Manly Honda

Liza responded

OK, Mr. Rocha, To start with, your message comes with the title "Manly Honda responded PRIVATELY on 2/01/25 6:43 PM". Since it is only 10:58 am here in California, your response must be either originated off-shore or automatically generated via a faulty algorithm. This tells me that Manly Honda is one of a huge number of businesses that is overly reliant on automated systems that are degrading customer service. My dissatisfaction with the minor automobile maintenance service you provided may not be important to many people. However, this same inappropriate trust in automation and artificial intelligence has already infiltrated critical infrastructures such as utility companies and militaries worldwide. By addressing this problem with Manly Honda, a relatively small, local firm, I am advocating for better service for myself and raising awareness of a serious threat to humanity globally. In general, I am in favor of using digital technologies to enhance service, however, they must be used thoughtfully and subject to the critical judgment of human beings. As a 50-year veteran of the computer industry I am confident I know what I'm talking about. Several of my complaints about your service (not discussed here) involve the use of computer-based processes in the workflow. I am begging Manly Honda, and every other service provider, to review carefully its use of new, "labor saving apps". Do these "innovations" actually improve service or simply provide a temporary increase in owner profits by decreasing labor costs? Do they promote deskilling of your employees by shifting the burden of know-how to a machine or database? Do they result in improved or faster response to frequent or typical service requests while decreasing the ability of your shop to address unusual problems? I invite Manly Honda to use my experience as a case study or fault analysis context to identify what went wrong and how to make systemic changes in your service process to improve customer satisfaction. I doubt that we will discover that automation is the only area where there is room for improvement. A more likely outcome is that we will find critical points where human intervention is essential. Let's put our human heads together to take advantage of the opportunities our information revolution is making possible instead of creating more disgusted, frustrated, dissatisfied customers like myself.

Liza responded

Hey Jose, I know you and other personnel are doing the best you can. Sadly, when whole systems fail it's the customer-facing folks who get to deal with the backfires. So, let's look at a few of the problems highlights and your response so far. 1. You ask for: "the six-digit repair order number on the top of your receipts" The only paperwork I came home with is a 6-page document marked "INVOICE", nothing labeled "repair order". At the upper left of the first page of the invoice is a "CUSTOMER #: 214332". In the middle of that top line is an unlabeled number: 755537. Hopefully your computer can find my service record with that information. 2. I complained: "To start with, your message comes with the title "Manly Honda responded PRIVATELY on 2/01/25 6:43 PM". Since it is only 10:58 am here in California, your response must be either originated off-shore or automatically generated via a faulty algorithm." While I appreciate that you're not a fan of AI, that doesn't explain the discrepancy in the time stamps on our respective messages. I wrote to you at 10:58 in the morning answering a message that claimed to have been written at 6:43 in the evening that same day. Did you really not know what time you were writing? That's an 8-hour difference! It's not the kind of mistake humans usually make. Actually, it doesn't really matter what time each of us was writing in this situation. But it is an indication that no humans were paying attention to the details of what was being added to their messages. I happily use grammar and spelling checkers too. But I don't trust their computer-generated suggestions. I review and verify them carefully. After all, there is no way to hold a computer responsible if it hallucinates, makes up data, or circulates false news such as the time your message was actually written. Nobody was killed by this particular inaccurate timestamp. Next time we may not be so lucky. The inaccurate tire pressure reading I came home with or the brakes that "May Require Future Attention" could have been dangerous. 3. You go on to say: "I also want to emphasize how important it is to the Manly organization to make the effort to make things right and learn from our mistakes." I'm very glad Manly feels this way. There are no quick fixes to the problems I am highlighting. No apologies or expressions of personal regret or sorrow will change the issues that arise when complicated workflows fail. As a customer I'll do my best to highlight where your service didn't meet my expectations. As a user experience professional I could do more but it will take more than a phone call or two. 3. You also say: "My question is, why were you initially authorized for $129.95, then charged more ($300), and not informed of service needs/recommendations in addition to your 3-hour wait?" I don't think I was quoted an estimate when I made the service appointment or when I turned the car over to the service advisor. I don't remember whether there was an estimate on the work authorization and I didn't bring home a copy. There is a line on page 4 of the invoice that says: "PREVIOUS ESTIMATE: 129.95 NEW ESTIMATE: 401.19 ADDITIONAL COST: 271.24 30JAN25 13.32 SA: 1755" I probably signed an authorization for $401.19 thinking that this was needed to cover any issues discovered during the servicing. I am not unhappy at the actual price I paid. Rather, when I got home and had a chance to study the invoice I became concerned about the confusing information on that document. I'm wondering why Manly couldn't provide an accurate estimate for totally routine service. 4. What bothers me most about your Feb. 1, 10:17 pm message is that you focus on the price issue and ignore my safety concerns. In my initial complaint I wrote "On careful review of this paperwork I discovered that there may be a problem with my rear brakes - something I would expect the service advisor to point out at check out." I also had mentioned a tire pressure problem you don't inquire about. Quite frankly, your emphasis on good reviews rather than good safety is a serious turn off. Even more scary for me is that Manly is not the only service provider I deal with that seems to be more concerned with social media influence than with high quality customer experience. As "Customer Experience Manager" you should know that you can never erase a poor experience. At best, you can provide enough subsequent positive experiences to induce your customer to forgive the bad ones.