Holden Servicing rip-offs

[Umai Naa!!]

Admittadly, our dealership's overall quality of work isn't 100%. No place is, but we certainly don't go out of our way to rip people off. Regular, easy-to-deal-with customers get looked after, and any damage we occur to a vehicle gets fixed pronto.

The car is any one person's second-biggest investment to a house, so why is it that you can be accomodating to a plumber, or Telstra (great example!), who will turn up and do the work when they decide book it, leave their **** and garbage behind, and get payed quite handsomely for it, yet we have to bend over backwards (and sometimes forwards), to meet each and every customer's standards (which are often unrealistic, and waaaay above those of the Automotive industry's), and get payed fk-all for it, have to work stupidly long ours because customers don't turn up to appointments when they say they are going to, and then whinge and complain when the car isn't ready, because they have decided to wait for a major service?

WE ARE DOING YOU A FAVOUR!! Without mechanics, 80% of you would be fkd. Get off our case, and give us a fair go. Maybe eventually, the general public's perception of the automotive industry will change, those involved will get payed appropriately, and theoretically, the standard of work will rise.

/rant #2

ACEMONKEY, why the hell would I disclose where I work to you? I have customers marching into the workshop uninvited as it is. Do you people realise that if a car falls on you, that you aren't covered by our insurance?

 

[Holdens Rule]

I think the point of this thread was that you would expect that taking your car to a dealer would result in better service than a backyard mechanic. By the sound of it and in my own experience with some dealers, sometimes you don't feel like you are taking your car to a dealer because they can be down right shonky! You might not go out of your way to rip people off but how many times have you said F..K it and it sounds like you do quite often Umai Naa.

Again you complain about your working conditions and all I can say to you is to move on to a better workplace than to go on about it. How can you compare your job to that of a different trade? I am more qualified and work harder than alot of people that work in offices but I don't think that I should earn more than them, if I want to earn more money than I will move on. Another thing I have always experienced in my life time is that if you work hard and do the right thing and not have a self centered attitude at work you will usually be better looked after by your employer than the guy that does a half arsed job.

Have you every heard of the saying that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. Doesn't matter how ignorant or rude someone is, if you treat customers like crap then the word gets out and before you know it you boss is out of business and your out of a job. I have never felt like someone is doing me a favour when they screw me over, that is the funniest thing i have heard in a long time and if you read the thread you will notice that it is not directed to all mechanics but to workshops that are very poor in their treatment of customers. Can you honestly tell me you haven't purchased something or paid someone to do something and not been happy with what you got, if you have then what did you do? Did you accept it because they might not be happy at work or did you complain about it?

 

[Nanos]

Umai Naa. Please dont reference to something you know very little about. I have been a telstra technician in the past and prior to this i worked in the automotive indutrsy for many years. Both in repairs and spare parts sales.

As a " Telstra technician" yes i did get paid well but then i did have alot of overheads of my own. for example just 1 bit of test equipment that i would use on a daily bases cost over $500. how many tools that you as mechanic use that cost that much that you have to supply yourself. Alot of equipment is supplied by the dealer ship. Also as a service technicain for telstra i had to be on call 24 hrs a day. If there was a fault i had to go out any hour of the day and repair within 4hours.

Can i ring the dealer when my car fails at 3am. i think not.

And this whole we are doing you a favor sois the Telstra tech or the guy at the petrol station counter and so is the guy at video store you rent your dvds from. When dealing with customers the customer is doing you the favor by coming to you. If the customer did not then you would have no bussiness. no bussiness means no job. Who is doing who the favor then??????

 

[Zuicider]

here is an offer im in perth if u need simple stuff done to your holden or chasing parts, need a service or what not let me know and i can help ya out. im bored ****less these days. one thing i did find, once i started servicing my own car and doing everything myself i started not using rac roadside . i use to call them up once a month, now im lucky to get a chance to call them once a year

 

[Holdens Rule]

Well said nanos

 

[Zuicider]

As a " Telstra technician" yes i did get paid well but then i did have alot of overheads of my own. for example just 1 bit of test equipment that i would use on a daily bases cost over $500. how many tools that you as mechanic use that cost that much that you have to supply yourself. Alot of equipment is supplied by the dealer ship. Also as a service technicain for telstra i had to be on call 24 hrs a day. If there was a fault i had to go out any hour of the day and repair within 4hours.

