Chrysler

COMPLAINT: We brought our car in for repair for replacement of headlights and correction of the passenger front axle on 6/18/08 the day before an important trip. Both of these repairs were done to our general satisfaction.

HOWEVER, as we retrieved our car minutes after the service department's closing time, we discovered that the driver side door suddenly would not close after opening it. The door had closed all right when we brought the car in for repair. We wondered what could have happened at the dealership that would cause the door to be so much lower or higher that it would not close. The service area had closed as it was after 7 PM and we had to get ready for our trip for the next day. Thus, my husband suggested we just talk to the dealer after our trip and that perhaps we could just lift and slam the door simultaneously, and it would stay closed. This tactic worked that evening as we left the dealership and we drove home.

Yet that evening at home we discovered, after getting out of the car, that closing the door was not a simple matter (as the metal around the door latch had bent). We managed to close the door but were afraid to open it. When the customer satisfaction surveyor called, we described our displeasure about the problem but said that we could answer more questions when we were back in town. Thus, throughout our entire vacation in the next week+ the driver entered the car through the passenger side and scooted over to the driver's seat.

When we returned back home, the surveyor called back and we answered all the questions and described our sudden dismay about the surprising fact that our door would not close easily when we picked up our car the evening of 6/18/08.

I endured crawling across the passenger seat to drive the week or so after the vacation but could not schedule time to go to the dealership because of the need to catch up with work. Eventually the door would pop open with every bump in the road and would not stay closed at all. I had to tie the door closed to keep it from swinging open while driving. That is when I told my husband we had to schedule a return to the dealership, as the door was dangerous and intolerable after the last repair visit.

I called David Montgomery, the service manager, because Tim True, our usual "advisor, " had frequently seemed dismissive of any minor complaints and seemed patronizing. I suspected that some complaints had never been written down in his log of issues about the car.

A hint of door problem had already been identified to Tim True at the end of an earlier repair visit. The door closed a little roughly after the earlier dealership repair but without a major problem. He looked at the latch and he somewhat dismissed it with a glib brush off that maybe the catch needed to be adjusted. He did not offer to fix that problem at that time. Because the door opened and closed OK, and we did not want to complain, we did nothing about the minor latch roughness of the door.

The same dealer had repaired that door at one time because a burglar had pried the door open and damaged the lock (not the latch). When the door was repaired by the dealership, the resulting lock was not flush (like the passenger locks) with the outside door metal, as if a gasket or washer was missing, and the window no longer moved smoothly within the door. These were not major problems and thus we did not complain about the poor workmanship, since the door and window were still functional.

However, the door as of the day of the 6/18/08 repairs has become completely dysfunctional because it does not close. Driving in this condition is HAZARDOUS and potentially LIFE THREATENING. The door damage on 6/18/08 during the dealer's custody of the car during repair cannot be ignored given the life-threatening situation if the car is driven with the problem. The door can swing widely open during busy traffic. No mention that the door would not close properly was written on the 6/18/08 Wolfchase receipt/report (perhaps because an errant service technician who did not admit the creation of the problem to the service manager). The car was just in the lot and we just got a key to retrieve it at closing time.

Now David Montgomery and presumably Tim True deny any responsibility whatsoever on behalf of the dealership.

By the way, the dealership's mission statement says: "... Our dealership focuses on positive, fair and honest sales and SERVICE transactions. At Wolfchase Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, customer SERVICE is our top priority..."?