Re: ETCG Rants About His Trip To the Dealer for Warranty Work -ETCG1 

The service writer represents the entire dealership, his actions and attitude toward Eric were uncalled for. Like Eric said , who gives a flip if the cable was broken. You just don't talk to a customer like that.

As a service writer at a Honda dealership in the PNW, I'm on your side on this one. We've done over 4000 airbags this year at my dealership alone, and I really wish half of my customers were like you.

After watching the first video, I immediately contact my mother who, as I commented in the prior video , just recently retired from Honda Motor, Co. corporate office in the Acura division after almost 30 years. She immediately contacted the director of Acura National Customer Relations for her zone and asked them to contact their counterpart on the Honda side and view your video. UPDATE: After watching the video it appears that Honda contacted you. Good stuff. I knew they would. Still doesn't excuse the crap attitude that guy gave you. Keep on with the great videos.

Marketing Rule #1: A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world (70,294 subscribers to be exact). You are the winner, Eric!

Eric you don't have to explain yourself...You're on the right side

What is nice about Eric is that he keeps it real. It is not hype. I guess there's some danger in making a video (or even posting a comment) when you are mad. But his 1st video was not bad but I also appreciate this one. Eric, you probably won't see this, but that's why we like you!

There was no explanation needed for the last video, I didn't see any issue with it, keep you videos coming and I look forward to everyone.

My cousin was a service writer, graduate with a BA in automotive engineering, With an ego as inflated as a hot air balloon drank like a fish. No wonder he was fired. Our customers are our bread and butter our livelihood, however not every customer is honest, but we HAVE to treat them the way WE would like to be treated. Eric you're winning don't have to explain anything. You're gold.

Hey Eric. 3 year technician at Gary Force Honda in Bowling Green, Kentucky. (Won more presidents awards than any other Honda dealer in U.S. Yay!) I'm a huge fan of your channel and really appreciate all of the work you do. Concerning this video and its predecessor, I would just like to say that I totally understand where you're coming from. Service writers can be a real pain sometimes. Nothing you could've prevented. Concerning the negative comments, don't sweat it. You have been a huge help to me throughout the early years of my career and to many like me I'm sure. Appreciate it!

Took our VW into the dealership for a stalling issue in neutral, the service writer went on to accuse my mother (who has driven manual cars for 30+ years) of not knowing how to drive a manual car and that she was the issue and why is she wasting their time. She responded by demanding the service manager takes it for a test drive. 5 minutes later, they had the car out the back and were fitting brand new injectors because the original ones were faulty and were causing the car to stall. I've hated dealerships ever since and am never going back.

Viewers gave Eric crap about the last video and how he felt? God have mercy if someone shares their opinions and it doesn't meet yours. Jesus.

I had a similar situation with Honda service center. My car was having problems starting and I knew that my 98 accord had a recall on the starter switch so o brought it in to diagnose to see if it was covered under warranty. I have used your videos to replace my starter, and alternator previously. I watched and they didn't even look at it. They came back and told me that I needed a new battery, alternator, and starter. I just replaced all those since I just worked on it. I declined and went on my way. Somehow, they made my ground cable loose to my alternator and my car died on the side of the freeway. I left for 10 minutes to get my tools and the car was towed. I was very very unhappy and called and after many arguments they ended up paying the cost of having it towed but it was a battle and they were rude the whole time. Thanks to your videos I was able to diagnose why it died and know what happened.

Hey, I took my car in for something once. I forgot what it was. I didn't take it to a dealershpi, but a private buisness at a shop that the owner was always cool with me. WHen he was working on my car, he accidently broke an after market sensor that I had installed. He told me about it straight up and was cool about it. All I asked for a 20 bucks off my next bill. He was cool with that, I was cool with it. The only reason I don't go to his shop anymore is because I moved too far away. I would reccomend his shop to anyone in the area in a heartbeat. :) Another thing I wanted to say is that watching your ETCG1 videos has restored my faith in dealerships. Having things explained to me from a technition point of view has really helped. :) THanks for your videos :)

This is what reasonable people do in a reasonable society. Thanks for showing people how to think about and resolve a negative situation in a civil manner.

Its sad that you even have to explain yourself Eric...keep up the good work!

