EDIT IN RESPONSE TO GERBER CUSTOMER CARE:…read more
Gerber Customer Care Manager Jessica Delagarza responded that "the team as well as your insurance company, and several upper managers have been in contact with you to discuss your concerns."
I'm unsure where that characterization is coming from. I have repeatedly requested a substantive conversation with upper management and have not received one. Customer Care has received those requests.
The primary management call I received regarding this escalation was from Regional Manager Scott Morgan. During it, Scott told me Gerber doesn't "have a time machine," discussed Gerber having happy and unhappy customers and not being able to make everyone happy, and claimed he had already heard my "full story," despite portions of my current complaint not having happened at the time of the conversation he referenced.
That call is part of my complaint. It is not evidence that my complaint was substantively addressed. Contact occurring and documented concerns actually being addressed are two different things.
Jessica's response exhibits the same failure.
I have now attached photos containing portions of that documentation. I encourage readers to review them and make their own judgment.
I spent about two months trying to handle this privately. Since that produced no meaningful result, I'm documenting it publicly.
I gave Gerber leadership a 30+ page report containing screenshots and a timeline of texts, emails and calls.
My vehicle entered Gerber after an April 8 accident. I did not get it back until June 19.
During the repair, I repeatedly asked what remained, what could go wrong and what could delay my car again. I'm a mechanic, so when another issue was found, I wondered whether it could have been caught earlier. My documentation shows how difficult getting answers was.
Some documented conduct also appears potentially relevant to Florida Statute §559.920, including provisions concerning deceptive or misleading statements by repair shops. I am raising that concern, not declaring Gerber violated the law.
Eventually, I asked General Manager Jenny Cole to STOP sending repair updates. They continued anyway. When I wanted useful communication, I couldn't get it; when I asked for certain communication to stop, I kept getting it.
When I picked up my car June 19, I handed Jenny a physical copy of my report and was told it would make it to Kaleef Henderson. Since then, I've repeatedly tried to reach Kaleef Henderson and Jorge Fernandez through calls, texts, emails and Customer Care.
Getting my vehicle back did not end the problems. Subaru subsequently found additional issues, including a gasket/seal issue around the turbo I was told resulted from improper reassembly, plus concerns involving a replaced strut and my A/C blower motor.
That escalation led to the Scott Morgan call referenced above. Instead of solving my complaint, that call became another part of it.
Scott also characterized our previous conversation as approximately 45 minutes. My phone records show approximately 26 minutes. More importantly, portions of my current complaint had not occurred then.
If Scott had already heard my full story before those events happened, Gerber may actually be in possession of the time machine he referenced.
To me, this illustrates a central concern: statements about my complaint do not appear consistent with the documented chronology.
I later told Customer Care what I believe sums this up: Gerber has had a customer do a process improvement manager's job for free. I've spent months documenting repeated communication failures, only to watch similar failures continue while I report them.
I was told this facility was coached. Yet after my June 19 pickup, another customer posted a strikingly similar complaint involving repair, communication and corporate response.
I told Customer Care that, to me, this looks like a company on fire.
Scott also told me his Southern Division is Gerber's most successful division. If that's accurate, I find that terrifying. After what I've documented within that division, I wonder what the less successful ones look like.
Despite everything above, my request remained simple:
Call me. Have a substantive conversation with me.
Even Customer Care agreed it should not have been this difficult.
My complaint went from one shop through Customer Care and regional management. I've repeatedly asked Gerber to review the history, address the documented discrepancies and identify who owns responsibility for resolving this.
This is no longer just about my car. It is about what happens when a customer documents what he believes are process failures, gives that documentation to the company, escalates through the provided channels, and watches similar failures continue.
I still welcome a substantive response from someone with authority to address what I documented.
Who is going to address this?
After two months, I'm STILL asking Gerber:
How did we get here?