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I am making this post for many reasons, one of which is to try and relieve some pent up anger. So please bear with me…
It was raining yesterday, quite heavily. I had to go out, so I jumped into my car, turned on the engine, then the windscreen wipers and drove off. Within a few moments the wipers had stopped mid-screen! I moved the arm to another position - nothing. Then another position - still nothing. Then I turned them off - they started to move very fast and then stopped in an upright position; then jerked down and stopped; then jerked down a bit more and stopped again, etc, etc, etc. I had to pull over at one point as I couldn't see where I was going!
Furious, I decided to go straight to the dealer; B&Q would have to wait.
It took 10 minutes to get to the dealer and the wipers still had a mind of their own. So I stayed in the car while Ruth (my missus) went inside to get a mechanic. I wanted someone to see the fault occurring first hand, in my presence. I feared that if they didn't it would miraculously fix itself and they wouldn't be able to find anything wrong.
A few moments later she came out alone and told me they wouldn’t send anyone out. That was it, I was fuming. So trying to remain calm, I went inside and had it out with them. The girl at the service desk wouldn’t budge. ‘We can’t send someone out to fix it’, she said.
‘I don’t want the fault diagnosed, nor fixed. I want someone to see it. I want to make sure that it is acknowledged and you aren’t just going to fob me off tomorrow with a We couldn’t find anything wrong’, I replied.
She was still playing hard-ball, adding it would have to be left with them. So I then asked for a courtesy car.
‘We don’t have any.’
‘Well that’s not good enough. Have you seen the monsoon outside?’ I pointed outside where the rain had got worse. ‘You’ll have to order us a taxi!’
‘I’m not authorised to do that.’
I was finding it increasingly difficult to remain calm. ‘Well I would like to speak to someone that is!’
(I once heard someone on a talk show say, ‘Never accept a no from someone not empowered to say yes’ It’s very good advice.)
Eventually, a more senior member of staff came out to see what all the fuss was about. So I directed my frustration towards him. They then decided to get a mechanic out to have a look at my car. More to shut me up than anything else I think.
Within 30 seconds he said we need a new wiper motor. So we returned to the service desk, where the mechanic informed them of his findings.
We were then told that they had a cancellation and had a courtesy car for us! What a coincidence!
However, the new motor was going to have to be ordered and it would be with them the next day. I then added that the clutch pedal was squeaking and the driver’s door was crunching when you open and close it.
We left the car with them and drove home in a Punto that had seen better days.
6 hours later, at 4:45pm, I received a telephone call at home. It turns out they had a wiper motor in stock and it had been replaced. However, they would like me to delay collecting my car until tomorrow. (Probably because they want to go home in 15 minutes!) Oh, the other parts were on order too. What other parts? I thought.
They had greased the clutch pedal, but couldn’t fix the squeak, so decide to replace one of the clutch cylinders. (I was slightly confused by this drastic intention.) Also the strap for the driver’s door needs replacing and that is on order too. (Yet more seemingly drastic work for curing a mere squeak, but what the heck - I’m not paying for it.)
Are you still awake? For those that still are, I am nearly finished.
I picked the car up this morning and was asked to bring it back on Thursday. I checked my car for damage (I always do this after leaving it with them) and drove home. It started to rain. I turned on my wipers. Within 10 seconds they had stopped mid-stroke. AAARRGGGHHH!!! They hadn’t done a bleedin’ thing!
I was too angry to go back, so I continued home and telephoned them. I have just got off the phone with the service department in the last few minutes. She assured me they had changed the motor. I don’t believe them. ‘Do you want to bring it back to us? She asked. What’s the point I thought.
‘No. Leave it. I am coming back on Thursday, they can look at it again then.’ The call ended.
My head hurts it’s pounding that much. Now my fingers hurt from all this typing. I haven’t any new conclusions to draw from this experience, yet, other than the already well known fact that Fiat are a bunch of imbeciles.
