How to get GM to treat you fairly?

[Hot Air Beast]

OK, OK, once you all stop laughing, I am serious. I have posted a number of threads regarding my 1984 GN. As it is now fixed (injector plug broken by GM tech and not secured to number 1 injector) and car is running great at WOT (no thanks to the dealership) I am trying to recover some of my roughly $2,500. It's a long story but I will truly appreciate it, if you could read through to the end and make any suggestions you wish; either as a reply or PM. I will respect your anonymity.
Story is:

Car in to respected GM dealer with a great shop foreman to fix a rough idle - May 29, 2013
Diagnosed as needing new injectors, fuel pressure regulator and IAC valve motor - dealership changed injectors and fuel pressure regulator - trouble sourcing IAC motor.
Car returned Friday June 14, 2013 - idle a tad better - new problem engine miss - dealership did not tell me.
I sourced IAC motor and returned car to dealership July 8, 2013.
Dealership changed IAC and diagnosed engine miss as bad plug number 1 cyl - changed all plugs.
Car returned July 10, 2013. Idle much better engine miss still there.
July 15-16 many tests run at home with buddy who is 32 year seasoned GM tech - problem found - broken injector plug on number 1 - plug not staying seated - tie wrapped - problem solved.
Meantime all old plugs were tested for spark - plenty there, all injectors resistance tested - all the same resistance (15.8 ohms). Even shorted out plug wires at the coils and only cyl that didn't stumble further was number 1.
I approached the dealership on Mon. July 22, 2013 and asked for a break on labour costs. No reply until I called them today. They offer $109 as a dealership credit.

Help wanted -
1 - Book times for changing injectors and changing spark plugs on a 1984 GN or point me in direction to find the flat rate times. ( dealership charged $190 labour to change plugs and $900 to change injectors)
2 - Best GM corporate contact.
3 - Anyone had success with social media to solicit a positive response from a dealship.

Please help me out!

Frustrated Phil

 

[TurboTGuy]

Talk with some of the vendors from here on the board that do mechanical work on HA cars, there are a few of them, and see what they would charge you for the same services.

Look up reveiws on the dealership and see what has been said about the Service Department and it's customer service satisfaction on line and on their facebook page.

If there is enough of a difference to make you feel you may have been taken advantage of, call the General Manager of the dealership and calmly explain the situiation. Let him know you've spoken with experts in the field and have some concerns with how you were treated.

CSI scores (Customer Satisfaction Indicators) mean everything to a dealership and many employees pay plans, including the GM's, are directly tied to CSI scores. If you didn't already receive a survey, be sure to ask the GM when you should expect to see the one they are supposed to send you and insist on getting one. That should get his attention. Make sure he has all of your information correct like your address, phone number and postal code, too. Have him read what he has to you to verify it's correct. Employees who don't want to get a bad survey are notorious for of making "data entry errors" in address, phone number, and postal code fields when they feel or know a bad survey is going to be given.

Let him know you've checked up on the dealership reviews and you "wouldn't want to be forced to join those whom have already given them a bad CSI survey or post negative comments online".

In addition, be reasonable about what you expect to be offered as a remedy. Don't expect that you are going to get everything for free or even half price. After all, it was you who took your 27 year old, very specialized car to a dealer and let technicains who were most likely just little kids when your car was manufactured put their hands on you beloved car. You couldn't possibly have imagined that someone there might still remember how to fix a Hot Air Turbo Regal correctly, or did you? I'm jus' askin'.

It sounds to me as if you should have let your buddy the 32 year seasoned tech help you out in the first place.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[charlief1]

Very simply use BBB, news media, social media, ect. Be aware though, if you don't have actual facts in hand such as standard times per ASE as well as actual costs in comparison to other shops they may come back on you with a liable suit. If you can make a big enough noise you will most likely get money back, but how much is the question.

 

[Hot Air Beast]

Thank you both so very much. I have been puzzling over a diplomatic and factually correct approach. I was going to contact the owner and cc the CEO GM Canada - I don't even know if the dealership has a General Manager. I will definitely cross the t,s and dot the i's before I do anything. There must be some way to get flat rate times for the HA GNs so that I can be speaking GM terms? I will certainly check out the vendors in the forums. A buddy suggested alldata.com or something similar. Haven't had time to search yet.

Thanks again - I shall take your advice to heart.

Phil in Canada

 

[novaderrik]

they charged $900 to change the injectors?

did that price include lube and dinner afterwards?

 

[Pronto]

Man, you better find some TB board member near you to help you learn to do your own work. That's a porking. BTW, you have to expect issues with these cars, they are old and items get brittle from the heat.

