Here's an idea, do a job right upfront instead of groveling for a perfect score after the fact!

I absolutely lost it today at the Ford dealership. Had an appointment to take my truck in since the battery is no longer holding a charge. Figured it was worth it since it was covered under warranty. Went straight to the dealership after working a 12 hour shift in the ER last night. Asked right up front how long it was going to take and stated if it was going to be a while I'd use their shuttle service, get a ride home, sleep, and pick up my truck later in the afternoon. I was promised less than an hour and asked to stay.

Two and a half hours later they finally finished with replacing my battery. I wouldn't have been so pissed if it hadn't had been promised in less than an hour. I wouldn't have been so pissed if the service writer hadn't tried to justify it taking 2-1/2 hours to replace the, "Electronic heart and soul" of my truck. But when he started groveling for a perfect score on the customer satisfaction survey I would be receiving I absolutely lost it.

I told him to just stop and that by judging from his current behavior he probably had more callouses on his knees than Jenna Jameson.

Ha! Did you actually say that?

And to think - I get upset when the "Express Lane - no appointment necessary, none taken" for my free oil changes (which I've used up now, thank God) takes 2+ hours.

-Rob

In my experience, I get lied to with every interaction with service department at my Dealer. That's simply how they run their business.

When dealing face to face, most folks quickly learn not to ask me questions they don't want honest answers to. Wait-folk especially. My wife cringes every time they ask "How was your meal?"

Written surveys are answered in the same no-punches-pulled manner, but I don't get the pleasure of seeing the feedback.

Maybe we as customers should start telling them we'll knock money off what we pay them if they can't meet their promises.

I get frustrated with the service department at our car shop. On the survey, they say that "anything less then 10 (truly exceptional)" is failing. I have repeatedly told them that there is always room for improvement, and if this was their approach they should simply re-write the survey as pass/fail.

I hate going to a dealership. I have some horror stories that would take up too much room here and roil up bad memories and feelings.

Did you talk to the service manager or just the guy who fixed it.
I had one service manager refer me to the guy who fixed my car when I complained. I guess the service manager did not want to lie for the guy??

I used to work as a service writer. They live and die by csi scores. If they are at or below the national average, they don't get paid their commissions. One "bad" score can screw them up for the whole month. Techs can tell the writer that it will take an hour, the the parts dept can't find what they need, there is another car stuck on a lift. Someone goes on a smoke break and disappears. There are a ton of moving parts. I hated waiter customers because it always takes twice as long as it should. Shame on the writer for over promising. They should have gotten you a ride home.

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Maybe we as customers should start telling them we'll knock money off what we pay them if they can't meet their promises.

I tried that with USPS. It did not work.

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Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Ha! Did you actually say that?

Yes I did, and that was just the opening. I was already pissed at the over promise and being talked down to, the groveling just sent me over the edge especially after having just worked one of the worst shifts I've had in a long time.

I've already received a follow up e-mail from the service manager. I replied, was polite, told him I was satisfied with the work that was done but the lack of timeliness and consideration of my time was unacceptable.

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Originally posted by Syngin1066:
I used to work as a service writer. They live and die by csi scores. If they are at or below the national average, they don't get paid their commissions. One "bad" score can screw them up for the whole month. Techs can tell the writer that it will take an hour, the the parts dept can't find what they need, there is another car stuck on a lift. Someone goes on a smoke break and disappears. There are a ton of moving parts. I hated waiter customers because it always takes twice as long as it should. Shame on the writer for over promising. They should have gotten you a ride home.

Syngin: do you have a sense of whether the dealership gets dinged if I refuse to complete the follow up survey? I have thought about simply opting out of the rigamarole.

Mark

CSI scoring, the original concept was fine. Now it has become a participation award where the advisor must beg for the customer's "best" rating.

One offshoot like was previously stated, the writer gets dinged and loses bonus or commission money. Pretty significant especially if the customer is pissed off in general regarding the car itself, the dealership, the time waiting for any facet of the repair, the coffee in the lounge was too cold, whatever. There are things that are beyond the control of the dealership and it's personnel, saw it so many times I could not keep count.