Im Glad you were Mad and you Honestly let it out for us to see and realize that We all have had those experience with all types of car or truck services and found a Voice and away to get out those frustrations through this video.. Thanks

New to your vids, and as an old Subaru mechanic (Shadetree of late) I feel your pain. I still fix approx: 95% of our 4 cars and I hate taking it to someone else. I've dealt for the past 30 years of all types of customers and mechanics so your preaching to the choir! Love your stuff. Keep on doing what you do!

I see no reason for you to make an apology video to all the people who may have been offended or misinterpreted your annoyance with the service. If anything they should be apologizing to you. Everyone likes to come on the Internet and talk up a persona they'd most likely hide in the real world. I give you merit for making this video trying to ease the uproar but it wasn't necessary in my opinion. I'm with you 100% on this as I've experienced similar service.

Eric, I've been in your shoes, nearly. I have been on both sides of the counter also, and I've gone into dealers when needed. Mistakes get made. I have worked in dealers and made the mistakes, and as a customer also. We are all human and it doesn't always go smooth, too many personalities and variables. You ultimately are learning and turning a negative into a positive, that's maturity and growth. Good for you. It is interesting, you have no idea the people watching you and the level of knowledge, or lack of, that exists within us all as we learn from you. BTW, my damn hood cable broke the same way and grrr. its a PITA to replace, but I need to put a new latch in also. 98 civic. You have helped me for sure, ty.

Hey Eric, guess what, I got a call the other day and am about to start my third day working as a mechanic for a guy a LOT like you, we fix cars properly and it's practically the dream workshop for me! Thank you for the inspiration and knowledge you share with so many people all around the world! (From Australia). Keep on keeping people moving! :)

It's sad that this video was needed... I understood what you meant in the original.

I am a "service writer" of a different type (Dell, Computers). And yea, It is all about the attitude, it does not matter what it is, customer service is customer service. No reason to ever be rude to the customer. Can the customer be wrong? Hell to the yea, should you be rude? No, can you tell them they were wrong, Hell to the yes, should you take up a defensive tone? No. Can you have bad days, YES! Should you let the next customer see it, Hell no. It does not matter what it is, a car, a toaster or a computer/server, the basics are the same. I actually come to both of your vids to absorb as much info as I can. Tired of computer (at least these types) and Plan on ditching my C++ for mechanics. What gave me the bug is purchasing and working on my 69 GMC, I realize new cards are riddled with computers, and I accept this and actually plan on going to that after school. But I got to say, awesome channel and I am glad to see some things carry between the two,

It's a privilege to watch your videos. Sorry to hear about your dealership experience. I had to take my parents Chevy in for a brake lamp and trans cable fracture recall, declined the mpi because I knew I'd take care of it and asked to see the replaced cable. On the work order "customer requests to see replaced part." Couldn't be any clearer. Pick up the car, no one knows about. Wait 30 to finally see the part just for piece of mind and got nothing but resistance the entire way. I work for a competitive dealership and know to keep the parts for warranty, customer wants to see etc.... My advisors never treat any of our customers like they did me and like they did you. I know I appreciate your hard work Eric.

Don't worry about it Eric. You did nothing wrong, Buddy.

nothing but love man. your videos are always a great view. tbh with you I'm a chef and have 0 intrest in ever becoming a mechanic. I do work on my car and enjoy it though. your videos rock.

Eric, you should invite the service writer to your show 😆

I had my Town & Country into the local Chrysler dealership for a warranty gas tank replacement due to the vehicle stalling after a fill up. They were very nice, brought it in, did the work, and got it back to me in a very timely matter. I brought it home thinking everything was taken care of. A few days later the check engine light came on telling me that I had a problem with the EVAP system. I asked them to have a look at their work, and they were very nice and asked me to bring it back. They had the vehicle for 2 weeks when they called and told me that it was nothing they had done. The fuel pump was going out and it needed to be replaced to the tune of $400... I said no thanks, brought it home, crawled under and found that they had not re-connected a hose to the vapor canister... I gurantee it was done on purpose with the hopes of getting some money out of me for the labor. They never re-checked their work because it was hanging down from the bottom of the vehicle, easy to see as soon as I crawled under it. That is not the first time a dealership has tried to screw and it probably won't be the last time.

Love the channel..! Its my go to channel for all my car repairs!! Thanks and keep up the good work!!

