Senator Ford Experience:
In my business (I own a car stereo shop in Roseville, CA) I have occasions to help out local car dealers who have customers with aftermarket alarms and need help making them work properly or understanding how they work. We happily encourage the dealers to have their customers drive to our shop-and if we can help them in the parking lot in a few minutes’ time there’s no charge. If it’s more involved, we then go over options for repair or additional troubleshooting scheduled in our shop. We also explain function and basics to automotive repair personnel when they run up against aftermarket security systems that they're unfamiliar with in customer cars. These same car dealerships tend to help us out with radio codes for customers who have factory radios that stop working when the battery or radio has been disconnected.
Today I was trying to find information for a customer’s 2005 Ford F250 which has non-functioning reverse lights. What Ford tends to do is label the fusebox with numbers, which you need to cross-reference against the owner’s manual. Well, many times when people have bought a vehicle secondhand, the owner’s manual is missing, so we were at a loss. I figured I’d call a local Ford dealership, the one that’s close to the home where I’ve lived for the past 16 years in South Sacramento. I’ve always thought highly of this dealership because they’ve chosen to stay in an area that’s not the best neighborhood, even remodeling their store and participating in the Florin Road Partnership with other local businesses to help improve the area around Florin Road in South Sacramento.
I called the dealership, where the phone was answered by a very polite gal who transferred me to the service department. Rick Eggeman was the service advisor who I was connected to and I mentioned that I was trying to help out a customer (we weren’t charging our customer to check out the reverse light issue, we were actually doing some other, unrelated work on the truck) and that my shop was in Roseville-hoping he could help me with a bit of technical info-namely the fuse location for reverse lights on this truck. I completely understand that this might have been a hassle for him, or simply not within the scope of his role as service advisor, and a polite, diplomatic “sorry I can’t help” or suitable recommendation would have sufficed. Instead Rick said that my shop “wasn’t even close” to them, implying that I was trying to get some type of free service, he told me that I should buy a Haynes manual (which, btw, usually don’t contain detailed information for electrical systems on vehicles), and then he said “happy motoring” before hanging up.
It took a moment for it to register, that he had just blown me off. I felt irritated, so I called him back to clarify, I asked him if he had just blown me off and he confirmed that he wasn’t going to spend time going to look something up. I indicated that I lived around the corner from the dealership for the past 16 years and he interjected “yeah, and you were going to buy 1000 vehicles from us…” and I responded that my father had just purchased a vehicle from them. He again threw in the “happy motoring” and hung up.
Why does this bother me so much? I get calls from individuals trying to figure out challenges they have with their stereos or alarms all the time. Though I’m wise enough not to spend too much time walking them through something they’re entirely unfamiliar with, I will lend insight that might save them time or help them, or at least make recommendations to reach a resolution for their situation. I see this as creating goodwill, and I feel that it is smart business, and perhaps “long-term” thinking as opposed to short-term thinking. What Rick did was basically tell me that I was worthless as a potential customer and that nothing I ever did would benefit their company enough for him to be polite or diplomatic.
Even if my father didn’t recently buy a vehicle from Senator Ford, even if he didn’t drive up from South San Francisco to utilize their service department (a 2 hour drive each way and he’s 70 years old), I think people like Rick should still give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m not even asking him to waste his time but merely be polite, recognizing that I’m a potential customer, that I might make recommendations based on my experiences at Senator Ford. I’ve purchased parts there, and I always figured that I’d buy my next Ford vehicle (I’ve owned 2 Rangers in the past, both purchased new from dealerships) there because of how they benefit the neighborhood I’ve inhabited from 1989-2006. Now the dealership is cast in an entirely different light, and this sour experience has prompted me to let others know of the experience I’ve had with this dealership.
Not one to assume that Rick’s actions were commonplace at this dealership, I called again and asked for the general manager, (Dan French), and I was transferred to his voicemail. I relayed details in a calm manner, leaving my name and number, but haven’t heard back from him. It makes me sad that the dealership I thought so highly of has made me think that since I didn’t walk in and spend a significant amount of money today at the dealership that it isn’t worth the time or effort to simply be diplomatic and polite. All Rick had to do was be polite and say “sorry, I can’t help”. Think of how much better this would have turned out if he’d simply referred me to Motorcraft.com, where I was able to find the manual online and figure out that fuse #8 was the fuse that covered the reverse lights. This fuse was missing from Curtis’ (our customer) truck, and I simple installed the proper fuse to restore operation to his reverse lights.
Now I’m completely sour on Senator Ford, and I’m determined to prove Rick wrong, since I’ll tell everyone I know both professionally and personally about my experience. Rick, you are wrong. Shame on you for treating your customers with contempt, and thinking that you can tell which customers will benefit your business and which will not. I suspect that you’ll never benefit from simply being principled, being nice and polite, and then seeing how customers reciprocate for kindness. Your bitterness and condescending “all knowing” approach to business will forever limit the positive experiences you have as well as long-term referrals and repeat business. Good for you if you already have enough business to turn it away. I’ve only owned my company for 15 years, and each of my employees “gets it” on a gut level. We treat people well even when we know that they likely won’t buy something from us, it’s just the principled thing to do. We take pride in giving driving directions to people as well as walking elderly ladies and couples to the correct store in our shopping center. I see it as being a friendly neighborhood mom and pop operation. Perhaps I’m not wise enough to protect myself from people who are wasting my time and not putting money directly into my pocket, perhaps I’m on to something. Again, shame on you.
Update: I did some thinking, and I believe that in the 15 years I've owned my business, each time I've called a dealership with questions they've been helpful and polite, some even going out of their way to help. All Rick had to do was be polite, I didn't even have the expectation that he would or had to help me necessarily. All I expected was for someone to be courteous, and/or make a recommendation, one way or another.