Well this is the ongoing saga of the limited and poor service that I receive at the edmonton dealership. As per usual I contact the service rep to discuss getting an oilchange before the winter lock up. I advise him that the clutch squeaks when I depress the pedal, I need them to finally install the new fog light that they billed me for on the last service, I need new rear tires, and I need them to check the wheel alignment as I get alot of vibration at highway speeds. I also remind the service rep that I have to drive 600 km for the service and as usual would likely need a friday booking. The first time we negotiate is 4:00 pm but with the caveat that there is no way they can possibly take care of everything and the tires will likely be back ordered. I check my schedule and see that I can squeeze likely another hour out of work, make the 5 hour trek and make it their by 3:00. The response is the same, the service department closes at six and that wont be enough time. I ask if they could just check the clutch and if its just a lubrication issue squirt some wd 40 or something on it. I also advise him that i will need a courtesy vehicle as i have to make my way to another town with in an hour.

So the day arrives, I head down the highway and arrive at the dealership 15 minutes early. Talk to the service rep and he asks so what can we do for you today (this despite me booking the problems through the internet site and having the lengthy discussions with the rep on the phone a week before) Knowing the tires is a non issue (knew they would not be able to do that) I go through my list, oil change , install my light, check the clutch squeek. His response we wont have enough time. I tell him I want it recorded on the service order that i wanted these things checked so that I would have a record if it ever became a warranty issue. His response again is we wont have enough time. the service department closes at 6. I then proceed to remind them that I need a loaner so that I can get on my way. his response well i dont know if we have one available. My comment at this point is, I am not surprised as the service here has been short of horrendous on every occasion that i have brought the vehicle in. his response is "well what do you expect us to do?" I indicate to him that when we have brought our Acura TL in for servicing at the edmonton dealership and they have provided us a loaner which we take back to Fort mcmurray and return a week later when the car would be available. he asks which acura dealer and i advise him the one just down the block from here. His response, "well my brother works there and I can tell you that would never happen". This in the presence of other customers. He has now implied to everyone that is in earshot that I am a liar. I say to him, well you better call your brother, give him my name and have him look up the service records because on two occasions we have been given a loaner from the acura dealership to take home to fort mc and bring back a week later. i also advised him I did not appreciate him suggesting that i was lieing to him . My wife as well is getting perturbed. It is now 3:20 and our car has still not moved from the intake station. We start to complain more about what a frustrating experience it has been having to deal with the service department and how we expected so much more from the Porsche franchise. At this point a female service rep in the next station tells us to quit complaining as their are other customers in the area and that we should not say negative things about the company. Well we let her have it with both barrels at that point. I indicated to her that we are perfectly entitled to complain about the service, in fact that we had a right to. I pointed out that at no point did we use any derrogatory language despite the fact that her co-worker suggested we were lieing to him. Eventually the two leave the area, 10 minutes goes by, its now 3:25 and the car has still not moved from the intake station, and the service rep, my old service rep ( the one I booked the appointment with) comes in and says I understand we have a problem. I say yes I brought the car in and I want these items attended to. he says well you know I told you on the phone last week that we could only do the oil change. I reminded him that I then changed the service to one hour earlier so that they could hopefully attend to the fog light and at least check out the squeek. He said that was no his understanding, whereupon I once again said I want it recorded on the service sheet that I requested they be done. So they provide the sheet with my requests written on it, then struck out, with a notation, customer advised not enough time. They finally line me up with a loaner a 2008 cheyenne S, ( a nice vehicle I was impressed)

What was even more troubling, is that when I got to the dealership I happened to meet up with a friend from my town who's vehicle had broke down, a blown hose or something, he called they towed and it was already up on the jacks getting serviced. No appointment, nothing, just called and in it went. Good for him I guess, he hadnt even bought his vehicle from them. But bad for me. We left 3:45 and you guessed it my vehicle still sitting in the intake bay.

I am called at 6:00 pm and told that the oil change was done , the fog light put in and the squeek appears to be a pressure plate issue. this fellow tells me that my original service rep will speak to me when I pick the vehicle up in the morning to schedule a time for it to be looked at, he advises that it will take a couple of days and that they will provide a loaner. I thank him for the info. I go back the next day to pick up my vehicle. My service rep for the third time no where to be seen, I am thrown the service sheet with no explanation of anything that was done and simply asked how I am paying for it.

