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Patrick Thornton › Likes
I am getting heck from some for complaining about poor service. I forgot that social media is now about pushing press releases to your followers. Screw that!
Roberto Bonini, Patphelan, Aaron Draczynski and 50 other people liked this
If you get what you consider to be poor service, then I feel that you're entitled to sound off about it,whoever it is...
- Ian May
I'm not sure that you are complaining about poor service. You are complaining about service that is the norm and that doesn't meet your (in my opinion) inflated demands. Unless you have a roadside assistance plan with Toyota, they are not going to help you in an after hours situation.
- Alex Scoble
I just think you're whining for no reason. There doesn't seem to be "poor service" involved. See my previous comments why. IOW, the onus is you to prove this "poor service" and I've yet to see it.
- Admiral Anika
heck?
- CW™
♥ the pic....life goes on, now doesn't it...? :)
- Harold Cabezas
Not necessarily. This is social media being itself. People coming together from the social community providing input. I gotta say, I'm shocked that a Highlander went dead in a parking lot right after purchase. It's been one of the most highly rated light SUVs on the market. I agree that maybe it's been sitting in some port lot for weeks and the battery wasn't charged. Even then, it has...
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- Glenn Batuyong
full moon on friendfeed people! I'm tellin' you!
- Jim in Real Time
It truly is the way of the internet!
- Dean Clark
Robert - Social media is about sharing your experiences...good or bad. I for one like to see what people like, and what people don't like. Experiences are subjective....Please continue sharing Your dislikes and likes. I certainly do.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
with great power, comes great responsibility
- Ryan Stanley
It is also called life streaming- that means the ups and downs. I value the trusted voice because of the honesty of the entire experience. Keep on being you - the whole you. I appreciate your voice very much.
- michael sean wright
I think it's logical to be very annoyed with Toyota over the problems with the car. Not as logical to be annoyed with them because they don't offer roadside assistance for free and can't deal with your issue after hours. They'll fix you up soonest tomorrow. I'd still be very annoyed though.
- Alex Scoble
What Alex said. Plus, you're blaming the brand and going on about how you wish you'd gone with another, despite the evidence that the brand you're blaming is among the best in class.
- Ken Sheppardson
It's kinda just one guy, and since we all follow you, we already knew about him
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew: I count at least two in this thread, plus the guy in the other one ;-)
- Ken Sheppardson
Note to self: Use social media only the way Robert has intended.
- Jason Kintzler
What I wonder, is if I lawn jart my car off a mountain pass into a crevasse with no way of escape, and no way of being seen, and didn't buy OnStar when i bought my car, with the OnStar lady tell me to go fuck myself when I tell her what happened and how I'm trapped in a crevasse, or will they call the national guard and then settle the bill with me later?
- Matthew DeVries
Here's what I do if I work for Toyota Corp or their PR office. 1) Find out where Robert is, 2) call a nearby tow truck company, 3) charge it to corp account, my personal acct, call my boss and use his acct, or call my boss's boss and use her acct. 4) Deal with the should we/shouldn't we stuff on Monday.
- Dave Ferrick
Alex: they couldn't even tell me a number for roadside assistance. This was the WORST service I have EVER received from a car company.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, SM is more than press releases and you have a right to microblog about your experiences. I was reading with curiosity as to how this will be resolved.
- LPH™ and his dog P™
Ken: if this is best in class then I don't want to know what worst is like. BMW is a lot better, by the way.
- Robert Scoble
Hyundai puts the number for Roadside Assistance on the back passenger window, so you never have to figure out what it is. They should all do that.
- Mark Trapp
Robert: Best in class for reliability. I put the Consumer Reports scores in the other thread. I'm having a hard time keeping track whether you're upset because the car wouldn't start or you couldn't find the Toyota Roadside Assistance number and whomever you got in touch with didn't have it. I'm sure it'll all be clearer if/when you can write it up in more detail.
- Ken Sheppardson
You also pay a huge premium for the upscale brands, Robert. If you wanted the BMW treatment you should have bought a Lexus or Acura. You still have the right to complain though, but the rest of us have the right to critique your complaint.
- Alex Scoble
The Toyota roadside assistance number wouldn't have helped you, Robert, unless you have a plan with them.
- Alex Scoble
What Alex Scoble said.
- coldbrew
Robert: Toyota does not offer roadside assistance on new cars.
