Well, today was by far, the third, and final time, that I bring one of my vehicles into the service department at Toyota of Des Moines. I was very optimistic when today first began. I thought to myself "Well, Im not bringing my xB into the department today, so there is no way that something can go wrong"

Now I never figured that any of the problems with my xB should have been addressed, after all it is a highly modified vehicle and I expect to have to wait 2-3 hours for an oil change since I know that it will be difficult due to it being the way it is. I was a little disappointed in the fact that when I get it back and look at the Inspection Sheet that either nothing is marked off, or it is all "Checked and Okay" I understand that the techs have feelings too, and when presented with a challenge such as my car I know that patience gets tested and things are forgotten. Like filling the windshield washer fluid, checking the tire depth, or even the air pressure.

But on your run of the mill 4wd V6 unmolested yet rusty 1990 Toyota 4Runner, I felt that would be something that surely, would be hassle and problem free. Much to my surprise, it was not.

I showed up at 7:47 this morning for my appointment, which I guess when you make online the scheduler puts you in for the last vehicle you have had in there, as Phil asked me if I was supposed to be having the xB serviced today, as that is what it said on my preprinted RO. No big deal, I understand that happens. I went inside and finished a little report that I needed to, and in about an hour and 15 minutes I was paged over the intercom that my truck was done. a little impersonal, but I understand that the department gets busy and you cant come out and present the Inspection sheet to every customer, its just not feasible. Phil did make a point to come and see me as I was paying to explain a couple things to me about the techs findings. I payed my bill and went out to wait for my car to be pulled up for me. Put my laptop in the passenger seat, adjusted the seat, and went off on my marry way.

At 12:56 I received a phone call from the dealership. Not from the service adviser, not from the tech, but from someone who knows me personally at the dealership that I should probably come back to pick something up. I drove up there, thinking that this was a ploy for me to go buy lunch or something along those lines. Little to my surprise, during my service the air filter for my vehicle was removed to inspect it, but never returned to the car. This prompted 2 feelings out me. 1) How the hell do you forget to put an air filter back in a car? and 2) why did the service adviser not call. this was apparently spotted about an hour after I left, which would have been around 9:45, yet I was not notified till almost 1. Can someone please explain to me that system works? Would that not be something that is pretty common sense? And yes, once I heard that, I checked both my oil filter and drain plug to make sure that I had both of those, given your track record, I should praise you for remembering those items.

Thank you for your time.

Don Petrunak

Don,
Actually I will thank you for your time and for making me aware of the situation that occurred today. I have no good logical excuse for why this happened other than the truth and maybe it is a good time to try and revamp the process, although this is not a common instance. The process involves the technician bringing the filters to the service advisor for inspection and verification and to show the customer. Due to the time constraints the technician will a lot of times go back to work on the veh, completing the inspection topping off fluids etc... if the filters are purchased the advisor will discard the old ones and tell the tech to replace them. If they are not purchased the advisor will return the filters to the tech for reinstallation. This is where the error occurred. The filters were set on the work bench due to the tech being in the middle of adding oil at the time. It appears that he then failed to return to the filter and went about completing the remainder of the service. I will tell you the this is the newest of our express lube technicians and is qualified but is also new to our processes. I understand that this does not make the situation any better but again it is the truth. I have also talked to Phillip the advisor and he informs me that he did indeed call and leave message at the phone number on file roughly 20-25 minutes after you left. If you did not receive this message I am not sure why. Again I offer my apology and want you to know that it is truly not our norm. We service an average of 185 customer vehicles per day, this would not be the case if we handled them all as we have you. Admittedly, there seem to be customers that once you drop the ball it just keeps rolling away from you.

Thank you for the feedback


Ron Short
Service Manager
Toyota of Des Moines

Ron,

If Phillip called, I never got anything, and I called into my desk phone at work, and there was nothing there. I would like to know what number you have on file. the correct one should be 3XX-6XX0, I have gotten calls from you all in the past, many prerecorded from either sales or service. I understand the whole process, as this isnt my first trip to your service department (which is why we are having this conversation now, arent we?) but I was not even shown the air filter. Had I seen it, I would have had it replaced, it was in horrible shape. When I got there I walked into the department and Fred was waiting there to apologize to me, I understand the being new, not used to the process thing, thats not what set me off, its just that everytime that I seem to come into the department something happens that makes me wonder why I still bring my vehicles to you all. It cant be the great level of service that I receive, and I have severe doubts about the complementary donuts and coffee, so why in the world would I keep bringing my cars and money to you?

As far as "filtergate" goes, Mr. Short, I can bring it by for you sometime, having stopped at Napa on my way home and getting a new one, after driving across town again to retrieve the old one. Its a very good thing that I make sure that when I have to come to the service department there, I clear my whole day, and hopefully, I dont have to worry about a lot of damage to my personal vehicle. Thank you for the email, and send my condolences to the other 184 people that were there Monday, and hey, the future is looking up for you all, there are plenty of other people out there that just bought new Toyota's (thanks to CFC) for your department to "Drop the ball" on.

Don

The 3XX-6XX0 is the number on file. No need to bring the filter by.
Thank you for your time.