Today I took my Prius to the dealer for the (non-urgent) steering
column recall which is under way. It took about 2 hours, during
which time I lounged around their comfy reception area, swigged
their rather good machine-made coffee and read a fun book. IOW,
no real pain.

When the job was done, they said it was their habit to recompense
for the hassle: (a) a bottle of champagne (75cl, with Toyota (GB)
Ltd tag, but no Toyota Part Number); (b) top up the petrol tank;
and (c) vacuum the interior and wash the exterior.

Sadly: (a) I'm not a big fan of champagne; (b) I filled the tank
just 22 miles earlier, expecting to run dry on the way there; and
(c) the car wasn't too dirty and they made the windscreen smeary
whereas it had been nice and shiny.

However, all were pleasant and well-intended courtesies. What of
dealers elsewhere?
--
Andrew Stephenson

In article <QIdTg.14$vT1.11@trndny03> Trueno (AT) ae86 (DOT) gts "Hachiroku" writes:

Not a word is false. Truly. I was somewhat surprised. The only
other recall I've experienced, the dealer was sociable but hardly
overwhelming with the niceness. I thought this might be a Toyota
or *.jp cultural thing. They also supplied two letters with fine
grovelling apologies for their shortcomings (my paraphrase).
--
Andrew Stephenson

Makes me want a recall. Somehow I don't think I'd get the same treatment
in Florida..

On Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:28:09 GMT, ames (AT) deltrak (DOT) demon.co.uk (Andrew
Stephenson) wrote:
Andrew, I don't believe he was accusing you of any falsehoods... As
a matter of fact, I'm rather certain.

It was a comment on the American Toyota dealers - they will gladly
do the recall work (since they are getting reimbursed for it), but
unless Toyota Corporate was springing for the perks like the Champagne
and free fuel fills, most USA'n dealers are not going to go that far.

Exceptions being those dealers who think it very likely you'll come
in again soon and drop a lot of money to buy a new car - then they'll
lay it on notably rather thick (well into the "kiss-up" range) trying
to leave a good impression. Or the owner of the dealership just
happens to also own vineyards and/or a winery...

Lexus dealers might be more inclined to spend the extra money on
some of those perks themselves, because they're aiming for a more
upscale market - people who are more interested in cachet.

--<< Bruce >>--

In article <giorh2p2e0u9hr69lvh711ud911jtvvr9h (AT) 4ax (DOT) com>
blPYTHONbergman (AT) earthlink (DOT) invalid "Bruce L. Bergman" writes:

Bruce, I am really sorry; but your posting got snipped by my kill
fill setup. Problem is, in another NG a dumb-prat has been using
ax4.com as his ISP of main choice and spewing a load of dumb-prat
gibberish, whilst varying his From: lines. My kill file setup is
simpleminded and doesn't let me include anyone excluded by any of
the rules. So this clobbers you and other normal folkses who use
that ISP. (Sadly there's something about it that also appeals to
the dumb-prats -- a bit the way Google Groups gets abused.) :-(
--
Andrew Stephenson

In article <300920060011429946%Masked (AT) mm (DOT) m>
Lady_Purse-Wader (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk "Masked" writes:

You drew the short straw there. Sorry to hear it. IMHO you'd be
entitled to complain to Toyota, as the dealer is carrying out the
work for them (and -- I'm guessing -- sending them the bill). If
the dealer fouls the job, both you and Toyota are being gypped.

I assume you took it to the senior person at the dealers and gave
him/her a bollocking? (Well, maybe not if it's a "her". <g>)

People keep recommending that to me, every few decades. One of
these lifetimes... (I was reading Terry Pratchett's "Thud!".)
--
Andrew Stephenson

Andrew Stephenson wrote:

If you actually meant 4ax.com, it is a non-existent ISP. It is tacked onto
the end of message IDs of posts made using Forte's Agent newsreader which is
popular among many posters, good and bad.

In article <1uk2oucs8wdk6$.dlg (AT) hightech (DOT) misfit>
me (AT) privacy (DOT) net "High Tech Misfit" writes:

Ah, thank you. That makes the problem more interesting: how to
kill dumb prats without also killing those I want to hear from.
(I did realise the "ax4.com" appears in posts by the Good Guys.
It is the classic problem of preserving liberty despite actions
of those who abuse it to oppress the liberties of others.) :-(
--
Andrew Stephenson

In article <AdATg.608$pN.338@trndny07> Trueno (AT) ae86 (DOT) gts
"Hachiroku" writes:

Ah, got your post now. (Thanks for quoting Bruce, H.) Oh, I was
sure we were just in banter mode. <g>

It's possible that Toyota (UK) are trying to ensure a glowing rep
within the UK, or amongst Prius-buyers anyhow. Someone mentioned
a new Prius is in development (rather an easy call, I'd say), for
release in 1-1.5yr. Chatting to a senior salesbod while waiting,
I described several improvements I'd like to see. Maybe that was
instrumental in raising my stock a tad. <g?>

And in the past I have provided them with user feedback answering
tricky questions a potential buyer _should_ want to ask. (Eg how
well does the car take to being parked for a month? A: Just make
sure the battery has a good charge, then park it and come back in
four weeks.)

Or maybe they're just unusually nice people.
--
Andrew Stephenson

In article <1uk2oucs8wdk6$.dlg (AT) hightech (DOT) misfit>
me (AT) privacy (DOT) net "High Tech Misfit" writes:

According to someone in the other NG (with the dumb prat), that
default setting can be changed. Bruce, if you could do that, I
would be so happy to get your posts back. But don't ask me how
you do it. The added observation by the person suggesting this
(ie, kill if Message-ID contains "@4ax.com") was that it's sure
to kill a lot of worthless traffic. My guess is that the prats
as a whole are techno-dim and wouldn't think to change setting.
--
Andrew Stephenson