WOW. I guess I had a dragster. I didn't call her on it tho, since she had dozens of makes to deal with.

 

I had two MR2s, supercharged and Turbo.

Never, ever take a mid-engined car to Jiffy Lube. Ever.

One time when I crossed the US/Canadian border, they stopped me for half an hours trying to find the engine ... they had never seen one

Gas station attendants, back when they actually pumped gas, could never find the gas tank

And Jiffy Lube They NEVER get the tires correct. Most times, they just put 32/32 in everything.

 

That my friend, is nothing, last year we scored a couple of free tickets for the NASCRAP race at California Speedway as guests of Ganassi racing. Parking was in the 'infield' rather than the general passes.

The guards that where there to prevent anyone bringing in guns/bombs/drugs etc stopped us for a 'random' search on the saturday.

Immagine the scene, my wife and I show up in a bright red, mid-engined sports-car with the roof down, wearing #42 hats and shirts, brandishing hospitality suite tickets

The guard could not get his head around the fact that the engine was in the trunk, and that the spare tire occupies the space under the hood

It irritated him so much that he decided to 'really' search the car. But could not find anywhere to search

We could not decide if his treatment of us was racist (my wife is black), anti-foreigners (We are British), anti foreign car (Japanese) anti McMurrary (understandable) or jelously related (the tickets where really, really good).

But we had a good time none-the-less

Odd that we did not get searched the next day (Sunday) I was a passenger in my friends SVT Cobra Mustang thing......

 

Hey Joey, I'm with ya a 100%. Way too many people complain way too much. At the end of the day, it is what it is, and all the complaining changes very little and only ruins the mood of others around ya. I wish those people would memorize and then pratice the "Serenity Prayer"

 

yet another complainer...

 

Well, not everything.