Charge an hour labor to look at a cracked dash? Seriously? That is pretty warped......

 

2005 is the newest year model I have heard this complaint about. Guess I need to inform my son, just in case his 2006 starts to show signs such as brittleness.....

 

No joke. I had a "what did he just say?" moment. Asked him to repeat it just to make sure. He did tell me that if I had them fix it (pay them) they would waive the diagnosic fee. I had explained to him that the Dodge Customer Service Rep had instructed me to go to the dealership, and that she would follow up with them-didn't matter.

Being sure this was a mistake, I told him no thanks, I would call Dodge back and get this straightened out. When I got the response from the csr, she said that was correct for the dealer to charge me a "diagnostic fee" and if I was unwilling to pay it(and have the truck fixed) their was nothing she could do and she would closed the file.

To be clear, it is not the $85 (well it is) I don't care if it is $10 or $1000, to charge me to just look at a defect to try to get me to commit to a huge repair bill on the outside chance Dodge will help me out on the cost has really pissed me off. I don't get treating customers like that. This is the second new dodge truck I have purchased, and even went out there and bought a Crossfire a few years back, but this is it-not because the dash cracked, but how it was handled. I told the csr, I would make it my mission in life to let people know about this crap. It just makes no sense, it will cost them much more in the long run than if they would have just fixed the dash.

 

^^^ That's why I buy old junk, for old junk money

 

No cracks in my 97, but it really never sits out in the sun.

 

I am real curious just what it is they are attempting to 'diagnose'...... I mean, seriously, my 5 year old grand daughter could look in to a truck, and see the dash was cracked...... doesn't take a friggin genius. Are they going to run tests, and see if it was UV light, or possibly aliens that made it disintegrate?

That's just stupid. But, about what I expect from a corporate entity..... they have their heads too far up their *** to be able to see the world around them.

 

I dont think the sun has nothing to do with it its dodge using cheap dash plastic .i dont think 97 had the issue anyway i think it started in 98?

 

The sun is a factor, or else the aftermarket dash and even Dodge would not have added a UV resistive polymer to the plastic formulation. It is about cheap plastic...without UV protection and heat resistance. I was working as an engineer for a Tier 1 automotive supplier and in 98, all automotive manufacturers were pushing sullpiers to reduce wieght and cost of materials........

 

Man, you sound just like me. Just to let you know how this went the following is the replies I received from Dodge and my replies to them after my intial contact and her directions to go to the dealership.(I have not heard from them since, so I'm pretty sure my file is closed..)



Dear Terry:

Thank you for contacting the Dodge Customer Assistance Center.

All dealerships require a diagnostic before a repair can be completed,
when a repair is completed at the time or shortly after a diagnostic,
these fees are usually waived. If you choose not to have the vehicle
repaired, you will be required to pay the diagnostic fee for the
dealership to look at the vehicle. A diagnostic and estimate are
required before we can offer any kind of assistance, if you are still
wanting assistance, please advise us the time and date of your
appointment. Otherwise I will be closing your file if you are not
willing to have the dealership diagnose the vehicle.

Thanks again for your email.

Sincerely,

Amanda

Customer Service Representative
Dodge Customer Assistance Center

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Comments:
Amanda, I just spoke with the service dept. at Efirds about looking at
the
dashboard. He told me I would have to drop it off (next Wed) and they
would prepare a cost to repair-if I decided not to pay them to repair,
there would be a charge of $85 for them just to look at it. I told the
guy
I had contacted Dodge about the problem, so he knew the situation. I
them
told him to forget about the appointment, I was going to contact you.
Why
in the world would would I be charged $85 for them just to look at a
dash
that is clearly cracked? Not to mention it is a manufacturers problem
to
begin with? Not impressed.






Thank you for contacting the Dodge Customer Assistance Center regarding
your 2005 Dodge Ram 1500.

As you are refusing to have the dealership diagnose your vehicle, I will
be closing your file. If you decide to have your vehicle diagnosed,
please let us know and we can reopen your file. If you require any
assistance in the future please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Thanks again for your email.

Sincerely,

Amanda

Customer Service Representative
Dodge Customer Assistance Center



Previous Reply Follows:
-----------------------
Comments:
I'm sorry to be so dense, but I don't see how it takes any more than 5
seconds to "diagnose" that my dash is cracked because of inferior
materials. If these trained "professionals" charge $85 just to get off
their *** and look at the dash, I'm in the wrong line of work. I
understand there has to be a procedure, but the procedure in this case
seems to be aimed at discouraging me from taking this any further, and
alienating a customer of many years. At any rate, I am not one to just
let things go, so if you need to see a video of this to diagnose the
problem, it will be on youtube.com as well as any automotive related
forum
and rating website I can find. People deserve to know what type of
service
they can expect to receive before they buy a vehicle. I know you are
just doing your job, but I would surely love to see your reaction, if
you
carried your vehicle to a dealer for a manufacturer problem and he was
going to charge you to just look at it. It is sad when a company
charges its customer to even look at an issue it created itself by
selling
junk.



The final email I sent Amanda, was "Just to set the record straight, I am NOT refusing to let Dodge diagnose the problem, I AM refusing to pay Dodge to diagnose a manufacturing defect." No answer since.

 

wouwldnt that fee be the shop hourly fee?but ya its not right.