TO: Ben Atkinson Motors-General Motors/Chevrolet
29 October
SUBJ: Totally UNSATISFACTORY Service
Reference: Donny Boswell, GM/Chevrolet Service Manager
Mr. Atkinson,
1. Please accept this letter in the spirit it was written. We are not trying to get something free or get anybody in trouble; rather, we want to make you aware of the totally unacceptable service we received from the GM/Chev Maintenance Department, under the leadership of Mr. Boswell, from 10 September 05 to 22 October 05.
During this six week period, unprofessional maintenance, coupled with the behavior of Mr. Boswell and the GM/Chev staff, has definitely prompted us to take action to identify the problem to the highest level of authority and seek resolution/compensation.
Please recognize that we are repeat customers at both your Tallassee GM and Chrysler Service Centers. Also note that we unsuccessfully tried to alert you to this problem during the six week period.in the following paragraphs I will briefly describe the actions/inactions taken by the GM/Chev Service Center, high-lighting the unprofessional, bizarre behavior of Mr. Boswell.
2. The subject vehicle is an older Buick, very low mileage (Grandmother's car), that was in excellent condition. It belongs to my step-son, Daniel. There was (still is) a noise/hesitation with the automatic shifting from first to second gear, the brakes needed work, and the front/left electric window was falling down.
Daniel took the car in on 10 Sept 05 and talked to Mr. Boswell. He said if we replaced the motor mounts and the struts, this action would fix the shifting problem. With the brakes and window, the total bill would be $2200.00. Daniel told Mr. Boswell that he needed the car back no later that the following Saturday (17 Sept 05), since he was planning on driving the Buick to Indiana.
Daniel called on Friday (16 Sept 05) to check on status and Mr. Boswell said he would start working on it that day. Mr. Boswell made it clear that it would not be ready on 17 Sept 05. Daniel made other arrangements for his trip the following week to Indiana. Mr. Boswell said he would call the next week to provide status; never did. Daniel called that Fri (23 Sept 05), Mr. Boswell said the car was ready.
Daniel picked up the car that Sat (24 Sept 05) and paid the bill (over $2200.00). Daniel identified two problems: a. Window was still inoperable; and, b. There was ticking engine noise (i.E., could be distinctly heard at the engine manifold).
3. Daniel took the Buick back in (week of 26 Sept 05) and asked Mr. Boswell again to fix the window, and to find/fix the new engine noise that was not there when we originally brought the car in.
I called the following week (3 Oct 05) from Georgia and talked to Mr. Boswell. He told me he could not find the problem with the ticking engine noise; said he had an outside repair source check the muffler and catalytic converter, and there was a noise there. Also mentioned that the window had a bad actuator.
Daniel and I went in the following Sat/8 Oct 05. At this time the Buick had been in the GM/Chev Service Center for four weeks. On Saturday, 8 Oct 05, Mr. Boswell told Daniel and I that he could not hear the engine ticking and that there was a bad actuator in the window that was causing the problem.
I asked Daniel to raise/lower the window and after one up/down motion, the window dropped half-way down the door. At that point I told Mr. Boswell to fix the window and the noise in the engine. Daniel showed Mr. Boswell that the ticking was coming right from the engine manifold.
I called early the following week (10 Oct 05) from Georgia and told Mr. Boswell that my patience was running thin. I asked him to replace the manifold gasket (i.E., manifold was removed when the engine mounts were replaced) and fix the window. At that time Mr. Boswell acknowledged that there was a plastic brace missing in the front/left window assembly that was causing the malfunction. He also stated that the manifold was cracked and he would have to find an after market replacement since GM did no carry that manifold.
4. On 13Oct 05 (Thur), my wife Suzanne called Ben Atkinson Motors and asked to speak to Mr. Atkinson. He was paged&no answer. My wife called back and left a message for Mr. Atkinson to call her. Suzanne's concern was that the Buick had been there five weeks without problem resolution (necessitating vehicle shifting within the family), and due to the lack of status update from Mr. Boswell, there did not seen to be a projected end to this situation.
Ten minutes later, Mr. Boswell called (Suzanne wanted to talk to Mr. Atkinson) Suzanne and said: it had been a bad week. He told Suzanne that the following day (14 Oct 05) he would put on the rack and fix the manifold problem. He said to replace the gasket was a 5.5 hour job. Mr. Boswell said he would call on Friday (14 Oct 05); again, he did not call.
On Saturday (15 Oct 05) Mr. Boswell called me in Tallassee to say that the Buick was not repaired; however, he made it very clear that the Buick was Drivable with the engine noise still present. At that point, I again asked Mr. Boswell to fix the Car. Daniel and I called Saturday (22 Oct 05) and received status that it was ready.
We went (22 Oct 05) to pick up the car after SIX WEEKS. Mr. Boswell said he fixed the window by replacing a plastic bracket/brace and that he had to replace the manifold. I am not sure why he replaced the manifold, because I thought that he said he now thought that the old manifold was not cracked.
I asked to see the old manifold. He showed it to me and said the black indicated a leak. Anyhow, the engine noise was gone and it appears that the window is fixed. Mr. Boswell insisted I sign some sort of liability waiver on the parts/labor that was done on the window and manifold. I signed the waiver and non-concurred.
Out of fairness, I told Mr. Boswell that this whole situation was totally unsatisfactory and that I intended to seek resolution and compensation for the gross inconvenience this six week fiasco caused my family.
5. Therefore, request that I be reimbursed $1750.00 (cost of 35 days @ $50 per day rental car fee). If this is not immediately resolved at your level, I intend to take this problem to the regional and national GM representative.
If I still do not receive satisfaction, I intend to get a Tallassee parade license and start picketing your business establishment on Saturdays. This is not a threat; rather, I am just demonstrating my resolve to put this issue to closure. I would also note that any maintenance activity that does not notice a problem when a vehicle is there for six weeks has no Quality Control process.
Respectfully,
Joseph *
Joseph
Tallassee, Alabama
U.S.A.
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