Originally Posted by Bubbatex

Interesting to say the least. There is ALWAYS two sides to every story.

Originally Posted by XGRANDSPORTX

About three weeks ago I took my 6000mile 05 corvette to circle Chevrolet in Shrewsberry New Jersey to have warrantee work performed on my car. I have had a service relationship with this dealer for about 15 years. I spoke to one of the service writers at the dealership about my warrantee problems and he told me he would be right back. About 20 minutes later he tells me that he spoke to the new service manager and they would not touch my car even to do warrantee work because I didn't buy the car from them. I proceeded to call the phone number in the back of my warrantee book and spoke to Emily Fleming at Chevrolet customer service, telling her about my experience at the dealership. She told me she would contact the service manager at the dealership and get right back to me. I finally got a return call today and you wouldn't believe what she told me. NO CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP IS OBLIGATED TO PERFORM WARRANTEE SERVICE ON YOUR GM CAR NOT EVEN THE SELLING DEALER. All GM dealers are independently owned and do not have to perform any service on your corvette even under the terms of GM's warrantee. I think every owner of a GM vehicle should take that into consideration before taking any long trips in your GM car as you could breakdown away from your home and find out your your beloved GM car will not be repaired because some dealer doesn't feel like it. I have been buying GM cars for forty years and currently own five GM vehicles including two corvettes all of which were bought new. As of today I will no longer consider a GM vehicle when I have the need to replace any of my cars. End of rant!!
Alan

Originally Posted by StLRick

I was like a few others to wrote to the dealer over the weekend. Here is the reply from the Dealer:

"Robert L. DeFelice" to me
show details 1:41 pm (51 minutes ago)

Circle Chevrolet Company is a Chevrolet Dealer selling and servicing the Chevrolet nameplate with pride since 1946. During its 60 plus years of existence, our dealership has seen many firsts including such milestones as the introduction of the modern small block Chevrolet V8 and the Corvette. Circle was one of a select few dealerships chosen to market and sell the then new and inaugural 1953 Corvette. Later Circle is one of only a few dealers who can boast of selling one of the rare and few L88 optioned Corvettes (please refer to “Vette” magazine October 1994 Vol. 18, no. 10 page 50) more recently Circle has sold and service all anniversary model and special high performance models, ZR1 and Z06. Our store is probably the only Chevrolet Dealer that can claim to still have a technician/mechanic/service dept. employee that has been in our employment since the introduction of the first Corvette. Our dealership takes great pride in our legacy as a quality location to buy and service the Corvette car line; recently we have been inundated with E-mails from a Corvette forum that has been given some inaccurate information. Unfortunately a customer has chosen to misrepresent and involve the members of that forum to manipulate and harass our dealership. Alan Cedar brought his 2005 Chevrolet Corvette in recently for service, he mentioned three concerns, according to Mr. Cedar his battery would routinely loose charge and Mr. Cedar decided to replace the battery on his own and bring the removed part in for some type of credit. As a servicing dealer we have certain requirements the we need to comply to, to fulfill our requirements with General Motors Corporation, all batteries submitted for warranty must be tested in the mentioned automobile for charging system testing and may require being recharged before it can be determined that the battery can be replaced for reimbursement. Mr. Cedar removed and replaced the battery himself and simply demanded reimbursement. Mr. Cedar also explained that ‘since delivery of the car the wheels are “etched” i.e. stained. This concern would most likely be addressed as a transportation claim and would be addressed with the vehicle’s selling dealer. Mr. Cedar also mentioned (again) ‘since delivery there has been a concern with the stereo door speaker making a noise’ that should be addressed with the selling dealer. It is because of these concerns and policy that it was recommended that Mr. Cedar return to his selling dealer.

It is our understanding that the members of the above mentioned forum were unaware of “the other side of the story” and that these members would not appreciate being manipulated for an inaccurate claim by an individual who “has an axe to grind”. Please note our track record as a quality dealer and remember that we to are automobile enthusiasts an appreciate keeping our reputation for caring and maintaining the GM Mark of Excellence. And please remember that we are in the hobby as well.



Robert DeFelice

Owner Operator

Circle Chevrolet Co.

Originally Posted by ohmy

I have a feeling that this is a misunderstanding, are we hearing the whole story here??

I mean its ridiculous for any dealership to turn down warranty work, some even make up warranty work to make a quick buck.

I'm not saying this is the case here, but maybe this customer is a super huge pain in the butt or something? I don't know if I buy into a dealership taking it "personally" if you didnt buy the car from them.

I hope the people that sent emails get a response and post it here, the curiousity is killing me, please, keep us informed!

Originally Posted by ohmy

Like I said, we weren't getting the whole story, if the dealer is being truthful in his response I agree with the dealership, and frankly the customer does seem to be a bit of a PITA... If I need service I'd probably give them a shot (I'm local to them)...

