Complain about a product or service

Dodge Country

Appleton WI

Michelle of Green Bay, WI, writes about her '98 Chrysler mini-van:
My husband and I bought this van brand new to make our vacation to California a comfortable one -- we have six children. Immediately, the motor for the driver's side window broke, and getting it repaired became a frustrating ordeal -- the clerk told me to take the van home (a driving distance of about 35 miles) and bring it back three days later: "We don't have time to help you".

This incident occuered within a month of buying the car. Essentially, we have been battling with small repair problems throughout the last year: i.e. weather stripping around the doors falling off, the sealent around the windows melting away, seat-belts breaking, door handles falling off, seat-adjusters breaking down, etc. Moreover -- and the main problem that seems to reflect on the "kind" of service this dealer provides centers on two distinct instances:

First, our brakes seem to have been falling apart since our return from California. Yet every time I took them in they said thins like, "They're at 30%, they're at 40%, they'll be fine." Coincidentally, and unknown to us until today, we had a 12 month 12,000 mile warranty on the brakes. Now that the warranty is up thay have found $300 worth of repairs that need to be done.

Secondly, we had turned in our van for tire alignment because the vibration was incredible. They kept the van for two days, and when we picked it up, the vibration was still there. We had to take it back again. Finally, that problem was fixed. I filled out a complaint about the service and the manager of the service department personally called me bacause he felt that the information I provided did not reflect on his department.

Well, low and behold, since the first day of dealing with this particular dealer nothing has changed. I feel we were manipulated by some brilliant people.

Now, my van sits down at the dealer because three days ago I turned it in for faulty brakes -- a problem that has been apparent for some time now and -- after being assured that my van was still under warranty -- have been charged $70 for a brake inspection, and the "straightening" out of a rod that prevented the drivers seat from moving back-and-forth.

I would have never authorized these costs because I am poor.

We spent about $20,000 for the van, and are being treated like second-rate customers. Although the customer service hotline explained that there is nothing we can do, I felt it necessary to inform somebody. I will never but from Chrysler again. At least the Ford company worked with us on some major repairs, even after we had 100,000 miles on the car. I don't think this Chrysler van will see 70,000 miles because it's a piece of junk.

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