Lexus service survey follies

[Paul]

Recently, I received an online survey from Lexus about my dealership's
service quality. I took the time to fill out the survey, and noted some
areas that may require improvement by the dealer's service department.

The bottom line was that I did not give a "satisfactory" opinion about the
dealership.

A few weeks later, I got a call from the dealership's service manager (not
sure what his rank was...probably mid-level). He kept trying to get in touch
with me and left several voicemails. One of which he stated that he wanted
me to call his bosses and to tell his boss that my survey was not a bad
reflection on him. And he claimed that my survey has caused him to look very
bad in front of his bosses, and that it will affect his pay raises!

As shocking as it was...I made the mistake of thinking he as my service
adviser. Since I like my service adviser, I tried to call the head of the
service department to straighten things out. What's more shocking.the head
service manager did not want to answer my call, he told the receptionist to
tell me to call back whomever called me in the first place...in other
words.I got the run around.

That made me very pissed.I wrote to Lexus to complaint about this whole
process. I didn't get much more than an apology.

As it turned out the guy who called wasn't even my service adviser.he was
the service adviser's boss. The layer of managers at the dealership was too
complex for me to understand. This is what I gathered so far.it seems that
the survey plays a very big part in the employee's job security, promotion
and salary increases. Any unsatisfactory remarks or ratings on the surveys
can get employees into trouble.

I was not aware of this fact until this matter came up. And I was also very
disappointed at Lexus's survey process. I think it is very unethical for
them to share my name with the dealership. I have always thought survey was
an anonymous way to note complaints and for them to improve. I never thought
that my name and comments were shown to every who work at the dealership.

If the dealership always want to get satisfactory responses.then I am not
sure why there need to be a survey at all. They all should just give
themselves A+ and hug each other for comfort.

I don't know if this problem is isolated to the particular dealership I was
using for servicing. Next time you guys get a survey from Lexus.you should
think about this.

Btw, the dealership is found in the northern part of the Dallas, TX area.

[Ray O]

Post by Paul
Recently, I received an online survey from Lexus about my dealership's
service quality. I took the time to fill out the survey, and noted some
areas that may require improvement by the dealer's service department.
The bottom line was that I did not give a "satisfactory" opinion about the
dealership.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the dealership's service manager (not
sure what his rank was...probably mid-level). He kept trying to get in
touch with me and left several voicemails. One of which he stated that he
wanted me to call his bosses and to tell his boss that my survey was not a
bad reflection on him. And he claimed that my survey has caused him to
look very bad in front of his bosses, and that it will affect his pay
raises!
As shocking as it was...I made the mistake of thinking he as my service
adviser. Since I like my service adviser, I tried to call the head of the
service department to straighten things out. What's more shocking.the head
service manager did not want to answer my call, he told the receptionist
to tell me to call back whomever called me in the first place...in other
words.I got the run around.
That made me very pissed.I wrote to Lexus to complaint about this whole
process. I didn't get much more than an apology.
As it turned out the guy who called wasn't even my service adviser.he was
the service adviser's boss. The layer of managers at the dealership was
too complex for me to understand. This is what I gathered so far.it seems
that the survey plays a very big part in the employee's job security,
promotion and salary increases. Any unsatisfactory remarks or ratings on
the surveys can get employees into trouble.
I was not aware of this fact until this matter came up. And I was also
very disappointed at Lexus's survey process. I think it is very unethical
for them to share my name with the dealership. I have always thought
survey was an anonymous way to note complaints and for them to improve. I
never thought that my name and comments were shown to every who work at
the dealership.
If the dealership always want to get satisfactory responses.then I am not
sure why there need to be a survey at all. They all should just give
themselves A+ and hug each other for comfort.
I don't know if this problem is isolated to the particular dealership I
was using for servicing. Next time you guys get a survey from Lexus.you
should think about this.
Btw, the dealership is found in the northern part of the Dallas, TX area.