 

[BEATAV8]

900 for the injector swap? wow it would take me about 45 minutes to swap injectors and that's if I were pounding a few beers and surfing porn at the same time....

get that book time you're after and challenge them on that for sure.

 

[novaderrik]

Man, you better find some TB board member near you to help you learn to do your own work. That's a porking. BTW, you have to expect issues with these cars, they are old and items get brittle from the heat.

not only are these cars getting old, but they were relatively complex for the time and they hadn't figured out how to make that complex stuff durable yet..

 

[GNTIM]

Unless you know someone who has experience in older cars at a dealership, you really don't want to take your car there. That goes for any make of car. Just because they sold the car new, doesn't mean they have mechanics that have experience with that generation of vehicle. Word of mouth is going to be your best bet for finding someone who can help you.

 

[Hot Air Beast]

The shop foreman at this particular GM dealer is mid to late forties/early fifties and has built his own rat rod - the "kids" that worked on my 84 have worked on an 86 my buddy owns - so even when you think you have things checked out - you could still end up in deep do-do. Oh well that's life. My 84 has been solid until this year so I guess I have been lucky. I have learned some stuff - just used a digital multi-metre to test a coil pac I bought on eBay months ago - result - one of the coils is bad - more money down the drain

Phil in Canada

 

[Joe Harrison]

You need to work your way up the food chain ask to talk to the service manager if he doesn't help ask for the stores general manager if that doesn't work as to speak to the owner. You can also ask for buicks customers help line as far as csi GM only sends out for warranty work. I have found at my dealerships that I turn wenches at the loadest customers get the best service. It pisses me off because I'm not like that

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[midnightbluS10]

<snip>

In addition, be reasonable about what you expect to be offered as a remedy. Don't expect that you are going to get everything for free or even half price. After all, it was you who took your 27 year old, very specialized car to a dealer and let technicains who were most likely just little kids when your car was manufactured put their hands on you beloved car. You couldn't possibly have imagined that someone there might still remember how to fix a Hot Air Turbo Regal correctly, or did you? I'm jus' askin'.

It sounds to me as if you should have let your buddy the 32 year seasoned tech help you out in the first place.

I hope it works out for you.

That's just a little too much. What I would expect is that the tech can do his job correctly. If that's the case, he doesn't need to "remember how to fix a HA TR correctly." He just needs to be able to follow their flow-sheets on AllData, Mitchell, and in the factory service manuals, and test what needs to be tested. Any decent tech could fix it correctly without much effort.

I could. And I've never put a wrench on a Turbo Regal.

 

[Hot Air Beast]

Me neither - I am just not built that way - BUT - I am so pissed at their incompetence that I am considering the best route to complain - the money is not a big deal but other customers shouldn't have to go through the same thing a I did. I don't like paying for others to learn and then have them screw up something as simple as a broken injector plug!!!!!!!!!!! I have a call in to a GM parts guy I used to deal with to get the book times I need to start the discussion.

 

[Pronto]

If you don't want to do any work on your TB then you should sell it and buy a brand new performance car that won't need any work for years. I guarantee your TB will need work and from your experience you see how you will need a bucket of Astro Glide.

 

[Hot Air Beast]

Now, now lets not get nasty. I have done plenty of work myself since buying the car in 1988. I pulled the engine in 2007-2008 and worked with a GM tech to rebuild it then. The turbo is on with a "zipper" I have had it off so many times. Vacuum leaks i can deal with - electronics just escape me.

Yes I should have begged my 32 year buddy to help me in the first place but he had sworn off "hot rods" since a falling out with GM when they were downsizing.

Bottom line - problem is fixed, car runs great at WOT. I will set IAC and TPS myself to smooth the idle a bit more. I just want the dealership to accept responsibility and realize that customer service counts.

Don't get me wrong - life is great now that my GN runs strong again.

Phil from Canada

 

[novaderrik]

a dealership is the last place i'd ever let work on anything of mine that wasn't under warranty.. if i can't do it myself, then it goes to a local shop that won't try to upsell stuff and doesn't rape on labor costs.

 

[TurboTGuy]

That's just a little too much. What I would expect is that the tech can do his job correctly. If that's the case, he doesn't need to "remember how to fix a HA TR correctly." He just needs to be able to follow their flow-sheets on AllData, Mitchell, and in the factory service manuals, and test what needs to be tested. Any decent tech could fix it correctly without much effort.

I could. And I've never put a wrench on a Turbo Regal.

Apparently that's not the case here and is the reason the OP is now asking for help.

Is your name Al?