S. O. P. for servicewriter error?

[cam76034]

I've been taking my truck to 5 Star for the past two and a half years for all warranty work and service. Oil changes, rotations etc. have been covered under a service agreement since it was new. So I call my usual servicewriter to find out what needs to be done, but he no longer works there, I get a new guy who tells me it's time for oil change and tire rotation. Fine with me, I ask him if this is covered by the service agreement (because 5 Star puts their own reminder sticker on the windshield for every 3 months or 5000 miles, but Ford specifies 6 months/7500 miles) so I want to make sure its the one that's paid for. New guy confirms it is and I make an appointment the next day.

Take the truck in at 8 AM. New guy calls me at 10 and tells me its ready to go. He calls back at 11:30 and says there's a problem. My service agreement apparently expired 6 months ago. This was news to me, cause I thought it was for the full 3/36 term. So he says that's what is holding it up. "so it's not done?" I asked.
"No, the paperwork came through and held it up". I reminded him that he called earlier and said it was done. He comes back and says, "sorry, they already did the work". So I reminded him that the time to inform me the service agreement had expired would have been yesterday, or even that morning when I brought the truck in, but not now after the work was done. He said something about eating this one and I figured by that he meant the service department.
When I picked up the truck, the cashier gave me a receipt, with the payment information highlighted in yellow showing the servicewriter's name and paid by Discover.

It would appear that he really did "eat this one". Is this a common practice with dealerships where the employees are personally liable for their mistakes? What if it was $500 or $1000? (this one was over $100)

I didn't mean for this guy to pay out of his pocket, even though it was his error, and when the dealership did their friendly followup call to make sure I was satisfied, I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything that might create a problem for him. I figure $100 is alot of money to him, to Sam Pack its a couple of cigars. Seems chicken$hit to me.

[POS Racing]

Five Star Ford blows, they are one of the key factors on why I now drive a Toyota!

I highly doubt the service writer ate the bill, bet it's a ploy to get you to cough up the dollars...

[Ted the Red]

Five Star Ford blows, they are one of the key factors on why I now drive a Toyota!

I agree.. at least the service department... When I had my Focus they tried to convince me that the knocking sound from the bottom end was related to the aftermarket plug wires I had.

On the other hand I had a great experience buying the car from them. The salesman that helped me ( I think his name was Skip) was great.

[aalvarez04]

I agree.. at least the service department... When I had my Focus they tried to convince me that the knocking sound from the bottom end was related to the aftermarket plug wires I had.

On the other hand I had a great experience buying the car from them. The salesman that helped me ( I think his name was Skip) was great.

The dealer just doesn't want to fix it and when they do they aren't exactly great. Ted the red they did the same with me, my rear tires on my front wheel drive car were worn so i was instantly accused of racing. My friend took his car in to the dealer because the motor blew with in the first month of owning it and they went through 5 engines in a 2 week time span just because they kept installing it wrong.

[randy7601]

It would appear that he really did "eat this one". Is this a common practice with dealerships where the employees are personally liable for their mistakes?

You never know what else happened before this. The service writer may have a history of similar mistakes. Could be the boss said, "Next time YOU pay for the screw up!"