Legal action should follow - no question about it.

1. To get back her $149

2. For distress caused to a senior member of the community.



Hang 'em out to dry, the sleasebags.

 

That's another old trick of car salesmen. Take the keys to the trade-in and pretend that the person evaluating the trade is just doing an extended thorough test-drive, all the while giving the salesman more time to work on the customer. Although this trick is much more obvious as even if you know nothing about cars, high-pressure sales tactics are just plain uncomfortable.

 

Right up there with the old "throw the keys on the roof" thing!

Cheers
DD

 

A copy of the work order and/or invoice would be a great place to start. Maybe Old Mike will post it.

Cheers
DD

 

My state trooper instincts are telling me that is exactly what's going on.

I searched Yahoo! and found only 1 dealership in WPB, Florida. They got 1 (out of 5) stars and a reviewer says, "PALM BEACH MOTORS (JAGUAR) is a bunch of liars who will say anything to get your business. They will try and pull a fast on before you buy your car. WATCH OUT or they may get you for an extra $1000! They will use every excuse in the book."

Jaguar Palm Beach in West Palm Beach | Jaguar Palm Beach (866) 296-7709 # 915 S Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 | <Automotive/Dealers/Jaguar> - Yahoo! US Local

Here's their Better Business Bureau page, with info on 8 complaints...

Palm Beach Motor Cars Limited, Inc. Business Review in West Palm Beach, FL - South East Florida BBB

My best advice - suggest that your 90 y.o. friend never patronize this dealership again, and tell your friends about their tactics too. You/she might consider posting a negative review on Angie's List and filing complaints against them with the Southeast Florida Better Business Bureau and the city, county and/or state Consumer Affairs office.

We consumers have more power than we sometimes realize.

 

I really appreciate everyone's replies to this thread.

I will be talking this over with the 90 year old and see what she wants to do. At 90 years of age, sometimes something like this is just small potatoes and not as "important" as we might think it is. She will definitely return the questionnaire if she gets one.

As for posting the work order or receipt, I've posted the details already, including the details of the repair estimate. I don't think I'll be posting the actual receipt, just in case there is some litigation.

Again, thanks for the moral support and the great responses.

 

I feel for you, and I'm glad that you didn't actually go through with the expensive suggested repairs.

It bears pointing out that technicians and service managers aren't what they used to be. I've seen a growing number of service departments and techs that are becoming slaves to the 'program'. In other words, instead of being professional technicians who can troubleshoot a problem by using their training, experience, and a smart application of tracing a fault, they instead rely on written maintenance schedules and diagnostic codes.

What I see here is a shop that suggested a number of items based on the age of the vehicle. I doubt that they even looked at the parts on the car (aside from the headlight). They may well bee crooked, but they may just as well be a horribly mismanaged and poorly run shop.

The best thing of all is that you got the word out to avoid this shop because they clearly aren't putting the customer first.

 

OldMike, contact Mike@Jaguar in the XF and XJ sections below and ask him to read this thread. He'll have a US corporate individual contact you. It may or may not do any good, but since this dealer is really causing these problems, it could cause Jaguar problems overall.

 

Thanks, I sent him a PM.

 

I was mainly interested in how the work order was written; that is, what the instructions to the shop were. And, what the $149 was for, specifically.

Cheers
DD

 

I could spend hours on the subject but, in a nutshell, yes, there is a "program" aspect to it these days. Service advisors are now being trained in the the very same way are car sales people are trained.

There's a very large independant car repair chain here in the PNW. Employees are not trained as much as they are indoctrinated, if you get what I mean. It's like dealing with Stepford people. It works so well (that is, it's such a money maker) that dealership service departments have come on board as well. It's one of the reasons I'm no longer in the business.



The technician end of things is sort of a different story (as opposed to the service desk staff) although they're being programmed as well.






When customers leave feeling as though they been held hostage and victimized then, yeah, I'd say there's a problem!

But for some outfits that's just a calculated loss.

We accept (or even expect) that star atheletes will collect a certain number of penalties or fouls during a game. If they don't, they're not trying hard enough and need to be more aggressive.




Yup!

Cheers
DD

 

Here's the work order.

 

Yeah, pretty much as I thought....the "Complimentary Inspection" thing. Nothing so wrong with that UNLESS the customer requests that it NOT be done, which is apparently the case here.

Note to all: a work order is a legal document. In every state I'm aware of it's a ** legal requirement ** for the repair shop to get a signed work order before taking the car in. In a legal dispute the very FIRST thing the judge asks is "Where's the signed repair order?".