- Anthony Citrano
from BuddyFeed
Alex: Don't you think they'd have at least dispatched a truck, even if they wouldn't pay for it? BTW, the Lexus RX400h is equivalent of the Highlander hybrid, I believe.
- Ken Sheppardson
Bollocks and balderdash. The US is so mired in mediocrity when someone actually does their job we give them gold stars and write them up in the local paper. I charge more than my competition because I do a better job. I'm working and they aren't. Figure it out. If someone says they are going to do something, and they don't, it is unacceptable.
- MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)
I was mad about the service AFTER the breakdown. Absolutely crappy from two separate dealerships. Both gave me the same number on my manuals that said to call back tomorrow.
- Robert Scoble
Alex: the Toyota was more expensive than our BMW. This is NOT a cheap car.
- Robert Scoble
You are paying for the technology in this case, not the support.
- Alex Scoble
Also Robert the CAR is best in class. Toyota makes probably the most reliable cars in the world. Of course this doesn't necessarily say anything about their customer service. In that regard, you can't expect Mercedes or Audi level ass-kissing.
- Anthony Citrano
from BuddyFeed
So the dealerships, where service are usually closed on Sundays, *both* told you to call roadside assistance and you decided to...post to FF instead? One good thing has come out of this. I am now curious to find that one dealership and/or car manufacturer where the service dept is open on Sundays.
- Admiral Anika
Robert if you paid more for your HL than you would have for a comparable BMW or MB, my hat is off to the dealer who screwed you, ;)
- Anthony Citrano
from BuddyFeed
Anthony - LOL
- Jeff (the マクダジ of FF)
Robert, maybe you should pass out "YOU'D BEST KNOW WHO I AM AND WHAT HELL I CAN UNLEASE ON YOUR BRAND!!!" cards whenever you purchase something. Then maybe you'd get the treatment you expect. That, or simply buy an AAA membership.:)
- Dawn
Anthony, he has a 3 series BMW, not an SUV. Big price difference.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Dawn: sorry, I forgot that the Internet is just for marketing yourself. Thanks for reminding me again. If this is how Toyota treats me well then I imagine they will probably be even worse to you.
- Robert Scoble
"You still have the right to complain though, but the rest of us have the right to critique your complaint. - Alex Scoble" AND THIS is the crux of the beauty of social media. This is in fact how we all learn from each other and our experiences. This is what we would all do if we were to sit around with an upset Robert in the pub in the mall. He'd be bitching, and some people would think he's right, and some would think he's wrong. Eventually someone would tell us all to STFU or GTFO. Life in the Free World
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Anima: I called those numbers FIRST before posting. Glad you think this kind of service is acceptable. I don't.
- Robert Scoble
"If this is how Toyota treats me well then I imagine they will probably be even worse to you." LOL Yeah, that's what I thought...you think you deserve special treatment because you have a large audience. Perhaps you do. But they probably don't even know who you are, hence my suggestion.
- Dawn
I'm going to assume "Anima" is me. ROFL. My point is that service dept. are closed on Sundays. Period. When my car almost went over a cliff in the Hollywood Hills because a cable went wobbly, I didn't expect the dealership to be open. If you were concerned about Sunday service, maybe you should have inquired about it before signing the papers. But as I said before, we live in CA. This is needless due to our lemon laws. You can return the car, no questions asked and get another one from elsewhere.
- Admiral Anika
I guess here's the thing: Applebees and Ruths Chris both sell a ribeye. One costs a lot more than the other for a reason.
- MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)
I actually do subscribe to the idea that it's not reasonable to think anyone should be working on Sunday. Emergency services only. People should get their shit done the rest of the week and chill one day a week. But I know that world is long gone :(. But I do admire businesses ballsy enough to not open on Sunday. That kind of commitment to family and community is rare any more.
- Matthew DeVries
If you have a poor experience with something you should raise heck. Nothing wrong with that. Otherwise these flaws don't get fixed for everyone else. Good work.
- Thomas Hawk
Dawn: I don't ask for special service on the phone. But I will complain online.
- Robert Scoble
I thought car service was 24 hour roadside assistance, it was with my Ford when I purchased it. I stopped my AAA due to the dealer deal of this roadside plan. I only had to use it three times, sadly in a matter of four weeks was towed three times. I cannot say enough concerning the fast service, hassle free rental on holiday no less.
