Very recently, I had the misfortune to visit a Toyota dealership.
To refresh the memories of some of our devoted readers, I am not a fan of anyone whose living involves the sales and servicing of automobiles (with a very few local exceptions). Nor am I a fan of Japanese auto products whose reputation for excellence and quality, in my opinion, is the product of a massive propaganda and brainwashing effort to exalt the Asian product and to denigrate the American one.
My visit was in aid of my brother who owns a Toyota (vehemently disagreeing with my opinions re: his ride) and had to bring it in for a recall. As we usually ride together, instead of picking him up at his home, I was to meet him at the service department of the local Toyota dealer.
The service reception area is where the "writers" - people who enter the information needed for a service ticket - sit in their self-important lordliness on a raised platform managing to look occupied and able to ignore customers in a fashion that would make waiters green with envy. I knew we were in trouble when my brother pulled in and handed his recall notice to an employee of the dealership who manually filled out a form on a clipboard. This took few moments and my brother remarked that they were still doing things in pen and paper. One would think that, with the paperwork done, there would be nothing left to do and we would be on our way.
Nothing doing. Clipboard boy handed the recall notice back to my bro and pointed him toward the sanctum sanctorum where a group of bored "writers" were staring at their computer screens, probably watching the latest x rated offerings on youtube.
It became our turn to be written up and since the registration for the car was needed but was in the car and the car had already been pulled out of the bay, we had to recall the car and get the registration. That done, we were on our way.
Or so we thought. The writer informed us that since we had never been there for service before he needed more information and it would "only take about 10 minutes." Ten minutes! To write up the minutia of name address and serial number? Yep. You see, these "writers" come from the old school where computers and typewriters were for the hoi polloi, not factory workers and mechanics. They can barely type. And, they need to know everything about you, from your age to what you have for breakfast every morning. He also insisted on a signature for what earthly reason I can't fathom since Toyota was paying anyway and, after all, the dealership is in possession of the car.
I kept wondering: Toyota is recalling 8 million cars! Don't they have a better system? The recall notices have all the necessary information on them, one shouldn't have to stand as before a judge to answer questions that any idiot should be able to read for himself. I would suggest that one should only have to leave his recall notice and a phone number where he can be reached.
In case they need to know whether you like your eggs scrambled or sunny-side-up.
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2 comments:
so what you're saying is that the American dealerships are better? i beg to differ. firstly i would like to point out that the dealership is most likely filled with Americans not Asians, did you encounter any Asians throughout this ordeal? secondly, i have been to the American dealerships and they have the same ridiculous setup. maybe we should import some more Asians to go with the dealerships and see if they can't make this a better system.
I love my Toyota. It's six years old and going strong BEH.
That said, I have long wondered, in all offices, why they bother to have people manually write out forms, only to transtype them onto to their computer systems. Why not set up terminals, let people type it in, then print it out, let the person look it over to check for mistakes, and voila! If someone can't type, or is uncomfortable, then hand them a clipboard, but it's a waste of productivity, both the worker's and the customer/patient, to write it, and then type it over.
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