Among other things the repair order is an authorization. Read it before signing ! If there's something on there you don't want, have them remove it!

Beware of assumptive selling. And beware of so-called "company policy" to do this or do that "...on every car".

(My dentist is big on assumptive selling and company policy add-ons. Grrrr. Took a few reminders before he learned that I won't just say "yes". )





The complimentary alignment thing is almost certainly a miniature version of an alignment rack. A lot attendant drives the car onto the pads, presses a button, and the alignment readings are checked (by laser or something) and a print-out created. An out-of-aligment car is an opportunity for an upsell, obviously. If you don't want it done, say so, and stick to your guns.



The $149 is as I expected as well. It's the shop charge for checking out the problem with the remotes.....which is the one thing she actually *asked* to have done. Shop policies and pricings vary on "diagnostic charges". Another subject I could spend a few hours on.
Anyhow, if that amount was shown as an estimate on the work order then, when she signed the work order she was agreeing to the charge.....knowingly or not.

Yeah, your 90 year old relative got the treatment, in multiple senses of the word. This is the sort of "programmed method" mentioned earlier. I'll bet a dollar to a donut that the service advisors are instructed to include the "inspections" on every work order for cars over x-years old or over x-number of miles. Apparently, though, they haven't be trained to take "no" for an answer. They're ignoring that a happy customer tells one or two people about the expereince but an unhappy customer tells five to seven people about the experience.

This dealer must have such an abundance of clientele that they can afford to lose a few....a calculated risk, as I mentioned earlier. They were hoping to hit a $9000 home run but didn't....this time. They know that if they keep at it, they'll score a few runs. The industry has a swath of statistics (which are used to form performance/sales standards) on vehicle repairs. Right down to zip codes versus repair order sales amounts.

Speaking broadly, and not relative to the matter specifically at hand, elderly people are often easy victims for rotters. In some cases they are easily rattled when things move along too quickly. In other cases they've simply become too trusting...and this can be an actual biological thing. Whatever part of the brain the triggers suspicion somehow degrades, or at least that's what I've heard. (This is why so many are forever giving money away to charities and scammers. We had that problem with my father).

Others still are simply too polite. They're from an era where politeness counts and "putting your foot down" is considered unseemly.

Others are tough as nails! Good for them !

I always told my staff to treat the old folks the way they'd want their own parents to be treated and to treat the young the way they'd want their own kids to be treated. There was a time when that was consider a good "policy". Things are a lot tougher now, though....and I'm out of the game.

Has dealership management been brought into this?

I'm rambling....sorry.

Cheers and good luck

DD

 

OldMike,

Please keep us posted on how Mike from Jaguar Corporate handles this situation. He says he's an advocate for us owners. Your "opportunity" may prove whether or not this is indeed the case....

 

Doug - thanks for the "ramble!" Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Jon89 -- Mike@Jaguar replied to my PM and asked for more information. I will see if my relative is willing to take this any further.

Life is too short to fight every battle, and I'm not sure this is the battle she wants to fight.

Mike

 

Just a quick update -- I spoke with my relative and she feels like she's been victimized enough and that complaining to Jaguar would do nothing because they're so big and would just victimize her again. I'm still trying to convince her to take action, but I think she's done with this issue, sorry to say.

Mike@Jaguar PM'd me and asked for her personal information so he could follow up, but that's exactly what my 90 year old relative doesn't want to do. Sad that nothing will be done about those creeps if the poor victim doesn't step forward and expose herself to more victimization!

Another predator gets away again!

 

Good




Expose herself to more victimization? I remain sympathetic towards your relative but I must say that it seems grossly unfair to assume the the Jaguar Customer Assistance staff will victimize her.

At the end of the day there might be nothing they can do about the situation but that isn't the same as victimizing her.




There's nothing stopping YOU from going to the dealer and speaking with senior management about the situation. At least you'd get the satisfaction of giving them a piece of your mind


Cheers
DD

 

That's really a matter of perspective.

The ordeal that my relative went through was traumatic to her and if she spends any time answering questions or dealing with this issue, she can't put it behind her and she feels like the victimization goes on.

She's a frail old woman who doesn't need this aggravation in her life.

Although you are technically correct, if I were to pursue this matter in any way, it could result in "further victimization." I can't imagine complaining to them without telling them who I was complaining on behalf of. I respect my relative's decision to not pursue this matter at this time, and unless she changes her mind, I will have to let it go.

This is not about me.

Thanks for your support, I will report back if there is anything further to report.

Mike

 

I've had about 1500$ worth the work at the dealer with nothing even REALLY being fixed. Blaaaaa them