The LONG Version

**NOTE: Will update with 3/7 – 3/14 later – there’s lots more to the story…  also please excuse formatting errors. Text was cut and pasted from Word, and I haven’t had a chance to clean everything up properly yet.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008, approximately 10 pm. 

Purchased 2008 Honda Odyssey EX from Ourisman Honda in Bethesda MD. We’re repeat Honda buyers, and did not even look at competitors vehicles as we’ve had nothing but positive past experiences with Hondas, and consider ourselves to be loyal Honda customers.

My husband and I made the final decision to purchase the car that particular evening due a matter of our personal convenience, since our two small children were being cared for by a sitter and we didn’t want to take them to a dealership to fill out all the involved paperwork, etc. We went to Ourisman Honda because of the three Honda dealerships closest to us, Chris LaPorte at Ourisman was the only sale person to quickly respond to my email and phone inquiries. Hersons Honda was our preferred dealer, but confident in the Honda name, we decided to go ahead with Mr. LaPorte’s dealership instead since he was clearly the most involved sales person we had dealt with. Mr. LaPorte advised us he would not be able to complete the sale himself, but left us in the care of his colleague, Omar Deem. After we waited for nearly 90 minutes for financing to complete the sale so that we could go home (we were left just sitting in the showroom for 90 minutes; it was 2.5 hours all told between agreeing on price and leaving dealership), we started to get frustrated and second guess our decision to purchase the car at Ourisman Honda. In retrospect, I wish we had changed our mind at this juncture and gone to another local Honda dealership, as our experience at Ourisman has been thoroughly dreadful and has completely shaken our confidence in the Honda product and name.  

Thursday, February 28, 2008, morning 

Noticed small puddle of fluid under new vehicle, made a mental note to investigate it further if it grew larger.

Friday, February 29, 2008 

Morning: Observed further fluid accumulation under vehicle. Drove Odyssey to another location, where it remained parked for approximately 3 hours. Upon returning to Odyssey, checked under vehicle and again saw fluid accumulation.

Afternoon: Returned home and investigated the fluid accumulation in driveway.

·        Fluid was red, oily, and foul smelling

·        Upon opening the hood of the vehicle, it was quickly realized that the aforementioned red fluid had been sprayed and was pooling over all the equipment located under the hood.

·        Checked the fluids levels of the power steering fluid (normal) and the transmission fluid (low)

·        Moved vehicle over several inches to ascertain whether or not the vehicle was still leaking the fluid. It was quickly determined that yes, it was leaking continuously.

Contacted Chris LaPorte (sales) at Ourisman Honda immediately to report this issue. Spoke at length with both Mr. LaPorte and Mr. Gino Pellegrino (service advisor) at Ourisman Honda.

·        Expressed my opinion that this appeared to be a significant and continuous transmission fluid leak Mr. Pellegrino immediately agreed with my opinion based in the information I was able to provide over the phone.

·        Reported that there appeared to be a cap missing from the transmission, as per my observation of an open threaded hole approximately one inch in diameter on the transmission (see below picture). Was assured that no such cap was missing.

Mr. LaPorte asked me to bring the car into Ourisman that evening. I declined and requested it be towed, concerned that further operation could cause more damage.

Mr. Pellegrino arranged for towing service, and for Ourisman Honda to provide a rental car for us at Ourisman Honda’s expense.

I uninstalled the car seats in the Odyssey, emptied the vehicle of all personal possessions, and cancelled all personal plans for the remainder of the day.

My husband took off work several hours early to assist with the situation. Upon his arrival, he and I picked up the rental car at Enterprise Rockville.

Askins Towing towed our brand-new Odyssey back to Ourisman Honda that afternoon.

 Saturday, March 1, 2008 

Approximately 10:20 AM Called Mr. Pelligrino and asked for status. Mr. Pellegrino stated everything was ready to go, whenever we were able to pick it up. Mr. Pellegrino stated he and Mr. LaPorte had each been apprising the general manager of Ourisman Honda (Rich) of our situation, and that Rich would be working on something to compensate us for the significant inconveniences experienced. I again cancelled family activities for the day, and headed out to Ourisman Honda with my husband and two small children. 

Approximately 11:00 AM

Arrived at Ourisman Honda at approximately 11 am. Mr. Pellegrino said he would get things ready from his end, and advised us to go speak with the general manager (Rich) while we waited.

As my children and I waited outside of Rich’s office for him to finish the phone call he was on, we were intercepted by a blonde woman who asked if we needed something. I responded that we were waiting for Rich, and didn’t want to interrupt him since he was obviously on a phone call. The woman asked why we were waiting for Rich, and I responded that I was there because Mr. Pellegrino had directed me to go see him. She persisted in wanting to know why. As our story was fairly involved and I still had no idea who this woman was, if she was even an employee of Ourisman Honda, I stated “I’m sorry, I was told to see Rich, so I was waiting here until he got off the phone. But I don’t know who you are?” At this point, the woman at long last shrilled out “I told you. I’m Aileen, a MAN-A-GER here. But if you won’t let me help you, fine.” After this *first and only* identification of herself, she walked off.

