Tom's post about service ratings is a great idea, and reminded me of a problem I had, and how I fixed it. This may help someone else who has a problem with a dealership.
In 1998 I bought a new FL-70. After the warranty ran out (of course) I had a problem with my check engine light coming on. The truck was running fine, then all of a sudden started losing power and engine vibrating almost like when fuel starts to gel. I knew that wasnt the problem as it was summertime. I pulled out my Freightliner book and found the nearest Freightliner dealer which was Freightliner of Knoxville. I called them to advise of my problem and my ETA, and was told no problem come on in. I arrived at dealer and they pulled truck into service bay. After 2 hours I was told it was a injector, they did not have one and would have to wait until morning. Not a big deal, I slept in the truck and first thing in the morning they had sent someone to get the part, replaced it, I paid and was on my way. About the time I got to the Michigan state line they truck started doing the same thing. I called the dealer back and more or less was told tough luck there is nothing they could do about it. Needless to say I was seeing red. I went to Michigan CAT as I had a CAT engine. Within 5 minutes the service manager advised the problem was with the wiring that connects onto the injector. He said that it appeared to have been that way for a while, and there is no way that the dealer should not have caught it as it was on the injector that they replaced. I had CAT do the repair, and the Service Mgr. wrote me out a narrative statement as to what they found, and how dealer should have caught it. Freightliner dealer as well as Freightliner customer service did not want to hear anything I had to say and blew me off. I remembered that once I had read that if you use a credit card to pay for a product or service and you have a problem, and problem can not be reasonabily solved with the management of retailer or provider, that you can contact credit card company and basically they stop payment on the transaction. I contacted credit card customer service and told them of what I heard and what the problem was. They said that what I heard was in fact true, they faxed me a complaint form, I filled it out and faxed it back, and when I received my statement the next month the charge showed up, and then a credit for the charged amount. About a week later I received a bill in the mail from the dealer with a letter saying I needed to send payment immeadately as my credit card was declined for payment. I called them and told them why, and the said that I could not do that it was against the law. I told them i was not, and what they did should be, and told them to take me to court for it and maybe my case against them would be heard on the same day by the same judge, and save us both some time!!
Anyway to get to the point this credit card rule still applies today, so I would recommend using plastic to pay for repairs so if there is a problem you can get them where it hurts. This rule does not apply to debit cards, only credit cards.
In 1998 I bought a new FL-70. After the warranty ran out (of course) I had a problem with my check engine light coming on. The truck was running fine, then all of a sudden started losing power and engine vibrating almost like when fuel starts to gel. I knew that wasnt the problem as it was summertime. I pulled out my Freightliner book and found the nearest Freightliner dealer which was Freightliner of Knoxville. I called them to advise of my problem and my ETA, and was told no problem come on in. I arrived at dealer and they pulled truck into service bay. After 2 hours I was told it was a injector, they did not have one and would have to wait until morning. Not a big deal, I slept in the truck and first thing in the morning they had sent someone to get the part, replaced it, I paid and was on my way. About the time I got to the Michigan state line they truck started doing the same thing. I called the dealer back and more or less was told tough luck there is nothing they could do about it. Needless to say I was seeing red. I went to Michigan CAT as I had a CAT engine. Within 5 minutes the service manager advised the problem was with the wiring that connects onto the injector. He said that it appeared to have been that way for a while, and there is no way that the dealer should not have caught it as it was on the injector that they replaced. I had CAT do the repair, and the Service Mgr. wrote me out a narrative statement as to what they found, and how dealer should have caught it. Freightliner dealer as well as Freightliner customer service did not want to hear anything I had to say and blew me off. I remembered that once I had read that if you use a credit card to pay for a product or service and you have a problem, and problem can not be reasonabily solved with the management of retailer or provider, that you can contact credit card company and basically they stop payment on the transaction. I contacted credit card customer service and told them of what I heard and what the problem was. They said that what I heard was in fact true, they faxed me a complaint form, I filled it out and faxed it back, and when I received my statement the next month the charge showed up, and then a credit for the charged amount. About a week later I received a bill in the mail from the dealer with a letter saying I needed to send payment immeadately as my credit card was declined for payment. I called them and told them why, and the said that I could not do that it was against the law. I told them i was not, and what they did should be, and told them to take me to court for it and maybe my case against them would be heard on the same day by the same judge, and save us both some time!!
Anyway to get to the point this credit card rule still applies today, so I would recommend using plastic to pay for repairs so if there is a problem you can get them where it hurts. This rule does not apply to debit cards, only credit cards.