No follow up on the clutch issue, no request to book a further appointment, and no communication from the original service rep as promised. Given that I am likly 2 weeks from parking it for the winter I am just going to have to let the clutch issue simmer until the spring. I have owned many cars and dealt with many dealers from Mazda, Ford, GMC, Infiniti, Nissan, and Acura, and none of them have treated me in this manner, none of them have displayed the lack of concern for their clients that I encounter with the Porsche dealer, and none of them have ever called me a liar. Is this typical of high end dealers, would I be treated the same way at a BMW or Mercedes dealership?

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006

That is appalling treatment.
I assume since you are driving that far that there is no where else you can take the car.
I would start by documenting every instance of abuse, and then sending that document to the higher headquarters in your area. If that gets no action, I would continue to move it up the chain until I got satisfaction.
That kind of treatment is unacceptable even if you purchased a 12K car from Nissan, much less a Porsche.
Frankly, I’m a bit stubborn, and would never let that kind of treatment go unanswered. I also realize that it is time consuming, and takes a mean streak most people don’t have (to their credit).
Good luck

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Just sold my beautiful CS, now the fun begins as I look for its open top replacement...

i agree completely - this is disgusting behavior and there is no excuse for being treated so. thank you for sharing - it looks like you have a lot of details to share with the regional representative. calling to follow-up after sending a letter is also quite worthwhile.

good-luck -

.

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I thought my service manager was bad.

Dont even get me started on how poorly I was treated by my local BMW dealership. VERY similar to your story. Its why I own a Porsche now.

I guess this just proves that there are good, bad and ugly, no matter what badge is on the hood. What I am amazed by is the fact that the dealerships now dont even come close to working WITH you....they simply buck you and persistently work AGAINST you in the problem solving. There should be laws against that!

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Kevin

Booster - I use the same dealership and I was starting to have concerns with service also. But I just went in for servicing this past week and everything went well, fwiw.

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GT Silver CS
1980 Honda CBX
2004 Suzuki SV1000
2006 Subaru Legacy
2002 Honda Insight

Booster - now you've got me worried re: my first service coming up.
When Edmonton's newer BMW dealer yanked me around over a simple flat tire (run-flat, on tire warranty) for a few weeks, I tracked down BMW's Canadian president and sent a polite letter indicating my disappointment with poor communication with customers. (It wasn't waiting for the tire that bugged me, it was never getting a call-back as promised, several times.) Problem fixed right away, and service dept was contrite...

Good luck!

Red Eye, tell me that aint your guards red under snow in your icon????

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006

So who do I write my letter to?

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006

So here is the letter I sent to the owner by email, I will keep you up to speed if I get a response.

It is unfortunate that I have to take this step and communicate directly with the owner of the dealership, but given the lack of concern or respect I received from your service department on the first three occasions that I have brought my vehicle in for servicing, I felt I had no choice.

I purchased a brand new 2006 Cayman S from your establishment last year in June. I paid cash for this vehicle and was extremely excited about having an opportunity to own such a finely engineered piece of automotive machinery. I unfortunately assumed that the service for the vehicle would be of a similar quality to the car that I bought. It has been anything but the case.

I advised the service rep at the time (Christian Gersdorf) of the first service that scheduling maintenance would be difficult as I live in Fort McMurray, Alberta and would have to take a half day off from work to get any work done on the car. I also advised him that as a result of that my only available dates would be Fridays. The first service was simply an oil change and to replace a cracked foglight. He booked the appointment for 11:00 am, knowing as I had already advised him that I would need an afternoon appointment as I have to drive 5 hours from Fort McMurray. None the less, we arrived on time, and thereafter sat for 2.5 hours waiting for the vehicle to be completed. No courtesy car was offered even after requested. I was billed for the oil change and the fog light even though the fog light was not installed. No one went through the service sheet with me to tell me how things went. In fact the only question put to me, was how was I going to pay for it.

When I brought the car in for the second service this past May I again contacted Christian and advised him it was due for its 30,000 km servicing. He provided to me a Wednesday which I indicated once again would not work for me as I need a Friday appointment. He indicated that he could put me in at 11:00 am and once again I advised him that I would have to drive from Fort McMurray to Edmonton and at best could only make an afternoon appointment and tha we then booked it for 1 pm.. When I arrived at 1:00 pm he advised me that I was late and had missed my appointment. I indicated to him that the agreed to time was 1:00 pm. He said there was nothhing he could do. I expressed my frustration indicating that I had just driven 5 hours to make this appointment. And after much effort he took the car in and did provide to us a loaner vehicle which was returned the next morning when we picked up the car. I was advised on this occasion that the fog light would be installed at my next servicing and that my front tires needed to be replaced.

