Holden Servicing rip-offs

[ACEMonkey]

Fact of the matter is, what the majority of you all are complaining about is pricing and poor workmanship. No two Holden dealerships are the same they comprise of different mechanics some with a higher ratio of apprentices some with more multicultural mechanics who are qualified from over seas that dont quite grasp the new stuff etc etc this i know as ive worked at two dealerships and currently still working at one. Just amazes me you only ever hear of bad experiences 'Holden charged me this Holden charged me that', we're a massive company with massive overheads yes we charge $108 an hr. If u had a plumber come out to ur house and look at a leak ur charged over hundred bucks just for bein there for 5 minutes, if if you dont like it u have the option to take it to old mate Fred down the road, which mind u won't have a clue with some of the later model stuff even if they do hav a scan tool, they can't perform half the tasks and obtain information required to diagnose generally most faults. I suppose im gettin off track here point im tryin to make is on a scale only takes about 5% of people to be unhappy then it makes the whole dealership (in this threads case) Holden around Australia look bad. For e.g we have a system in which we call SSS cut a long story short we randomly send out surveys to customers in which we recieve feedback about a variety of things, and im tellin u now the majority of ppl who fill this out, usually fill it out because they're unhappy not the happy and content ones. Sorry to babble on but i just wanted to say we at Sunbury Holden have an exceptionally high SSS rating and a **** load of happy customers we dont rip off, and we certainly dont replace parts that dont need replacing. Theres poor work conduct somewhere along the line at EVERY workshop whether it be intentional or a simple mistake. Cheers.

If anybody can confirm Sunbury Holden does a good job at servicing and repairs, let us know. I tip my hat to you Sunbury Holden when it is confirmed. We need more good, honest service dealers like yourselves across Australia.

 

[Sabbath']

I 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?

Holden Service is open to accomodate people aswell. Our service department is open from 7:30am to 9:30pm. If you cant get your car in to be serviced or looked at between those hours then you are being unreasonable. It is a business. If your car breaks down on the side of the road in the middle of the night, good luck finding a 24 hour workshop. Why? Because there is not enough demand to have a workshop open all hours just for YOUR convenience. A mobile tradesman is different. He has all his tools and everything he may need in the back of his vehicle and he can go anywhere at anytime. To keep a workshop operating 24/7 on the off chance there might be a job come in, you've got money (electricity, wages) going down the drain just because Joe Blogs believes because he can get a dunny diver to come out at 4am he should be able to get somebody to look over his car at that time aswell. You try calling VicRoads after 5pm, they're not open. Oh, but i want to transfer my rego, how DARE they not offer an after hours service. They should have people waiting by the phone to take my call and sort out my query.

You are using the very naive view that, because you see a leaking tap before you get a plumber in ("I'll be there between 10 and 4 mate") and after he comes and fixes it it isnt leaking anymore, yet before a car goes in for a regular service it is running fine, and after it comes out of the service its running the same way, that you believe nothing has been done.

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?

If there are items on the bill you have been charged for which are incorrect you should bring them up at the time of payment, dont just stand there in front of the service advisor like a stunned mullet nodding your head and saying "Yeap" to everything he says because you'd rather be somewhere else. People make mistakes, we're all humans.

It still doesn't resolve the poor level of service received from Holden Service which is what this thread is all about.

I think this thread is more about your self pity than anything else. Nobody should have to justify on a "name and shame" basis certain dealerships where you may of gotten one particular technician who's service techniques are different to everybody elses there. Its a bit different to a one man operation workshop where if you get a bad service from the one person there, 100% assured you will again the next time, but with dealerships, there are upwards of 20 technicians sometimes and each person is different.


Learn from this experience. Read the receipt, or ask to be rung before any work is carried out.

 

[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?

Yes you are correct first service is free. I've made a mistake, it was the 15,000km/1year service.

Thanks,
DVS

 

[Sabbath']

Yes you are correct first service is free. I've made a mistake, it was the 15,000km/1year service.

Thanks,
DVS

Hmm. 15,000km's and a dirty grimey oil filter, and low level isnt good. My 22 year old, 230,xxxkm VL doesnt have a leak on it. For a car 15,000km's old to be doing that is worrying, have you since had the problem looked at?


Not all service departments will clean out the engine bay, some will just pop the cap off, crack the sump bolt, and whack a new filter on and then refill and refit the cap. The oil filter could be dirty because, possibly the tech who worked on it (as is demonstrated by the state of the bay) screwed it up with dirty hands and just saw fit to leave it that way.


For a car to be low on oil, at 15,000km's i'd be asking more questions than "Did my service get done properley"


Hope you get it sorted out:thumbsup:

 

[Nanos]

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

if you read my post i said 1 item cost that much. if i added up what all my tools cost that i have bought i would be over the $10k without a problem.

but this thread is not about who has more tools. i was simply stating that higher paid jobs usually means higher expense

 

[ACEMonkey]

Holden Service is open to accomodate people aswell. Our service department is open from 7:30am to 9:30pm. If you cant get your car in to be serviced or looked at between those hours then you are being unreasonable. It is a business. If your car breaks down on the side of the road in the middle of the night, good luck finding a 24 hour workshop. Why? Because there is not enough demand to have a workshop open all hours just for YOUR convenience. A mobile tradesman is different. He has all his tools and everything he may need in the back of his vehicle and he can go anywhere at anytime. To keep a workshop operating 24/7 on the off chance there might be a job come in, you've got money (electricity, wages) going down the drain just because Joe Blogs believes because he can get a dunny diver to come out at 4am he should be able to get somebody to look over his car at that time aswell. You try calling VicRoads after 5pm, they're not open. Oh, but i want to transfer my rego, how DARE they not offer an after hours service. They should have people waiting by the phone to take my call and sort out my query.

