And you thought Car Servicing at Ford was bad !!

[buggerlugs]

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...007132,00.html Not happy Jan !!

[ltd]

That's really rough for that poor bloke who lets admit, is just like most of us when it comes to our cars. That would have been a nice Monaro, but unfortunately there seems to be a real bogan fanboy base for commodores (VL's etc though because most bogans are poor) and unfortunately, owners of the newer types are often placed in the hands of troglodyte mechanics that gloss over any sense of responsibility in preference for bragging rights. My favourite bit of the story that says it all really;

"They're hoons," the mechanic, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

"Whenever a nice car came in they were all itching to take it for a drive.

"I saw them do burn-outs, speed and drive erratically on test drives, and their attitude was 'it's not my car'."

I doubt Heartland Holden will reprimand these mechanics either as it has been happening at Holden for years and years.
Ford service is heaps better IMO, Dale ford at Bankstown absolutely rock compared to these idiots; I have seen an employee cop a written warning for slightly revving a done up F250 with a powerstroke in it as he was parking it let alone any kind of driving. Further, when I commented on the harshness of the penalty I was told by Jorge the service advisor that the DP had warned all their mechanics that they would be instantly fired for hooning about and driving offences on vehicle tests. Such a stark contrast between the brands, I'm guessing that Holden has a really bad reputation for service based on the amount of Holdens you see getting serviced at Dale Ford. I hope the police charge these bastards and I'd be suing Heartland Holden for punitive damages and fraud based on their blase attitude and the litany of lies they told this poor bloke until a witness came forward.

[Rodp]

Wow, that's absolutely despicable - by the mechanics involved and management at Heartland before and especially after the fact. I'm hoping this makes its way around Holden enthusiasts and they talk with their feet...

[Falcon Coupe]

Heads need to roll, it's an absolute disgrace.

[Ives]

Hmm one Holden off the road, that's gotta be good, right?

[burnz]

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...eID=56369&vf=2
this one's a bit of a laugh

[MITCHAY]

What's even worse is the insurer ripping him off by $10k. Talk about a kick in the balls. I'd go out of my way to make sure everyone knows about it to. They crash his car and then don't give him what he is entitled too.

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by ltd

Dale ford at Bankstown absolutely rock compared to these idiots; I have seen an employee cop a written warning for slightly revving a done up F250 with a powerstroke in it as he was parking it let alone any kind of driving. Further, when I commented on the harshness of the penalty I was told by Jorge the service advisor that the DP had warned all their mechanics that they would be instantly fired for hooning about and driving offences on vehicle tests.

I agree. Dale Ford service department are fantastic. I take my car there for service and nothing is too much trouble for them.

The service advisors rang me to say I needed new front brake pads, but warned me it was going to be something like $400 extra, and said they would take it elsewhere to get it done, because that was stupidly expensive!

A year later I had a clunking noise in the rear of the car, and took it in for them to look at.
They ripped the whole back axle out of the car and checked it over, found nothing wrong, tightened everything up and put it back in.
Car wasn't under warranty at the time, but they didn't charge me for their time at all.

On the other hand I've seen mechanics from the Holden dealer down the road at Chullora put a customer's ute into a telegraph pole.
Took off out of the driveway in a cloud of smoke, struggled to control it up to the roundabout up the street, and then tried to flick it around back to the dealership, and caught the pole on the corner.

But I'm sure it happens at plenty more places than just one brand's service dept. They just haven't been caught out so publicly yet.

I remember a thread on here where a member saw his car being driven hard around the streets near the workshop, though he'd been going to the workshop for years and thought he could trust the guy that owned the place.

[FPVUTEXR8]

Some years back One of our local dealers took a friends vehicle for a "test drive" whilst it was in for a service , wich ended up in his car being involved in a accident , basically wront off the front end .
He was told that their were extra parts needed and his car would be ready in 3 to 4 days and suprisingly even lent him a coutesy car.
All came unstuck when he got a phone call from a friend that night asking him if he was ok as he seen the car on a tilt tray at lunch with the front end smashed in .
Was defenatly an intresting conversation with the dealer.

[Whitey-AMG]

Yes......it's interesting why a car needs to be test driven after an oil / oil filter and wiper rubber insert change ????????

Maybe we should all send our respective service depts an invoice for petrol used to be deducted from the service costs.

ALWAYS KEEP A RECORD OF YOUR ODO READING BEFORE AND AFTER SERVICE PICK UP...........

[Yellow_Festiva]

At least the dealer was named and shamed.

What a disgusting attitude to have towards a customer and their car......

[RockyF75]

There's yet another reason I do all my servicing myself :

[Aeron]

There is NO WAY i'll take my VE to Heartland Holden Parramatta now.

[pauljh74]

What those mechanics equates to car theft and should be punished accordingly. A car owner hands in the keys to a service department giving permission to the mechanic to do what is necessary to service the car. Lunch runs, joyrides etc exceed that purpose and therefore the car is being used without permission from the owner - which should be regarded as theft. At the least the dealership should have made the mechanics pay - or at least be forced to sell their cars to help fund the repayment to the owner - that would curb their behaviour.

A former co-worker of mine was also an apprentice panel beater - had a similar attitude. He gave the hotter cars a bit of wheelspin etc. I just hope he's never stupid enough to crash one.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by ESP

ALWAYS KEEP A RECORD OF YOUR ODO READING BEFORE AND AFTER SERVICE PICK UP...........

When I (rarely) took the Falcon into a mech this is what I used to do, plus take note of how much fuel was in it. None of them ever took off on long trips fortunately. I do the same with the Mazda now.

Re: The guy with the Monaro, as much as I hate holden drivers, the guy didn't deserve his car trashed by bogan mechanics. If I were him I'd be calling Holden Australia and getting the dealer bent over. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!

