Old Library

Needless to say I am not thrilled.  I have a small leak from a faulty foam
seal on my rear tail lights after I was rear ended in January.  I just wanted
to get a new seal put on.  I called every dealer here in NYC (Koeppel, Bay
Ridge, Bayside, Garden City) before calling Donaldsons.
When I spoke to the service department, I explained about the seal and
stressed that I needed it to be put on today.  The person (male) that I spoke
to agreed that it appeared to be a simple job and said that they would do it
that same day if the service department had the part in stock.  I was then
transferred to the parts department where I spoke to a rep there named Joe.  I
repeated the entire story again.  He went and found the part and told me to
come on in.  He even wrote my name on the taillight.  I then drove there from
home, this being a 50 mile drive from NYC, even getting slightly lost on the
Southern State Parkway.
When I finally got there, I saw several customers there in front of myself
getting excellent customer service.  I felt comforted at the level of service
I saw there until I got to the front of the line.  When I got there, I
repeated my story for the umpteenth time and was met with this disbelieving
look.  Every worker in the service department was asked if I called there
while I was still standing there and no one claimed to remember my call less
than an hour ago.  I was told to stand to the side and at this point I started
to feel highly embarrassed and very irritated as there was no way that I would
have driven all that way for nothing to be treated like a kid.  I work at FAO
Schwarz on Fifth Avenue and we would not dare treat our customers this way by
shoving them to the side.
Finally, another service associate (John) came into the service area and came
over to assist us.  I took him out to my car and showed him the problem.  He
looked and agreed that the seal need replacing and took me back into the
service department to do the paperwork.  At this point he asked me if the car
had ever been in an accident to which I truthfully replied yes.  He then
informed me that if the nonworking seal was a result of the accident, that VW
would not cover that under warranty.  I then told him to go ahead and have a
look at it but not to fix it if it was not covered under warranty. He agreed
to this and I went to browse in the showroom (as we all like to do as much as
possible).
At this point, I was starting to calm down from the rudeness and attitude from
the service department.  I then said hello to the salesmen and saleswoman I
saw there and no one acknowledged my presence there except for the saleswoman.
I then wandered around the showroom and tried to get into the cars there.
Everything there was locked (with the windows down) except for the Passat. I
stuck my body up to the waist into every car there and no one came over to
help me.  I almost fell into the Golf there and the salesman next to it looked
at me and kept on doing his paperwork.  I knelt next to the Jetta and check
out all the shocks, springs, exhaust AND no one even tried to inquire what I
was doing.  I checked out the spoiler and body kit of the new Beetle and no
one acknowledged my existence.
However, several people came in through the front door and they were greeted
and car doors were opened for them.  Some were even taken for test drives.
I should point out that I was dressed down in sweats and polar fleece.  Also I
was unshaven and am of Asian descent while everyone there were all white.
Am I upset?  Yes.  Like I said before, I work at FAO Schwarz and we live and
die by our customer service.  Our customers are always right and are always
acknowledged.  One bad shopping experience gets told to at least 10 other
people.  My wife may need her own car in June and I did always hear good
things from fellow listers about Donaldsons.  Sadly, I did not have the same
experience.
Was it racial?  I don't know.
Was my story unbelievable?  Anyone who knows me would deny that.  Also, why
would I drive more than 100 miles for that when I could have told the same
story to all the dealers in NYC that are all within a 15 mile radius of my
house?
Does their attitude and customer service suck?  You bet!  They just lost AT
LEAST a $25,000 sale not to mention all my friends that I will tell to avoid
them. And I do have 4 people that I am turning away from Honda to VW.
I will be writing them a letter as well.
Very Irritated from reliving that experience,
Rendy
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