Service, no smile
CAR companies keep telling us they are approaching customer service with new vigour.
So why is it that two warranty issues on two different vehicles this week didn’t get anywhere until the customers became so incensed they complained on Facebook?
Failing to resolve their problems via the dealers, they then did what all customers should do at this point and called Customer Assistance.
Head office is supposed to care more about the customer, the manufacturers insist, because they have the resources to do so as well as advertising to convince you to buy one of their cars in the first place.
The half a dozen calls each owner made to customer assistance got them nowhere. The head office staff either referred them back to the unhelpful dealer or couldn’t tell the customer when the problem might be fixed because the part was unavailable “indefinitely”.
In both cases the vehicles were $50,000-plus utes. Both were near new (a month and three months old respectively), unmodified and vital as daily transport and for trade work.
In the end, a temporary replacement vehicle was provided for the Mitsubishi Triton customer while head office finally agreed to inspect the vehicle.
In the other case, the Ford dealer took the replacement part from a brand new Ranger he had in stock so the customer could get going again. Give him credit for his swift response.
But the point is: why did it get to this point in the first place?
I suspect it’s because the people who work in head office customer assistance centres may not know what it’s like to raise the finance to buy a new car.
Some may get a new car every six months or so for a modest salary sacrifice. It’s one of the perks of the job. If something goes wrong with the car, they get a new one.
The car industry says customer service is key to survival in the future, given most cars have most mod-cons these days. There is still a long road ahead.