Untrustworthy service, poor communication and overpriced. - sp.ryan729
Untrustworthy service, poor communication and overpriced. I had NO TRUST, CONFIDENCE, OR FELT SAFE the entire time my car was in the shop at Glendale Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram!
Over the 4 weeks I was in contact with the dealership and my car was in service, I received only 3 phone calls and received suspicious false information, shuffled phone calls around between departments, and unsatisfactory reports.
My Jeep Grand Cherokee’s Transmission Control Module took a dive on me. My local shop diagnosed it within 5 minutes and said only the dealership can reprogram it. Therefore, you’ll need a new a TCM, reprogramming, and recommended fluid service.
Therefore, I made an appointment with this dealership, got my car towed there, agreed to the $480 diagnosis fee and was assigned mechanic, Paul Bautista. I told him and the service department the run down on my car and waited for information. A few days went by, heard nothing, and called, he told me that wasn’t the issue and it was “internal, the oil smelled burnt and the pump in the transmission isn’t right”. This obviously concerned me as I nor my local mechanic smelled nothing burnt ever.. Therefore, I waited for the future diagnosis.
After 7 full days, Paul told me I needed TCM, reprogramming, and recommend fluid service for $1950 “to start and that big problems lie ahead” about the burnt oil. However, I just didn’t believe him on the oil - I personally felt like I was being lead on. Why it took them a full week for diagnosis when my previous inspection took 5 minutes and reported no burnt smells? This just doesn’t fit right with me. I appreciate the thorough diagnosis but why plant more potential bad news in your customer’s head when your still working on the car and agreed to pay full price and move ahead?
Finally when the TCM arrived. Paul told me me it was 5 days and it took 10. I understand no one can control the mailing system but it makes me question when it was actually ordered given the untrustworthy and unethical dealings with the dealership. I would call for check ups and the service department just pushed me off the phone as quickly as possible. For example, I called service, they transferred me to parts, and parts transferred me back to service. In short, no one cares here.
When the TCM was replaced, exactly 1 month to the day, Paul said I could pick up my car. I asked whether the TCM was the primary problem and about the burnt oil. He simply repeated “You can pick up your car” and acted as the previous conversations never existed, truly proving my hypothesis correct - my TCM just took a dive and these things happen. I would have liked to receive a thorough breakdown given the money I was about to pay so I went to pick up my car immediately and waited to examine the invoice.
However, the invoice was poorly written and didn’t make any sense. There were some random parts and prices but nothing on service, labor, and total pricing. It didn’t add up and they were just throwing random things on there. When I see “$1950 for TCM and trans service to start” and “985 to fix issues”. That doesn’t tell me anything. If I’m spending $1950 plus tax, I want a detailed breakdown for my car records. Of course, since the dealership has a monopoly on the reprogramming, I knew they were going to gut me for service and labor but with no explanation or detailed breakdown - this is unacceptable.
If you can, I would avoid at all costs and go somewhere else to avoid the horrible experience I had. I hope you’ve been warned or the dealership will get it’s act together and perform accordingly.
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