You are waaaayyyy off base in your choice of geographies. And the extreme comparison of America to the war zones of the world is laughable. It's SUPPOSED to be better here - that's why we defend it!

Thailand and Singapore are where one goes to GET superior service, not suffer inferior treatment like TCM did. And while life for the average Malay and rural Thai is tough, the single best service I've ever gotten in my life was in Kuala Lumpur. There is a service mentality that is so strong across most of Asia that it is incomprehensible to most Americans.

Let me put it this way... If the average Chevy (or any American car) dealership had service the equal of what one gets at the average hotel in Singapore, you could drive in to Service in any dealership in the country, be met with a hot towel and choice of hot or cold beverage. Your car would be immediately taken to the back, and all of its records would be available online to the extremely highly trained, technically literate, no prison tatoos, no mullet, no grease on his clothes technician that would fix it right the first time. While you were waiting, you would have your choice of a massage, sauna, haircut, or swim. Or a wireless connection to the Internet, with a comfortable workstation to use to be productive. You would never see cheap flooring tile, vending machines, instant coffee, or plastic chairs in a waiting room. When you were finished with your activity, you would find your pants pressed and shoes shined. And when you got your bill, it would be fair, not based on some book that says that it takes an hour and a half of $75/hour labor to change one machine screw.

I'm with CTHUSKER - we accept way, way, way, way too low a standard in this ever more politically correct country.

Now, having said that, there's no way I'd want to pay Singapore's "Certificate of Entitlement" fee (often equal to the price of the car) just to be able to drive my Vette. And I can't even imagine a road trip in a Vette in Thailand or Malaysia. Much less imagine parking it on a city street.

So, we in America "pays our money and we takes our chances." The trick is to make the right choices. Vote with your feet. Every single town of any size in America has a Corvette enthusiast who runs a shop as a passion, is incredibly competent, does warranty work with a smile, and treats Corvette owners not only with respect, but as a friend and equal. WE DON'T NEED DEALERSHIPS!!! We only need to join a local Corvette club and find him or her. The lesson here is simple: Don't leave service to the random chance of which dealership happens to be on the route you drive on a Friday afternoon.

If you can't do that, there is a Corvette club as close as this forum. TCM did the right thing - he got advice from the forum, dealt with the issue himself, and voted with his feet at the dealership. I have absolutely no problem with his telling the rest of us about it. We now know one more apathetic dealership to stay away from. One more dealership that thinks it's OK to pi$$ off a paying customer - a HIGHLY paying customer - just because it's Friday afternoon and the service writer can't see past his nose to his happy hour beer. Want to know who to avoid in South Florida? PM TCM. He'll tell you. The right response to his post is "Thank You." Not flames.

 

At Infiniti these ratings of service are used to determine salary,bonus,promotions,etc.

 

Hmmmm...Let's see...I paid cash for my Corvette, must therefore work harder, and smarter, than you, and should therefore garner EXTRA special treatment from my dealer...Right? After all, I've got enough money to buy a half dozen Vettes in cash, whereas you had to dig the loose change out of your sofa just to come up with the down payment to "rent" your Vette. And since you are now over leveraged and totally incapable of purchasing another vehicle, the service department should be able to fit you in sometime in December. Are you beginning to see the flaws in your logic yet genius?

 

 

I Think Most services depts are rubbish not Just Chevy!
BMW, Merc they are all the same!

 

Wrong, so wrong batman - my son's ship stopped at EACH of these locations on his way to and from the gulf--and he has proved he is more of an adult in his approach to life than either corvetteman or you. And if you honestly believe the junk you wrote about entitlement and service and american life, tehn I pitty your friends and family too.

 

sarcasm and logic, a sweet combination

 

For the record, the only use of the word "entitlement" I made was in reference to Singapore's "Certificate of Entitlement" - a form of license issued by the government of Singapore that "entitles" the holder to own and drive a car. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_Entitlement and here: http://www.getforme.com/Info_vehicles_COEprices.htm

My use of the word, "entitlement" had NOTHING to do with life in America.

Note that these are the official government prices, and are somewhat dated. These so-called "COEs" trade for a premium in the secondary market. I'd guess it would cost somewhere around $50K S (about $32K US) to get one today for a Class B Corvette. Anybody on the forum who can confim/correct that assumption?

As for your "pitty," thank you very much. I'll revel in that as I reflect on my years of life in Asia. As I worry about my son, on his second tour in the Gulf, and my daughter, who at age 26 is already a medically retired Marine. It is a great comfort - it really is.

 

Called dealer last week my replacement seat cover came in (they put a hole in the original). I talked to Asst Service manager Rick. Made arrangements to get there the following Tuesday at 5Pm and they would fix it. Get there at 4:40 and talked to Alan the service writer asking for Rich. “Rich no longer works here”. Told him my story he said I’d have to leave the car I said no way I made an appointment for 5 today not to drop off. He says let me find Lawrence the service tech and see if we can get this done. Alan comes back a few minutes later with Lawrence the service Tech. He says “good thing you got here when you did because I was just leaving to get the kids at daycare”. I also told Alan that the nitrogen filled tires were different readings on all four. He said someone would take care of it. Lawrence got done in about an hour brought the car out and I said what about the tires he said he had to get his kids but he checked the reading and said they were way off. Backed the car up to the nitrogen station hooked up all four wheels with me telling him go get your kids someone else could do this. He stayed another 10 minutes waiting for the nitrogen with me telling him to go. When they were filled he took the hoses off and I grabbed the caps and told him to get out and get his kids. He says are you sure? I yelled at him go get your kids. His staying cost him extra money at the daycare. The car has been in for service 4 times in 6 weeks. This was my best experience.

