In another post I talked about my XTEK headlights burning out on me. I was trying to install back the OEM HID back by myself last night but I found out the HID bulb is detached from the connector seating and unable to be pulled out from the housing.

This morning I went to infiniti of M**tclair at 7am, hoping the dealorship can spend an hour taking a look what is going on (also checking all the wirings are right) and install back my OEM HID for me.

First of all, nobody gave me a nice greeting when I drove up to the service dept. It is ok,I thought maybe they were busy, so I waited and waited. This guy finally came out but skipped me and served the next guy. I was like.. it is ok, maybe he did not see me.

I was all calm, hoping that they are willing to help me put back my OEM HID so I wouldn't be hasseled by cops and get a fix ticket for one headlight not on.

The guy finally came up to me and asked me what happened. I clearly explained to him what happened and wanted to know whether they can install my OEM HID (of course, there is a charge, but that is ok, I understand the consequence using aftermarket parts). After listening my story, that guy just jumped to conclusion saying that my connectors are burnt.

I am like "what?". I had my right side headlight HID died on me and now left side, but I did swap a new bulb into right side and it works fine. If my connectors are burnt, my right side shouldn't be working, right?

I told him that it is possible but I think an aftermarket defective HID lights is more relevant to my issue. He did not even listen in, and he kept on saying my connectors are probably no good (according to him, 9/10 aftermarket HID bulbs burn the connectors, what kind of bull crap is that? I see ppl using aftermarket HID on bimmer mercedes audi and our G. It is possible aftermarket HID burns the connector but 9/10 seems too unrealistic to me)

I told him that he is not being helpful at all because he gave me a conclusion and implication of "I f**Ked up and it is my fault". He then said "why don't you bring your car to the shop where you installed your aftermarket HID then".

I mean, what kind of attitude is that? Even after I showed him that I am not happy with his attitude, he did not apologize at all. I never expected this kind of treatment at an infiniti dealorship. However, too bad he IS the service director (I wonder how he kisses his *** up to get that position???). His name is Joe.

Nissan service dept next door treated me entirely different. They listened to what I said, and they quoted me a price and schedule me a time to give my car a diagnostic.

I am still shocked how an infiniti dealorship approach their customers who need help. Maybe I am too sensitive, but I felt a little bit discriminated over my age and my ethnics (I am asian).

Sorry that this is a long thread. I just would like to share my bad experience so other G owners will not be treated the same way at that dealorship. Thanks for reading. Your support is appreciated...

 

sorry to hear about your bad experience but maybe you were being a little sensitive. ppl tend to give sh*t to ppl they know will take it. next time show them that you mean business and wont take any crap.

 

Next time you're not happy with someone's attitude and treatment towards you, ask to talk to his boss, and don't take no for an answer.
Get tough.
C.

 

I think you need to write a letter to the owner of the dealership about this experience, and tell them you are also sending a copy to Infiniti headquarters (and actually do that too, it'll cost an extra 37 cents but well worth it). People need to know that if you're in customer service and you're not servicing the customer - it's time to find a new job...

 

whole point is u shouldn't have to act like that in the first place. i went through hell at a local dealership about my '05 stereo problems. i was getting b.s. about cd-r voiding my warranty on the stereo.. blah blah. it is obvious that most of these guys are incompetent at the jobs they do. i deal with a lot of customers here at work related to quality and i always give them the time of day to hear what they have to say. most of the time i get valuable info because i hear different things from different people... in many cases it allows me to improve our own products. the type of service ensheep received is a pitiful example of most dealerships and does nothing but a disservice to all around.

 

Hes an assbag... next time have a baseball bat riding shotgun and take it out when they act like that. give em the "This is a nice bat huh, could really do some damaged to someones face." and then put it back. works everytime unless uget arrested hahaha. Make sure you write the letters though he should be fired.

 

+1
If Infiniti ever expects to achive Lexus level of Customer service and brand recognition, they are going to have to clean up their A$$ hat dealers and service people. They (Infiniti of N.A.) needs to know about clowns like that one. Not to mention the Dealer owner, the original poster even said he knew he was going to have to probably pay to make it right. So, the service guy turned down revenue. The Owner and GM need to know that.
Print the attached and give it to the service manager, tell him he needs the program loaded on his PC .

