# Dealers and "appointments"?



## critclimbs (Jul 1, 2015)

Hi, I'm just wondering whether the following is common behavior or whether I should seek another dealer.

Local Dealer 1 (LD1): I had a weird car issue last January. Called dealer on Sat., they assured me they could take care of it, oh yes, of course, we do that all the time. Called Monday to make "appointment". Brought car in to its "appointment" on Wednesday. LD1 did not touch car Weds or Thursday. When I called to check -again- on Friday, they said "oh, no, we can't do that (issue)!!". I retrieved the car the next day, since they had gone home for the day. Summary: lied about repair, appointment means nothing, my car sat still in their possession for 3 days. I took it elsewhere for the actual repair.

Local Dealer 2 (newly opened): I need to get the emissions software update fro my TDI. I call to make "appointment", and I am given a very specific time of day, in 2 weeks. I ask how long this will take: "ohhh, several hours" (for a software update??). I ask whether they can verify that my car will get done that day: "It -should- be done that day". 

So I ask: what does "appointment" mean? If I showed up to my dentist for an 8:30 cleaning and he couldn't get around to it until sometime the next day, well, I'd never be going there again. 

Is this common for Audi dealers? I got much better service at the place I bought the car, several states away. 
If it's uncommon, recommendations for a dealer who will flash the software at my appointed time in eastern PA/west NJ are welcomed.


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## forumname (Aug 30, 2008)

It really varied by dealer. Typically if they have a good idea of what's going on, then it gets done on time. For instance, if they know they need to change the brake pads, they allot X hours for that job and schedule it. Let's say that you had a periodic engine issue. They might book a time, the engine sensor doesn't throw up anything and they have to do detective work. It could take longer than they think.

Dealers pay their staff for a full workday. If a bay is sitting empty its bad for them. Ideally they want the service bays full and things booked properly. It sounds like this didn't work out for you and they did a terrible job of communicating. I'd let the dealer owner/manager know.

For the second place, contact the service manager and talk nicely to him/her. They should be able to guarantee that it gets done in a day.


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