I have decided to do a guerilla post since otherwise you could be waiting a long time to hear the story - and you need to know.
As a Customer Service Professional, Masiguy has listened to many irate customers over the years and his heart and his full support has always gone out to them - which translates into him trying everything within his power to deserve the customer's faith. Saturn professes to "empower" its people to do the right thing, which is why the disillusionment strikes so deep for the Masiguy: Saturn DID NOTHING.
He paid (1/8th the value of the car) for them to repair the main computer. They special-ordered the part, plugged it in backwards and sent him home with it that way. It immediately broke down again - but they were closed for the holidays so, they couldn't repair it for a week. All the while, customer service sent e-mails saying they were "empowered" to help, the district manager would get involved, the service department would be contacted. In the end...nothing.
The moral of the story is: A Saturn is only good for three years or 90,000 miles. Get out before you reach either. We will never buy a Saturn again because of this experience. Masiguy is the most compassionate, most understanding customer service guy out there. He makes a compelling case. If they will screw him over, people, you don't stand a chance! Don't believe the hype. The product is crap. The service is crap.
That is the end of my bitter little tale. I hope my husband doesn't get mad when he sees I've commandeered his blog again but it may be years before he calms down enough to tell the story himself...
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21 comments:
You have got to be kidding me! It's no wonder GM is failing the way it is. I hate to say it, but American cars, and therefore, American car companies suck. They just do. They don't understand design, quality, or customer service. If they don't turn it around soon they will go the way of the Dodo bird. I hope the American bike manufacturers don't look to the auto industry as a model to follow. For now at least it seems, being made in America is a mark of quality for bikes.
Anyway, thanks for closing the loop on this Masiwife, I was really curious what happened. When Tim didn't elaborate I thought there was some sort of agreement like they would pay for the whole thing if you would stop talking about it.
I can totally understand the furor.
wow. this really sucks. i suppose tim is cycling some thousands miles to calm down. thanks for your post, we are all waiting to know what happen as we have never see tim so upset. tell him that he is on my blog today with all my understanding.
Come on... give us a phone number or email address where we can give our two cents on how things have gone down for the masiguy!
And people in Detroit wonder why people aren't buying American cars anymore...
Hang in there MasiFamily....
Ohhh, we could really make things bad for the Saturn people...
MasiGuy followers REVOLT!!!!
The appearance of the masi-wife!
I'm sorry it had to come under such circumstances, but good to see you venting, either way.
Down with Saturn, down with Saturn!
I am on my second Saturn and the first one went 200k miles and 6+ years before it's death knell sounded. That's about 90k miles more than my previous Nissan. That's not to diminish Masifamily's experience. My family has had similar problem's with Toyota.
All that to say this, it's not, "American," companies but faceless corporations in general. I say it's time to revolt, not against Saturn or GM, but against cars.
Ride a Masi!!!
I'm literally calling Saturn later as I really want your family safe...and I personally want this blog to be a happy place again.
Can someone tell me who you have contacted at Saturn? I need to understand how far up the food chain you've gone as then I can figure out whom I need to contact or get you a contact. Sorry if I've missed how you've contacted Saturn to date--but this needs to go to corporate. And likely it's better done by a reader than by you as that shows how bad WOM is spreading.
Please advise and I'll do my best to get someone at Saturn to help you. At the very least I'll try guys. I do hate to be only able to give you good words, not some good action.
Rooting for all Masi's!
Sounds like both Saturn and your local dealer failed you. Shame on them for doing that.
You can get by if one of the two (car company or dealer) do a little extra. For example, my Nissan dealer has been totally helpful and dealing with them is a pleasure. If both are bad you can't win.
Usually if the dealer steps up, they get what they ask for - they have to push though. It should also be on Saturn to see if the dealer is screwing up.
In your area, there seems to be no compelling reason to own a Saturn. Your dealer stinks and Saturn didn't steer you towards another (or send out a "factory" technician to your dealer).
I hope you can get rid of the Saturn with a clear conscience and I hope you're able to get something you actually enjoy owning.
good luck.
In the meantime, I'll help spread the word :)
I've never had a Saturn but owned products from GM as well as GM-owned Isuzu. I've also had vehicles from BMW, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Kia.
The Toyota and Honda were relatively problem-free. I consider cars to be throwaway items, but I do expect newer cars -- perhaps especially American-made cars -- to last at least 200,000 miles before you run into major problems. I'll never buy another Korean car. Nissan and Mitsubishi are at about the same level of quality as the Hyundais and Kias. Like I mentioned before, Toyota and Honda are the best. GMs have been crappy but they're easy and cheap to fix, generally. Fords are crappy and expensive to fix. Chryslers get weird electrical problems, but then most European cars do too.