 

Great story.
ANd this is how you can get great service.
Know your service people, they need to be your friends!

 

... My experience with service in Asia is exactly the same as yours! I guess we stayed at the same places.. Americans are even fleeing to some of those locations for medical treatment because of greatly reduced costs and much better service. We could take lessons how FIRST CLASS service is supposed to be provided from those countries. They don't resent customers because they understand that’s how they make their money. If you don't produce over there you starve.... There is no "Entitlement System" as we know it! You either work or you don’t eat! If I pay a lot of money for something I expect first class service. I really can't see what's wrong with that approach. There is never a valid reason for a service manager to be rude if he wasn't abused. I thought that's why they are called service managers. You really think the guy with a 14 boat gets the same service level from the marina as the guy with a 50 ft yacht? If you believe that you know nothing about boats. It’s call RHIP and the rule of gross tonnage. Do you think a single engine prop receives the same service level and attention to detail as a Gulfstream G550? HAH! Make me laugh! Large expensive high ticket items almost always receive better service and attention to detail. That’s just good business. RHIP! If you’re happy standing in line groveling for service with that Aveo owner I applaud you. Since I bought a 50 grand car I expect to receive a little something extra for my money! If buying and driving expensive car isn’t a form of elitism I don’t know what is! It’s a status symbol plain and simple. How many threads extol the virtues of all the attention lavished on Corvette owners? If you are telling yourself “YOU” only drive one because it’s a nice sports cars you’re deluding yourself. Lexus has that all figured out and it’s one major reason they are so successful. This lousy service attitude by Chevy dealers is EXACTLY why Corvettes don’t belong at Chevy dealers anymore. If you tolerate a poor attitude, poor service and getting jerked around from your dealer that’s exactly what you’re going to get! I don’t see anything wrong with demanding much better from the people I spend a lot of my money with!

 

Guess I just take a very different view of life; that I don't whine about everything that isn't focused on my personal satisfaction at someone else's expense. I don't view myself as better than someone else becuase I paid more for something, and I don't feel I have the right to try to bully or abuse people who don't kiss my feet on command or treat me like I am due something others are not purely because I spend more. Every day at work I see people who have done that, and it's my job to get the evidence to send them to jail. No one has the right to 'beat up' someone becuase their circumstances are somehow less than their own.

Says a lot about how we as a country have become so arrongant, and why we are considered 'Ugly Americans' around the world today.

 

Yup, GM Dealers do in fact blow!

 

I’m curious why you believe requiring someone to do the job they are PAID to do is remotely connected to bullying or abusing them? I don’t believe anyone is advocating bullying or abusing anyone! Why do you think they are called “Service Manager”? Perhaps we should change their title to DISERVICE MANAGER? I was referring to having a dealership do exactly what the hell they are supposed to do… provide FIRST CLASS service after buying their product. Without us (the customer) they don’t have a job! Just because you’re satisfied with a service employee with a surly attitude doesn’t mean everyone else should. How you make the connection of putting people in jail and requiring good service is preposterous! I was state police officer and always treated people with respect regardless of how much they didn’t deserve it. It was MY JOB to act respectively to the general public. What’s wrong with expecting GM service managers to show a little respect to his/her customer that spent a lot of money buying one of their products? Should we smile as they spit on your windshield and wipe with a dirty rag because they’re having a bad day? If I stay at the Ritz Carlton I EXPECT first class service because that’s EXACTLY what I’m paying for! If the employee’s resent that attitude then they ought to get a job at the Holiday Inn! You seem to imply it’s wrong to expect to get what you pay for. I’ll say this again…. I haven’t seen ANYONE advocating bullying or beating up anyone! I personally believe that when you pay TOP DOLLAR you should expect and receive good service. If not then what the hell am I paying for?.........

 

I agree with you. If I pay this much for a car I expect to at least be treated with a little respect.... Unfortunately I have yet to find a Chevy dealer who agrees with me

Al

 

I called the service department at my local dealer last week to make an appointment for my rear diff issue, the guy told me I had to talk to the woman in their department who was the Corvette specialist. Said she would get back to me probably within an hour.

After a week went by without them calling me back , I said screw it, and drove over to the dealer to talk to them in person. Found the woman they were talking about and got an appointment made to bring in the car for service, although they have a 2-week backlog since there is only 1 Corvette tech.

Then I noticed she had about two dozen Post-It notes of customers she was supposed to call and my name was one of them. So I guess they're pretty busy. Not sure that completely justifies the lack of a response from them though.

Oh well, what can you do - I guess poor customer service is pretty much the norm around the country now anyway...

 

Just like husker--misread everything. suggest you go back and re-read the original post. This thread is about a person who expected to be treated like a god-not about getting the service that is fair and reasonable. Arrogance-arrogance-arrogance -- it wasn't top dollar, good service--it was me first and screw everyone else perfection demanded.

 

Whenever I take our Acura MDX in for service, I AM treated like a celebrity...and it's four years old!!! Free Acura loaner...even if the car is in just for the day! The service writer(s) have even done minor repairs themselves just to get us on our way faster. Imagine that at your friendly Chevy dealer!!!

 

I feel like I'm one of the lucky ones.I am welcomed by a greeter as soon as I drive in. He looks on his chart to see who my service mgr. is, and tells me he will notify him that I have arrived. I was given a loaner car each visit, and treated as I expected to be. This has happened 3 times now. Kevin,the vette tech is very professional and treats my car as if it were his own. Great service.

 

I thought people from here only went to Bangkok for one thing.