 

I am going to have to go against everyone else thusfar. I just need some clarification. You had aftermarket bulbs installed on your stock harness? Both of these aftermarket bulbs burn out. You go to the dealer and want them to remove the aftermarket bulbs and reinstall stock ones. Dealer automatically assumes that the harness is toast.

In all honesty the dealer has a right to refuse to work on your car. You modified your car and it is directly linked to a problem you are currently having. Electric problems can be a MAJOR PAIN to diagnose and resolve. You have to pay to play. If you decide to modify your car you should know how to fix it.

Maybe that is just the 4x4 guy in me. I used to have a modded 4x4 and would go wheeling and if something breaks out on the trail you bet your a$$ I would know how to fix it.

The only thing that is somewhat lame is the fact that he just made an assumption and did not physically check your car.

 

Maybe you missed the part where this guy said he was willing to pay for them to reconnect the bulbs. He realizes that the dealer wont do the work for free and had no problem with it.

Essentially it was a D!ck move of the service guy to jump to a conclusion about what was going on without even inspecting.

 

offtopic, how long did you had your xtec before they burned out? i installed mine in january and they're working fine(knock on wood x 3).

 

No I did not miss that. Just because he is willing to pay doesn't mean the dealer HAS TO do the work. The dealer may have felt that working on the modified electrical system of his car would open pandora's box. Once they agree to work on the car they become responsible for it. Would you jump into a pool full of 5 day old raw sewage just because someone was willing to pay you?

 

All car companies essentially has the same basic's to the warrenty if you mod or alter your vehicle and something goes wrong it is their responsiblity to prove with out a doubt that the mod you mad was a direct cause to the failure they can't just deny to work on your car just because they either see or you tell them you had modded the car. Coming from the Subaru world I have seen it many times people start moddeing their car something goes wrong that has nothing to do with the mod and stealership's try to get out of fixing the car. But I told a friend to tell the dealership that he talked to a lawyer and he was advised to tell the dealership that they need to prove without a doubt the mod he made caused the probelm and of course they couldn't so they had to fix his car but it was real easy for them to say were not going to fix it because you have aftermarket parts installed. I had a service manager tell me that they couldn't work on my car because it was modded and I pretty much told him he was full of **** and they needed to start working on my car and I left with my problem fixed and it never returned, but my dealership had a real hard time denying warrenty work on modded cars seeing that they sponsered many open track days and brought out their own car which was heavily modded so they really didn't have a leg to stand on..

 

Very true, the guy should then have told him, "Hey we have a policy that if you added aftermarket parts we can't touch it" - but that's not what happened: The guy told him, basically, to take his car back to the place he installed the lights, without explaining what, if any, policy goes into effect if the customer installs aftermarket parts.

If Infiniti has that policy, fine. If he thinks the guy screwed up his car, fine: just tell him how much it'll cost to fix and leave that with the customer. But this half-a$$ way of asking the customer to take his car elsewhere just shows that he doesn't know what Infiniti's policy is on people who have aftermarket issues. There's a way to inform people what their options are without sounding negative or putting the customer off. Either way it sounds like his customer service skills really need some brushing up. Just my 2-cents.

I still say you NEED to write that letter...

 

Ive noticed that Infiniti dealerships (atleast in SoCal) act way too cocky...but all I see are Hondas parked in the employee parking...so maybe jealous hahaha?

 

Yeah but that is the thing. He is asking them to replace a failed aftermarket part installed by a third party garage. He is also asking them to repair any damage to the OEM electrical system that may have resulted from the 3rd party installation/aftermarket part. The dealer has no obligation to fix this.

If he put a plenum spacer and a Pop charger and his stock headlights went out, and the dealer tried to blame the headlight problem on the engine mod. That is a completely different story. I agree, I do not like it when a dealer/manufacturer tries to blame unrelated problems on modifications an owner has done to his ride. This is not the case with this guy though.