MachIVshooter
Member
And the issue would be handled expediently, but that sort of approach neither helps nor hinders the process. If you came in and said "the (insert part) you installed is (insert complaint) and I need you to replace it under your warranty", I wouldn't be put off, but I also wouldn't feel that I owed you anything beyond that. And if you had eclipsed the warranty, you'd be paying again. You may be in the right, but trying to dictate to the company how or when a repair or product replacement will be handled won't get you further ahead, even if you are being polite.
However, if you came in and said "I'm sorry to bother you, but think there may be something wrong with (repair-related item, or symptom), do you think you could have a look?", your vehicle would be in right away and not only would the issue be handled ASAP (maybe even if it were a bit out of warranty), but you'd probably get something like a free oil change on top of it.
And yes, I will still deal with a warranty repair if the customer is a jerk. But it takes longer, I'll look with a microscope for any indication that the failure was a result of misuse/abuse or failure to handle a closely related problem (for which a warranty may be void), and future service may even be denied once the warranty has expired.
You can't really understand how this works from the business' end unless/until you're a business owner. But no matter the industry, a customer's/consumer's attitude has a tremendous effect on the outcome when dealing with warranty stuff. Remember, warranty costs a business money. Period. If they feel they've lost you as a customer already, why should they give anything they don't absolutely have to to make you happy?
And when it's a larger company like Kimber, you have to remember that you're dealing with multiple people. If you fly off the handle at the poor guy who happened to answer the CS line, he probably hasn't a clue about your particular case until that moment. Well, tick him off and he's liable to go out of his way to bump you down on the list. After all, it won't affect his paycheck and it'll give him some satisfaction in the getting even department, because this is the only way he can retaliate for your being nasty. And he's not gonna lose sleep over it, for sure.
Like I said, guilt the manufacturer (or service provider) by being humble and apologetic, you're likely to get more out of it. He's a fool who lets his pride get in the way of benefitting. There is a time and a place for being stern or even aggressive/nasty when dealing with a company. But that should be a last resort, when all other avenues have failed, and you should make sure the person you're dealing with is familiar with your problem, is deserving of the treatment, and has the power to do something about it. Otherwise, all you've done raised two people's blood pressure and no one is better off for it.
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They never returned a call, email, nothing!
