sefa01

Brought the Vette in to Paramus Chevrolet for 4 minor things. Put together a memo outlining what was wrong and then discussed these with the service writer. At the top of my memo, I noted that if an item wasn't covered by warranty to please call me first.

I get a call from the service writer who said the car was almost ready. He tells me that they already did work NOT covered by the warranty. I pointed out that I had specifically asked to be called first. He gave me some BS about they couldn't tell if it was covered until they did the work (oh, really).

Now I probably would have just grinned and borne it except when I went to pick up the car, they tried to bury the following on the last page of the paperwork: "Customer hereby acknowledges receiving original estimate of $...."

So they lie to me and then want me to swear to it! Some service.

BrooklynC6

Im pretty suprised , the guys at Paramus have been stand up with me , even let me hang out in the bays while they did work on my car so I could learn how to do it myself .

digivex

I'm not a lawyer... But, based on my own experience, that's also known as Consumer Fraud. If you did not sign anything, you may have legal rights to protect you from paying for work that was performed without any estimate and without your approval.

jimmymack

If you paid with a credit card, dispute the charges for the unauthorized work. Your next statement will have (on the back) instuctions on how to file, the process is time sensitive so don't delay. And save the memo you handed to the advisor and document the conversation while still fresh in your memory. I'd also call the dealer G.M. or owner and have a conversation telling him you plan to dispute the charge, file a formal complaint with the BBB and call your local paper and TV station's consumer reporter to tell your story. If he's been thru the dispute process before, he knows how many man hours it takes to answer the credit card issuer and may want to skip the hassle and negotiate. Good luck, go get the bastards, it's not like you'll be going back there again.

Dave S

Boy....that s*cks! I presume you've paid the bill, but hopefully you kept copy of your memeo with the note. At a minimum, I would first speak with the General Manager (politely, of course) & if no satisfaction, then write to the Bergen County BBB & to GM Customer Care. At least you can then be on record if you choose to take action in the future. If you don't mind sharing, what was the charge for the extra work?

Ralphyboy

Do not bother with the BBB. They are completely useless. However, you can call the Bergen County office of Consumer Affairs. Also, call the Attorney General for the State of NJ. I filed a complaint with both agencies when I had a problem with an Audi dealer. However, although both agencies said they were investigating, after OVER A YEAR, NEITHER ONE DID ANYTHING AS FAR AS I KNOW. The way I got satisfaction? I went to a car show at the Garden State Plaza for Corvettes, and I had a big sign made up saying **** ******** Audi Lied to me, Ask me about it.
I had fliers made up with a list of all the things they had done to me, and to other people who posted on Audi websites like the forum. All of a sudden, I was contacted by the dealer, and the issue was resolved. After over a year of nothing happening, all of a sudden, everyone wanted the "make nice to me". I have to admit, that they were very courteous, and fair to me at that point. It's amazing what some "in your face " consumer action on my part did.

As Dave said, go to them, be courteous, call GM, call the two agencies mentioned first. Also, put in a dispute with the credit card company. The CC Company will probably solve this for you. If not...... do what I did, because Paramus Chevrolet goes to the Garden State Corvette Show. They will NOT want to see a sign trashing them.

LoudassZ

Typical car dealer move

turbo50mike

I had service work done at Paramus. They did MORE than I originally bought the car in there for, and charged me ZERO.

I had even offered multiple times while they were doing the work that I would pay for new trans fluid, and new rear diff fluid....When I went to pick up the car they said "they had to drain it anyway, so we gave you new fluid."

My point being, they could have boned me for the cost to replace the fluids; They did not.

They get an A+ in my book. Sorry you had trouble with them. I think my service writer was 'Mike', IIRC.

Fartpipe

Maybe you should give us a description of the concern you mentioned to the service advisor and it may have a slight misunderstanding.

He honest with yourself, if the advisor (which he shoudl have done this anyway) said some of these items may take diagnosis and thats $XXX dollars if its not covered do you approve this if its not covered?

turbo50mike

Let me also add that ALL I do with my Z06 is take it to the track. When I took it to Paramus to have the work done, I left all of the racing equipment - i.e. Racing seats, harness, harness bar, lap timer, etc, etc.. - He even asked "How often do you go to the track?" and I told him 'as much as I can!'

They didn't bat an eye. I'm just happy they are about 5 minutes from my house.

Chevy Guy

You have a pretty damn good case for not paying. Depending on how much it is, might be worth fighting that one. All warranty work is cut and dry, there is no grey area.

06 DSO

Double check if your's is an 06' their was a very major recall to replace all trannie fluids in the REAR AXLE..they kept it under there hat until I had work done ar Corvette Paramedic's they brought it to my attention and replaced it for me then Chevy Rebated me the difference. NOBODY in a dealership does anthing for free!!!

