The Price of Oil
I drive a high-price car, so I shouldn’t complain. You know the old saying: If you have to ask how much it costs … Well, my car needed a 10,000 service. From what I understood, it was really just an oil change, filters, kick the tires, twang on the belts, etc. So, I took it to the dealer.
Hours later, I returned and went to the cashier’s window. There, a woman with absolutely no affect told me the tab was $553 and change. I stood stunned for a while, looked at the ticket. It said the car had received a 10,000 maintenance. It did not specify what had been done for the labor charge of $455, but did itemize the oil, filter, etc. that made up the rest of the bill.
I went back to the service desk and talked to one of the service writers I know. This is my third car from this dealership, so they know me. He told me if I had this done elsewhere (just an oil change plus fluid check, etc.), it would be at least half of what they charged. When I asked why, he told me all about special plates that needed to be removed, the cost of synthetic oil, and other froufrou. Well, I owned the kissing cousin of this car (same frame and many of the same basic parts) and had the oil changed at the local quickie change place, knew of the panels, the extra oil, the special filter, and all that jazz. And I knew it would cost nothing near $250. When I asked him what was done during the 10,000 mile service, he did not know. Hmmmm. Service writer doesn’t know what’s done when a car is serviced. He went to the maintenance manual in my car and found out … nothing. Seems like the manufacturer does not spell out what is done every 10,000 miles, just the more major maintenance every 20,000 miles. Disgruntled, to say the least, I left the dealership.
Out on the road, I called the salesperson from whom I had bought the car, having just seen her as I came into the building. I told her of the amount of the charge, that no one had told me what to expect in cost when I checked the car in that morning, and that I was major pissed. She told me she would find out what the story was and call me back.
About 10 minutes later, the service manager (who, by the way, had checked me in this morning) called. He told me his face was red and they had made a major error in what I was charged. My understanding of what was to be done at the 10,000 mile checkup was basically correct. The person who keyed in my ticket to the computer had put in “10,000 mile annual maintenance.” That word “annual” makes a big difference. If someone has a car and only drives it minimal mileage during the year, it should be serviced at least once a year regardless of mileage. And that’s a MAJOR service, not the one that was done to my car. The proper price for what they did was $187 and he had credited me the difference.
As a sidelight to all of the above, I went online the other day and subscribed to a series of poetry books from a not-for-profit press at a university in Maine. I also made a contribution. The web site told me that I’d get 40% off on books given my contribution and that I’d get 40% off on books if I did an ongoing subscription (have them send me all the books they published). Now I know that they didn’t mean 80% in total. I made my donation. I subscribed to all their upcoming books. The handy dandy web site showed me a bill for a certain amount. Frankly, I didn’t check it since it looked about right (the books are pretty inexpensive even at list price). Got an email from the non-for-profit telling me the web site amount was off since it had given me 80% off on one of the books and told me the difference I owed. I responded that they had permission the charge the difference. They emailed back they had decided to waive the difference since it was their error. I thanked them. Today, they emailed me again to tell me the invoice that would be coming with my order would be wrong, that it would show I owed them a balance, and I should ignore it. Here is complete customer service that included the common sense look at what the computer generated.
Sometimes common sense is needed to override a computer. Sometimes you need to know what’s really been done before you key in codes to charge a customer.
Hours later, I returned and went to the cashier’s window. There, a woman with absolutely no affect told me the tab was $553 and change. I stood stunned for a while, looked at the ticket. It said the car had received a 10,000 maintenance. It did not specify what had been done for the labor charge of $455, but did itemize the oil, filter, etc. that made up the rest of the bill.
I went back to the service desk and talked to one of the service writers I know. This is my third car from this dealership, so they know me. He told me if I had this done elsewhere (just an oil change plus fluid check, etc.), it would be at least half of what they charged. When I asked why, he told me all about special plates that needed to be removed, the cost of synthetic oil, and other froufrou. Well, I owned the kissing cousin of this car (same frame and many of the same basic parts) and had the oil changed at the local quickie change place, knew of the panels, the extra oil, the special filter, and all that jazz. And I knew it would cost nothing near $250. When I asked him what was done during the 10,000 mile service, he did not know. Hmmmm. Service writer doesn’t know what’s done when a car is serviced. He went to the maintenance manual in my car and found out … nothing. Seems like the manufacturer does not spell out what is done every 10,000 miles, just the more major maintenance every 20,000 miles. Disgruntled, to say the least, I left the dealership.
Out on the road, I called the salesperson from whom I had bought the car, having just seen her as I came into the building. I told her of the amount of the charge, that no one had told me what to expect in cost when I checked the car in that morning, and that I was major pissed. She told me she would find out what the story was and call me back.
About 10 minutes later, the service manager (who, by the way, had checked me in this morning) called. He told me his face was red and they had made a major error in what I was charged. My understanding of what was to be done at the 10,000 mile checkup was basically correct. The person who keyed in my ticket to the computer had put in “10,000 mile annual maintenance.” That word “annual” makes a big difference. If someone has a car and only drives it minimal mileage during the year, it should be serviced at least once a year regardless of mileage. And that’s a MAJOR service, not the one that was done to my car. The proper price for what they did was $187 and he had credited me the difference.
As a sidelight to all of the above, I went online the other day and subscribed to a series of poetry books from a not-for-profit press at a university in Maine. I also made a contribution. The web site told me that I’d get 40% off on books given my contribution and that I’d get 40% off on books if I did an ongoing subscription (have them send me all the books they published). Now I know that they didn’t mean 80% in total. I made my donation. I subscribed to all their upcoming books. The handy dandy web site showed me a bill for a certain amount. Frankly, I didn’t check it since it looked about right (the books are pretty inexpensive even at list price). Got an email from the non-for-profit telling me the web site amount was off since it had given me 80% off on one of the books and told me the difference I owed. I responded that they had permission the charge the difference. They emailed back they had decided to waive the difference since it was their error. I thanked them. Today, they emailed me again to tell me the invoice that would be coming with my order would be wrong, that it would show I owed them a balance, and I should ignore it. Here is complete customer service that included the common sense look at what the computer generated.
Sometimes common sense is needed to override a computer. Sometimes you need to know what’s really been done before you key in codes to charge a customer.
posted by Bud Hirsch at 5:37 PM
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