Service complaints

[radin2son]

Nissan has stealthily, as in not provided an upfront explanation, added "Feedback and Help" to the forum and deleted or combined (?) other topics. Will feedback be addressed and what help will be provided? So Nissan, if you are reading and taking this forum seriously, you should be noticing some trends.

 

1. We like NV managers', techs' and other mechanics' participation in this forum.

 

2. We like our vehicles and we keep them maintained. We do not like poor service and flip or lack of response from techs and/or service managers when service is not done properly.

 

3. We will pursue our complaints beyond the service and general managers.

 

4. We appreciate good service and service that goes beyond what we expected. We tell people about this, but we tell even more if it was a bad experience.

Good service:

a. Replaced broken glove box latch. Part was

ordered, appointment made for after part

arrived and no cost.

b. Replaced gas cap. Again part ordered,

appointment made and no cost.

c. Nissan dealer while we were traveling reset

TPMS. No Cost.

d. At initial service, NV service writer took the

time to discuss how NV was going to be used,

and he recommended standard service

intervals, not the dealer add on service. (Not

long after that, he was transferred. The new

NV service writer recommended the much

more expensive service.)

e. Recall parts available and work completed.

Rear door latch had to be replaced a second

time. No cost.

 

Repetitive service/quality issues (not necessarily my issues).

 

1. Steering column friction.

 

2. Steering service/replace bulletin?

 

3. TPMS manual reset. It works. It doesn't. It does. Doesn't matter, as it is too complicated and you need access to an air compressor.

 

4. Front sensors beep.

 

5. Door locks not working.

 

Other owners may, and I hope will, add to this.

Edited November 11, 2014 by radin2son

[joe nv2500]

6. My dealership was unable to fix my auto door locks locking me out, at least a dozen times. They told me to press the unlock button when you get into the vehicle. Maybe I will remember , but what about my son, in the dead of winter. Very Poor!!

 

7. Anybody notice the reflection from the dash lights in the side view morrow, very distracting.

[radin2son]

My issues:

 

8. Repeated loose gas cap warning and check engine light. Cap replaced at 35,000 mi. Came on again, but separately. Since the service manager told me to contact him if one or the other came on again, I did. After a trip over 3,000 miles, I brought in my NV for a bumper repair estimate. Tried to see him then. When asked if I had an appointment, I said no but would like to speak with him. I was told he was around some where... That's it? No effort to page him? Do you really have to tell some how to do their job? Sent him an email to let him know my van would be in for repairs the next day and both issues happened again. Asked if he could check for a code and to check with the Nissan Rep to see if altitude can affect the sensors. No response. This is at least the third time he has not responded.

 

9. Rear bumper in 3 pieces, but you have to buy all 3 to fix 1.

 

10. Anemic headlights, plus there is an annoying shadow on the road surface just beyond each fender.

 

11. Service writers, more familiar with Altimas than NVs, promoting service beyond and double+ the cost than what is called for in the service manual and implying Nissan's standard service is substandard.

 

And "the list goes on forever and the party never ends" to paraphrase the Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson).

Edited November 10, 2014 by radin2son

[lmorten1]

Got a call the other day after completing a service visit survey. Was chewed out and told I cost this individual a $1200.00 bonus because not 100% perfect. I call BULL SHIT

[radin2son]

If this is real, why didn't you provide in your post the type of vehicle, service you received and who (job title) you contacted at the dealership/shop after getting the phone call? Also, why didn't you contact Nissan customer service? Assuming you have a NV, this forum/topic really is not the place to simply rant without first taking some sort of action.

 

If it is real...it is more serious than BS for the employer.

Edited December 21, 2014 by radin2son

[axulsuv]

If you can Prove the Service writer Actually called you , I would be contacting the GM/owner of the dealership ... 

The writer is not only not doing their job correctly , But under NO CIRCUMSTANCE should they know who wrote what on a customer satisfaction survey ....  And the fact that if a writer did that , they should be unemployed ....

Just my 2 pence ...

Glenn

[Bates]

In Canada, we get the survey's in full detail and who from and what they said. Feedback available to all.  I don't see any issue with us getting the info, we need to know how/who we screwed up on.

 

Goes without saying though that the service writer phoning up and blasting someone should never happen. 

[Chris_CommercialManager]

pretty much agree with exactly what bates said.

[radin2son]

I'm not so sure this is real, as in this may be the action of a "Troll." No real details were provided and no additional info either. (The odd thing he clicked he liked my post. Go figure.)

 

Every post on this forum appears in numerous places on the Internet. Just search "service complaints" and see what you get. Nissan monitors, you may want to change this to "NV Service Issues." Given the number of people who stil ask "What is that?" I doubt a troll would be any better informed.

 

Back to the real world, if this is it. Is a service writer responsible for anything beyond writing up the service order, a quick vehicle inspection, discussing additional work, if needed and "selling" whatever additional service the dealership is pushing. I can't imagine losing a bonus for one negative review. On the other hand, the service manager is accountable, but I can't see this type of reaction.

 

Also, when I had problems with service, it was the tech who screwed up. I didn't include the service writer in my complaint. In fact, I made an effort to say he did his job well. Yet, he was the only one who disappeared. Coincidence?

[Bates]

I don't think this board is owned by Nissan or monitored by them....at least openly. Doing a whois on the domain name shows it owned by some company.... warnerrobert.com, that website shows nothing of importance on it. My guess is it's a web advertising company that owns several such forums and domains and sells ads on them.

