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Here's How NOT To Earn Customer Loyalty.


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Alright, if a customer buys a used car off your lot with 78,957 miles on the odo, you don't send them a card 2-weeks later that says:

 

"YOUR CAR SAYS 78,957" "IT'S TIME!".

 

Dear Daniel,

 

"Nobody knows your vehicle like HODGES Subaru. Our records indicate that your vehicle is due for service".

 

"Please call our service department to schedule your next appointment".

 

Classless jackasses. :D Holy cow. :-\ :banghead:

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I hate to tell you this, but that's all done by a generic computer system. It wasn't like people at Hodges physically typed this e-mail. They simply put all your info into the computer and based on the given mileage and the pre-determined factory service schedule it automatically sent you that. I get them all the time. I just got one two days before I took a car in for the 20,000 mile service that said I was due for the 23,000 mile service. All because I stopped putting mileage on the car and the computer was basing my estimated mileage on previous intervals.

 

Keith

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Alright, if a customer buys a used car off your lot with 78,957 miles on the odo, you don't send them a card 2-weeks later that says:

 

"YOUR CAR SAYS 78,957" "IT'S TIME!".

 

Dear Daniel,

 

"Nobody knows your vehicle like HODGES Subaru. Our records indicate that your vehicle is due for service".

 

"Please call our service department to schedule your next appointment".

 

Classless jackasses. :D Holy cow. :-\ :banghead:

 

Yeah, I'm with Keith on this one. Not that big a deal. Give them the benefit of the doubt. With the holidays and everything, 2 weeks is about the time it took their business office to get all your sales info into their computer, add you to their database and then shoot out an automated, pre-printed postcard from their service dept. to you. They just based the mileage on the info they had at the time.

 

I don't know anything about that particular dealership, but i wouldn't hold that against them. Give them time, I'm sure they'll piss you off for good reason sooner or later! lol

 

Ed

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What service is it due for?

 

Wouldn't it have been a good idea for them to perform it and mark it as such in the car's file? I understand that it's a computer issue, but still... It doesn't look good for them to send a notice stating that you need a service at X miles, when they had the car on the lot for sale with X miles.

 

They claim to know the vehicle, they should have known it was due for service.

 

-Heikki

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Why don't you use it to your advantage and phone them up and ask the salesman if they had done a serive on it before you bought it and if so why wasn't it recorded . If they didn't do a service before you bought it see if you can get something out of them (at least an oil change )

You have to at least contact them to let them know as well , so that they can up date the file or correct there mistake

 

SEA#3

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What service is it due for?

 

Wouldn't it have been a good idea for them to perform it and mark it as such in the car's file? I understand that it's a computer issue, but still... It doesn't look good for them to send a notice stating that you need a service at X miles, when they had the car on the lot for sale with X miles.

 

They claim to know the vehicle, they should have known it was due for service.

 

-Heikki

 

See? You're seeing the humor. :lol: The sophistocation of computors (sic), the automated "cha-ching" note, they got busted acting like they really care.

 

As far as the customer loyalty thing goes, it's a timing issue. It's like wooing a girl and farting on the first date. :o OK, it was an accident, and funny in a tragic way. But you AIN'T gettin' laid. :confused:

 

Lastly it's a detail thing. It took me too many years to learn one really important lesson: ALL success lies in the details.

 

I own and operate my own service-based business, so my views on customer-relation building are first-hand. Unforunately I can't escape the mindset.

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Why don't you use it to your advantage and phone them up and ask the salesman if they had done a serive on it before you bought it and if so why wasn't it recorded . If they didn't do a service before you bought it see if you can get something out of them (at least an oil change )

You have to at least contact them to let them know as well , so that they can up date the file or correct there mistake

 

SEA#3

The salesman will NEVER give you a straight answer, whether he knows or not..what for? He's got your money, done deal.

 

It'd be best to call the SERVICE manager of the dealership (or better yet bring the car in), he'll have the records of what was done to prepare the car for sale. Unlike salesmen, the service guys are generally honest and will give you a straight answer: YES or NO.

 

My 2 bucks

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amen, try not to talk to the sales people, they usually give ya the old rope-a-dope move. If you talk to the techs while they're doing their thing, they will give you an honest answer cuz they're trying to make a buck. those automated postcards are funny, rediculously funny.

 

 

 

 

 

~Josh~

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Hodges subaru is my dealership, well not mine, but i've gone there ever since i bought my 91 legacy from a family that always went there with it, i've had nothing but the best of luck with them, and rumor has it there the best in SE michigan.

 

on an unrelated note every tuesday at 7:00pm me and some guys from the NASIOC board meet at the BW3, (buffalo wild wings) in Novi off 696, ask for "subaru" and heather, a cute short blonde in a red shirt will show you where we are.

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Hodges subaru is my dealership, well not mine, but i've gone there ever since i bought my 91 legacy from a family that always went there with it, i've had nothing but the best of luck with them, and rumor has it there the best in SE michigan.

I buy all my parts from Hodges. Their parts guy John is tops, absolutely the best. He once went as far as to break apart a brake-service pack just to give me the pad-shims I needed. That's one of those seemingly insignificant little detail things that creates a customer for life. Hell, even their sales staff is better than most. The note was retarded. Quite insulting frankly. Guaranteed that a computer gets called out on the carpet over it.

 

Next paragraph... "Maintaining your vehicle according to the manufacturer's recommendations is the best way to make it perform better, last longer and maintain a higher resale value".

 

Oh great. Now the note effectively implores me... begs me to believe that I got jacked on what I paid for the car. I just paid resale for it. :rolleyes:

 

Alright, point made. One part gripe, one part guffaw.

on an unrelated note every tuesday at 7:00pm me and some guys from the NASIOC board meet at the BW3, (buffalo wild wings) in Novi off 696, ask for "subaru" and heather, a cute short blonde in a red shirt will show you where we are.

Thanks for the invite, might be a tough one tho. I don't close my bus. till 8:00pm, then it's about a 45 minute drive from St. Clair Shores. I may surprize you tho. :)

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The computer system takes a while to get on the right track. It sees mileage only. I was being sent service advisories for a car I traded in... then the computer updated itself and is right on now. I just wish I could get it to send the reminder notices to my home rather than my work. It's only because it's the last address the computer saw... it's where they sent a mobile unit to replace a windshield?! Ahhh. computers... ya gotta love 'em :)

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