QUOTE]

only 500? that aint much my tool kit cost over 10 g easy

 

[Flat_White]

here is an offer im in perth if u need simple stuff done to your holden or chasing parts, need a service or what not let me know and i can help ya out. im bored ****less these days. one thing i did find, once i started servicing my own car and doing everything myself i started not using rac roadside . i use to call them up once a month, now im lucky to get a chance to call them once a year

Yeh i might be interested.

i am also in perth.

what suburb you in?

 

[Sabbath']

OK here goes,

1. Mum takes car for first service. Get's charged $240 for usual checks, replace oil, oil filter etc etc. Mum drives car back home, few weeks later she tells me car is not driving smooth so I go over and have a look.

She tells me about the recent service she had, I then have a look around engine bay I notice it has not been touched. The oil cap still dirty like engine bay with no signs of it being opened.

Look under car the sump bolt still the same not a mark on it. Oil filter still dirty and grimey. Check oil level, oil really dark and definetly not new and needs a top up.

Cheers,
DVS

Last time i checked, the FIRST SERVICE is usually free when it comes to new Holdens, this is the 3000km service. From memory the service is also only a check of fluid levels etc.

So are you sure it was a "First Service"? What type of car is it? How many km's had the car done prior to the service?

 

[Zuicider]

Yeh i might be interested.

i am also in perth.

what suburb you in?

im up in sawyers valley near mundaring

 

[ACEMonkey]

Admittadly, our dealership's overall quality of work isn't 100%. No place is, but we certainly don't go out of our way to rip people off. Regular, easy-to-deal-with customers get looked after, and any damage we occur to a vehicle gets fixed pronto.

The car is any one person's second-biggest investment to a house, so why is it that you can be accomodating to a plumber, or Telstra (great example!), who will turn up and do the work when they decide book it, leave their **** and garbage behind, and get payed quite handsomely for it, yet we have to bend over backwards (and sometimes forwards), to meet each and every customer's standards (which are often unrealistic, and waaaay above those of the Automotive industry's), and get payed fk-all for it, have to work stupidly long ours because customers don't turn up to appointments when they say they are going to, and then whinge and complain when the car isn't ready, because they have decided to wait for a major service?

WE ARE DOING YOU A FAVOUR!! Without mechanics, 80% of you would be fkd. Get off our case, and give us a fair go. Maybe eventually, the general public's perception of the automotive industry will change, those involved will get payed appropriately, and theoretically, the standard of work will rise.

/rant #2

ACEMONKEY, why the hell would I disclose where I work to you? I have customers marching into the workshop uninvited as it is. Do you people realise that if a car falls on you, that you aren't covered by our insurance?

I guess you did not get the sarcastic overtone in my previous statement. Here let me clarify for you...

Tell us where you work and the following will happen.
1. We won't come to your workshop whether it be invited or uninvited because we as customers certainly don't deserve to be called a "drop-kick".
2. When we are not there to give you our cars to service, you won't have a bad day and there won't be cars falling on us either. That should save some legal cost, heartache and insurance.

Also, you've chosen some really great cases that doesn't actually support your argument. Rubbish left behind is easy to clean up and fix, compared to oil, grease or broken stuff (from some people who have already posted here).

Sure Telstra takes a while to respond to requests for repair, but when they do the work, the phone line is actually fixed and back to working condition. When you call a plumber to fix your leaking tap, they will fix it and your tap stops leaking, or your pipe doesn't leak into your wall cavities. When the bill arrives, don't you agree that you are paying for the work that is actually done to your satisfaction? Also don't you realise these trades also bend over backwards and forwards to accomodate you? Have you even realised they can even work their hours to suit you especially when you cannot be at home at certain times of the day to carry out repairs?

So why can't the same apply to Holden Service? There have been cases raised here where we are charged for items or a service that wasn't carried out. Cars that ran worse after servicing or repair. What is so different about Holden Service that they seem unable to get the job done right and without causing anymore grief to anybody else?

Again I see you are still griping about your pay. Several of us have already hinted if you don't like your pay and condition, feel free to look for a better one elsewhere. It only seems you're sticking to working at Holden Service because you like wearing the shirt and pants. It still doesn't resolve the poor level of service received from Holden Service which is what this thread is all about.