Bert Ogden Body Shop Wasted a Week
Originally uploaded by shainelee.
On the Phone
I spent a week calling Mary at the Bert Ogden Body Shop in Mission, Texas. She did not return any of my phone calls. If she had, she could have told me that my insurance company, Fred Loya, had not released the van to them. Instead, I called the insurance to request changing shops. Mary did return their phone call right away. The claims adjuster apologized for her mistake and asked that I consider giving Bert Ogden Body Shop a chance since it wasn’t their fault the van had not been released. She was right; it wasn’t their fault.
Days later, I found out the van had still not been picked up. This was because I suggested changing shops. By the way, the receptionist told me this, Mary never returned my calls to tell me. So, I called the insurance company to ask them to resend the order. Only then did Mary call me to ask me to come sign some papers.
Face to Face
I suggested to her this moning at her office that she really should return my phone calls, she could have saved me a week without the van. The whole thing was stuck in limbo due to lack of communication. Even so, she did not seem to care. She just nodded and agreed, but did not inspire any confidence in her word.
At this point, I just want the van fixed. It has been almost a month. With the Holidays coming up, I don’t expect to have the van back before next year. I’m sure that ordering parts and installing them takes some time.
UPDATE
Word Got Around
I have spoken to the Bert Ogden Body Shop manager about the situation with my van. Things have gotten a bit nuts as a result of my blog posts. One of the managers in one of the other parts of the company Googled the words “Bert Ogden” and saw my blog post up there. He then called to find out what the problem is. I told him what happened. Then there were a series of phone calls coming from the company. In the end, they decided to not service my van due to what I have written. They are well within their rights to refuse service. I can understand that. When they called, however, I was busy with a client and could not discuss the situation with them.
My Mistake
I called back to find out their side of matter and to see what if anything could be done. I would like to write good things about Bert Ogden, I really would, but for me to do that I need a positive experience. I can tell you that I have part of the blame. I should have complained to the body shop manager that it was taking too long. Had I given him the opportunity to deal with the matter, maybe I’d have some resolution.
Lessons for Bert Ogden Family of Dealerships
As mentioned earlier, I do want to write good things about Bert Ogden Body Shop. I chose them because I truly believed in the company. I grew up watching commercials with Bert Ogden and his daughter. Their family is a true hometown success story. So, when the opportunity came to give them my business, I did not hesitate. I called in a while ago to see if anything could be done to repair the relationship, but the higher-ups have decided that it’s best not to deal with me. Now, I have to go find another body shop, which I’d already done anyway.
Despite the problems I’m going to help by providing a blueprint on how to deal with negative blog posts. First, don’t freak out. A negative blog post is a customer crying out that he or she is not satisfied. What you do is consider it a complaint like you would in person. If a customer complains to the manager, then the manager takes care of it, right? You do this because you don’t want that person to go tell friends and family about their bad experience. You try to turn it around by providing much better customer care so that the person can then say that your company had a little problem, but went out of your way to fix it.
A negative blog post works the same. Contact the blogger, find out the problem, and then fix the problem. Once they discovered my blog post, they could have turned the situation around and I’d be singing their praises for kicking it into gear. It would not erase the problem, but it would demonstrate that the company wants to do right by the customer. I would have written that I am impressed by their fast action once they learned about the problem. Instead, they called me up and told me that they will no longer provide me with service. Effectively, it is saying that it is my fault that their employee did not provide me with quality service. So, rather than fix it, they prefer to walk away. Now what am I supposed to do? How can I write anything positive about them? I can tell you that the receptionist seems nice. In my brief conversation, the body shop manager, Steve, seemed like a good guy. The guy from the Edinburg dealership who first called me when he saw my post seemed to really care. But in the end, I don’t have my van fixed.
I know it’s not the company’s fault, but the company’s reputation is on the line here, not Mary’s. So, if the employee can’t do a good job, the company has the opportunity to correct it. Give her some training. Maybe she has personal problems that have her distracted. Find out what is wrong and fix it. It’s as though one person fumbled the ball and the rest of the team is simply standing by watching it roll down the field rather than pick it up. I rather hoped they would pick up the ball.
I don’t want freebies. I don’t want butt kissing. I just wanted to be informed about my van. Now, because of one person’s actions, there is a soured relationship between me and one of the big businesses in my town.
It appears that 
Shaine 