Story of My 00 Dakota Quad
The date was October 25th 1999. I had waited several long months for the
release of the new 00 Dakota 4 door. Finally the time had come for me to
place my order. I had researched this vehicle and felt this was the perfect
truck for me. My wife Lynette and I had been blessed with 4 lovely children
(Nick age 7, Mike age 5, Matt age 2, and Elizabeth age 7 months). We wanted
a vehicle that I could use for maintenance of our rental properties, get us
safely to our hideaway cabin, haul the entire family to church on Sunday and
not be so large that Lyn would feel intimidated to drive. The 4 door quad
cab was just what we needed. We decided on the following features: 4.7 v8,
Automatic ,4X4 ,Sport Plus Group, Audio Controls on Steering Wheel,
Anti-Spin Differential, 3.92 Axle, Deluxe Conv. Group, Power Conv. Group,
Heavy Duty Service Group, 6x9 Fold Away Mirrors, AM/FM/Cass/CD, Alarm, Skid
Plate Group, Sliding Rear Window, Leather Wrap Steering Wheel. I contacted
every local dealer within 50 miles of our home and also some dealers over
the Internet. On October 27, 1999 I was all set to place my order with Mark
Roberts Motors. They came in with a bottom line out the door price of
25,443.50. The only catch was Mark Roberts Motors was located in the Mid
West and I was in PA. Scott Hicks at Mark Roberts Motors contacted my local
Dealer (Scoville-Meno) for a drop ship price and was quoted 350. I thought
this was rather high so I contacted Scoville-Meno to see if they could do
better on their price or reduce the drop ship fee, I did the same with my
other local dealer Ferrario's. Ferrarios came in at $$$$$$$ while the sales
Manager (Jim Bronson) at Scoville-Meno would not negotiate at all, he gave
me a line about how they are a five star dealer, how much it costs them for
quality mechanics, and they cannot afford to "give away" their new cars. I
decided to order from Ferrario's. I literally had the phone in my hand
ready to call Bart Schrader at Ferrario's when it rang with Jim Bronson on
the other end. He said the salesman had made a mistake in the price and he
was willing to sell the truck to me for $$$$$$$. I told him that was 50
less than Ferrarios. He then asked if he could place my order. I told him
I was still placing the order with Ferrario's. He asked why and I said
because I did not like his attitude when dealing with me before. He then
asked if an additional 250 off that price would make a difference. Well, I
started to like his attitude better and told him to place the order, the
only changes we wanted was to drop the security alarm and add floor mats. I
also wanted to order a roof rack. The date was November 2nd 1999. On
November 4th we put down 1000 and placed the order with our salesman Bill
Bailey, I was told the Truck should be in 6-8 weeks, I smiled outloud and
said this should make a nice Christmas gift. Within the week we looked over
the feature list again and wanted to upgrade the Power Conv. Group to the
Power Overhead Conv Group. I was not given the price difference, but was
told they could change the order and that they would be fair with me. On
November 16th while on the WWW I ran across the Dodge Incentives Program.
On page 5 of 10 of the WWW page was the title "Current Incentives Available
On All Dodge Truck Vehicles" "Consumers eligible for the College Graduate
program may qualify for a U.S. bonus allowance of $400 on any new 1999/2000
model year vehicle. Please see your dealer for eligibility requirements.
Vehicles must be ordered or delivery taken by 12/31/99" The next paragraph
began with AND then the next paragraph headlined. "Current Incentives by
Dodge Truck Vehicle Line" Dakota "Eligible commercial customers may qualify
for a U.S. cash allowance of $300 of 5-year/100,000 mile Power Train Care
Plus Service Contract OR Mopar Tool Box on the purchase of lease of an
eligible 1999 or 2000 Dakota (excluding all models with 4-cylinder engines).
Vehicles must be ordered or delivery taken by 7/31/00. Please see your
Dodge Truck dealer for eligibility requirements and program details. I
called Bill Bailey for details. He told me to bring in the diploma and
business license. I took in the information he requested. He talked to his
manager and I was told we would get both discounts. Now all was over but
the waiting, and the waiting, and the waiting. Christmas came and went, New
Years came and went, three 4 door Dakotas showed up at the dealer for dealer
sales, but out Dakota was no where in site. I called and was told it was
scheduled for Jan 13th delivery. Jan 13th came and went. I was then told
should be on the next shipment. On January 26th I called and this time
talked to the sales manager Jim Bronson and was told the truck had not left
the factory yet. I asked what the hold up was, the only response I got was a
story about how he had ordered a V10 Dodge Ram when they first came out and
had to wait 9 months for that truck to come in. I was told no firm ship
date or reason for delay. If that was supposed to make me feel better it
did not. I decided to call the owner of Scoville-Meno (Jim Meno) and see
if I could get more information. Mr Meno was unavailable, but I was able to
talk to a man names "Skip", he was very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely
concerned with my situation. He explained the shipping problems currently
being experienced at Dodge and took the time to answer my questions. Later
in the day I received a voicemail follow-up call from Mr Meno. Next the
date was Monday Feb 14th (Valentines Day) and still no truck. Way back in
November 99 I had made commitments to drive our other vehicle (Plymouth
Voyager) to Myrle Beach with a few golfing buddies. My wife called our
local Scoville-Meno dealer to explain how she would be without a vehicle if
the truck did not come in before Wednesday. She asked if they could provide
a rental car for 4 days while I was away. They said it was not part of the
bargain and refused. She then called the main office to talk to Mr Meno.
