BrentNY

So i stripped a couple rear wheels bolts last week. Brought it into Mirak chevy, big mistake. Of course I got the column lock recall jazz and told them I didnt want it done. Service writer agreed and off it went. Next day got a call that the wheel bolts were fixed. Great. Now the saga and I'll keep it short. Pulled into the lot and their frantically pushing back my beautiful vette back into the garage. Shop foreman said he flashed the computer to fix the Column lock. Car woulnt run. I said no fooling it wont run, didnt you notice the supercharger on it. Heck the motor isnt a GM product. Idiot. Called my vette guru and had it towed out of there. Turns out my computer was fried and now it has to be retuned. This is not going to be cheap. (see sig) Hopefully that is whats wrong and it will be fixed. I am sick to my stomach over this. I intend to send the bills to them. They better not give me any trouble. I am not dissing all chevy dealers. I have had good experiences with some. Well, Ive learned a hard lesson.

Maniac

Sorry to hear that, Brent. The incompetence level of " technicians " working in the field is sometimes astounding. And, it's not just at GM dealerships. It's everywhere!

I hope the dealer makes good on the damage they did.

ebubman

sorry to hear this. the frequency & level of gross incompetence in most industries these days is frightening. it's a shame we have to check, x2 check & x3 check everything because of mediocre service. i subscribe to the fox muldar school of thought: "trust no one". bub

JLA

Not that I don't feel sorry for you, but damnit! The redundancy of dealer mistakes is logged as a part of American history. I think it should be taught in schools. How many times do we have to hear these horror stories? This is absolutely no disrespect for you, but dealers suck! My opinion is that any mechanic working at a dealer can't find a real job and is wandering through life trying to make ends meet. Why in God's name would he give a crap about a nice car. Chances are, it just pisses him off that he has to go home in his piece of crap '76 Silverado. I could rant on, but I assume you get where I'm coming from. It just makes me mad.

Darion

Man, that really sucks. And to think, you told them not to do the recall, what part of that was so hard to understand? Hope this works out for you and I would send the bill to the dealer as well.

Trainman-2

This is a series of communication problems. You should have had the Service Writer write on the work order "Customer asks that Column Lock Recall not be done"

When I go to my dealer I always write, "No other work to be performed without customer pre-approval."

Write the dealer a nice letter and ask that the problems caused by unauthorized work be corrected at no expense to you. Send it by registered mail with a copy to the Better Business Bureau and hand the Service Manager a copy next time you go there.

Copies to the BBB always get their attention!

Freestyler

id document what happened and get signatures from the service mgr and the technicanian to confirm a. you asked Not to **** with the column lock/etc (just the bolts) and that the Service chap noted this. and b. they did it anyways

while the iron is still hot - get as much legal backup as you can.. when its an old issue they will change their story...

JimAgain

This sounds pretty scary since I also have a blower and there are no LSI Edit guys in the hood (or in the greater pacific NorthWest for that matter). I too would be dead in the water until I could buy LSI edit, load it on my notebook, load my tune in (I do have that file) and re-flash my computer. I believe the cost is still $500 for LSI Edit. I would guess that if your computer's not fried (or when you replace it) you could do the same; or you could send it to whatever shop has your tune file. I understand you not wanting the dealer directly involved in that process

I was not aware that shops had authorization to perform work without the customer's consent. Even if you had not asked them specifically not to perform the CL recall flash, they should always call the customer and get authorization before proceeding with work outside the scope of your original signed and authorized work request. I seriously doubt that my dealer would do this but I will now write NO COLUMN LOCK RECALL if I ever go in.

I am very sorry to hear about this and I wish you the best of luck with your new project.

BrentNY

Everyone made some valid points and certainly food for thought. Next time I will have service rep put it in writing that I do not want to have something done. A good point made is no one should do anything with my car without authorization. I will move quickly to get out a registered letter out to dealer with the details. Thanks for everyones help.