SECOND UPDATE! We're so near the end of this saga!…read more
After the last update, I got another apologetic email from McKenzie, and finally spoke with the area manager, Ben, who was at pains to set everything right. He explained to me (without trying to excuse anything or defend his company to the death) what had gone on, he asked how he could make things right, and he looked at it as an opportunity for improving service. Here's what I really liked: he didn't throw his guys under the bus, either, but recognized that more training in the non-wrench stuff (communication, curveball customer service) was necessary. Given the amount of time I had to spend chasing down the part and making that part of things go, and the fact that the delay stranded me for an extra night in a hotel, I asked him to refund the labor charge, which he agreed to, no problem at all.
So here's to Firestone, and I hope everything goes more smoothly for them now. In this silly rating system, I've bumped them from one to three stars: was it fun, no, but pretty much everybody was nice and we've got things straightened out.
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First Update from the last review, which is currently in the grays.
The weirdest part so far is that after a lot of "we're so sorry, we're here to straighten this out" from Firestone's social media team (see reply to non-recommended review below), everything just went dark. No reply at all. An area manager was supposed to have contacted me two days ago, and so far nothing; Firestone's social media person (McKenzie I.?) doesn't respond when I email her and ask what's up (which her message to me asked me to do if the issue's not been taken care of).
Well, nice social media show, guys, but so far it doesn't seem to be backed by any of the auto-care people.
As for the repair - my mechanic doesn't actually believe the three-month-old coolant tank blew, though I'm inclined to believe Firestone Alan. Whatever; the larger immediate problem is there's also a heater core leak, which Firestone missed, and which is why I drove home breathing coolant vapor. I'd kind of expected that there'd be a problem behind the problem (and if I had to put down money, which I no doubt will because it's my freaking car) I'd bet it's a very undramatic head-gasket issue overpressurizing the cooling system.
Here's how my guy at home handled a customer-service issue, btw (you listening, Firestone?): Like I said, coolant tank was new, still under warranty, which I'd forgotten. My guy doesn't have the busted tank to return to the mfr., because Firestone swapped it out and I didn't think to ask them to give it to me. He's crediting me for it anyway, will take the price off the heater-core job. That issue took...about 45 seconds to resolve, standing there talking with him.
Try, try again....