- Janet
I wasn't even asking for that kind of service. I just wanted someone to tell me what to do other than to call a number where there were no humans.
- Robert Scoble
There are times when complaining is completely justified. Poor service is one of those times. And frankly if no one complained about poor service it would never get fixed. So, in essence, you're helping everyone out here.
- Patrick Thornton
I'm not attacking you for complaining about poor service. But, I just don't think you are getting poor service I just think you are getting typical service from a car manufacturer on a Sunday.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
If it's a problem that these cars are DOA because of sitting around or whatever, I agree that they should have a special 7 day a week 24hour MANNED number to call for assistance. Of course you're going to get upset spending tens of thousands of dollars on a car that won't even start. New car owners should get special treatment for X amount of time, till everything gets broken in, you...
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- Dawn
You know what, there's nothing wrong with speaking your mind. Wouldn't be interesting if everything was sunshine and daisies.
- Ruth Helfinstein
Mathew: if that's true then that explains a whole lot about why we hate car companies. And Toyota is supposed to be one of the best.
- Robert Scoble
Dawn: exactly. This is for a car that is a week old. I don't even care about that, but the two dealers kept sending me to a number that didn't have a human on it.
- Robert Scoble
Yeah, that would get me going, too, but *esp.* because it's just a week old. One of the main reasons you buy a new car is for reliability.
- Dawn
I haven't read from the rest of this thread but I would just like to respond to Robert's main topic here: What the hell Bob? You're the biggest social media press-release whore there is. YAAAARRR
- Mitch
You should calmly tell them that you want to be compensated for your inconvenience. They will likely grant you your wish, if you tell them what you want...like a free 6months of roadside assistance or a free oil change down the road, or whatever. Get specific.
- Dawn
Dawn: good idea. But first they need to pay the $160 tow job.
- Robert Scoble
That will make it even easier. "Here is the receipt for towing and I want X for my lost time and undue hardship."
- Dawn
I do want to ask you Robert, why don't you have AAA?
- Mathew™ one of a kind
Why even bother with AAA? Most makers offer excellent concierge services -- especially one in the Highlander price range. I don't see why the Highlander isn't included with Lexus service -- it's certainly more costly than the lowest model. Unless Lexus doesn't offer anything, too.
- Mona Nomura
from fftogo
Mathew: I've never needed it and I had roadside assistance with BMW and Saturn (and built in Onstar in both).
- Robert Scoble
@Mathew™ for the same reason a lot of Mac users (like me) don't buy AppleCare. We don't usually expect our brand new systems to crap out on the second day. After all, aren't Macs (Toyotas) supposed to have legendary reliability?
- Glenn Batuyong
Mona: because they were the sales floor. Who knows what I'd have gotten if I actually had tried roadside assistance.
- Robert Scoble
A car and a Mac are two totally different beast. I don't care what kind of car you drive something is going to happen. It could be a flat tire, locking your keys in the car or your alternator going out. AAA just keeps you from having to spend a ton of money when the inevitable happens.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
@Robert Then I can understand why you didn't have it. I drive a 99' Ford Taurus with over 228,000 miles on it, so I need to have AAA.
- Mathew™ one of a kind
@Mathew™ then again, miraculously AAA seems to be MUCH cheaper than AppleCare.
- Glenn Batuyong
Ugh. Seems like they should have at least offered to call for roadside assistance for you. When I had trouble with a new Mazda (and this was at 10pm) their first concern was to make sure I was safe and then they called a tow truck. They followed that up with a phone call to make sure the tow truck had arrived. Even if Toyota couldn't have it serviced for you, it seems like they totally dropped the ball in the customer relations department.
- craterdweller
I doubt people subscribe to Scoble's feed to hear about your complaints with Toyota's customer service. So get back to the point quickly. If everybody starts whingeing through Social Media as much as you do then it is going to start getting really boring, Scoble!
- Francois A.
Remember, that with your follower count, you can't please everyone. Go forth, and post about anything that darn well pleases you. Press release pushing? Pfft..
- Colin Charles
from twhirl
If Robert can't get service, I certainly won't be able to. I'm personally very glad he shared this story. Toyota should realize that young families depend on their vehicles. No 24/7 number for emergencies? WTH?
- Christine Cavalier
Christine: I think they actually had a number it's just that the people I talked with at two dealerships knew the number and I couldn't find it.
- Robert Scoble
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