Didn't happen at any of my local Ram dealers. But maybe if the dealers are crappy, Stellantis can put pressure on them? I know they tell me whenever I get one of their dealer surveys that if I rate them poorly, corporate notices.
Yeah, CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) has been a golden standard of reputation in Dealers. Back in the day, (pre-social media), I was at a upscale Pontiac/GMC dealer. This was in the infancy of CSI. The protocol hinged on mailing post cards out to customer and having them check off a number of things as good, so-so, or bad. There was a spot for commentary as well.
One of the owners was the "front" man of the 2 partners who owned this dealership. He was the public front man, as well as he rubbed elbows with us pee-ons in the trenches. He would come visit us in the service department and shake hands, ask how things were, you know, play the facade of give-a-crap. It made the techs, service writers and most of everyone out in the department "feel good".
That so-called good will got more out of a majority of us service people. One day, I was looking at a large bulletin board that had just been installed solely for the purpose of displaying these CSI postcards that had been filled out and returned. I'd say that the split between the grousers and the praises on these cars was about 60% good and 40% negative. I surmised that it was designed to "inspire us to do better".
This front man owner walks up and asks me what I thought of this new addition to the service department; referring to the bulletin board with these CSI responses.
I responded by saying that I found it rather odd that a company would purposely invite vitriol, and then displaying it. He acted astounded. I further commented that my desire to do MY best had been and never was/is influenced by negative connotations or innuendo; that in fact, I was and still am at the top of my game because I WANT to be so for my own edification, not to thwart negativity or impress anybody else.
I remember playing in team sports as a kid growing up. Those poor, misinformed or otherwise misled Coaches made one HORRIBLE mistake when they tried to prod me to do my best. They would point out some other kid who was faster, better, or otherwise superior to me in physical prowess and say "Look at Jimmy! He can run the 440 in X seconds, why can't you?".
The point that was lost on those coaches was, that putting a negative spin on me by directly implying the other kids' superiority didn't phase my desire to do better one iota, because I WASN'T that kid. Psychologically, It never addressed my potential, but pointed out my faults.
Never in my life have I excelled because someone else did. The fire of excellence came from living well within myself and realizing that the true sweetness of internal success was and still is from holding myself to my own high standards, not some weird perception that I should strive to someone else's ideology.
I march to the beat of a different drummer, so I've been informed MANY times in my life. BS, is my thought. Different from who? What? How?
So, to the point: When shop owners and dealer principals stop regarding technicians as "dogs" or "trailer trash", and reward us as professionals and people with the desire to do well for ourselves and our families, They would likely see the culture turn around and a much better result in the service bays.
Asking people to rank a service is a valuable marketing tool. Using the negative remarks is also a potential path to improvement. But rubbing it in our faces and punishing us techs financially, given all the other financial challenges we techs face, is a non sequitur. As a group, we are better rewarded on OUR merits and good achievements, not based upon a gripe.
Never adhere to the montage of "That'll do" when excellence is SO much more satisfying!
