What a Rip Off

Here's a story that transpired a few weekends ago. I still find it unbelievable.

• A friend of ours called my wife one Saturday and said she had locked her keys in her car. The friend was at work (still had several hours to go) and wanted to know if my wife would run over to her house to see if there was an extra key there (we have a key to her place and it's only a few blocks from our house.)
• My wife said she would, she did, and she found the extra key. She brought it back to our house and called her friend. My wife said she could drop it off (about a 15-minute drive) in the afternoon if that was good.
• The friend said not to worry about it since in the meantime she'd called her dealership (very close to her place of work). They had looked up her key code number and were going to simply cut her a new key. The guy she talked to said it would be free since she was a customer and was so close. The friend even told him she'd give him a free haircut for his trouble.
• Later that day (we found this part out that night), the guy shows up, delivers the key, and checks to make sure it works. It does. Then he gives our friend a bill for $70!!!! What happened to FREE?????
• Our friend PAYS THE BILL (ugh, I'm dying) because "what else could I do?" When my wife asked about the promise of a free key, the friend really didn't have an explanation for why she didn't ask about it and/or put up a fight.

Here's what I would have done:

• Asked about the free key offer. If someone says something is free and then wants to charge me $70, that's their problem, not mine. And they need to explain it.
• If the guy didn't have a good reason for the price (and really, even if he did have a good reason, he still told me it was free) and couldn't/wouldn't give it to me for free, I'd call the dealership and ask to speak to his boss or customer service. I'd tell them how I was promised a free key and now they were trying to charge me $70.
• If I didn't get the free key (and an apology) after this effort, I'd tell them to forget it -- that I didn't want the key. I'd also tell them that I was no longer a customer of theirs and was going to spread the word about how they had dealt with me.
• I would then call my friend (my wife in this case) and ask her to bring me the extra key.

I still can't believe that this happened -- that the dealership did this and that our friend paid it.

FYI, the dealership was a Buick dealership. You think they would be looking at serving every potential customer in the best possible way these days.

Comments

[lofa]

That's horrendous. Most car dealerships are dishonest. They nickel and dime you for everything if you're not paying attention to every little detail.

[Mark]

I bet they charged $70 for the key, and delivered it "free". Sometimes you have to read the fine print - or in this case, interpret the spoken words.

More importantly, did she still give him the free haircut? Or did that only cover the left side :)

[lurker carl]

I don't understand why the friend got the dealership involved. Her spare key was ready to be delivered!

[SmartSecurityPeople.com]

I would probably still provide the haircut for free but then I would charge them $70 as a "shop fee" to cover disposal of the old hair and wear and tear on the clippers... ;)

[segfault]

Or the key was free, and they charged $70 for delivering it.

[Manny Singh]

It is amazing to me, with the current economic condition of auto manufacturers, and I assume dealers that most act like it is still the 'roaring' 90's. I am in the market right now for a vehicle, and you would be surprised at the feedback I get.

I am not talking about getting the price of the vehicle down-I mean just getting them to call me back on questions, and/or going to a dealership and seeing sales team sitting by the front door, telling jokes, ignoring me until I go over and ask a question. Even after I went over and asked, and they didn't have the specific car I was looking for, instead of saying/thinking 'Hey we have a live one here, lets see if we can't find him something else that might fit his need' just walking away......Chevy by the way...

Anyway off my rant.

[Old Limey]

Many of the new keyless entry devices that send an infra red signal to open your car doors are quite expensive. The old fashioned keys like the ones you have for the locks in your house are simple, very cheap, and easily duplicated. Expect to pay $70 or much, much, more for some keyless entry devices. Even my older Mercedes which does not have a keyless entry device uses an expensive laser cut key to prevent unauthorised copies being made at any hardware store, and these are also very expensive.

[MoneyReasons]

I agree with FMF.

I would call the dealership and talk to a manager. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. It definitely doesn't hurt to try...

In days like these, you'd think that the car dealerships want to make sure every customer is as happy as possible. Perhaps your friend should suggest that the next car she/he purchases will not be at that dealership if this matter isn't resolved.

[Jennifer]

Or did the guy just pocket the $70 as a tip for his trouble. That's ridiculous. I'd have sent him packing.

[Trent D.]

It's possible that it was a miscommunication (either the runner didn't know it was supposed to be free, or the woman misinterpreted a promise that it would be delivered free), but either way, the only way to fix a MIScommunication is to communicate. That means questioning the dealership.

[Apex]

I suspect Trent is right and the miscommunication was about the delivery being free. If the car was built post 2000 it surely has an electronic key with the chip inside that sends the signal to start the car. You can't duplicate a key such as this for a few bucks. The cheapest I have gotten them made is $35 bucks for my Honda and most cost considerably more.

We can't know what actually transpired on the call, but it is not reasonable to expect to get an electronically protected ignition key duplicated for free. She probably doesn't know that, but I don't know of any dealership that is likely to offer to replace these for free just to be of good service.

The real issue is this woman had a plan in motion and rather than wait for it to develop she started moving forward on plan B with the dealer, which one should probably assume will usually be a bit costly.

[BillV]

She should still call. While it should be free, maybe she get them to split the cost. Old Limey is right about these new keys with the computer chip. They are expensive. Not to rain on your friend's bad luck, but it may well be a miscommunication. That is " Free delivery for a customer is no problem; but the key still costs $70". It may be possible your wife's friend made a reasonable assumption but an incorrect one. Likewise so may the man on the phone.

Like you said, when someone says free, it is best to ask a question or two. Still. In situations like this, the more informed party (the dealership) has a higher level of responsibilty to be clear: " Sure Ms. Friend we we will be happy to deliver a key. You should know that these keys normally cost X, but we'll let you have it at our cost,$ 70."

[Jim]

New keys are expensive and $70 seems typical price, I wouldn't expect a dealership to hand them over for free. I expect there was a miscommunication somewhere. I don't think it would make sense for a dealership to offer to give a $70 key for free then charge them for it. The dealerships know people need the keys and it is a cornered market to begin with so they don't need to pull tricks to get that $70.

[Wojciech Kulicki]

Unfortunately, I will echo Manny's sentiment in that dealerships are acting as if they don't need the business these days. Instead of trying to go above and beyond the usual and retain me as a customer, car dealerships and service shops are doing their best to drive away my business.

The least I can do is vote with my dollar and stay away from the rip-offs.

[Eric]

I think it is most likely that the guy on the phone was telling your friend that DELIVERY was free. The key part that makes it clear to me is that the guy said that it is free because she was so close by. I don't know how she could expect the actual key to be free. Where's the rip off? Your friend must have just misunderstood or the guy was very shady. Regardless, no one in their right mind should expect a free key in this situation.