Though I'd Share, It's Monday

back story, i finally got a set for non run-flat tyres, man.... enjoying it, so far i have about 250 Miles on them, anyways, i was calling around to schedule Wheel Alignment, i called three (3) stealerships,

First stealership ME: hello do you do in house four wheel alignment? SERVICE ADVISOR: yes we do, for what vehicle, ME: it's for an X253, SERVICE ADVISOR: ohh i'm sorry sir we do not do service for BMW's we're Mercedes Benz, ME: thank you so much.

Second stealership, ME: hello do you do in house four wheel alignment?SERVICE ADVISOR: yes we do, for what vehicle, ME: it's for an X253, SERVICE ADVISOR: yes we do, would you like to make an appointment? ME: yes i would, but before i do, what's the warranty for the service? SERVICE ADVISOR: what do you mean warranty? ME: warranty for the alignment, SERVICE ADVISOR: ohh I'm sorry sir we do not have a warranty for Wheel Alignment, ME: thank you so much.

Third Stealership, ME: hello do you do in house four wheel alignment? SERVICE ADVISOR: yes we do, for what vehicle, ME: it's for an X253. SERVICE ADVISOR: yes we do, would you like to make an appointment? ME: yes i would, how long will the service take? SERVICE ADVISOR: you will have to leave you vehicle sir. ME: ok, why will the service take long? SERVICE ADVISER: we have to take your vehicle to another location for the service. ME: thank you so much.

all i wanted is my wife's ride to have the wheels aligned by a qualified shop. anyways, i think i may just have go to a specialty local shop for the service.

 

I'm not shocked at any of these. The first one is hardly surprising at all. The folks answering the phone are very likely not trained with the platform numbers; it would be hard to find a qualified mechanic answering the phones.

I get your point, but that would not have deterred me from clarifying what car/model-year you were inquiring about when the person got confused.

 

Ok, playing devil's advocate here, but why did you answer the model question by giving them the internal model code? That makes no sense. I wouldn't be surprised if the people who answer the phones are not familiar with the model codes, nor does the model code actually tell which model you have. X253 is the model code for the entire platform, but it doesn't say whether you have a GLC300, GLC43, 63 or 63S nor does it give the specific model year, which could matter depending on the service work. You just set yourself up for an awkward conversation.

Secondly, alignment is not a warranty item. Why did you think it was? Alignment can get knocked off due to normal driving and just like brakes and tires, it's not a warranty item, unless something is clearly faulty.

 

Ok, playing devil's advocate here, but why did you answer the model question by giving them the internal model code?
force of habit i guess, they forwarded me to a service advisor (maybe my expectations of a service advisor may be a bit high, you know they're supposed to be the authority),

Secondly, alignment is not a warranty item. Why did you think it was?
first tyme i'm plannig to have my wheels aligned by the stealership. Past experiences, other tyre shop gives 90 days, and others as long as 12month to lifetyme warranty, i was just surprise the stealership does not offer any.

You just set yourself up for an awkward conversation.
i believe i may have, but hey, it's a Monday

 

anyways, my point was, I was speaking with service advisors, it's just sad, i could have followed it up with a model, if i were asked

 

Why use x253, why not just use the name of the model? I can't recall ever calling my SA and using anything other than the model name. Just strange.

Alignments are not warranty items.

 

The dealerships do that, too to some extent. Repair work is generally warrantied by the dealership, so if you have the car aligned and something is still not right afterwards, they'll redo it free of charge. I've had one of my previous cars aligned four times at one point, because it wasn't right the first three times, but I only paid once. I've actually even gotten an alignment done under warranty, because I complained that one of my rear wheels sticks out more than the other, so they aligned the subframe etc. all under warranty. In this case it was essentially a fault from the factory.

Yes, some discount tire shops offer lifetime alignment with the purchase of tires, but quite honestly you get what you pay for. I would never take my car for an alignment to any of these shops. My wife's car was involved in a minor collision and the repair shop sent the car to Big O'Tires for alignment afterwards. The car pulled to one side afterwards and just wasn't driving properly. Brought it back and they claimed the alignment was fine and simply swapped the front tires left and right claiming there was tire pull. It drove a little better, but still not right. Took it the VW dealership and they aligned it. They showed me the before and after, and the before was completely off. My guess is that the Big O'Tires alignment rack was not calibrated properly. Car finally drove properly after VW aligned it.

I've even had difficulty getting a proper alignment from my indy shop with my previous Audi RS5. The problem is with these modern cars, there are steering sensors that need to be reset properly during the alignment and if you have DISTRONIC it may need to be calibrated. I found my indy shop wasn't really equipped for this modern stuff and they just reset the steering sensor with software on their laptop, but something just wasn't right. Dealerships generally have equipment integrated into the alignment rack that properly resets everything after the alignment as part of the process, but this extra equipment is rather expensive. Hunter also offers and add-on to their alignment rack to handle this stuff properly, but so far I have not to found an independent shop who owns the add-on. For example my indy has a Hunter rack, but w/o the add-on. I also get the feeling that some of these smaller shops do not calibrate their racks as frequently as they should. These places are often cutting cost and don't have the best possible equipment.

 

i understand about the warranty thing, all i ask for is a guarantee for my wife's ride to ride straight, and if not, i can take her back until it does. Prices do differ from stealership to stealership, i don't mind paying, it's more about trust and integrity i'm looking for, but i guess now a days, it's really hard to find. ..........during our days....... well......... it's long gone and we just have to accept what we have.
Anyways, i contacted specialty place, reviews were good, not perfect but you know you cannot please everybody, the person on the other side sounded proper and honest. i think i will give them a shot.

 

I wonder do you fall into the 'unpleasable ' category!

 

good one

 

I'll take that as a 'maybe '!!!