On 10 Jun 98 at 15:35, Malcolm Stebbins wrote:

> Frequently the mention of small claims court can get some results.
> I had a similar situations with the local Ford dealer and my Escort
> and a clutch stutter.  He knew that me representing myself and him
> hiring a lawyer and my complaint being a matter of public record
> (not to mention the BBB) would mean that he would loose more money
> than just absorbing the cost over-run.  He decided to cover the
> whole thing, just as we agreed - before the work started.  For the
> record, I never got mad at him, I just assertively suggested what my
> options were and that I was prepared to do, and I refused to accept
> his explaining away his shop's incompetence of the moment.  I had to
> go throught 2 levels of management, but it worked.
>
> > Hi all,

The key is "never got mad"... These guys get even more stubborn as you get more
angry with them. When I was sold an '84 Westy with stuck thermostat and
leaky gas tank, I did my homework, and found that it is *illegal* in BC to
sell, or attempt to sell, any vehicle without all safety equipment operating,
which includes the fuel system. After mentioning this to the dealer, he claimed
that he would fix everything before returning the van to me. Of course, I told
him I would put a stop payment on the cheque just in case, which he said was
no problem. Sure glad I did, cuz I never liked the dealer much, and never felt
comfortable with his last minute fixup, and we found a better, newer van for
less money. But had I lost my temper with this guy (as I've been known to do) I
don't think he would have even offered to fix it, and I might have had a battle
to deal with.

btw: the dealer was a Saturn dealer. So much for caring for the customer and
all that cr*p.

========================
Shawn Wright
Computer Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
250-743-6240
swright@sls.bc.ca