Politically correct is the way of the decade. People swear by it when it sounds good and hate it when something seems wrong. Eric, never feel like you need to explain yourself....I get it, this video was posted to bury the "issue". Don't feel like you HAD to post it to be accepted. Be you and your true followers will continue watching :)

After just gone through my training to become a techician, we were taught to disconnect the battery when completing repairs with SRS. The main reasons for this was to prevent damage to the vehicle or yourself. On newer and more modern vehicles the ECM and control modules are still awake even with the key out of the ignition. The reason for this is, if the vehicle was hit by another vehicle whilst parked then the air bags will go off thus protecting the occupants. The Honda techician would of known this from his training and was protecting himself and the vehicle. So to them it was a procedure they must follow. That said, they still give you poor customer service and they should of showed you more respect to you as a formal employee. P S great videos they have help me a lot in my training, Thanks

Pardon my French, but screw the negative comments. :P I'm really enjoying watching your videos. Thanks for posting them so that people like me can actually learn about cars without having to be condescended to or mansplained. lol!

I went through exactly your situation 25 years ago when I took my Fiero into my friendly local Pontiac dealer for the "engine-fire" recall work. Left it with them in the morning -- that afternoon, I get a call from the service writer. "We're not doing any work on your car because we got it up on the lift, and you tampered with your catalytic converter. I immediately left work and went over there, and they repeated their charge. I said, "Put it up on the lift and show me this 'tampering'." They did, and sure enough, there was nothing wrong with my cat. The tampering had happened with another red Fiero that was in their shop. The writer immediately apologized, and promised to get the work done that afternoon. Didn't reimburse me for the hour-and-a-half I had to take off work because of their stupid mistake, but whatever. I didn't yell, I didn't go off on them, which I would have had every right to do. When I got the car back from them, there was a rattle coming from the engine compartment whenever the car was running. Took it back to the dealer -- they couldn't find a rattle. Back home, I checked myself, and found that someone had loosened the nuts holding down the starter motor shield, and hadn't tightened them back. I tightened them; no more rattle. Dealers need to realize that selling a car is only 25% of the battle. The other 75% is how they treat customers who come in for service. And before you start ragging on Fieros, April 9, 2016 will mark 32 years since I bought it new and 28 years since I paid it off, and I still have it, and still drive it. In those 32 years, no fires, thank you very much. A Honda dealer mechanic who doesn't know how to pull the hood latch on a Honda!? Based on my experience with dealers, I'd believe it. I'm surprised they knew how to replace the airbag.

Happened to my 99 Honda Civic Si with broken hood latch cable. Brought over to NTB to change tires and watched this poor guy struggle to open the hood for 10 minutes. Call me evil but it made me smile to see that. They were supposed to mount winter tires - no reason to touch anything under the hood. And no, it wasn't just broken latch cable, you could easily fix that with a vise grip. Hood latch itself was badly rusted and was not releasing even after pulling on the cable. Actually that was how I broke it in the first place. I pulled it and hood did not pop up so I pulled it harder and the handle broke off.

Eric,we all have bad days and glad you both resolved it and shook hands in the end so remember we all need to work 9-5 and try to get along.

don't compare yourself to Scotty Kilmer.

I expect MUCH better from Honda/Acura. Let's just say that you are much kinder than I would've been and they're lucky that I wasn't the one they were dealing with. I've worked in sales for many years and YOU have the exact correct attitude regarding customer service. Thanks for letting us know, and please keep up the great work Eric.

Watching this I only have 1 complaint: PEOPLE NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION! Eric made all these same points in the previous video. He didn't say anything different here. But some people didn't pay much attention and spout off. Making the teacher repeat themselves, doesn't move the lessen forward. Allow the lesson to move forward, Eric is a great teacher. If you don't understand something, yes ask questions, that's completely different.

When I do an airbag recall. I open the hood and remove the horn relay. It takes two seconds and it less annoying to hear the horn go off when you're installing the airbag.

I am very weary of taking my car into the dealership. My salesman is a great guy and even texts me on my birthday. The parts guys are pretty cool. The service writers seem to be ok. Their prices are just so high. I also looked at my past service receipts from my last car and they used the wrong grade of oil every time. That pisses me off.

Eric, can I just say this. Too me you are a God. You have helped me fix , service and maintain my 2 Honda's countless times. So thank you.