Thank you all for your words of support and understanding. I know to some it sounds like pointless whining about an every day occurance that happens to all of us. Please don't think we don't know the difference between inconvenient and unfair. We live with a teenager - we define the terms DAILY. When you pay more for repairs in the first year of ownership than you pay on your car loan, you have bought a lemon. Masiguy LOVED his Saturn Vue and that enjoyment has been destroyed. To all of us out there in the world of consumerism, let this be a learning experience: Be gentle with your customer. They may just be your last.
First of all, it's great to see Masiwife here, even under these circumstances....and her humor is wonderful in these circumstances. Seriously, "We live with a teenager - we define the terms DAILY."
I don't think anyone is being unreasonable here and I don't think it is a specific car company. It is just bad service from either just the dealer or the dealer and the district manager. They plugged the wire in backwards? And then didn't do anything from there forward? Um...hello?!
Companies can come up against all kinds of problems, big and small, take it from someone who knows that big time....it's all how you handle the issue. Maybe you aren't perfect, but if you try hard enough the view will be just that, 'they tried and I can't ask for more'. That is reasonable and I think we all know Masiguy to be more than reasonable. Not doing anything is completely unacceptable. I'm so disappointed for Masifamily.... :(
I thought Saturn was going to be "a different kind of a company". The funny thing is I had a Saturn for 9 years with almost 200k miles before I "upgraded" to a Benz. I've had more issues with the Benz in the first five years than I did with my Saturn. I was one of the lucky ones, I had one of the early Saturn - when they really cared.
Hang in there MasiFamily and keep fighting the man!
Supposedly Saturn is "Car of the Year" ... how can this be?
And I notice that they are doing a big push into "alternative cars" ... indicating a need for the support of the driving community and an engagement that extends many years rather than minutes. Sounds like they have a long way to go ... sounds like we had all better get our typing fingers ready.
Actually, think I will do just that ;)
My 1994 has well over 200,000 on it. I think the quality problems first really started with the intro of the six-cylinder engines and the loss of Saturn being an independent division and being sucked into Chevy. Condolences. My next car will not be a Saturn because of reports like yours that are all too common.
jim - the Tommasini guy
marketingcanapes.vox.com
I've never had a Saturn, but it sounds like the dealer is as much to fault as is the car.
I made the mistake of buying a Chrysler back in 2000, never again-my wife told me I shoulda bought a Subaru, next time I think I'll listen to her.
Her first one had well over 200,000 miles fairly trouble free before she bought her second one 6 years ago.
She did have a few minor things go wrong with the second one but the dealer took care of them no problem.
Truly the problems headed down hill for Saturn when they stopped using Shimano to make some of their transmission parts...
If you didn't know, Shimano makes a lot of gears and forged parts for transmissions for companies like Toyota, Subaru and others, and at one time Shimano supplied parts for some GM vehicles mainly Saturn.
Sorry to hear about the whole ordeal. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm these days. I had a similar ordeal w/ a GM product many years ago - 15 to be exact - and WILL NEVER own anything GM because of it.
Hi MasiWife!
You are a super lady for coming out the way you did. You are certainly getting a wealth of compliments over the iss"vue". I'm craving for one of those new Honda CR-Vs these days, I just can't bear to part with my 2003 Mazda Protege 5 . .. it's bright yellow. That may be part of it.
Hang in there and damn the man.
Peace Out
bk
Hi MasiWife!
You are a super lady for coming out the way you did. You are certainly getting a wealth of compliments over the iss"vue". I'm craving for one of those new Honda CR-Vs these days, I just can't bear to part with my 2003 Mazda Protege 5 . .. it's bright yellow. That may be part of it.
Hang in there and damn the man.
Peace Out
bk
I also am having problems, again , with my 2003 VUE. DO NOT BUY A SATURN. Again, I am having electrical problems, flashing dash lights, non-operating dials, no heat, no power steering, no electric door locks, and I've had it in for this before. I have 8 months left on my car loan, but soon as I get this fixed, its gone. I already had this problem, in 03 no less!!! Now, no warranty- had the BCM replaced, but its warranty is only 12 months! If anyone knows whats wrong, write me! coffeegal33@hotmail.com I really need to get this fixed. The wind chill here in WI is like -15, and I have to walk home from work.
DO NOT BUY A VUE. My boss had hers bought back by Saturn, for transmission problems. None of those yetYET for me.
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