RAM CARES and DRAG LINK RECALL !

[jejb]

Got my truck back late yesterday. Drag link was finally replaced with the new style one and an alignment was done, along with a couple of other warranty things. So it was a bit of a hassle, but it's done.

 

[chri5k]

I have an appointment with my dealer for May 19th for an alignment and drag link replacement. My drag link was welded as part of the initial recall efforts. I will say that the folks at @RamCares do seem to care about the customer. The rep I worked with was polite, empathetic and tenacious. Initially my dealer would not even answer FCA's call. My Ram Cares rep kept after them for nearly 2 months until she finally was able to bring them to the table. In large corporations, people don't make that kind of follow through effort unless they personally care about the customer. The customer care reps have to work under the policies set by senior leadership.

Now as for FCA senior leadership and their policy towards recalcitrant dealers, they could learn a lot from my customer service rep. These customer service reps should not have to work under conditions where dealers can simply ignore their calls and force them to go to such great lengths to serve a customer. FCA senior leadership needs to make it clear to dealers that failing to cooperate with FCA HQ customer care reps damages the RAM and FCA brands. If it were me, I would add new contract language to the franchisee agreement for new dealers and during the renewal of contracts with existing dealers requiring prompt cooperation with FCA HQ customer care reps is mandatory. Failure to cooperate will result in financial and / or other disfavorable treatment by FCA to the dealer.

 

[thkbaron]

yeah even ram cares won't even respond to my questions anymore. guess I wore out my welcome or they are overloaded. It's a good thing I love my truck or I'd bail.

 

[cbach]

As an update, I called and let my case manager know what was going on. A day later, I got a call back saying they had spoken to the service manager at my dealership and the alignment was a go. Called and scheduled the alignment, and it was done on Friday. Had to wait a week and a half, but that is because the dealership was booked solid. I am 100% satisfied with the service I received from @RamCares, my case manager, and my dealership.

 

[18CrewDually]

Just a side note: anyone getting the alignment done, watch for outer edge tire wear. I set them up with 0 toe. Factory specs are too aggressive and will eat tires in most cases. Dealers usually set it to factory numbers.

 

[jejb]

Mine is driving great with the recall drag link and fresh alignment. Just did a 2400 mile trip over the last 4 days, and it was a pleasure to drive. Had a very good sense of the road w/o a lot of little corrections.

 

[RamCares]

yeah even ram cares won't even respond to my questions anymore. guess I wore out my welcome or they are overloaded. It's a good thing I love my truck or I'd bail.

Hi thkbaron,
You will never wear out your welcome with us. We responded to your PM, please take some time to review it and get back with us at your earliest convenience.

Rob
Ram Cares

 

[RamCares]

Of course, cbach! Should any other concerns arise in the future, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Rob
Ram Cares

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

I don`t know about others, but, I`m STILL WAITING for someone to contact me despite my many inquires!

But hey, I`ve only been trying to get this done since LAST OCTOBER!!!!!

 

[426power]

So Kaitlyn has been working with me to get my Drag Link updated since February. I received a call from Cory from Ram Cares who contacted the dealer and made sure they had the new Drag Link. She then connected me with my service department to make the appointment. I take my truck in they call me later and tell me my Drag Link is tight and they will not replace it until told to. I have called Ram Cares back and am awaiting a call from Cory to see what is next. The service manager tells me there is no need for my drag link to be adjusted when I get my front end alignment and there is a service bulletin that everyone has so the can align the front end with just the tie rods. This guy is an idiot. I am very familiar how this works and he acted as if I was an idiot. This is disgraceful for Ram to weld two nuts together and say this is a permanent fix. So my long drawn out attempt to get this fixed correctly continues.

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

The dealers obviously are not on the same page as Ram Cares on the VO6 recall, it`s like most dealers try to find any excuse to avoid doing this recall, it`s a "**** show!"

Rob & Kaitlin, STILL WAITING FOR A MANAGER TO CONTACT ME ABOUT MY RECALL SNAFU!!!