Several minutes later, Rich came out of his office and introduced himself. He said if we wanted to wait for him, we’d have to wait a bit longer. Aileen interceded again to tell Rich something along the lines of she had “offered assistance but they didn’t want it”. At this point, I was quite offended by her (mis)behavior, and decided it was clearly in our best interests not to continue discussion with this woman, but to wait for Rich’s assistance.

Once Rich was finished with his other business, he came out of his office, and took us back to the financing area, where we could discuss the issue with a little more quiet and privacy. During this meeting,

(a)    It was explained to us that the leak was due to a minor issue, that the hose and clamp had come loose from the transmission. I repeatedly asked WHY, but neither Rich nor Mr. Pellegrino was able or willingly to answer this question.

(b)   It was agreed upon that Ourisman Honda would provide us for free: oil changes, and the Honda recommended 7500 mile and 15,000 mile services, loaner cars; Rich also offered 50% off a dealer installation of a remote starter in the Odyssey.

(c)     I repeatedly asked that everything be clearly documented as to the nature and cause of the transmission fluid leak, which was agreed upon. (NOTE – ABSOLUTELY NO DOCUMENTATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED AS OF 3/3/08)

(d)   It was agreed by all parties that this was clearly a very unusual incident, and not the standard Honda experience that we had come to expect given past experiences

(e)    My husband and I expressed great concern over the safety of the vehicle and the lack of confidence we had in the vehicle at this stage.  

(f)     It was agreed that Ourisman Honda could keep the Odyssey until Monday (3/3/08) because they wanted to make sure everything was perfect with the transmission, and so Ourisman Honda could finish cleaning the vehicle and install the remote starter.

 Monday, March 3, 2008

Called Mr. Pellegrino to ensure things were on track to take back delivery of the Odyssey that day, and to ask if there was any way for Ourisman Honda to deliver the van back to us instead of us coming in, in the hopes that my husband would not have to take further time off work. Mr. Pellegrino agreed, and said he’d call me later to confirm. I also asked that he make sure the floor-mats were snapped down, since they were not when we first took delivery of the car. Again, he agreed.

3:15 PM

Mr Pellegrino called to say

(a)    the car was on its way back to me, and

(b)   that the driver would need to take the rental car back to Ourisman.

(c)    That the ticket was not officially closed out yet, so he would be mailing the documentation and receipts of service to me

(d)   That the driver would provide me with a “We Owe” slip stating that Ourisman Honda owed us free 7500 and 15000 service maintenances.

(e)    He did not know anything about the free loaner cars that Rich had offered on Saturday

I informed Mr. Pellegrino that my husband had the rental car, but was on his way home. Mr. Pellegrino said the driver would be awhile yet, so that was fine. Given that I had less then four minutes warning before the driver actually showed up, I’d add a note in here that Ourisman Honda should count themselves lucky that*anyone* was at home.

3:19 PM

I got off the phone with Mr. Pellegrino and immediately called my husband to ask him to come straight home, but before his phone even started ringing, the Ourisman driver was at my door. I quickly explained the situation to my husband, who again cancelled his plans and agreed to come straight home. After getting my 3 year old settled down, he and I went out to talk to the driver.

Upon meeting and talking with the Ourisman driver, I

• Checked under the hood, saw minimal signs of the transmission fluid leak, but now I *did* see a cap in the previously mentioned open threaded hole approximately one inch in diameter on the transmission (see below picture).

• Asked the driver to show me how to work the remote start system. He responded that he had no idea and he’d have to call someone. He called, and was then eventually able to show me how to start the car remotely – but between the two of us, we were unable to figure out how to (a) unlock the doors with the remote start activated or (b) turn off the remote start with the factory keyless entry unit.
• Asked the driver to snap down the floor mats, as this still was not done. He tried to do so, but was not able to get all of the snaps connected either.
• The driver (Louis) and I examined the remote start system owners manual at length, and it was clear that the manufacturer expressly intended these functions to be active in a completed installation.

Further phones calls ensued over the next two hours between the driver (Louis), myself, and multiple Ourisman Honda employees (including, but not limited to Mr. Pellegrino, Mr. LaPorte, and Aileen). During all of our many conversations, Mr. LaPorte apologized profusely for all of the missteps involved and graciously vowed to do everything in his power to resolve them for us. I’d like also to mention the above-and-beyond customer care and efforts put forth by the driver, Louis, who worked very diligently to help me resolve the issues we discovered over this 2 hour time frame, though he was under the impression he was simply going out to drop off one vehicle and bring another back.