Previous dealership I worked for had an interesting slant on the CSI bonus program. He would take the quarterly and end of year bonus and divide it up amongst all the dealership employees. They felt that all persons from the porters up had a hand in CSI ratings and rewarded all for their participation.

I used to work for Ford Corporate, as well as Navistar manufacturing, now another major automotive corporate.

On a scale of 1-10, I cannot give a 10 unless there did exceptional service. Like, finishing early and less than quoted. Average service is average.

The idea that 9 is a fail is more of the typical Millenial style "everyone is a winner" attitude.

No matter what the ranking system, it will be gamed to the point that it is worthless. I refuse to play the game.

Sadly, it's not just the traditional "service" industries that live and die by these bullshit satisfaction metrices.

Mrs.BurtonRW, for those who don't know, is a nurse in a busy hospital. She is made acutely aware by the administration (as are the physicians) that patient satisfaction scores mean more to the hospital than the quality or efficiency of care.

Of course, they don't put it in those exact terms, but it's the exact reason that drug seekers continue to get drugs, that crazy but otherwise healthy people aren't referred for psych consults and then shown the door, that "granny dumps" are admitted for non-treatable "failure to thrive" diagnoses and the like instead of being sent home with the number for social services, and why "I just don't feel like going home yet" patients get to stay an extra day rather than being discharged by the physicians.

It's a really, really stupid performance model.

Come to think of it, a cousin of ours was fired by GEICO a number of years ago. He was a property damage adjuster (mostly auto, I think) and he had one insured who really hated him, gave him a bad review, and because it was a light work month, his satisfaction score, which always hovered around the mid-90s, dropped to the mid-80s. He was shown the door immediately.

What utter bullshit.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
I used to work for Ford Corporate, as well as Navistar manufacturing, now another major automotive corporate.

On a scale of 1-10, I cannot give a 10 unless there did exceptional service. Like, finishing early and less than quoted. Average service is average.

The idea that 9 is a fail is more of the typical Millenial style "everyone is a winner" attitude.

No matter what the ranking system, it will be gamed to the point that it is worthless. I refuse to play the game.

I work for a large residential builder and customer surveys are the bane of our existence. With the rise of social media and all that goes along with it, if we aren't getting 10's we're not doing our job. I've been chewed out for getting an 8 on a survey even though under general comments the homeowner said they were thoroughly satisfied and would definitely recommend me and the company to any of their friends.

Not to mention the survey asks about stuff that I don't have any control over (picking out their options at the design place, the quality of various materials in the house like hardwoods, cabinets, etc)

Had a recent experience at a local Merc dealer, couldn't get me a loaner and offered up a shuttle as an alternative. Fine. Show up for appointment when they open at 7:30, no shuttle driver. At 7:50 they tell me someone should be able to take me in a 10-15 minutes. Not able to wait and pray any longer told them I'd get an Uber instead, had to be at work.

Of course the 10-groveling started before I got the survey and after I didn't complete it. Honestly it's not the writers fault, I told him and said I'd be happy to speak to the manager. Nope, no call, just another message a week later reminding me I still needed to complete the survey.

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They live and die by csi scores. If they are at or below the national average, they don't get paid their commissions.

This. I had a guy tell me once; "I'm not going to ask you to be dishonest, but if you can't give me all 5s, please don't fill it in. Anything less and we get base only, no commissions."

I don't understand why they have 1-10 or 1-5 options if the only thing they want to know is whether you were happy or not.

How about yes or no?

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
I don't understand why they have 1-10 or 1-5 options if the only thing they want to know is whether you were happy or not.

How about yes or no?

Funny - that's exactly the single word survey that came to me, not sure if there's more that follows a NO choice.

The exact phrase was:

Are you completely satisfied with your service experience?

Oh my, if you think wait times are bad at car dealerships, pray you never have to go to the E.R.