Originally Posted by AORoads

Why?

First, this is a 2005 Corvette. We don't know when it was bought, but even with that, is/are the speaker and wheels still covered? Maybe. Under 3/36.

Second, what if it was bought in California? Or TexAS!!! The owner is now in NJ. Does he have to take the car BACK TO CALIFORNIA or TEXAS to get service?

Isn't this the same thing as buying a "new" car from one of the Forum dealers? If you lived in Charlotte, North Carolina and bought from a Forum dealer in NJ, NH, CA, MI or WI, do you have to return there to get it serviced?

I don't think so. I don't care if it's one week old, one year old, or more. If it's under warranty---WHY CAN'T HE GET IT SERVICED near his home? Someone explain this to me.

As to the battery, on the face of it, yes. It needs to be in the car to test the whole system.

Is that so hard to do? OP brought the battery in. Fine. Bring in the car, pull out the replacement battery, put in the "old" battery, and test the whole damned car and charging system. Why deny him anything?

Do the job! Do the work! Tell me what I'm missing in this whole story and how the dealership was "wronged"!!!

Originally Posted by StLRick

...according to Mr. Cedar his battery would routinely loose charge and Mr. Cedar decided to replace the battery on his own and bring the removed part in for some type of credit. As a servicing dealer we have certain requirements the we need to comply to, to fulfill our requirements with General Motors Corporation, all batteries submitted for warranty must be tested in the mentioned automobile for charging system testing and may require being recharged before it can be determined that the battery can be replaced for reimbursement. Mr. Cedar removed and replaced the battery himself and simply demanded reimbursement.

Originally Posted by Bubbatex

MR AO Nice to see you.

Like I just said. I think this was an attutude problem. By BOTH parties.

Originally Posted by AORoads

oK, I'll wait for OP to come back tell us he was very nice and sweet. Or not.

Still, unless the guy just bought it a month ago, and the "selling dealer" is right down the street, telling the guy "Take it back to the selling dealer" is just plain BS.

I can just about guarantee you this: if we keep reading stories like this, regardless of the "attitude" of the car owner, IT WILL have an impact on sales.

Originally Posted by Bubbatex

Battery issue is completely out of the dealers hands.

The Dealer should have fixed the speaker issue I agree 110% . He might have looked at the wheel etching problem but more then likely that would end up with the GM district manager to make that call. Wheel etching can be a tricky issue, (what came first the chicken or the egg?) .. Customer will claim factory defect, GM/Dealer might see it a different way.

I agree, in the long run it will effect sales, ESPECIALLY in the cases of them simply not servicing it since it was not bought there. Service Writers & Service Managers need to learn to deal with Vette buyers. Unfortunatly Customer Service has suffered in almost every industry.

Originally Posted by AORoads

You are right.

I will give you one "bright light" in the service industry, however. H-P Computer/technical support. Sterling is about the only word I can think of.

Originally Posted by adconti

I too got the same response letter from Circle Chevrolet. Just to give feedback, I agree with mixed feelings on this. It seems that both parties did a few things wrong, and a few things right. Perhaps better diplomacy was in order by both parties.

Originally Posted by Bubbatex

Did they actually speak english??

Originally Posted by adconti

I sent a response to Circle Chevrolet's response.


Robert, thanks for your reply to address these issues. Now we at least have both sides of the story on the Corvette Forum. One reason this issue received so much attention from the forum is that similar actions on the part of dealers that do not want to service cars not bought from them has been steering some prospective vette owners away from a GM purchase. We have found that at BMW, or Porsche, for example, the customer is "always right". They have a sales and service strategy to make every customer happy, and on the whole they seem to be better at it than the average GM/Chevy dealer. Those dealers have an overall higher customer satisfaction level than many GM dealers. Obviously there are exceptions. Top notch dealerships try to solve problems to ensure repeat and future business. They do not pass the buck.
Many of us buy our vettes away from home, or we find ourselves moving to a new community. This is especially true of the large Armed Forces population of vette owners out there. It horrifies us to think that our local GM partner may not be a partner at all.
Having said all this, again we know you are under no legal obligation to service any car. I realise you have a legitimate issue with the way the offended customer, Alan, may have demanded certain actions on your part. It does, however, not justify completely dismissing a loyal GM customer. This occurance may seem rather trivial in the day to day business of selling and servicing cars, but it is just one small piece of a larger cancer that is eating away at GM's auto sales, and one small event that eats away at the thrill of owning a vett. I hope to see a day when GM dealers cooporate with one another more fully, to make a better experience for all customers. Thanks again ....................

Originally Posted by AORoads

Seems like a reasoned response to me. I hope it has the desired effect.