What happened to customer service?

[vsimkus]

I went to my local authorized Cummins parts distributor for a replacement fan bearing. It's a $150 part. I went in there with the fan support casting in hand, fully stripped of everything, expecting that they'll be able press the new bearing in for me. The parts guy, who was very helpful, went to the service department only to come back a minute later. He said that the service department wanted to charge an hour (@ $100/hour) to press the new bearing in. He rightly thought that I could get it done somewhere else.

He said that in the past they used to do things like that (be helpful). That they used to have a full machine shop. That they used to have a fuel guy; can't get Bosch parts there any more - gotta go to a Bosch shop.

What happened to customer service? I'm not expecting anything for nothing. For all the money that I have spent for "genuine Cummins" parts, I would expect the 5 minute bearing swap to be done for me for a token fee - not $100.

And the Bosh shop... one part of the website says that they're open from 7am to 10pm. Another says that they're open from 8 to 5. I show up at 7:15 and the place is locked. I call. The woman says that they're open but she doesn't have the keys to the front door (wtf?) and that the parts dept isn't open until 8. I call at 7pm The story I get is that the parts dept is open from 7 to 7. I explain to the guy that I got a different story just hours before. All of the sudden he's not sure any more - he's in the shop, not the parts department. WTF?

I have never gotten such terrible service until I needed diesel parts. The local autozone, is open from 8 to 10, yet the expensive-as-hell specialty shops seem to be determined to purposefully **** the customers off.

I just needed to vent....


Vic