Service at dealership woes - RAM CARE

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ashman155

Junior Member
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Sep 9, 2021
Posts
21
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Location
Edmonton,Alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi
Dealership woes; I got a couple good ones for you.
1) I worked in Northern western Alberta as a field operator in the bush.(oil & gas) at the time I had a Ram W50 4x4 it was not a year or just over as warranty was over because of the mileage. i would put on in a month pretty close to 5-6000 miles as I drove home after my 20 day shift which was a 12 hour drive. anyhow my front 4 wheel drive went. i managed to get it home, had phoned the dealer about getting it in when I got home, told them when I needed the truck, they said no problem it will be done. perfect. drove down next day was in the shop, again i was guaranteed it would be done by a certain time frame. Ok. well 5 days later i called nope not ready, why? parts issue, ok when call in three days, ok. Three days later called nope not ready, parts aren't hear yet, but call in two days and we should have it ready, by then it still was not ready but we will work on it over the weekend ok. Now I had to leave sunday for the north. By then my time was ticking to get back north especially the drive, my boss said when I called him no worries get here when you can. So in the mean time i was going to get a air ticket for my dad to fly back as he was going to go with me, but when I drove by the dealership I had this feeling, so I stopped in and checked. Nope no parts and don't know when they are getting here. i was steaming. I went and got the ticket for myself, flew up, lucky i was training with my boss for the whole time I was there which I didn't know until I got there. two weeks into my rotation the ex phones me and told me the truck is ready to roll. I said that thing will sit there when I get back. Got home after 20 days flew out of course. went to the dealer the next day, they tried to give me a $5000 repair bill. I lite into them like a fire ******* and told them I lost 3 days wages, $5000 for the month and airfare plus you told me it was going to be ready for when I go back north which it wasn't so somebody better cough up. I was loud enough they heard me in the show room. I even threatened them with a lawyer for their incompetence. Man they disappeared to the back and I only had to pay $25 for the paper work. They swallowed everything because of their stupidity. That night I bought a new truck for the job, wasn't going to put up with the BS again.
2) Worked in the oil sands needed the truck to get to work as I lived in a campground with no transportation to the plant site an hour from where i was living. anyhow the truck went on the fritz had it towed to the dealer up there. phoned the next day as what could have been the problem, I was told no problem we will look at it. call in two days, ok was the response. So i did in two days, weeeelllllll that call from the service department went like this "No we don't look at towables we take care of our customers first" What was my response, repeated the same answer even though I was a customer. basically what they where telling me you didn't buy your vehicle here so it sits on the bottom of the list and then WE will look at it when we have time.
That got my dander up pretty quick my next call was to Customer Care Service and told them what had just happened to me by this dealership and why i needed this truck fixed. two days later I got a call from the dealership telling me the truck was ready. This peeved someone at the dealership when I made that call. it doesn't matter where you are from you should get that vehicle served whether you bought it from them or not.
the dealers in this town where so bad that anyone had their vehicles hauled south to get repaired at $400 a pop. This trucking outfit was making a killing on these hauls.
 

Sherman Bird

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Jun 28, 2019
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Location
Houston, Texas
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.2
Very OLD story. I was in manufacturer's dealerships north of 2 decades between GM and Ford. Same story, different manufacturer. Inasmuch as the dealers are independent businesses, they enjoy certain freedoms, but with caveats regarding brand oversight. The LAST thing any of them want is for Big Daddy to call from upon high at the ivory towers in Michigan! It seems that there are times where a person has to sick "Daddy" onto an irreverent child (Disdainful Dealer). It doesn't seem to matter whose cars they are. As long as human greed is a factor, there will be the need for checks and balances in their places. Good luck!
 

Sherman Bird

Senior Member
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Location
Houston, Texas
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.2
That's my thought too. I guess my expectations are way too low for dealer experiences as well.

I commend ya for going 10k miles on the factory oil. I could never bring myself to go even half of that.

I also haven't had anyone change my oil for me in like 30yrs, mainly because of stories like these.
I constantly see the results of my long time customers (their demographics put them in the upper 2%) going to a quickie oil change place, then bring their vehicle to me for a problem and, as a side note, aske me to check out a "new oil leak". Invariably, the filter isn't even close to tight or the oil drain plug gasket is missing, the dipstick is sticking up, etc..... all so they can jump over a dollar to save a penny.

Go figure!
 

SouthernGent1500

Junior Member
Joined
May 16, 2019
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Orlando, FL
Ram Year
2019
Engine
5.7 HEMI!
Hi, Is there a Thread on HOW TO change oil and other basic reoccurring maintenance? I would love to Learn the correct way and do it myself after reading this.
 
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