Porsche Centre Melbourne - how NOT to do it!

I own a Porsche and I'm proud of it. I was warned but others when i bought my car that it would be expensive to keep on the road and they were right. But it is even more expensive when your getting ripped off by the dealer who services your car! About 2 months ago i put my car in for its 120,000klm service. Yes, it cost a bomb, but I also reported a small problem with the gear shift in that when the car was in park it could not be started. The problem had occurred about 12 months before and been fixed (by this dealer) so didn't think it would be a major drama. I got the dreaded phone call, the problem was related to a switch that would cost $600 and a further $300 to install. Well if thats going to fix the problem then I guess we should do it - but the switch had to come from Germany, so I went to pick up my car while we all waited for the "switch", When I picked up my car the transmission didn't work at all! It was basically undriveable! Call up PCM, they say, "oh, wasn't it like that when you brought it in". Um, no, actually, it was quite serviceable when I brought it in! Ok, bring it back and we will look at it. So i drop it off and they look at it. Hmmm, looks like the transmission control unit needs replacing. I say, but it was working fine until you people fiddled with "something". They say, no it must have been on its way out. That will be another $3,500. So they put the "switch" in to fix the original problem and it doesn't fix the problem. They then think the control unit will fix the problem so they do that and it doesn't fix the problem. So far the bills are over $6,000!!! However, PCM believe they have not done a good job diagnosing (you think!) and so I only have to pay for the $3,500 control unit. THye install and give me back my car. The transmission works almost as good as 3 months ago before i took the car to Porsche - but guess what, the same problem is still there! SO i take it back in and finally they get someone other than the 1st year apprentice looking at the problem. They diagnose a small plastic "nipple" that had split. Probably about a $40 part to replace (10c on any other car) but now they don't have time to wait for the part from Germany (do these guys hold any stock at all?) and so they weld it together! Good news is it fixed the problem. The bad news is it cost me over $3,000 when it should have cost me under $100. So for my next service I will be trying one of the other Porsche service centers in Melbourne. I'll let you know what I think of their service.

The WOW Customer Service Blog

This BLOG is dedicated to the best and the worst customer service stories. I have long been a person who believes in WOW customer service and how this type of service makes a difference to businesses. So I thought I would highlight my own experiences with both good and bad customer service and give everyone who reads this an insight into the impacts of both good and bad customer service.