[GT0132]

You'd expect better from a franchise dealer I would have thought.... Maybe a backyard mechanic in the back of Oodnadatta but not a freakin metropolitan Holden dealer.

If the owners/management were serious about customer service and wanting to remain in business then those guys ought to have been fired on the spot and had their MTA licenses taken away for good....followed by the owner receiving full compensation without argument....including compensation for his mods and inconvenience.

I now understand why most people with high performance cars insist on waiting in the waiting room while their car is in being serviced....although often this is impractical

[fordomatic]

this kind of thing happens more than people think
i took the xr8 for a service last year to my OLD mechanic, i was walking to the shops and saw a nice green xr8 bagging it up around the corner, i liked it at first until i realised it was my car. i kept my mouth shut until i picked it up, didn't pay him and various "other" things happened that afternoon.

[Full Noise]

I really feel for the owner of this Monaro. As a car enthusiast, he’s more than aware of how much effort is involved in keeping a vehicle like this in immaculate condition only to have some little bugger threat it (and him) with absolute disrespect.

As for the dealer trying to bend him over… words can’t describe this, although I’m not surprised.

[mustang70]

anyone working in the auto industry would know this happens way too much,and a blind eye is turned by staff or they're doing it too. I was very close to a major crash when a very expensive,very new looking mercedes coupe flew threw a stop sign near my work,2 mechanics inside. this presige Mercedes dealership was about 200 metres away,they hadnt even waited till they got around the corner to give it a hiding.

Poor guy.

[Windsor220]

This happens at EVERY dealership. Theres always someone that thrashs the cars. If an accident happens the mechanic must pay the excess though.

Reset the trip meter and recheck it after service. If possible request one of the senior mechanics to work on it.

ESP - the car has to be roadtested as part of the service to check suspension, brakes etc

[jason71]

I did work experience at a Peter Warren dealership back in 1987 and nearly every
car that was taken for a test drive was given a good flogging by the mechanics.

If a customer was what they considered a winger the car would get thrashed twice
as hard!

It was certainly an eye opener!

[Bobman]

Having worked in the industry for a few years, I can share a few stories as well and agree with the above. It happens everywhere.

Burnouts, high speed take-offs etc, all too common.

[rodderz]

I remember hearing a story where a bloke was having coffee at a cafe after droppping his car off for a service (an SS), he turned to see his car coming sideways down the street in a cloud of smoke by one of the young service guys.

They originally denied it when he went straight down to the yard rightfully pretty angry, before he was offered a free service. I agree it would happen everywhere. You get mechanics who are naturally revheads, doing what always they do in a car!

My mate works at a dealership and customer cars are always used to go pick parts up, etc. He's done quite a few errands for them, always in customer cars.

Crashes are pretty rare, but often you need to speed.

He told me that a customer had some diff problems a while back, the car was making a noise at 100kmh. The fastest road was 70, so yeah he had to speed 30kmh over the limit just to hear the noise.

Sometimes a reasonable thrashing is in order, but not to the point of lighting up the rears.

Pathetic show from the dealer though.

[Miller]

Precisely why I service my own cars.

[JC260]

when i first bought the XR8 i took it too a western syd ford dealer to get some warranty work done (pm if you would like to know the name of the dealer) - Actually, stuff it, it was Windsor Ford.
The work required the car to be left over night and when i got it back the next day the agverage fuel economy was up by 2 liters and had nearly 20 kays on the clock!!! And all they had to do was start the damn thing.

When i questioned the service guy his response was "they all average that sort of economy" which my quick replay was "bull$hit" and they denied everything, even the extra kays.

I now go to Sinclar Ford for warranty work and let every one know not to use these tools.

[FPV GT40]

These stories are all too common, an old mate of mine had an SLR5000 a while back, he took it to a mechanic to get some work done when he went to pick it up he was told that the apprentice had taken it out to get lunches and the car was impounded by the police for doing burnouts.......

That is exactly the reason I service my own cars, and if I have to get it serviced due to warranty etc I watch the person like a hawk from start to finnish....they hate it but anyone that works on any of my cars knows exactly where they stand before they start I am a perfectionist and will accept nothing but the same. I will ask who the best mechanic is in the workshop, and I will insist that he is the only one that touches the car.
Anyone else goes within 3 feet of the car they will have to deal with me, and I am not kidding about that either, and I am not a sublte kind of guy..

I never accept leave it with us and come back this arvo, I book the car in, I expect the mechanic to start work on it straight away, and I will watch him do the work. Had some warranty work done on the FPV recently, and I was in the workshop with the bloke doing the work from start to finnish.

In the case at the start of this thread I would take civil action against the dealer and the mechanics/drivers of the vehicle, and their supervisor, I would sue them personally for the damages, including lost time, trauma, breach of contract and anything else I could think of...

[Bobman]

Originally Posted by FPV GT40

Had some warranty work done on the FPV recently, and I was in the workshop with the bloke doing the work from start to finnish.

How do you get around the "Staff only beyond this point" signs ;)

[GS608]

that dealership should have their licence removed full stop!

[madmelon]

Originally Posted by Bobman

How do you get around the "Staff only beyond this point" signs ;)

When the timing chain in my mums EL wagon snapped after the head gasket was replaced, we were invited in for a full inspection of the vehicle in the service area while it was in a million pieces...and didn't pay a cent for all the extra work they did. Always been very happy with Dominelli Ford in south Syd.

Totally opposite to the only time I ever got the Jag serviced (when I still had it). Didn't do half the work I wanted them to, did $500 worth of stuff I didn't want them to without telling me, not to mention it came out making some horrendous noises it had never made before. That clown was lucky I didn't report him for emptying a full tank of petrol out of a BMW onto the ground and letting it run away...

Truly, there are some morons out there.