 

[RamCares]

So Kaitlyn has been working with me to get my Drag Link updated since February. I received a call from Cory from Ram Cares who contacted the dealer and made sure they had the new Drag Link. She then connected me with my service department to make the appointment. I take my truck in they call me later and tell me my Drag Link is tight and they will not replace it until told to. I have called Ram Cares back and am awaiting a call from Cory to see what is next. The service manager tells me there is no need for my drag link to be adjusted when I get my front end alignment and there is a service bulletin that everyone has so the can align the front end with just the tie rods. This guy is an idiot. I am very familiar how this works and he acted as if I was an idiot. This is disgraceful for Ram to weld two nuts together and say this is a permanent fix. So my long drawn out attempt to get this fixed correctly continues.

Hi 426power,
We apologize for any dissatisfaction. We have escalated your information to our internal team. Your dealer will be contacting you shortly for further assistance.

Rob
Ram Cares

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

STILL WAITING FOR A RAM CARES MANAGER TO CONTACT ME ABOUT MY SNAFU, HOW HARD IS IT?

 

[18MegaRam]

I had my drag link replaced with the new version, no nut welding here, by an independent shop. Ram fully reimbursed me for labor and material.

 

[426power]

So Kaitlyn has been working with me to get my Drag Link updated since February. I received a call from Cory from Ram Cares who contacted the dealer and made sure they had the new Drag Link. She then connected me with my service department to make the appointment. I take my truck in they call me later and tell me my Drag Link is tight and they will not replace it until told to. I have called Ram Cares back and am awaiting a call from Cory to see what is next. The service manager tells me there is no need for my drag link to be adjusted when I get my front end alignment and there is a service bulletin that everyone has so the can align the front end with just the tie rods. This guy is an idiot. I am very familiar how this works and he acted as if I was an idiot. This is disgraceful for Ram to weld two nuts together and say this is a permanent fix. So my long drawn out attempt to get this fixed correctly continues.

So follow up. Contacted Ram Cares and spoke with Tierra. She contacted my dealer Brunswick Auto Mall Ram and was told they will not do the work. She stated the service manager was rude and argued with her. He advised her to tell me to go else where. Mind you I have never even argued with these guys. She contacted another dealer and they advised they would do the swap no problem. She sent them the part and when they get it they will call to set up the appointment. I did contact the General manager at Brunswick Auto Mall and was advised by him that Ram Cares can not authorize the repair and that has to come directly from Ram Tech. These people at this dealership are a disgrace to the industry. This is my first Ram and may be my last after this. In the mean time I will wait to see if the other dealership even calls me to set up the appointment. A lot of getting the run around here. Disgusted.

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

I had a similar experience with Jack Powell in Escondido Ca....
In the end, after I was promised that they would tag and hold the part for me, they gave MY PART to someone else!!!!

When I tried to contact my Ram Cares rep, my email was auto-returned with a notation that my case was closed!

Kaitlin said they would open a new case and someone would be contacting me, it`s been crickets ever since, this despite my many attempts/requests for a manager to contact me!

I`ll be looking at a FORD dually in the fall, done with FCA!

 

[chri5k]

Will you then be know as Rick Ford-jet on the Ford forums?

 

[Michael]

From my experience ram cares makes things worse. I’ve had much better luck with calling fca when having trouble with my dealer taking care of problems with my truck. From my experience with the local dealer, fca and the ram my next truck won’t be a ram either.

 

[chri5k]

Just got my 2016 2500 back from the dealer with the new drag link and fresh front end alignment. Big shout out to Destiny, Kaitlyn and the @RamCares team! It took some doing but with persistence on their part and patience on my part it got done.

 

[Earl Zeis]

At the dealer now getting the updated drag link installed. Bob with Ram Cares is who I dealt with. Also Customer service agent Dynasty. Between the two I'm getting the updated drag link and alignment at FCA expense. No welding on my truck! Took about a week and a half from first contact with Ram Cares till the dealer got the authorization.

Bob and Dynasty were great to work with. I was going to pay out of pocket then try to get reimbursed. But decided to contact Ram Cares to see if they'd eat it. Dealer was no help at all. I had to do everything to get it approved.

Update: rolled out of the dealer at no cost to me with the upgraded drag link and alignment. Next step will be to make sure the recall gets closed out.

Update: as of 06/13/2021 my recall has been closed out as per my Ram owners account.


Earl