Great video. Question for you. I had an 06 Subaru Legacy. I took it in for some major work (timing belt/water pump, something I'm not comfortable doing). They did a great job. Next oil change I do I notice my splash guard (below the engine bay, air deflector, big plastic piece, whatever it's called) was missing. I call the dealership and they claim it must have already been missing beforehand, they don't have it. I do all the basic work (oil brake fluids etc), so I know for a fact they were the last to work on it, but refused to work with me. I had to buy one (80 bucks or so, plus the cost of those clips). My question for you, as I was told by a tech friend, is a tech sometimes won't reinstall these splash guards for ease of service next visit. Is that true? Another story, I had a Mercury Cougar repaired after I hit an animal, I came out after paying the auto body shop and the splash guard was missing (it was damaged during the accident). So the car sat a few more days until the splash guard came in and was installed. I ALWAYS look for that piece now if I have to visit a dealership.

Agreed, when it comes to dealing with people in the workplace you must put on a fake smile, suppress your own attitude, and remain polite with a customer at all cost. I am a cashier at a farm store and I deal with "difficult customers" all day every day. Price conflicts, returns, broken stuff, add written not clear enough, a sale that didn't show up, manager approval that takes longer than a minute to obtain, an item on sale and a complementary product that is not on sale at the same moment, card machines crashing, store power cutting off and having to restart the computer, burning popcorn, out of coffee, just to name a few. You kinda have to be the zen master, take a deep breath, and let it go in one ear and out the other. Let management make the ultimate decision, apologize for the wait and inconvenience and tell them to have a great day when you're done. It sucks but it's customer service that keeps customers coming back and makes the majority of your other customers happy with you as an individual employee and it makes your day to day grind a little easier. You have to remind yourself it's not personal it's just a job. I show the janitor the same respect as the CEO. I show up early, stay late, work hard, and set an example. Many times it goes unnoticed but it makes my day when a customer complements me on how I handle a difficult customer. EVERYONE should learn customer relations and etiquette.

Happy birthday Eric !

It actually is my birthday, so thanks Eric! :)

good video Eric!

Relax buddy! I work at a dealership and see this from time to time. Glad it worked out!

How would you deal with the situation if they took out your vehicle for a "road test" and beat the hell out of it?? I have a dash cam in my 2012 ram 2500 cummins and it was in for a recall and the tech took it out for a half hour long beat on fest. EGT alarms going off and everything. The truck makes 962 Ft Lbs at the rear tires and he used all of it. What would you have done?

Wow Eric you are a very passionate person. I absolutely agree with your rant. Hell can you pleas do a rant on buying a car. Customers always get treated badly when handing over their hard earned cash. Not all of the time but often. Keep doing what you do. I truly appreciate what you give in your podcasts and your time.

I had similar issues with the Honda dealer I goto locally as well. The fact that they look down on you while trying to add addition services is the worst part. I am no mechanic but I don't neglect my cars. I keep my services on time and keep all records. But these reps need to understand we don't know everything about the car we drive so we may have "stupid" questions, be patience with us and explain it to us. That is all I'm asking for. Don't make it sound like I have done everything to distroy my car and now asking the dealer to fix for free. I pay for my services, with coupons I got from the dealership. Custer service supposed to work with the customers not make them feel as. So with that said I feel you Eric, 100%.

What remains to be stated is that this is a very bad cable design for two reasons. 1) It should never have been made such that a sufficient amount of force could be applied to a brittle plastic part subject to breaking off 2) If you're going to use plastic like this then it should be replaceable by itself instead of the entire cable. There are several different ways that it could have been designed to do that, and if all of those are too expensive to justify, then don't design it so that's an issue to begin with. Now with that said, Eric you did sort of a hack repair on it with the Q-Bond too. What I would have done is forgotten about whether the repair looked OEM and made a plate aluminum pull handle for it. I did not get a good enough look at the cable termination to decide on the best method of attachment, but it looked like you might have been able to tap threads and put a nut on both sides, or even tap the aluminum plate itself, or use a second piece of aluminum stock that's tapped with set screws, and if you want to goop in some epoxy or whatever Q-bond is, in addition to the mechanical hardware, have at that too, but not just Q-Bond on a part that started out ill designed and is at least subject to a second failure if not fixed in a way that was stronger than the original cable pull. This is a philosophy I always try to follow: Whenever possible, fix something better than it was in the first place if it's not a normal "wear item". Let's hope Honda has abandoned this design so nobody else has this problem past this model year/era, and yet, I have also faced broken plastic hood release cable levels on some that did flip up like you'd expect, but the hood latch itself was stuck and that caused it to break. What did I fix it with? Yup, plate aluminum. It can be painted if shiny doesn't fit and it's visible, or anodized, or if you're super ghetto cheap you can literally just use a wire wheel to give it a brushed look and dip it in bleach to give it a matte gray appearance (lol).