Hmmm... I was not aware that Lexus was conducting on-line surveys, I thought
they were all by mail. Also, Lexus does not send surveys for customer pay
repair work, only warranty work. Many dealerships send in-house surveys to
their customers, so I do not know where your survey originated.

Lexus does share survey responders' names with the dealership so the dealer
or service manager can follow up with dissatisfied customers. The intent is
not to badger customers into giving better responses, and IMO, the dealer's
attitude is poor. It should be conciliatory, not defensive.

[Mike Piacente]

Ray's right. I just got an online survey for a warranty repair (replaced
left rear trunk brake light bulb) which I deleted.

I have never gotten a follow-up phone call survey, online survey, or 'snail
mail' survey after having taken my 05 ES 330 for the 5k-mile-interval
service checks.

Post by Ray O

Post by Paul
Recently, I received an online survey from Lexus about my dealership's
service quality. I took the time to fill out the survey, and noted some
areas that may require improvement by the dealer's service department.
The bottom line was that I did not give a "satisfactory" opinion about
the dealership.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the dealership's service manager
(not sure what his rank was...probably mid-level). He kept trying to get
in touch with me and left several voicemails. One of which he stated that
he wanted me to call his bosses and to tell his boss that my survey was
not a bad reflection on him. And he claimed that my survey has caused him
to look very bad in front of his bosses, and that it will affect his pay
raises!
As shocking as it was...I made the mistake of thinking he as my service
adviser. Since I like my service adviser, I tried to call the head of the
service department to straighten things out. What's more shocking.the
head service manager did not want to answer my call, he told the
receptionist to tell me to call back whomever called me in the first
place...in other words.I got the run around.
That made me very pissed.I wrote to Lexus to complaint about this whole
process. I didn't get much more than an apology.
As it turned out the guy who called wasn't even my service adviser.he was
the service adviser's boss. The layer of managers at the dealership was
too complex for me to understand. This is what I gathered so far.it seems
that the survey plays a very big part in the employee's job security,
promotion and salary increases. Any unsatisfactory remarks or ratings on
the surveys can get employees into trouble.
I was not aware of this fact until this matter came up. And I was also
very disappointed at Lexus's survey process. I think it is very unethical
for them to share my name with the dealership. I have always thought
survey was an anonymous way to note complaints and for them to improve. I
never thought that my name and comments were shown to every who work at
the dealership.
If the dealership always want to get satisfactory responses.then I am not
sure why there need to be a survey at all. They all should just give
themselves A+ and hug each other for comfort.
I don't know if this problem is isolated to the particular dealership I
was using for servicing. Next time you guys get a survey from Lexus.you
should think about this.
Btw, the dealership is found in the northern part of the Dallas, TX area.

Hmmm... I was not aware that Lexus was conducting on-line surveys, I
thought they were all by mail. Also, Lexus does not send surveys for
customer pay repair work, only warranty work. Many dealerships send
in-house surveys to their customers, so I do not know where your survey
originated.
Lexus does share survey responders' names with the dealership so the
dealer or service manager can follow up with dissatisfied customers. The
intent is not to badger customers into giving better responses, and IMO,
the dealer's attitude is poor. It should be conciliatory, not defensive.
--
Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

[D.D. Palmer]

A few years ago I devised D.D 's rule: I no longer do ANY car surveys.
Service, sales etc. There is almost never anything in it FOR ME and I just
don't care enough about ANY auto dealer or maker to respond. Yeah, once in a
while they slip in $1 to try to guilt me into filling out the survey. Free
dollar for me.

