I decided a little while ago to take out some of my frustrations on crappy service and bad products on a blog and endorse those who actually do a good job. It's my little way to maybe just be a little less annoyed thinking maybe at some point these reviews may help others and myself. Of couse, I alone am unlikely to make a dent. But comments collectively on blogs and forums throughout the web? Who knows.
Biz Done Right: Latest Example
A Honda dealership, (specifically Nanuet Honda, Nanuet, NY), actually has really decent service. Admittedly, this was just my first experience there, but just looking at their whole process seems to indicate this wasn't just a one time fluke.
My Honda Pilot needed its 15,000 mile service. I'd gotten a reminder flyer in the mail and thought maybe I'd try out the dealer for a change. The shop I'd used to keep my Nissan Pathfinder on the road is great, but the dealer had loaner cars, is actually closer, and I figured I'd maybe try it. My experience with Nissan's service had set a low expectation. And general discussion with friends, etc., (including some in the auto industry), pointed to bad dealer experiences. But, the key thing was the easy to get loaner car and the idea that even if something ended up being $50 more, the loaner made up for that and still had the convenience factor.
Drop Off
So I get to the dealer at 7:30 on a Tuesday. I'm not much of a morning person and when your Monday is spent sleeping at an under construction volunteer rescue squad building and waking up to hammers pounding away before heading to your real job... well... last thing you want is to be having car maintenance hassles. When I showed up at the dealer, I just pulled right in to the service area, which kind of looked like a large quick oil lube place. Several service counters were set up. Several customers were being taken care of, but I didn't have to wait. I hopped out and immediately went to an unattended desk. My records were pulled up in seconds and a loaner car was pulled around for me in just minutes. We discussed when I could come pick up the car and I thought, "This is too easy. No way they're going to be done in time for me to get my car back for my evening plans."
Pick Up
I called to confirm the pick up time. I was told it'd be a little after 5. Maybe 5:15. I got there early, dropped off the loaner. It turns out they were going to be 10 minutes late. (Which it actually wasn't. I had just showed up early.) Not too bad. The service guy was very apologetic about it. I'm thinking based on my past experience that 10 minutes is nothing and I was early anyway. The service guy asked me if I wanted to hang out there or go do something else and if so I could still take the loaner. 10 minutes isn't so bad and they have a nice, clean waiting area with wide screen TV, good air conditioner on this hot day and so on. So I hung around and bumped into my original sales guy. So we chatted for awhile, then I went to get my truck. Upon paying my bill I realized something else. The bill was what they said it would be. They didn't magically find anything else wrong or pad anything.
All in all, an overwhelmingly positive experience. Maybe as much due to my low expectations as their actual service, but the bottom line is - at least for my first experience there - they did the right things.