I was a service advisor at a Hyundai dealership. I remember a day when a man came in and told me he ripped his mirror off with his garage. So I got him a quote on the new mirror, then I called him to my desk and told him it would be roughly 380 bucks installed and painted. He looked me dead in the eye and said "what? It isn't under warranty?" Now that's where I could have been a jerk like the guy Eric talked to, but I didn't. I calmly explained what warranty meant and that this did not fall under that. But I did come up with a solution, I told him he could turn it in to his insurance and they would most likely take care of it. He did just that and with some help from me we got it done and he was happy. So it's about coming up with solutions, not more problems.

I hate dealerships they all suck!! They love to cheat money out of people. I wish there was more trust-able mechanics like you in the world. You do an awesome job and always take care of cars like they are your own. I admire your work , top notch! as always.

Hey Eric I love your videos. I once had a service adviser tell me to "make sure I know what the problem before I bring the car in". I was dumbfounded by that response cause that's why I brought the car in in the first place. My car was clunking in the front and I mentioned to them when I brought the car in. I didn't know what was clunking exactly I'm not a mechanic. After the advisor said that to me I said this is how I get treated after buying a $30,000 car from you guys and have been very loyal and bringing the car to only you guys when I have had issues? It was a Chrysler too so that's why I had issues, lol but that's besides the point. I was pissed! Anyways he apologized and gave me a good discount on the repair. I don't blame the car companies it's these twits at the dealerships that make it miserable for the customer. Have a good day Eric.

That cable (handle) is simply designed to fail being offset from the shaft. Burn off the plastic handle, weld on a small steel square. Paint it black. It will likely double the repair time but it won't break again.

You're a great man Eric and with all of the help you have offered over the period of time, the hell with the trolls talking trash to you!

They needed to be courteous....period. I'm on Team Eric.

Hi Eric I was hoping you had a video that would explain the head light switch and wiring that be awesome. Thanks

i got a recall on the passenger side inflater, will be taking it out, replacing it myself / with or without their help

Eric your a nice man .and what you. do for people is fabulous .fix it forward .you have a big heart . just remember you can't please everyone. so just. do the best you can .we'll pray for them .your doing a lot of good .and God sees everything .God bless you .

I thought the reason behind disconnecting the battery when doing air bag related work is to prevent accidental deployment of the air bag. I wouldn't want any air bags blowing up in my face (especially seeing how strong they are, and now that they could just explode and send shrapnel at me.) I also thought that disconnecting the air bag, seat airbags (when removing the seat), airbag sensors can also set off SRS codes disabling the system until someone with a dealer scan tool fixes it. Granted, if you are a dealership tech, thats not a big deal since you have the dealer computer tool needed.

Eric I gotta agree with you. Coming from a technician before everything is about upsell and how much money you can make being it's flag time. Most service writers will try to diagnose problems on the drive and when the technician tells them it's not that then it's put on the customer like well this is what's wrong with it and my technician overlooked it. unless it's something major like an engine or transmission it's the reason I do all my own wrenching. I think it's great what you're doing on your channel to show folks with just a little bit of know how you can do at least all the basics without having to worry about somebody not doing it is good or even doing it at all. Most people think dealerships are always better but even the people there that change the oil are high school at best. Do you really want those folks changing your oil? And you know businesses are in it to make money so you're not getting the best quality products either.

I wonder if that the hood latch cable was working and not repaired, but saying so was on its last legs broke on them.... Would they replace the hook latch cable no questions asked?