Post by Paul
Recently, I received an online survey from Lexus about my dealership's
service quality. I took the time to fill out the survey, and noted some
areas that may require improvement by the dealer's service department.
The bottom line was that I did not give a "satisfactory" opinion about the
dealership.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the dealership's service manager (not
sure what his rank was...probably mid-level). He kept trying to get in
touch with me and left several voicemails. One of which he stated that he
wanted me to call his bosses and to tell his boss that my survey was not a
bad reflection on him. And he claimed that my survey has caused him to
look very bad in front of his bosses, and that it will affect his pay
raises!
As shocking as it was...I made the mistake of thinking he as my service
adviser. Since I like my service adviser, I tried to call the head of the
service department to straighten things out. What's more shocking.the head
service manager did not want to answer my call, he told the receptionist
to tell me to call back whomever called me in the first place...in other
words.I got the run around.
That made me very pissed.I wrote to Lexus to complaint about this whole
process. I didn't get much more than an apology.
As it turned out the guy who called wasn't even my service adviser.he was
the service adviser's boss. The layer of managers at the dealership was
too complex for me to understand. This is what I gathered so far.it seems
that the survey plays a very big part in the employee's job security,
promotion and salary increases. Any unsatisfactory remarks or ratings on
the surveys can get employees into trouble.
I was not aware of this fact until this matter came up. And I was also
very disappointed at Lexus's survey process. I think it is very unethical
for them to share my name with the dealership. I have always thought
survey was an anonymous way to note complaints and for them to improve. I
never thought that my name and comments were shown to every who work at
the dealership.
If the dealership always want to get satisfactory responses.then I am not
sure why there need to be a survey at all. They all should just give
themselves A+ and hug each other for comfort.
I don't know if this problem is isolated to the particular dealership I
was using for servicing. Next time you guys get a survey from Lexus.you
should think about this.
Btw, the dealership is found in the northern part of the Dallas, TX area.

[Al]

Judging only by what the Lexus dealers charge, their service should be A-1.
Frankly, for routine maintinance, I'm more impressed when the charge is
reasonable. I can do without the coffee and cookies, valets, etc. What I
want is a competent job at a decent price.
Al

Post by Paul
Recently, I received an online survey from Lexus about my dealership's
service quality. I took the time to fill out the survey, and noted some
areas that may require improvement by the dealer's service department.
The bottom line was that I did not give a "satisfactory" opinion about the
dealership.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the dealership's service manager (not
sure what his rank was...probably mid-level). He kept trying to get in
touch with me and left several voicemails. One of which he stated that he
wanted me to call his bosses and to tell his boss that my survey was not a
bad reflection on him. And he claimed that my survey has caused him to
look very bad in front of his bosses, and that it will affect his pay
raises!
As shocking as it was...I made the mistake of thinking he as my service
adviser. Since I like my service adviser, I tried to call the head of the
service department to straighten things out. What's more shocking.the head
service manager did not want to answer my call, he told the receptionist
to tell me to call back whomever called me in the first place...in other
words.I got the run around.
That made me very pissed.I wrote to Lexus to complaint about this whole
process. I didn't get much more than an apology.
As it turned out the guy who called wasn't even my service adviser.he was
the service adviser's boss. The layer of managers at the dealership was
too complex for me to understand. This is what I gathered so far.it seems
that the survey plays a very big part in the employee's job security,
promotion and salary increases. Any unsatisfactory remarks or ratings on
the surveys can get employees into trouble.
I was not aware of this fact until this matter came up. And I was also
very disappointed at Lexus's survey process. I think it is very unethical
for them to share my name with the dealership. I have always thought
survey was an anonymous way to note complaints and for them to improve. I
never thought that my name and comments were shown to every who work at
the dealership.
If the dealership always want to get satisfactory responses.then I am not
sure why there need to be a survey at all. They all should just give
themselves A+ and hug each other for comfort.
I don't know if this problem is isolated to the particular dealership I
was using for servicing. Next time you guys get a survey from Lexus.you
should think about this.
Btw, the dealership is found in the northern part of the Dallas, TX area.

[mcbrue]

Now own our third Lexus and it is a BIG disapointment. It would take
me a couple of full size pages to list all the things that I expect
that are just not there. Sure ... it runs. But the engineering and
"goodies" in it are for show, not go. And the quality surveys have now
become part of the problem, not part of the solution. Unless it is a
good survey, do not take it. Do not survey new buyers whom you do not
expect to give an excellent rating to the company, its products, and
its stealerships. Sad to see that happening to a pretty good company.
Oh well ... it is a car company! I think the DD Rule for surveys is a
good one!