Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Fairbanks rant, with swearing, and 2 kickers. Completely OT.
Aurora Motors in Fairbanks, Alaska is the worst business I have ever had to deal with. If you ever buy a car from them, be advised you will be hating life if you ever have to bring it in for service.
I have had my car in the shop for warranty work for a total of approximately 6 of the last 18 months on 5 or 6 separate occasions.
After the second time we brought the car in they started hassling us for payment even though the problem is covered under the warranty. They have come out and said on multiple occasions that if we had chosen to bring the car to them for oil changes that they would be more likely to charge the warranty company for the work and stop hassling us. "Loyalty" they call it.
I can change the oil on my own, or bring the car to a place that has good customer service. Why would I choose to bring my car to the shop with the worst and most arrogant employees simply because I bought the car there?
I can prove 8 ways from Sunday that the oil was changed regularly (every 2000-3000 miles, which is better than most people), yet they insist that lack of oil changes is what is causing the problem.
After we prove we change the oil they change their story and blame lack of sparkplug maintenance. We point out that they changed the spark plugs less than 10,000 miles ago and charged us for it, and the car is still having the same problem. They say that the original time the car went for over 30,000 miles without a sparkplug change caused irreparable damage that can't be fixed (although they can't tell us exactly what was damaged). The car was in for the same repair 3x or more before they even thought about changing the plugs. Just a lame excuse? You decide.
So far I haven't paid for any warranty work. This time I think I will just pay three hundred odd dollars instead of arguing with the idiots in the service department. Fuck them. I will just pay a competent mechanic to track down the problem and get the car fixed once and for all. And, he will probably only have the car for less than a week, maybe 10 days if parts are ordered.
I don't need the hassle Aurora Motors provides. It is a den of pricks.
I've already talked to several specialists that have expertise in the problem my car is having. After hearing my story, a couple of the specialists think they know what the problem is. The kicker? The first kicker is that the problem was likely caused by an initial error by Aurora Motors, before the car had a problem. We even ran the scenario by the mechanic at Aurora Motors. He agreed that this initial error is what is probably causing the problem.
When we told the Aurora mechanic the story we lied, we said it was us who made the error, not Aurora. He couldn't even backpedal when we told him it was Aurora that made the mistake.
One mechanic in particular said he would sign a court document stating that Aurora caused the problem, if my story is true. Believe me, it is true.
The second kicker? If Aurora is responsible for the problem, the warranty would be inapplicable. The warranty company could come back to us, or Aurora for reimbursement if they paid for work caused by Aurora's negligence. I would then have to go back to Aurora to get the problem fixed if a simple fix by a specialist failed. Who knows what they would fuck up fixing the problem.
I would love to give more details, but I think there is a good chance this will end up in court. I don't back down when I am pissed-off, and right, and know that I am right.
I have had my car in the shop for warranty work for a total of approximately 6 of the last 18 months on 5 or 6 separate occasions.
After the second time we brought the car in they started hassling us for payment even though the problem is covered under the warranty. They have come out and said on multiple occasions that if we had chosen to bring the car to them for oil changes that they would be more likely to charge the warranty company for the work and stop hassling us. "Loyalty" they call it.
I can change the oil on my own, or bring the car to a place that has good customer service. Why would I choose to bring my car to the shop with the worst and most arrogant employees simply because I bought the car there?
I can prove 8 ways from Sunday that the oil was changed regularly (every 2000-3000 miles, which is better than most people), yet they insist that lack of oil changes is what is causing the problem.
After we prove we change the oil they change their story and blame lack of sparkplug maintenance. We point out that they changed the spark plugs less than 10,000 miles ago and charged us for it, and the car is still having the same problem. They say that the original time the car went for over 30,000 miles without a sparkplug change caused irreparable damage that can't be fixed (although they can't tell us exactly what was damaged). The car was in for the same repair 3x or more before they even thought about changing the plugs. Just a lame excuse? You decide.
So far I haven't paid for any warranty work. This time I think I will just pay three hundred odd dollars instead of arguing with the idiots in the service department. Fuck them. I will just pay a competent mechanic to track down the problem and get the car fixed once and for all. And, he will probably only have the car for less than a week, maybe 10 days if parts are ordered.
I don't need the hassle Aurora Motors provides. It is a den of pricks.
I've already talked to several specialists that have expertise in the problem my car is having. After hearing my story, a couple of the specialists think they know what the problem is. The kicker? The first kicker is that the problem was likely caused by an initial error by Aurora Motors, before the car had a problem. We even ran the scenario by the mechanic at Aurora Motors. He agreed that this initial error is what is probably causing the problem.
When we told the Aurora mechanic the story we lied, we said it was us who made the error, not Aurora. He couldn't even backpedal when we told him it was Aurora that made the mistake.
One mechanic in particular said he would sign a court document stating that Aurora caused the problem, if my story is true. Believe me, it is true.
The second kicker? If Aurora is responsible for the problem, the warranty would be inapplicable. The warranty company could come back to us, or Aurora for reimbursement if they paid for work caused by Aurora's negligence. I would then have to go back to Aurora to get the problem fixed if a simple fix by a specialist failed. Who knows what they would fuck up fixing the problem.
I would love to give more details, but I think there is a good chance this will end up in court. I don't back down when I am pissed-off, and right, and know that I am right.
# posted by Coldfoot @ 1:06 PM 