I have also had issues like many people with Honda dealership repair. I had bought a Honda "Certified" used CRV, with manual transmission from a dealer about 2hrs away from me. They were the only ones around that had a manual transmission model in stock. They insisted that the Honda certified warranty was valid at all Honda Dealers. Well after buying the vehicle I started noticing a noise when driving above 55 MPH. So I brought it into the local (Smithtown NY) Honda dealership (not the one I purchased it from, as this one was a lot closer). After charging me a diagnostic fee they proceeded to tell me that I had a "Non" Honda bug gard on the front of my hood. I told them I had only bought the vehicle a week prior and I had not added anything. Long story short, they still charged me the diagnostic fee and told me I would have to drive to the other dealership and try and fight with them to get reimbursed for the fee, plus actually remove it. So I proceeded to just remove the bug gard myself and never drove the 2hrs to the other dealership. Then only about a month into having the car, I noticed water on the passenger floor. I had thought it was the AC drain hose, and took a peak under the car. At that time I also noticed there were several clips missing from the front splash shield under the nose of the vehicle. I again took it into the local Smithtown Honda dealership. Asked them to please fix whatever was leaking on the carpet, and asked them about the missing body clips. Well after yet another Diagnostic fee, they proceeded to tell me that I had a non Honda windshield and that I "must" have replaced it. Also that since the plastic body clips were missing and not broken so they refused to cover any of it. After getting a serious ATTITUDE from the Smithtown Honda Service Manager!!! I wound up paying the diagnostic fee for the water leak, and paying for the new body clips. I am thinking my CRV might have been in some sort of accident that was not reported on the Carfax, as about a year or so later I had issues getting an alignment at a Pepboys lol. My steering wheel was crooked after the alignment, even though the car drove straight with the wheel at an angle. They insisted I had an issue with the steering column, which I don't know if I really believe and told me to go to Honda which I refused to. But anyway, I also had my windshield crack after about a year into having the car and I had Safelight replace it, I told them that Honda mentioned it was the cause of the water on the passenger floor and to please make sure the new one is sealed properly. They supposedly did, but still have water on the floor. I have also since checked the AC drain myself, since its not that hard to do. But I am still not sure where the water is coming from, maybe sunroof drain, IDK. Anyway, I just want to say I was suckered by Honda and their Certified used warranty garbage. As every time I had an issue, they gave me an argument and I wound up paying anyway. I am just glad I didn't fall for the sales Manager pitch for the extended warranty... Well my ranting is done, thanks :-)

As a consumer, I appreciate your clarification in this follow-up though your message in the original video remains valid.The issue of a customer representative's attitude should not be confused with the rep's later call about a bad hood latch cable.You did that Honda dealer's service manager a big favor by discussing the issue with him. If that service rep was not polite and civil to you on the initial visit, then he is most probably treating other customers the same way. In the long run, it will cost that dealership big bucks and they wouldn't even know it. There are plenty of other dealers and independents for folks to go to.

I bought Q bond to repair a seat (plastic broke) The qbond itself was very strong, as in after it formed u couldnt break it. However, it couldnt handle the pressure of holding the plastic together.

Eric, do you know any way I can get around recall work? I really do not trust my local dealer to work on my vehicle. Every time I had warranty work they told me I needed to replace $1500+ worth of stuff when it really didn't need to be done. Then the next time it would be different stuff. So do you know a way?

Weird,,I disconnected the battery on a 97 tbird a few days ago and didn't haven't to reset the radio stations..I did have to reset the clock..

You weren''t wrong making your last video. There's a lot of hypocrits out there but you are a real man and a great role model. Thank you for your videos. I'm not allowed to operate motor vehicles on public roads or highway due to a medical condition but I still enjoy and find facination and useful information in your videos. Thanks again :)