They said they would call us back and within a few minutes we got a call
from our local dealer saying they had a rental car for us. We were all set
to pick up the rental car on Wednesday and can you believe I got a call from
out salesman saying the truck had just arrived and was being prepped as we
spoke. I got the financing and insurance all ready and went to see the
truck. They were just getting ready to put on the roof rack. I noticed the
rack was lined up far to the front of the truck. I showed the installer how
it was supposed to look from the brochure, but was told he was following the
instructions. I also expressed my concern to our salesman. We then sat
down to pay for the truck. First thing I noticed was the price was 280
higher than we had negotiated. I was told the base price had gone up and
they were passing on the higher price. Next I noticed the 300 rebate had
not been subtracted from the price. I was told then that they had called
Chrysler and was told I could only use one rebate (they did give me the 400
education rebate). I was livid. I called Chrysler Rebates Department at
1-800-227-0757 and talked to a women who identified herself as LaCher. She
began to lecture me about Chryslers rules about rebates. I questioned why
the dealer said I was entitled to both rebates, and why the WWW page clearly
stated this rebate AND that rebate. (not this or that). I requested she
have someone review and correct the WWW page so someone else did not get the
same misinformation I got. She said she could not do that. I asked to speak
to her supervisor, but was told she was unavailable. She did say her
supervisors name was Janette and she would call me back. NOTE: It has been
10 days now and still no call back. I then called Customer Assistance at
1-800-992-1997. I spoke with Allen Walker about my problems, and the
misinformation on the WWW page. I asked for someone to review this
situation and get back to me. He informed me they are not set up to do
that. He further went on to say, if I was unhappy, I did not have to buy
the truck! I asked for his supervisor and he told me there is no problem
escalation process in that department. At me insistence, he did open a
problem number. That number is file # 6827970. I could not believe what I
was hearing. What happened to Customer Service? It seems that Daimler
Chrysler has gotten so big that they do not care about the individual
customer. I thought it was ironic that the only think they seemed
interested in getting from me was the VIN number (1B7GG2AN7YS665607).
I went on my vacation and upon my return the first thing I notices was the
roof rack I could not believe it was that far forward on the truck. It
was so far forward that the rack did not lay flat on the roof. It was even
further forward than the end of the roof ribs. Due to the curve of the roof
toward the front, the main stays were bowed so that I could actually see
between the rack and the roof. Any load on the rack could cause it to flex
and damage the paint. So much for the high priced 5 star mechanics that Jim
Bronson had touted before we ordered the truck. I did take the truck back
to the dealer and talked to the service manager Mike Pazollo. He was great,
he seemed more concerned than I was and said it was not right and he would
make sure it was corrected. He will be personally overseeing the roof rack
being corrected and also the installation of the running boards and mud
flaps. Now that is customer service!
So I finally have the truck... I must admit, it is a great machine. All the
proportions are just perfect. All kinds of power with the 4.7. Looks even
better now that I have added the Extang tonneu cover. I could go on and on.
The only problem is that it is too good, the wife is always driving
it...It was supposed to be my truck and she would have the voyager... If I
did not have such a poor customer service experience and such a long wait, I
would be tempted to buy another for her.
I was so taken back for the lack of customer service shown by a few
representatives of Chrysler I felt compelled to write this letter. I want
to show we as customers are much more that just a sales statistic or a VIN
number. It is much more about the principal than the money. I am trying to
stand up for the "Principal of the Deal". I feel the dealer or Chrysler
should stand up to the deal they made with me. The price negotiated in good
faith should stand and the rebates I was told would be honored should be
honored. Now, this is the deal I want to make with you. If you take a
stand and help me relay this to the proper people at Chrysler and they make
this situation right, I will do one of two things. Based on your feedback
I will give all $580 to one of you drawn at random, or if the majority of
you want me to split the money to everyone who sends this on to someone at
Chrysler I will do so. Thank you for all your time, patience, and
understanding.
Sincerely,
David L. Schultz
354 Hayden Street
Sayre PA 18840 570-888-4474
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