bubbahead

2003 Lexus e300
I do not own the car but helping out a lady friend of mine who has tried many avenues to get this fixed but to no avail.
Here is the basics of the story.
She brought in her car as the cd player wasn't working. They took out the unit and sent it out for repairs. They called her to mention the radio is fixed and to bring car in to put it in. Once she got there, they service manager said it was a mistake we dont have the radio. Basically she was told the radio was put into another car in error. she saw the paperwork of her radio affixed to another customers invoice.
NOW...they will not get the radio back or offer her a equal replacement. The President of Lexus of Oakville said 'these things happen', and to do what you gotta do (ie: lawyer, media etc). She called Lexus of Canada and they mentioned since they are a 'Independant company', their hands are tied also. Lexus Canada did speak to the President of Oakville but he isn't budging. This is totally ridiculous. All she wants is a equal radio, used or whatever...something that is working. They will not do that for her.
What kinda of customer service BS is this? This has been a nightmare for her.

Any suggestions? She is without a radio in her car..

Stormforge

get her to take her proof and complain to the newspaper, radio, tv news, facebook, etc, etc. the more bad news you can bring to bear on the dealership, the faster the dealer will jump hoops to get this resolved. trust me, i did this to the vice-president of mercedes benz (canadian western division) when it took over 4 months to get my old benz fixed (got lots of run around and excuses from the mercedes repair shop). i got my benz back in 1 week's time. get the picture?

bubbahead

Thanks

She has already sent her problem to the Toronto Star...a columnist who tries to solve consumer complaints.
She will go to other newspapers also..

scENFORCER

Wow, cant belive a dealership is being so stupid over a radio..

narfy

well, if they put her radio into someone else's car, then what happened to that other persons radio? that should be the perfect donor (assuming it's working) to go back into her car...

Stormforge

maybe newspaper is not giving you enough exposure. recommend facebook and twitter - what you want is raise a big enough stink so that it goes viral. once publicity gets bad enough, someone at the dealership or lexus corporate head office will bend over backwards to resolve this to your satisfaction.

goaliebill

Another alternative is the Toronto Auto Dealers Association ( TADA ). They offer arbitration for all sorts of issues and are very sensitive to the reputation of their dealer members. Lexus of Oakville is probably a member.

Neil4Speed

I know! This story is ridiculous and borderline hilarious.

michaeld

That is pretty shocking! My experience with them has been nothing short of unbelievable. It's probably specific to the sales guy we dealt with, but he's bent over backwards for us. That said, we also bought our car from him. Perhaps it's a different story when you're just visiting the shop for a small repair versus specifically visiting the shop with the car you purchased from them. Either way, this is a terrible story and I hope you find a resolution.

bubbahead

Well guys I know its been awhile.

My friend was going away this coming Monday for 1 month and decided to go into Lexus Oakville to get her radio back at least...she put it off for awhile because she just didnt want to deal with it anymore.
I did contact a newspaper columnist who had contacted someone she knew at Toyota. They told her the matter was dealt with (which it wasnt)

Anyhow., this is what happened at Lexus today (saturday) If you were there you would of known what happened.
In point form.
She walked in asking for her radio back( even though she knows its not hers, she would at least have something in her possession. They told her 'oh , we were gonna call you to put the radio in your car on monday'.. BS...
- She waits 30 minutes for them to install the cd/radio. She goes out back home and decides to put a cd in it from home. IT DOES'NT WORK! She knows it wasnt her original stereo.
-She goes back telling the serviceman what kinda b.s is going on here.
-She is furious and talking to the manager infront of other customers loudly
-Was there for 1 hours...they didnt have a reason as to why the cd they installed in didnt work.
--She asked for Frank Appa who they all said was not there and was too busy to talk to on the phone.
- She asked the other manager why they put a broken radio back in her car..his reply "well you didn't expect us to put a working used or new radio back in your car for free did you?'..
-at that point from what she told me she lost it...there were at least 15 people listening to the yelling going on..Some customers left and some talked to her outside as to why she was yelling.
--But before she left, she picked up something from the desk and threw it at the window, which broke it. She asked them to call the cops to come...which they didnt call
..She just left and said that she couldn't deal with this anymore...

If anyone knows anyone at that dealership and would like to verify what happened, please go ahead and find out and post it...I'm hearing from the source myself but for verification please go ahead.

Its pretty pathetic the dealership couldnt resolve or fess up to screwing up and putting another used WORKING radio in her car...and ultimately embarrassing themselves in front of other people.
SAD but True!

Stormforge

she should not have lost her cool; by breaking a window, she's liable to be sued by the dealership for damages.

you said you contacted a newspaper columnist; did you go with my suggestion regarding facebook and twitter? when bad news go viral, most dealerships will bend over backwards to fix your problem quickly. bad publicity is bad for business.