I've had a bad experience with a Dodge dealership for warranty work, still technically not done before. I'll admit, when I can find minor problems that, in my opinion should not be broken before my 30,000 mile, 3 year warranty. They blamed me for a minor modification I made to my vehicle, which I understood. I was okay with the denial of my warranty claim. Backstory I installed lowering springs onto my vehicle, and noticed the lower control arm bushings were torn. Should've stopped my modification and left the old ones on before the repair. I took the blame for that one and was more than happy to pay for new ones even though they were not the reason for my cars fault. The service manager decided that they didn't have to do any work on my car, keep my car for several days, ringing up rental charges they previously said they'd cover. My axle boot was also leaking, they refused to fix that as well. They even discreetly threatened to void my entire vehicles warranty. In my honest opinion they were trying to scare me into giving them money for some of the repairs that I would rather just do myself. I just took my car back. To be clear my warranty stated I was able to modify my vehicle, just that repairs related to any modifications I had done would not be covered. I took my case up with Dodge yet they still refused to acknowledge that their technicians didn't investigate whether the cause of the repair needed was due to my modifications. Which I had proof it was not, they still said it was. Then stated it didn't matter whether or not it was the cause. I had a nice long talk with the service manager, we kind of had an understanding and went our separate ways. How I know he was completely BSing me, I went to another dealer later on, they did the work no problem, never even brought up my lowering springs. I know that technically they weren't obligated to do so, but me and my family, coworkers families had been such good business to them, I thought it was no big deal. Safe to say my family and me will never be giving business to them after the way we have been treated.

Mr Eric, good morning, after viewing the first video and the RE: video I really feel it was beneficial to see the frustrated Eric, and the follow up of the mature responsible Eric. It gave me, and others I'm sure, a deeper glimpse into the inner workings of your mind and heart. I don't believe you should not make a video if your mad at frustrated. I also feel its just one more aspect of you as a human, that connects us all together. Seeing the frustrated Eric, and the mature responsible Eric, was basically a class on having class in life and in the future. Keep it up, god bless.

In my 16 years of having a job I have worked directly in retail for 7 years. I believe your complaints are 100% understandable. Little problems blown WAAY out of proportion by an employee = lost customers. Simple....Also, love the vids keep them up!

I would love to see you and Eric O (South Main) get together for a battle of the Erics!

This is the exact fuckin reason why I've become proficient at fixing my own shit. I have laid on a creeper both in 110 temps soaked in tranny fluid and -15 temps beating the living hell out of stuck rotors replacing brakes. I trust no one.

Well put. I currently work at a Honda dealership (luckily not the one you had the issue with) and I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before but they probably popped the hood so that they could pull the horn relay instead of disconnecting the battery. That way you don't have the annoying horn going off & you also don't have to rest the radio since you don't have to disconnect the battery. Hope your next trip to a dealership goes better.

this goes along the old adage of "if you break it you bought it!", which means the last person that broke the part should buy it and replace it out of there own paycheck and time!

i can completely see your point of view, i do free lance mechanical work between my day job and if i break anything i replace it even if i was about ready to break, in this business reputation and skill is everything

I had some questions about the exact things here. I figured it would get rough in the comments because it did seem like Eric might be in the wrong, but since I followed for so many years I knew that ETCG just isn't THAT kind of guy and there was probably just part of the story missing. Thank You for the follow up.... I'm glad my hunch was correct.

sorry this is woefully late, I'm late to watching but you have so nailed it, as someone that was a retail banker, and a customer/sale trainer (outside of the banking world) it is sadly something that I've encountered, and that way of thinking seems to come out with those more concerned with targets and money, and they seem to forget about the best "sales" technique rapport and approaching all of those dealings with that in mind and you saying how had they said it in a way that was disarming and not blaming would have gone a massive way you will then be able to spilt those customers with an issue, and they will leave happish, and more likely to return and spend money and those customers (and they are around) they are out to get as much as they can, and in effect take advantage, and those people aren't likely to be good long term customers that you for your time to make these jeremy

I was surprised at the re: video. I understood what you meant on the first one, but that's okay. I know a lot of people in the comments didn't. I tried to help with the uproar a bit, but it seems a lot of people will determined to understand it otherwise. Thus, this video and it's creation makes sense. Well done, old friend.

Watched the previous one and was left thinking "sooo you bought the part that they broke, sure showed them huh!". This vid explains alot.

i respect your response, we all get bent out of every once in a while that is being human. gotta say thoe, welcome to the world on the other side of the counter. almost every time i interact with a stealership i get treated like that, and everyone i know has had similar experiences. which is why most stealerships have such bad reputations.

My mother bought a Hyundai in 2012 and it came with an unlimited mileage, 5 year warranty. She went to the dealership one day this year with squealing brakes and a rattle from the exhaust. They explained to her that it was the pads causing the brake issue and the warranty did not cover parts like this that are subject to a lot of wear and tear. Fair enough. When she was collecting the car she noticed the exhaust was still rattling and when she asked again about it she was told, and I quote "go away". The noise in the exhaust was very noticeable and I was disgusted at how they treated her just because the car was under warranty they didn't want to do anything to it.