3JsVette

Just curious how would you know that all warranty work is cut and dry? We don't know what the car came in for in the 1st place. As an example if the "check engine light" was on or the "airbag light" was on and it was a result of performance modifications or an incomplete accident repair that wouldn't be warranty work.

What should have happened here is the service advisor at the time of write up should have asked the owner to agree to assume a "diagnostic fee" IF his concerns were NOT covered under warranty. Now if the car owner doesn't TRUST the dealer to treat him fairly he needs to find another dealer. Based on some of the other replys it looks like Paramus Chevrolet has some satisfied Corvette service customers so this story may be the exception not the rule.

Back to the original post I do agree that the owner SHOULD have been called to pre-approve the charges. As far as the last line of the invoice about acknowledging the estimate I would not be surprised if that is on the bottom of every customer pay copy. Now what's the bottom line? Is the car fixed? Should the repairs have been covered by warranty? If not are the charges fair? If everything is as it should be and the only concern at this point is the way it was handled call the service dept and make an appointment to speak (not scream) with the service manager and explain the situation. Remeber he/she is already in a defensive position. I'm sure if your expectations are reasonable the dealership will do their best to meet an exceed them by the time you leave. If not you can always go further. Good luck and I hope you can get this situation resolved the easy way.

sefa01

To clarify: On the original paperwork I signed when I left the car, there was nothing about a diagnostic fee or any estimate. I told them verbally and had it on my memo to call me if anything wasn't covered by warranty. When they called, it was to tell me that they'd already done work that wasn't covered by the warranty. Only after I complained did they add the language "Customer hereby acknowledges receiving original estimate of..." to the final paperwork.

If they had called first and explained, I probably would have told them to go ahead and do it. It was their attitude--and their lack of courtesy--that ticked me off, not the work that was done.

3JsVette

I'm sure you are correct! What I was refering to was the "final" invoice copy. I would not be surprised if that acknowledgement is on every copy when a customer pays charges. It seems from what you're telling me the service advisor is the person who failed to meet your expectations. He should have called you and he didn't for what ever reason. The tech probably checked your car and got back to the adviser for him call you and the advisor got side tracked and when the tech asked if he should repair the car he told him to. After the car was done he realized he never got your approval and then he was stuck. Now he needs to tell his manager what happened and you and the manager need to discuss what it's going to take to get you satisfied.

Ikester

I dont know, if they have his signature, that wont fly because legally he has acknowledged the work order

To the OP, its not like they charged you for work not done, the repairs were done. It sucks that you prob may not have budgeted for the final bill but at least the car is in top shape again.

Just dont go back there anymore.

Ol'55

This suggestion has sound advice in it. I was a dealership (yeah, I admit it) service writer and when these occasions happened AND the customer persisted in being made whole, I've seen as a act of closure the Service Manager would reduce the bill to an @ cost price consisting of true dealer cost for parts, and the tech's salary. That I would be satisfied with if in fact you are happy with the work performed. If NOT, then that's a whole new line of action, and a CC dispute should be enacted asap. Best of luck in whatever decision you pursue.

JerriVette

I wouldn't pay if you didnot authorize the work. Call credit card company...call the service manager. call the store manager and then the owner..

I don't like getting hit with a bill when it wasn't authorized.

The bottom line is the service manager should have called prior to doing the work. THOSE WERE YOUR SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS>

JMO

Chevy Guy

Typical service adviser speak. Looking at his car, I would assume its still under a 3/36 bumper to bumper. Everything but normal wear items are covered. There was no mention of accident or performance work issues.

This stinks of predatory dealer tactics. Must have been a slow day.

3JsVette

Thanks for the compliment. Maybe if the service writer in this case was "typical" the O/P wouldn't be in this position in the 1st place. It seems everything was not a warranty issue otherwise there would be no charge. You're correct in saying "there was no mention of accident or performance work issues" but to this point there has been no mention of what the charges were for in the 1st place. "Everything but normal wear items" is not covered. What about road hazard and miss use to name 2 others? At the point of write up that is still to be determined. OK that's enough. Back to original topic.

I understand my orignal post may have offended you and I'm sorry if it did. :o That was not my intention. My point to the O/P was if all warranty was cut and dry he could not have been charged in the 1st place. There would have been no bill and therefore no surprise. For the record I agree that based on the information that we have here the charges were NOT authorized and they should have been. The service advisor failed to meet the customer's expectations by properly doing his job otherwise according to the O/P the car is fixed to his satisfaction. What he's not satisfied with is how he was treated before and after the work was done. That comes back to the individual service writer that he delt with maybe not the dealership. I as well as several others offered a few suggestions for him to consider as to how to start to go about getting compensation. I do think he should be compensated and I'll be surprised if he has to go further than dealership management. Now if he's not and we're going to bash the dealership they have earned it.

Chevy Guy again I apologize - no hard feelings