Question-Dealers Rights??

[tjsmith]

I know that the customer has rights, but what about the dealership??? I have a problem customer, that is a very big problem.......No matter what we do for the customer, all we get is threat after threat after threat, cursing after cursing...nothing but a circus, & my employees and myself cannot put up with this jerk anymore. I called my Service Rep & he tells me I HAVE to work on this guys vehicle. My question is this "Yes this customers vehicle is under warranty, and according to our GM Service Rep, We HAVE to work on this vehicle until it the warranty runs out, but what about the Dealership rights.....I might be wrong on this, but once a customer gets out of hand, and reaches that point that he is now satan's brother, do we or dont have to work on this customers vehicle anymore???" I say the answer is no, but I needs some help on this one.

Thanks Guys & Gals!!!

[robc]

Much more of a can of worms than a true legal issue. I have never known of a dealer that was terminated or had anything serious happen for kicking a customer out of their store. I mean the DSSA also requires 100% training and hundreds of other things that dealers routinely ignore. The trick is to ignore the passages without outright saying you are ignoring them. Will it cause bad feelings with the rep? Sure, so weigh those in your decision.

First, there would be obvious exceptions to servicing any customer. Reps that say you HAVE to work on any vehicle are clueless dolts that just what you to make their headaches go away. You aren't forced to work on anyone's vehicle. Let's put it this way, what if this customer pulled a gun out and shot your service advisor and while waiting to go to trial wants his vehicle serviced. Would GM DEMAND that you service his vehicle? It is bad business sense to not service a group of customers as a course of habit, but individuals are another story. For example, GM might choose not do business with someone who is suing them.

The only passage I know of in the DSSA is, "Dealer agrees to maximize customer satisfaction by providing courteous, convenient, prompt, efficient and quality service to owners of Motor Vehicles, regardless of from whom the Vehicles were purchased."

All of those descriptive words are open for interpretation courteous, prompt, efficient all words that mean different things to different people. As a political issue, you just have to play coy with the rep and customer until they get the hint. Schedule them out for months away. If they somehow get by and get scheduled, then call them the day before tell them that youre booked and need to reschedule. If they somehow get in the door, just hold the vehicle outside for days on end.

I am sure the first thing the customer will do is call GM, who if they are doing anything right, will say they will contact the dealer and get back to them. Once the customer realizes that GM cant really do anything to you, they will usually get the hint. If, on the other hand you bend every time the customer calls and complains you are just reinforcing their behavior.

Personally, I had a couple of customers whom I was just upfront with. I took them into the dealers office and we told them, look apparently we cant service your vehicle to your satisfaction, so we dont know what you want us to do. I remember one of the customers didnt realize how much of an idiot he was and once it was made obvious that he was a tool, straightened up until he ended up buying something else.

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** Rob, Editor Dealersedge/WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[pjpeery]

tj

you can tell him that you are not able to meet his needs and he should go elsewhere if he gets out of hand he should be told to leave and not come back until he can be civil with you or your employees .. just a note people like this i never let anyone else but my self handle that way you always know what happens .. just remember it will pass as all bad customers just go away .. some i even had the day their warranty expired on my calender ,, and just smiled as the day came and went .

no one in this business should be abused by a customer .. they purchased a car not the right to treat you like s***

just my thoughts


paul

[Old Irish]

Then ask your rep to c'mon down and help you deal with the guy. I'd be interested in how he responds.

Regardless of what's mentioned in the franchise agreement, no dealer has to tolerate a customer if it gets that bad. "Throw him out" I say.

And when you say he makes threats.....what kind of threats are you referring to ? If you suspect violence then the police should be involved.

Good luck and hang in there, I think we've all been in your shoes at one time or another.


Cheers
Doug

[fburrows]

TJ

I think a simple this customer is abusive to my employees and we no longer want him in the dealership should do it. But I would run this by the dealer principal and get him or her to buy into it first. Your ASM will probably try and go over your head to make this problem go away. If you have the dealers backing then it is not a problem. I would stress to your dealer that you teach your people to be polite to customers and treat them with respect. When an abusive customer disrupts your service department then this can help create a to hell with the customer attitude that you cannot afford to have in your department. I am a true believer in culling these people out from your customer base influences your overall treatment of customers and your profitability and CSI.

If you can't get the dealer to go along then the idea of a meeting with the customer and the GM Rep is a great one!
Good luck


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Frank Burrows ABS
fburrows@absdata.com

[tjsmith]

Thanks you all!!!

[Number 65]

What's the problem with tossing a customer? Mind you, asking a customer to never return isn't something you should do on a daily basis....but you have to draw the line.

Let me give you an example that happened here. A customer comes in for a warranty repair. 2 weeks later he claims we damaged his car (The quarter panel was caved in). He has the car fixed somewhere else and wants us to reimburse him for the money. We never saw the damage, never were given the opportunity to inspect it or implement a repair, so I refused to participate. We got killed on our CSI survey.

The customer was informed that he was not allowed to return unless he was able to comply with our method of doing business.

We had another customer that killed our warranty expense by nit-picking every little thing on his car, never being satisfied with repairs and claimed damage each and every time his car was in for service. My policy expense was too high because I was always writing off details, buffing of scratches and dents...even though the advisor did a thorough walk-around.. He tied up all of my time and never did any customer-pay work. He was finally asked never to return.

[heels331]

WE HAVE HAD TO ASK A FEW CUSTOMERS THAT WERE NEVER SATISFIED TO NOT COME IN ANY MORE. WE ALWAYS HAVE A MEETING WITH THEM, AND EXPLAIN THAT WE ARE OBVIOUSLY UNABLE TO REPAIR THEIR VEHICLE TO THERE SATISFACTION THEN EXPLAIN GM'S "CROSS LINE WARRANTY" TO THEM AND SUGGEST THEY GO ELSEWHERE IN THE FUTURE. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE USUALLY HAD OUR REPS SUPPORT, I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF INVITING HIM DOWN TO DEAL WITH HIM.

[Scott Nissan]

This has always been a hot topic in our field. I am shocked that the Rep would not support you and your decision that you no longer wanted to deal with this problem child customer. I have had a couple over the last 15 years with Nissan and they have always supported my decision concerning a problem child customer, from the Rep to Nissan Consumer Affairs and they have honored my request that they do not return to my Service Department. I always make sure that the GM and or the Dealer are aware of the situation before asking a customer not to return.

One customer, after I fired him as a customer, called the GM and tried to raise havoc. The GM plainly stated that he could not allow him back into the dealership service department without my approval. He was totally aware of the situation at hand and he would not reverse my decision. The customer actually called me and requested a meeting. He came in and he apoligized over and over for his behavior to both me and the advisor he verbally abused. He turned into a great customer and everytime he or his wife came in, they always brought donuts or a coffee cake for the entire service staff of 15. Sometimes people do not know that they are acting this way because they always have acted this way in prior dealerships. This customer actually told me that at the prior dealership he serviced his car at, that this was the only way he could get his car fixed and get the service that he thought he should get because nobody there cared.

Sometimes, but not always, that problem customer can be turned around just by taking the time and sitting down and talking it out. I have discovered that the problem customer, more often than not, has had a very bad prior dealership service expierence at another dealer and already has a bad taste in his mouth before he has to bring in his car for service. We all know that bringing your vehicle in for service is just like going to the dentist. Nobody wants to do it, but it has to be done. In 15 years, I have only fired 2 customers and have been able to deal with the rest by taking the time and listening to the customer, they will eventually get to the root of why they acted the way they did and 9 out of 10 times, it has nothing to do with you and your dealership.