A car dealer had three techs over four hours to move the center panel 1/8 of an inch on a new truck. Why all morning for a few screws?

hahaha, today is my birthday, thanks Eric

your in the right Mr. Eric your a certified tech with years of experience I think you approached the whole situation more than appropriately! well done!

Anyone with common sense knew you weren't trying to scam Honda. It all comes down to manners: people ought to use them more often, especially when interacting with CUSTOMERS. Good stuff Eric! Keep em coming!

i´m working at a ford reseller as a mechanic and I must say that I understand you fully! one of the costumer service guy there is a douche! or well... he´s a knowitall to everybody EXCEPT(!) the costumers. when he talks to them, he´s overly kind and such, but no matter how well he tries to speak to a costumer, I KNOW, that if theres someone that actually can listen to him more, than just his words. you can clearly hear the bitching attitude he has... and IMO, you don´t need to apologize. you got the point made in the last video, and me amongst (?) others, knew what you ment. anyhow. thanks for a good show Eric! you´re a great guy and teach so many people new stuff. i´m one of them! keep the work up!

how did honda make it rite? or is that a private thing?

Great video. And you're spot on. If you don't know the dealership, you can't trust them like you can't trust anyone out there especially with your property. Hence we watch videos like yours so we can do as much as we can so we give the mechanics as little work as possible. I like your videos the most because you go into detail. No offence to Scotty Kilmer but his videos are really short and brief. Changing clutch is literally 5 min video. Change engine 2 min video. It's great what you do. Keep up the great work.

Well done Eric. FYI, Autoline Network recently reported that car dealers are ONLY doing 25% of the service work on cars. If you subtract the recalls and warranty work, that leaves a very large slice of the pie they are missing out on. Having service writers like that one you encountered is only part of their problem.

Great channel Eric.

Great response. People don't pay attention to detail, but love your response and it was righteous.

Great vid Eric.

I took my 05 Legacy GT to Subaru for the passenger airbag recall and got a loaner for the day. They called me 2hours later, told me it was done. When I pick up the car the repair order says a break inspection was done. I ask the service writer what about the air bag? That's right, they didn't do the airbag. Ok... So I leave in my loaner and drive back home. They finally call me and say the car is done. Paperwork checks out, no charge, etc. Then I get in my car, check the glove box and of course it's not put back together correctly. At home as I'm fixing that I notice they put little nics all over the dash board when they pried out the vents. It's an 11 year old car. Fine. I notice it every day but I'll call it wear and tear. The next day I jump on the highway and guess what? They couldn't even close the hood. So I pull over and fix that. The whole thing was such an unbelievable joke but at least my wife can sit in the front seat now.

It's amazing how much communication is non-verbal in customer service. It is VERY dangerous for an employer NOT to have a feedback or oversight system for customer service staff. Bad interactions can KILL a business very quickly. Personally, I refuse to deal with a business after being treated poorly. You don't need to pander to customers, just be nice, friendly, cheery and helpful. No big deal.... you would think! Don't go answer the phone, while I'm waiting for service. Don't chat to each other while I'm waiting for service. Don't look at me like I'm a "second class citizen", just because I've got my work clothes on. Simple stuff. After a good business deal 1 person might tell 2 people. After a bad interaction, they will preach to the world!!!

your absolutely correct. I'm a flat rate tech at honda myself and I never open the hood to do the air bag recalls. the only time I do is when I'm asked to do the multi point because then I have to top off all fluids and check the air filter. I see your point in both videos. customer service is top priority and you clearly didn't receive any customer service.

I really didn't see a problem with your video, Ive been treated exactly the same at a dealership, they just want to blame the customer to get out of warranty repairs and charge you thru the nose at the same time. I will never ever buy a new vehicle because of their shady ways.

You were completely justified in your first video. I have had terrible experiences at dealers and was just as mad. Keep doing what you do!

No apology needed. I've had nothing but problems from my local ford dealership, and I'm considering driving 40 miles to drop off my car at a different dealership(and rent a car) to get my airbag replaced. I've made an appointment 3 different times online, and every time I arrived, they didn't have any clue why I was there.

I'm with Eric in this one, dealerships an working for them can sometimes be a nightmare