Service?

I remember the days when I would board a plane wearing my nice clothes, when I’d go into NYC wearing white gloves, when the gas was put into my tank by attendants and they’d check my oil and wash my windows. And believe it or not, I’m not even ancient, yet.

I know pumping my own gas saves on extra people in the stations and seriously white gloves? But wearing pajamas on planes really irks me. But the worst thing I think of this new societal norms is the lack of customer service. No one seems to really care anymore.

Everyone seems to be in it only for themselves and no one is willing to help the other person. Why not? What made us become so selfish of a society that we only look our for number one?

Recently, I purchased a 2017 Honda Accord. It looked like a nice little second hand car. Good mileage, clean inside and had lots of accessories. I purchased it from an actual person at an actual dealership. I thought we made a connection. We did the back and forth financial dance and I purchased the extra warranty since the car was a bit older. Feel good all around, so I thought.

For six months, I loved that little extra car. Handled well, had fun features, great sound system, the works. Then one day, I noticed something strange. The side pillars along the side windows between the driver’s door and the passenger door started to “bubble”. It looked the the adhesive was melting. I’ve owned many, many cars in my lifetime (remember, borderline ancient) and never once have I seen this occur. I got on the phone and made an appointment to my super friendly dealership, with whom I just developed this great relationship. Lo and behold, I was no longer relevant in their eyes. I was now not purchasing a vehicle but just another of their endless complainers.

When I arrived at said appointment, before the car was even out of the service bay, I was told by a service attendant, “That’s not under warranty”. Oh, and this gem “It will be $85.00 to diagnose the problem” What? I hadn’t even said 2 words yet. And tell me if I’m wrong, didn’t you, Mr. pleasant service advisor just “diagnose” the problem. Being a glutton for punishment, I left the car, hoping the outcome would be better from a mechanic’s point of view. Nope. Received a call back within the hour, from said service advisor, (notice how I don’t refer to him as a customer service representative?), that this was an environmental issue not a warranty issue. What?

I went back to pick up my tainted, (in my eyes), car and tried to speak to the service manager. He literally handed me a memo sheet stating that because of direct sunlight beams off of certain glass it can cause this anomaly. So, Honda Accords are not to be parked outside, apparently. This was news to me. Being the not so ancient, yet wise person that I am, I went home to research this phenomenon. I found a handful of other instances in which this has happened. I also found that some dealers would fix this problem as a one-time good will gesture. I decided that I would pursue that avenue but at a different Honda dealership. I drove a bit further and talked to a very nice service attendant who brought the car back into the service bay (no mention of having a diagnostic fee this time) and within the hour was told the same thing. Environmental issue, cost to fix $700. I was definitely not pleased. However, this lovely, more helpful soul suggested I reach out directly to Honda. I am pausing here to laugh hysterically. I theory, reaching out to Honda would be a fine choice, if Honda actually had someone with which to discuss this problem. Many phone numbers leading me into circles, I finally got a case number which means, well, nothing at all.

So letter writing commences. The first “contact” I find no longer exists. The second e-mail address I write to, the mail box is full and the third one has yet to respond. Apparently, Honda stands for “Hold On, Not Doing Anything”. This company that I once thought would have had excellent customer service, actually has zero. A huge corporation that can not help one individual sold her a car that can not be outside.

What a sad society in which we live. The greed is too high and the people are left with feelings of anger and hurt. Honda, I really expected service from you.