 

Seems quite possible to me to blow a bonus on a bad review in my mind......If it pushes your average score below your target for the month/quarter/year, if you needed 20 perfect scores but only got 19....and so on in that mindset. That's dealership life I'm afraid to say. It can be quite maddening to be judged on performance but having some of those events affecting performance well outside of your control.

[radin2son]

At the bottom of the "full version," there is a moderating team with a Nissan logo, "staff" and "Administrators." At one point, whoever they are, made several posts. One was about the taxi and the other was a request for volunteers for something to do with the forum. There may have been other posts. I guess it really doesn't matter as the forum seems to work fairly well.

 

This American Life on NPR did a great spot on a Chrysler dearship on Long Island. They had to sell a huge number of cars in one weekend to meet their end of the year quota set by Chrysler to get money, interest or something. It was better for them to unload cars at a loss to get to the quota. Pressure, pressure etc.

 

My strangest dealership experience was a Saab dealer in Medford, MA. He had room for one new Saab in what was really a shop. My '71 Saab 95 needed a muffler. Everyone took their Saab to him, unless it had air conditioning. He wouldn't work on your car if it did. No survey, only word of mouth.

 

I'm seriously thinking of taking my NV to my VW mechanic of 30+ years. (Foreign, not domestic service. I have taken past Toyotas and Hondas and never used the dealer for service. Since the NV seems to be a low maintenance vehicle, I have no qualms about not using the dealer.) No surveys and when I speak with the shop owner he knows me and his mechanics know my vehicle.

Edited December 23, 2014 by radin2son

[Chris_CommercialManager]

The whole survey thing is weird and I don't think it works.  I guess to some extent, from a manufacturer point of view how else are they to monitor the dealership networks interaction with customers.  The whole thing is a very touchy subject.  There are just so many situations that we have to take the brunt of criticism that is in some cases unjust, and can become very frustrating because for some people it does affect their pay.

 

It's like getting served under cooked chicken at a restaurant and taking tipping the waiter less.  It's not necessarily fair but it is the way it is, most of the time the waiter handles it with class but not always, everyone is different. 

[ASD Dad]

Surveys are huge for dealers, I worked for several years in sales many years ago and moved up to asst manager before leaving and I still have friends in the industry.  Both on the sales side and service side there is only one score that matters - 100%.  Anything less than that counts as a failure and can definitely ding you on pay, bonuses, perks, etc.  Some dealers used to even bribe customers to get that 100% score - free bottle of touchup paint, free wipers, etc.  I've gotten to the point where if it wasnt perfect I just dont reply to the survey.  I have seen first hand where dealerships will almost "blackball" a customer who leaves bad surveys.  If you have a specialty vehicle like the NV with service centers spaced far apart the last thing I want to do is piss off the people who need to work on my $40K car I plan on keeping a long time.  My "closest" dealer is almost an hour away even with two closer Nissan car dealers.  The next closest NV dealer is nearly 2 hours away.  

 

As for service/complaints, I agree with above.  Headlights are terrible.  The gauge reflection in the side window is annoying when you have almost zero rearward visibility and need to use those mirrors.  The blindspot mirrors on mine dont adjust up far enough.  I am only 6'-2" and the drivers side blind spot mirror shows me more road vs. vehicles in my blindspot.  It works but not ideal.  I am having issues with drivers seat comfort with the leather but that is another thread.

 

My local dealer does have one big ding on service already.  When I took delivery of the van and got home I was playing with the dash display and checked out my tire pressures under the TPMS menu.  All four tires had 95-98 psi in them!  I checked with a very good tire pressure gauge and it agreed with every sensor.  No clue what they did at the dealer but that pissed me off.  I called to complain and the service manager didnt care.  Just said mistakes happen and there was no danger and would have been caught at my first service....  right.

[iowarhino]

I am fortunate to live in a major city where there is multiple Nissan dealers but the one closest to my home location that sells NV's I am not sure I'd take it there for service.   I've called service department a few times with questions and you'd think I was calling about some prototype vehicle to get to space.   I work in a diesel engine shop and fix my own cars (gas) so i know vehicles enough to explain things but the unhelpfulness/lack of knowledge was annoying.    I went to the Nissan website, paid for 1 day subscription, and was able to download all the technician PDF's for the 2015 NV 3500 and saved them to a USB flash drive.   There is over a 1000 pages of info and breakdowns, torque specs, virtually everything.    

[c317414]

I have all preventative maintenance and out of warranty repairs on the fleet I manage done at a local, independent shop.  They are knowledgeable, awesome to work with, and treat private customers as well as fleet customer with many vehicles. 

 

I use the local dealer that I purchase Nissan vehicles from for warranty work and recalls.  I will have them service a vehicle if it happens to come due at the same time the warranty work is being done.  Having said that, the dealer's Service Manager rarely sees me because the NVs are so reliable.  On the other hand, the Fleet Sales Manager sees me a lot, because I continue buying Nissans for the fleet that I manage: NV200s, NV2500s, Versas, Frontier.

Edited January 10, 2020 by c317414

[radin2son]

I re-read these posts. I can only say I was younger then...

 

I finally gave up on the dealership for service and take it to an independent shop I have been using since the mid 80s. Beyond oil changes, battery, tire and wiper replacement our 2012 requires little attention.