The last service and the one that is the most disconcerting happened this past weekend. Once again I booked the appointment for the Friday, advised the service rep that i needed the oil changed, the clutch squeek looked at, the fog light finally installed, replacement of the rear tires, and possibly an alignment as a vibration had started at highway speeds. The appointment booked was for 4:00 pm originally but Christian advised that not all the work could be done in that time, and that the tires would be back ordered. I negotiated an earlier time of 3:00 pm and asked if he could at least change the oil and install the fog light that I had purchased on the previous occasion and just check the linkage on the clutch to see if it just needed a little lubrication. He made no response to that but did book the appointment for 3:00 p.m. On the date in question , last Friday I arrived at 2:45 for my servicing. I had previously told Christian that I would need a courtesy vehicle as I had to make my way to Camrose in an hour. A new fellow had taken over for Christian, when I went to his desk he asked what I was there for. I indicated that I had requested a service both on the internet and through Christian and that I was bringing it in for the oil change, the fog light and to check the sqeeky clutch pedal. His response was the same as Christian's from the previous time, ..... simply that they could not do it all. I indicated that I wanted the request written on the service request sheet so that I would have some documentation if the clutch became a warranty issue. He said we still cant do it, and his response was, "Well what do you want us to do about it?" I said well when I have had other vehicles serviced they provided us a courtesy vehicle which we took back to Fort Mc and then returned the next week when the servicing was complete. He then began to interrogate us. What type of vehicle - our response, an acura TL, where did you get it serviced - at the acura dealership just down the block. His response then, was, "well my brother works in their service department, ..,.. and that would never happen". I was getting upset at this point as this service rep had just now insinuated that I was lieing to him in the presence of other customers. I challenged him on the point, urged him to contact his brother, give him my name and have him pull the service records to confirm that they provided a loaner vehicle to us not once but twice when we had it in for servicing. I also advised him that I was upset that he was suggesting I was lieing to him. At this point, he and the service manager leave, not telling me where they are going or what they are doing.

At this point a personal friend of mine walks by. Ivan ladouceur. I ask him what he is doing there and he advises me that his vehicle had blown a hose and was in the shop for an emergency repair. I said , you did not have to make an appointment. His response was no, i just called these guys and they took it in right away. At this point I totally befuddled. My friend , who did not even buy his vehicle from your establishment gets his car in and on the lift immediately. Meanwhile, it is now 3:25 and my car has not made it out of the intake bay. Clearly upset we communicate to Ivan our frustration with the servicing we have received from your shop, at which point the service rep in the next booth tells us to quit complaining, that we are not permitted to complain about the company. At this point I am extremely upset, I advise this young lady, that her coworker just indicated to me that I was a liar. I told her that I had a full right to complain about the service and should expect more when I pay in excess of $120,000 for a vehicle.

Eventually Christian, the replacement service rep, and I am assuming the service manager ( a gentleman with red hair - he never introduced himself or intervened during this affair) came back. Christian said, "I understand we have a problem" I said yes I booked the appointment with you. I wanted the oil changed, the fog light replaced and for you to check the clutch for the squeek. His response was, "as I told you Stafford there would not be enough time to do all that:" I indicated to him that that is why we booked an hour earlier so that the clutch could at least be looked at. I indicated I wanted the service request documented for warranty purposes. Christian suggested that there had to be some compromise on my end. I was thinking to myself on the first two occasions I had to miss an entire day of work and on this occasion 2/3 day of work, there is not much more I could do. In any event they gave me a loaner ( a 2008 Cheyenne S - a very nice vehicle I might add) and I went on my way. The time was now 3:49 p.m.

I received a call from the replacement service rep at 6:00 pm advising me that the oil was changed, the fog light in, and that they suspect that the squeek was a result of a pressure plate issue. he indicated that it would not fail but that they would have to pull the tranny to investigate it further , that it would be in the shop for 2 days and that Christian would be in the morning to talk to me about booking an appointment. I thanked him and closed off the call. When I arrived the next day to pick up my vehicle, Christian walked by but did not talk to me. some other gentleman asked if he could help. I indicated I was there to pick up my cayman s and gave him my name. He got the work order and my key and simply asked how I was going to pay. No follow up on the work that was done, no indication as to when I should be bringing the car back for the tranny issue.

I apologize for this being such a lengthy letter but I thought it was imperative that I share my whole Porsche servicing experience with you. I have owned many cars in my 44 years from Nissan, Mazda, Ford, GMC, Infiniti, and Acura, and never have I in that time been treated with such disregard and quite frankly from my last experience with such disrespect. This treatment does not in any way speak highly of your company despite the fine quality automobiles that you sell through this franchise.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to your reply.

Respectfully,


Stafford T.Gorsalitz

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006