Fresno Lexus

This letter is to recount the events as they happened at the Fresno Lexus Dealership on Saturday January 28 2012 at 10.30 am located at 777 West Palmdon Drive , Fresno, CA, 93722 On Sunday January 22, 20 the Fresno Lexus Dealership on Saturday January 28 2012 at 10.30 am located at 777 West Palmdon Drive , Fresno, CA, 93722 On Sunday January 22, 2012 the car wouldn’t start after stopping for a few minutes at a store. It was determined that the car’s battery was defective and would no longer hold a charge. The Fresno Dealership is closed on Sundays so I made the decision to replace the battery so that my wife and I would no longer be stranded. The car has been running for a week now with a new aftermarket battery without any problems. The 84 month battery (part number 00544MF240575) was replaced on June 13th 2009. I went to the Fresno Lexus Dealership for the battery under warranty to be pro-rated and have that difference credited back to me to offset the cost of the new battery. I was met by Jacqueline Lujano and explained to her the situation. She said that she did not know what to do and that she had never faced this before and went to get help from a co-worker named Dave Clarkson. I again explained the situation to Mr. Clarkson and he came back with a story to liken my situation to a thief who stole new Ford car parts and tried to take them back to a Dealership for money. I said “I’m standing in a Lexus Dealership with a failed Lexus part that is still covered under warranty, what solution do you have available to me?” he ordered me to go to the Service Department because he could “not” help me. Because without an invoice I cannot prove that I “paid for the part”. I told him I was not going to go to the Service Department, that he should go and resolve this issue on my behalf between the Parts and the Service Department while I waited at the Parts counter. A Service Consultant just happened to visit the cashier we were standing next to and for the third time I explained the issue all over again and I requested that he use the Vehicle ID (VIN) number to pull the service history on the vehicle in question. The Service writer came back with the printed information validating my story as I already explained three times. Now we had the “paper trail” that Dave Clarkson was so insistent on having and at this point I believed that the problem was going to be quickly resolved but, Dave disappeared. Jacqueline then came out and told me that there was “another” problem. She lacked the authority and that “nobody” at the Dealership on the weekend has the authority to issue any credit for defective parts. I asked her “Why is it that as a Lexus customer that I have to resolve things that Lexus ought to be resolving?” she said that this was a new kind of problem that she had not faced before. I then asked her “Why did Dave Clarkson liken my situation to a thief stealing parts and taking them to a Ford Dealership asking for money?” I told Jacqueline that I don’t need the money, and that I’m looking at a wrong situation with a failed Lexus part under warranty that I had no option but to replace right away. She said that she would have David Brown (parts manager) contact me on Monday. I told her that Lexus is known for being number one in Customer satisfaction, so why does Dave want to compare me to standing in a Ford Dealership with stolen parts? She said that he was a “really nice guy” and that I was being “intimidating”. To put an end to this e-mail, I was likened to an “intimidating thief” at Fresno Lexus because of a failed Lexus part still covered under warranty for a customer pay item. My dignity and my integrity were called into question and I was thoroughly insulted, in front of my wife no less, by the behavior of the “parts staff” at Fresno Lexus. I want you to understand that I’m going to widely share my experience with every website and every person that I come across. This behavior is unbecoming of a corporation such as Lexus and I believe the Fresno Lexus employees failed to represent the great reputation that Lexus once had with me. We are planning to replace a vehicle at the end of this year. I can tell you that purchasing a Lexus is no longer on the list. If Lexus wants to continue to staff its dealerships with such incompetence, I would be surprised if Lexus even remains in the top 5 in the forthcoming years. I also contacted the Lexus Corporate Customer Service 800.255.3987 this afternoon and documented my experience with a Lexus Representative. They were disgusted at the level of my treatment and apologized repeatedly on behalf of the Fresno Lexus staff. I left the defective battery on the front parts counter with Jacqueline and I am still waiting for a resolution. In the twenty five years that I have been dealing with new car dealers, this fiasco goes down as the worst experience that I have ever had. If a Lexus dealer cannot even resolve an issue with something as small as a battery, I dread to think what would kind of hassle I would get over something more complex such as a defective timing belt or a water pump. Feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or comments. Kind regards, More