[Bob in St. Louis]

Alright, that sounded wierd.... Sorry about that. (pent up anger from dealing with customers B.S. today  )

Can you follow instructions?

[some young guy]

Alright, that sounded wierd.... Sorry about that. (pent up anger from dealing with customers B.S. today  )

Can you follow instructions?

No worries.

I believe I can. Will I need to reply "the pearl is in the river" when I make contact?

...  sorry, just sounds very i-spy. What have you got Bob?

[Bob in St. Louis]

- From the list of dealers in your area that I linked to back on page one, start at the first one and call the service departments. Call all of them, one by one. Tell them your symptom and ask if they've seen it before. Make notes of each dealership regarding the overall "pulse" of the place....ie: Do they seem to be legitimately concerned, or do they seem bothered that you called. By the way, don't call as soon as they open, especially first thing on a Monday morning. Give them time to get settled in.
There is no need for them to know what you've been through and that this has been addressed by their competition. Definitely no need to tell them Honda was involved. Don't raise any red flags. Just give them the facts of what your truck is doing in a calm, cool, collected, and organized way. No emotion here, don't give any clues that you are anything more than "just another phone call". Put a star by the ones you're most impressed with.

- After you've called them, chose one that seems most eager to help resolve your problem. Make an early morning appointment. The first one of the day if possible. Ask if you can have alternative transportation, it is a warranty repair after all. Be softspoken, calm, humble and polite, don't be demanding like they "owe" you anything. Don't be just another bitchy pain in their ass.

- Remove the existing dealerships advertisements from your vehicle. The front and rear licence plate frames, any stickers on the rear cargo door, any stickers they may have put on your windows, and the ad/logo trailer hitch insert (if you have one). You may have to get some plastic razor blades and WD-40 at a local auto parts store to remove the stickers. Make it look like you have no allegiance to their competition. This also eliminates any attitude the service department may have about you purchasing from someone other than them, but your bringing the bizarre problems 'here'.
Trust me on this one. If you don't believe me for the above reasons, then believe that you're continuing to advertise for the store that just kicked you to the curb when the going got tough. Just remove them.

- When you arrive for your appointment, be on time. And bring donuts or bagels. Don't laugh. Just do it. Not cheap ones either, get them from one of those places that makes people say, "ooooh, those are the good ones". Again, don't laugh. Get a couple dozen, your feeding breakfast to an entire service department. You've just "kissed the ass" of every guy that could possibly hold your workorder in his hand in one fell swoop. Besides, it's either this or an attorney, and bagels are much cheaper.
When they give you your loaner, don't complain that it's too small, has been used by a smoker, or "is a little shit-box" compaired to what you normally drive. Don't make waves.

I realize I've the door wide open for many to jump in here and say, "yea, but...". So bring it on.

You with me Scott? You game?

Bob

[some young guy]

Sure, I'm game. But just so you know: besides the breakfast, this is how I always handle these things. I also remove any/all stickers, plate frames etc. as soon as I bring the car home, so that's already done. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks Bob.

[James Romeyn]

I thought, because Honda has already made a determination on this particular issue, the dealer will not be able to accept the car for that same complaint.  Is that not the case?

As far as dealer advertising...this particular Ridgeline not only has NO dealer identification it also has absolutely NO make/model badges.  All such branding was  removed &/or painted over the first day of ownership. 

IMO it's insane the degree to which "consumers" accept the intrusion of manufacturer branding/advertising/marketing gimmicks: clothing, cars, food, electronics, national origin, etc.  Next visit to your kitchen take a very close look at every appliance therein. 

A relative visiting for a few days was chauffered 'round Cache Valley & over to Park City in the Ridgeline.  She later made one & half 360s in a vain attempt to discover the vehicle's make/model (she drives an RX300).  I had to explain the badges were removed & told her the make/model.   

[Bob in St. Louis]

Sure, I'm game. But just so you know: besides the breakfast, this is how I always handle these things. I also remove any/all stickers, plate frames etc. as soon as I bring the car home, so that's already done. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks Bob.

Ok good.
While we're on the subject of the new stores perception of you there's one thing I forgot. Have the vehicle clean inside and out when you arrive for your appointment. A nasty roached-out disgusting car will not get the same level of attention as a clean vehicle. The general train of thought here is that if you don't care about your vehicle, why should we. This (obviously) is not in any personnel handbook, nor is it encouraged but we are dealing with human nature here. As far as your Pilot is concerned, all rule books are out the window. We're playing games now. We just need to play the game better than them. Understand? If you want to follow a rulebook, then it's time for an attorney and I'm out of the picture. I firmly believe we can get this done Scott, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this.

I thought, because Honda has already made a determination on this particular issue, the dealer will not be able to accept the car for that same complaint.  Is that not the case?  

