chuckla

Can this really happen? Made an appointment last week to bring my 911 in for 40K service plus a couple of other issues. Arrived by 8 am on Tuesday (10/18) and dropped off car. Heard nothing so emailed service advisor about 2 pm on 10/19. He called to say that there was a "backlog" and that they would get to my car on 10/20. I asked what kind of backlog and he said one mechanic was on vacation and one was sick. I asked why I had not been told that when I brought the car in and got no answer. Heard nothing today (10/20) so emailed service advisor about 3:30 and asked for a status update. It's almost 6 pm on 10/20 and have not heard back. So, my P car is being held hostage at this dealership for a fourth day. Please Marylanders, if you have a good indy, let me know name and contact. Just guessing, but I will not be surprised if I don't get my car back until next week. Funny thing is my wife needs a new Audi but I do think I will shop elsewhere. Yeeeeesh.

DDL24

Have you tried HBL at Tysons corner...probably less than 15 min. drive without traffic and my experiences there have been much more pleasent. BTW, they are also combined with an Audi dealer.

Bob in NY

Did you get a free loaner car?

chuckla

Yes, an Audi A4. Free loaner does not justify this treatment.

Spectro28

Enjoyed much better courtesy and service at HBL Tyson's Corner, while I had my Porsche. Far more engaged sales t the dealership as well, more straight.

Ymmv,
Marc

onetrickpony

Well, as REM says...

TommyV44

Well first of all as soon as I heard that I would have asked to speak to the Manager or asked for the owner's name and phone number/e-mail address and screamed bloody murder! If that didn't work I would have told them I'm coming down to get my car and for them not to touch it at all!

Did you complain to the salesperson that sold you the car? I'm sure he'd be pissed off if he knew.

I'd call Porsche and complain as well and yes........buying the Audi someplace else would be good!

Tom

Marine Blue

I would just go there today to pick up the car and cancel the appointment.

If the service is poor, go elsewhere.

chuckla

Here is the email that I have sent this morning to the Porsche service manager. I know, it's too gentle for some but I refuse to blow a fuse over this...yet.

Mr. Biersch:

My wife and I bought her present 2005 A6 from your dealership and we have had her car (since purchase) and my car (since 2008 when I bought it) serviced there.

Last week, on or before 10/11, I called and made an appointment for my 40K service plus a couple of other issues. Eric Lee offered 10/18 and I accepted that date. I appeared at 7:30 on 10/18 and turned my car over to Max Aaron. Max did not mention that there could be/would be a delay in servicing my car, but I was prepared to pick the car up on 10/19 if necessary as I am accustomed to small delays in service appointments.

I did not hear from Max again on 10/18 or during the morning of 10/19. I called him about 2 pm on 10/19 and Max for the first time told me that there was a "backlog," that the Porsche garage was "jammed," that they had not started on my car and that they would not get to it until 10/20. I was not happy about this news and asked why there was a backlog. Max said that he had one mechanic on vacation and one out sick. This confused me-why hadn't Max called me on 10/17 to tell me this or even called me on 10/18 or 10/19 to disclose this? Maybe, just maybe, I might have wanted to pick my car up and either postpone service at your dealership or take it elsewhere. And, Max must have known on 10/18 about the size of the backlog that would mean my car would not be worked on until 10/20 at the earliest. You should know that it had been an act of faith on my part to even appear at your dealership for service on 10/18 as I had received my copy of Consumer Checkbook in the mail on 10/17--as you know, your service received something like a 40% satisfied rating from 42 responders, one of the lowest if not lowest grades for the well over 100 service garages polled.

On 10/20, I did not hear from Max. I sent him an email at 3:30 and asked that he call me with a status update. He has not responded.

So, you have had my car for over 72 hours and I have no idea when I will get it back. Needless to say, this has caused undue stress and a concern that something even worse (than your not working on the car) has occurred. Perhaps you or Mr. Walsh might favor me and let me know the state of play this morning.

Ironically, my wife and I are about to go shopping for a new Audi. Do you think your dealership has earned the opportunity to sell that new vehicle to us? Do you also think that I might be inclined to pass along this experience to other Porsche car owners and maybe even to Porsche?

Walsh was the GM of this dealership earlier this year, but it appears that he is gone as my email to him comes back undeliverable.

Thanks all for the HBL recommendation.

ClaylG

Is there a reason why you need your car back in a few days? I would imagine that unexpected things can occur when working on cars, which requires additional time to fix and thus pushes back the cars waiting to be serviced. Throw in the fact that they are shorthanded this week.

You got a loaner vehicle so it's not like you don't have a source of transportation while the p-car is in the shop. I just don't understand the big deal here.

Marine Blue

I think that's an appropriate email considering their response. Personally I would just pop in and pick up the car. At least then if there was another problem like possible damage to the car they wouldn't be able to hide it.

Marine Blue

Unfortunate things like sick mechanics are not controllable and some flexiblity should be given but there's no excuse for no response, especially since he had an appointment.

I personally wouldn't want my car sitting on their lot that long. Things happen when you have that much traffic going through a lot. I wouldn't be as worried about not having the car as I would be having something happen to it.

nkhalidi

Inasmuch as I don't condone their non-responsiveness, I find that service writers are generally not sitting at their computers waiting for e-mails to come in. They are telephone people. Call periodically and request updates. I even call the morning of the appointment to confirm that they'll be able to accommodate the vehicle that same day.

For minor self-pay services, go to an independent. For warranty work, there's no choice but to go to a dealer.

ClaylG

I agree on the communication point. But the thing is, when you take a car in somewhere to get serviced, it may be there a few days. That's just how it is. If we were talking about a week or 2 week ordeal I would understand. It's only been 3 days since the car was dropped off.

I don't think the lack of an immediate response warrants pulling the car out and never coming back.

_Nathan

I use At Speed Motorsports. Their annual open house is this Saturday.

http://atspeedmotorsports.com/