_________________________
2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
It was raining yesterday, quite heavily. I had to go out, so I jumped into my car, turned on the engine, then the windscreen wipers and drove off. Within a few moments the wipers had stopped mid-screen! I moved the arm to another position - nothing. Then another position - still nothing. Then I turned them off - they started to move very fast and then stopped in an upright position; then jerked down and stopped; then jerked down a bit more and stopped again, etc, etc, etc. I had to pull over at one point as I couldn't see where I was going!
Furious, I decided to go straight to the dealer; B&Q would have to wait.
It took 10 minutes to get to the dealer and the wipers still had a mind of their own. So I stayed in the car while Ruth (my missus) went inside to get a mechanic. I wanted someone to see the fault occurring first hand, in my presence. I feared that if they didn't it would miraculously fix itself and they wouldn't be able to find anything wrong.
A few moments later she came out alone and told me they wouldn’t send anyone out. That was it, I was fuming. So trying to remain calm, I went inside and had it out with them. The girl at the service desk wouldn’t budge. ‘We can’t send someone out to fix it’, she said.
‘I don’t want the fault diagnosed, nor fixed. I want someone to see it. I want to make sure that it is acknowledged and you aren’t just going to fob me off tomorrow with a We couldn’t find anything wrong’, I replied.
She was still playing hard-ball, adding it would have to be left with them. So I then asked for a courtesy car.
‘We don’t have any.’
‘Well that’s not good enough. Have you seen the monsoon outside?’ I pointed outside where the rain had got worse. ‘You’ll have to order us a taxi!’
‘I’m not authorised to do that.’
I was finding it increasingly difficult to remain calm. ‘Well I would like to speak to someone that is!’
(I once heard someone on a talk show say, ‘Never accept a no from someone not empowered to say yes’ It’s very good advice.)
Eventually, a more senior member of staff came out to see what all the fuss was about. So I directed my frustration towards him. They then decided to get a mechanic out to have a look at my car. More to shut me up than anything else I think.
Within 30 seconds he said we need a new wiper motor. So we returned to the service desk, where the mechanic informed them of his findings.
We were then told that they had a cancellation and had a courtesy car for us! What a coincidence!
However, the new motor was going to have to be ordered and it would be with them the next day. I then added that the clutch pedal was squeaking and the driver’s door was crunching when you open and close it.
We left the car with them and drove home in a Punto that had seen better days.
6 hours later, at 4:45pm, I received a telephone call at home. It turns out they had a wiper motor in stock and it had been replaced. However, they would like me to delay collecting my car until tomorrow. (Probably because they want to go home in 15 minutes!) Oh, the other parts were on order too. What other parts? I thought.
They had greased the clutch pedal, but couldn’t fix the squeak, so decide to replace one of the clutch cylinders. (I was slightly confused by this drastic intention.) Also the strap for the driver’s door needs replacing and that is on order too. (Yet more seemingly drastic work for curing a mere squeak, but what the heck - I’m not paying for it.)
Are you still awake? For those that still are, I am nearly finished.
I picked the car up this morning and was asked to bring it back on Thursday. I checked my car for damage (I always do this after leaving it with them) and drove home. It started to rain. I turned on my wipers. Within 10 seconds they had stopped mid-stroke. AAARRGGGHHH!!! They hadn’t done a bleedin’ thing!
I was too angry to go back, so I continued home and telephoned them. I have just got off the phone with the service department in the last few minutes. She assured me they had changed the motor. I don’t believe them. ‘Do you want to bring it back to us? She asked. What’s the point I thought.
‘No. Leave it. I am coming back on Thursday, they can look at it again then.’ The call ended.
My head hurts it’s pounding that much. Now my fingers hurt from all this typing. I haven’t any new conclusions to draw from this experience, yet, other than the already well known fact that Fiat are a bunch of imbeciles.
_________________________
2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
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