Dealer "A" knows all about Scott and his truck, dealership "B" doesn't. Any Honda dealer in the USA has access to a highly abbreviated warranty repairs performed at any Honda dealer. But I doubt they have access to corporate denying any claims regarding the driver power seat. There's no system in place for such "comments". The most that dealer "B" will see is that dealer "A" replaced a seat track, but probably doesn't know what the original complaint was. It *could* have been a jammed track and that's why it was replaced. I doubt it's specific enough to say it was replaced due to undesired movement of the track. Corporate does not 'track' vehicles and keep tabs on situations like this. As far as they're concerned the situation is dead and over with. Let's assume dealership "B" makes a successful repair. Days later they then submit for reimbursement from the manufacturer. It'll be a couple weeks before the paper trail makes it way back around. And I severely doubt there exists a form of tracking that attaches your VIN# and name and symptom and dealership "A".

Side note; It's taken me three or four hours to type this reply due to work load today. One of the things I had to do was have a "sit down" with the district General Motors rep. In a nutshell, he said, "We want to minimize the inconvenience to the customer as much as possible and fix the car in the process."
And this is after ten visits to my service department for the same problem. When I wrote the repair order, the mileage displayed was 9,115.
There's your customer service. And that's why I like working for General Motors. (although, it'd be dammed nice to fix the SOB at this point)
That Honda stunt is unbelievable.

Bob

[James Romeyn]

Bob
I can only hope your expert reputation on automotive subjects remains somewhat limited...or you may discover an awful lot of queeries in your PM box, thus limiting your time contemplating audio subjects at the forum! 

Such as the one I just sent you! 

[Bob in St. Louis]

"Equal Time".......Meaning: As long as car chat takes no more than 50% of my forum time, it's all good. 
(PM received, and returned back to 'ya).

Bob

[some young guy]

You know what Bob? The more I've thought about your advice, (and please don't think for a second that I don't appreciate both what you've said as well as the time you've taken to try to help me with this problem) the more I think "if this is what I have to do; make appointments in another town, play games, kiss asses, buy donuts, detail my car etc. just to get someone at a dealership to care enough to try to fix my car seat, I think this has gone over the edge and into completely ridiculous." I've been consistently calm, patient and even empathetic with everyone at the dealership. If that's not enough, perhaps I just need to come to terms with the fact that service (for the most part) has just gone to hell right along with caring about your fellow man and being courteous to strangers. If this can not be worked out in logistically logical fashion, I think it will be better for me to change my status as a "die hard Honda fan" into a Saturn, Subaru or some other fan and move on.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Have a few cocktails and buy a Chevy. 

No you shouldn't have to do all this Scott, but the only other alternatives are disconnecting the wiring or calling an attorney. An attorney isn't going to be quick, easy, painless, or cheap. Disconnecting the wires may not work if you've got multiple (height) drivers.

Bob

[James Romeyn]

It has been well documented (current at least up to a few years ago) that among the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, Yamaha & Kawasaki (esp Yamaha) are quickest to discontinue parts support after a particular model is changed or dropped.  Not esoteric parts but rather stuff like a tail lamp lens, pistons, air box, you name it.  Very important parts that when unavailable render the vehicle the proverbial "basket case".  This contrasts w/ Honda, who as recently as the early-mid '90s had exhaust systems available for '60s Dream & Hawk series.  Suzuki slots between H & K, Y last.       

This is my personal experience & was confirmed in an objective independent report by MCN-USA (not the British journal).  They also published a subscriber letter that went something like: "I needed part X for my Yamaha FJ(1100 or 1200).  The parts person said they were long ago discontinued.  On the way out a salesman said I should buy a new bike.  I did, from the nearest Honda dealer."

Very sorry to hear the seat issue wasn't resolved.

Curious: I wonder what might be the appropriate reply if/when a potential buyer asks why it's for sale?

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Any news / updates ?

[some young guy]

Nope.

[Bob in St. Louis]

k. 

[some young guy]

[Bob in St. Louis]

.....

[some young guy]

Okay, I took the Pilot to an idependant shop. The switch that Honda installed was shorting out. Problem  now fixed. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well Jeez Scott, that's a little anticlimactic. Couldn't you have spruced up the story, I mean just for the sake of artistic embellishment? 
Glad to hear it's fixed, sincerely I am. That much be a real horseshit dealership you were dealing with.
Score one for the independents.

Bob

[Levi]

Good to hear that you have it fixed.

As I noted earlier, there is nothing complicated about Honda's power seat circuitry. 

1090502 022 1 SWITCH ASSY., L. (8WAY)  No Color  $29.01.

$30 dollar part could have been fixed by the dealer easily.  Hmmm...

Cheers,
Levi

[Bob in St. Louis]

$30 dollar part could have been fixed by the dealer easily.  Hmmm...

Lazy Bast....