Gojirra99

via egmcartech

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Maybe if they take better care of their customers, they wouldn't have to resolve to cheating on the surveys.

Sure you can have crappy/not so great products, but provide better customer service, customers can overlook that.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Tsk tsk tsk. shame on them.

Build a fine car across the board and let the products speak for themselves.

PhantomZX

How did they tamper with it?

I remember a Toyota salesperson asking my dad to bring him the survey for a free gift. That's considered tampering isn't it?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

what a big shame......... i think those dealerships should be pulled..

spwolf

no it is not... if he asked him to bring him favourable survey for free gift, then that would be tampering...

they probably are giving out gifts since ppl dont like filling out the surveys..

LexBob2

By bringing the survey in for a free gift, don't you run the risk of a dealer tossing it out or just not filing an unfavorable one?

spwolf

i dont get it, hows that different from bringing it in without the gift? they probably put it into the boxes that cant be opened by dealer...

PhantomZX

Sorry, I should have been more specific in my first post. The salesperson wanted the blank survey in exchange for a free gift.

mmarshall

No. That doesn't always work. Problem is.....you can have a great product that DOES speak for itself, and still have crappy dealerships to go along with it. Honda, for example, has been known for this for years.....great vehicles and rather arrogant dealerships selling them. Mercedes-Benz, which once made some of the best cars on the planet (as opposed to the unreliable ones they build today) also had snooty dealerships that were the height of arrogance.....some M-B dealerships today still are; some aren't.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I guess its a hit an miss then. Most of the local honda dealers around here are great as far as customer satisfaction goes. On the other hand, there are mixed reviews about most lexus dealers. The one that gets high remarks around here is Longo Lexus. Of course there are always exceptions.

Mercedes, while they do make nice cars, is plague with reliability issues. That alone pisses off the customers since they are paying a heavy chunk of their income for a car, only to be defective. Clutter up the dealership with a bunch of cars that can't be fixed soon enough, the customers will get angry.

Awhile ago, I was at Westminster Lexus getting some parts and at peak hour (around 1:00PM or so), the service bay was quite empty. The mechanics there didn't have to rush on a job, enabling them to perform their task and have time to thoroughly check their work.. I've seen some Mercedes and BMW mechanics rush and the outcome wasn't good.

It's just a trend I've noticed. Brands that do better in reliability/quality gets higher customer satisfaction. After all, this survey deals with new buyers and/or factory warranty claims.

LexBob2

Most of the surveys I've completed have been mailed in a pre-addressed envelope, usually to third party. Maybe some manufacturers and/or dealers do it differently.

mmarshall

Yes, today more so than in the past....but for years (trust me ) Honda shops were notorious for a take-our-price-or-leave-it attitude, especially back when we had import quotas ahd they were hard to get.

spwolf

ehm, it is not up to dealers or manufacturers, it depends on the survey... dealers are not the ones making the rules.

mmarshall

Yes and no. Like you said, it depends on how the survey is done and what it is for. There are surveys done solely by the manufacturer, solely for customers buying vehicles from that manufacturer, to determine which local and national dealerships carying that manufacturer's franchise are doing the best job satisfying those customers. Then there are the well-known surveys from firms like Consumer Reports and J.D. Power which do not rate individual local dealers of a manufacturer, but are instead more concerned with how the dealerships, on average, of one manufacturer and those vehicles from the manufacturers compare with those of other manufacturers.....in other words, a manufacturer, not a local or national dealer, ranking list. Buick, for example, has gotten a lot of publicity from J.D. Power lately for doing very well against Lexus.

Individual dealerships, in some cases, though CAN send out surveys where they DO make the rules. Dealership owners and General Managers often use these survey results to determine the effectiveness of the jobs that department managers and employees are doing at the dealership.....and whether to retain them or let them go. And, believe me.....people are often fired or laid off at dealerships; it is very common.