You are using the very naive view that, because you see a leaking tap before you get a plumber in ("I'll be there between 10 and 4 mate") and after he comes and fixes it it isnt leaking anymore, yet before a car goes in for a regular service it is running fine, and after it comes out of the service its running the same way, that you believe nothing has been done.



If there are items on the bill you have been charged for which are incorrect you should bring them up at the time of payment, dont just stand there in front of the service advisor like a stunned mullet nodding your head and saying "Yeap" to everything he says because you'd rather be somewhere else. People make mistakes, we're all humans.


I think this thread is more about your self pity than anything else. Nobody should have to justify on a "name and shame" basis certain dealerships where you may of gotten one particular technician who's service techniques are different to everybody elses there. Its a bit different to a one man operation workshop where if you get a bad service from the one person there, 100% assured you will again the next time, but with dealerships, there are upwards of 20 technicians sometimes and each person is different.


Learn from this experience. Read the receipt, or ask to be rung before any work is carried out.

I'd be lucky to have a single Holden Service here in WA to stay open past 5:00PM... but 9:30PM! that is something that I would dream of. Paying for a rego is not such a big hassel now that it can be done online. I am not asking for a business to run open 24/7. That was never the intention of the original thread.

And I do believe you have misquoted me. I don't have an issue if the car comes out running fine after servicing as long as the expense that I am paying for is justified ie. I am paying for what I am getting. If you read back to my first post in this thread, I did state quite clearly, the occassions where I was charged for items that I never received or where the service is unnecessary. Now don't you or anybody tell me that is an ethical way of running any business.

I agree with you technicians are different and each will have their own way of doing things, some are better than others. But at the end of the service, we the owner-driver have no idea exactly who serviced our car, and so if there is a problem from the servicing, the blame lies directly with the company, in this case Holden Service. It would be up to the company to rectify the situation. As with any company, there will be internal procedures that deal with individual technician involved.

So until Holden Service can sort out its own internal problems and provide a consistent and fair level of service across all its dealer service outlets, I will and encourage others to continue naming both the good and bad dealer service in their state. If you happen to work for Holden Service, then I encourage you to take this thread as customer feedback and we all hope you can help improve the level of customer satisfaction at your workplace.

 

[Sabbath']

If you happen to work for Holden Service, then I encourage you to take this thread as customer feedback and we all hope you can help improve the level of customer satisfaction at your workplace.

Yes, i do work for Holden. Luckily i work for a great dealership. The company had been in the same premises for over 20 years, we are the worlds largest seller of HSV vehicles and have won numerous acolades and awards directly from Holden themselves for both our sale and service operations.

 

[Umai Naa!!]

Holden Service is open to accomodate people aswell. Our service department is open from 7:30am to 9:30pm. If you cant get your car in to be serviced or looked at between those hours then you are being unreasonable. It is a business. If your car breaks down on the side of the road in the middle of the night, good luck finding a 24 hour workshop. Why? Because there is not enough demand to have a workshop open all hours just for YOUR convenience. A mobile tradesman is different. He has all his tools and everything he may need in the back of his vehicle and he can go anywhere at anytime. To keep a workshop operating 24/7 on the off chance there might be a job come in, you've got money (electricity, wages) going down the drain just because Joe Blogs believes because he can get a dunny diver to come out at 4am he should be able to get somebody to look over his car at that time aswell. You try calling VicRoads after 5pm, they're not open. Oh, but i want to transfer my rego, how DARE they not offer an after hours service. They should have people waiting by the phone to take my call and sort out my query.

You are using the very naive view that, because you see a leaking tap before you get a plumber in ("I'll be there between 10 and 4 mate") and after he comes and fixes it it isnt leaking anymore, yet before a car goes in for a regular service it is running fine, and after it comes out of the service its running the same way, that you believe nothing has been done.



If there are items on the bill you have been charged for which are incorrect you should bring them up at the time of payment, dont just stand there in front of the service advisor like a stunned mullet nodding your head and saying "Yeap" to everything he says because you'd rather be somewhere else. People make mistakes, we're all humans.


I think this thread is more about your self pity than anything else. Nobody should have to justify on a "name and shame" basis certain dealerships where you may of gotten one particular technician who's service techniques are different to everybody elses there. Its a bit different to a one man operation workshop where if you get a bad service from the one person there, 100% assured you will again the next time, but with dealerships, there are upwards of 20 technicians sometimes and each person is different.


Learn from this experience. Read the receipt, or ask to be rung before any work is carried out.

:bow:

Holdens Rule, the customer is NOT always right. You, me, and the fence post already know that

 

[Holdens Rule]

Mate I never said I agree with it but if you want to stay in business then the customer IS always right. As much as you don't like it, when dealing with customers (and I have dealt with some really rude and dumb ones in my time) you have to smile at them and say yes sir or mam and respect them. Then when they get lost you can bag the hell out of them but you can't screw them over just cause you don't like them, or cause you think your underpaid.

PS. I never could get a good conversation with the fence post

 

[s_ikari2015]

"A customer is the most important visitor to our premises.
He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him.
He is doing us a favour by giving him the opportunity to serve him."
Mahatma Gandhi



As a customer/consumer, we have a choice. Sometimes our choices are limited, like when I want to get a new phone line installed in my house I can call Telstra, or Telstra... or Telstra, and they'll get one of their sub-contractors out. Other times we are flooded by choice. In today's society, quality of service is second to financial outlay, even though a cross-section of society still rate quality of service as the priority. Maybe their expectations are too high for the rest of society whom are working to the new beat of the drum, cost effectiveness?