4:13 PM

Aileen made an unsolicited (and extremely antagonistic) call to my residence. To her credit, this was the only contact made voluntarily by Ourisman management. Unfortunately that’s the best that can be said of Ms. Jorss, as during this call there were no apologies, attempts at resolution, nor solutions offered. It was undoubtedly the intent of Aileen to put me in my place, much as she attempted to do Saturday morning while my family had waited to speak with the general manager, Rich. It appears evident from my experiences that Aileen’s role within Ourisman is to run interference for Rich.

The specifics of the call – after calling my home and identifying herself as the “manager who tried to help me the other day”, she demanded to know my problem, and

(a)    She repeatedly told me no Honda vehicle supported the remote-start features I had outlined.

(b)   When I explained that I had a 2004 Honda CRV in my possession with both keyless entry and remote starter that did in fact have the ability to (1) start remotely while the doors were open (2) unlock the doors while the remote start system was activated and (3) shut off the remote start system via the keyless entry unit, she repeated her claim that Honda vehicles were not capable of this.

(c)    When informed that the remote start owners manual clearly disputed her claims, she again repeated without clarification that Honda vehicles were not capable of performing these functions

(d)   When I pressed her to explain to me why these features were disabled, she stated they were disabled due to safety concerns. I very politely asked her to explain the safety concerns to me, since they were available on my CRV’s remote start system, and that I truly did not understand how the safety could be compromised. She refused to comment further and said that there was nothing else to be said, the features were not available.

(e)    I expressed surprise that she would call me with no solutions nor answers, and asked if it was her opinion that “I should just deal with this.” Her response was “yes”.

(f)     When she continued to badger me to drop things without answering my specific questions or offering solutions, I became irate and I told her that I had no idea why she had bothered calling, and that she should be ashamed of herself for having never once offered so much as an apology for anything that was happening. She then apologized, and I repeated that she should be ashamed of herself for offering such an insincere apology only after being asked.  I explained to her that if this was really Ourisman’s  way of dealing with customers, then I would be sure to share my experiences with anyone and everyone who would listen, , both in real life and online, and would certainly be including any and all moms groups and school sports associations in the metro area

 After the maddening phone call with Aileen, I demonstrated to the Ourisman driver the CRV’s ability to perform the three disabled functions I had attempted to tell Aileen about. Louis witnessed all three of the functions, and agreed that it seemed to defy logic to purposely disable keyless entry into a car while the remote system was activated, or to not provide the ability to shut off the system remotely.  

I again spoke with Mr. LaPorte, who again graciously tried to relieve my frustrations and address my concerns. In his attempts to properly assess the situation and all of its components, he asked me to confirm that there were no longer any visible signs of the transmission problem. At this point, I looked under the vehicle and

(a)    saw a new puddle forming

(b)   got down on the ground and put my fingers in the puddle to ascertain the fluid, which was

(c)    red and oily, and clearly more transmission fluid

(d)   reported this to Mr.LaPorte (admittedly awash in fury and frustration)

(e)    told Mr. LaPorte that I had 0% confidence in this vehicle or in Ourisman Honda and that I regretted terribly my decision to purchase the vehicle at Ourisman and

(f)     that I wanted to be released from the contract because the experience was so awful and that I was just sickened looking at this vehicle at this point

(g)    Mr. LaPorte had the driver bring the car back to Ourisman for further investigation and/or servicing

(h)    Mr. LaPorte requested that I email him the manufacturer owner manual for his own review.

(i)      Mr. LaPorte promised follow-by by tomorrow (3/4/08)

7:30 PM

I clearly outlined my issues with the remote start system in an email to Mr.LaPorte (cc Mr Pellegrino), and attached the manufacturers owner manual to this email for his review.

 MY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (No one will answer these questions, which I personally think are reasonable questions): 

1. TRAN – Why did the hose and clamp come loose – unless the vehicle had taken some sort of a major jolt or other abuse?
2. TRAN – Why was the cap missing from the transmission in the first place?
3. TRAN – Why is the transmission still leaking fluid, especially after the dealership has been in possession of it for four days?
4. RS – Why would anyone buy a car with power sliding doors and then knowingly “upgrade” to a product was going to essentially disable them?
5. RS – Why can I turn a feature ON but not OFF?

 Tuesday, March 4, 2008

10:30 AM Spoke with Felicia at Honda America, explained the situation and asked for Honda America’s assistance in getting this situation resolved. Felicia took notes, and advised that she would be forwarding this information to a regional case manager, who would be in touch with me within 1-2 days  (possibly sooner). She explained that the regional manager would also be following up with Ourisman Honda.

 2:00 Honda of America contacted me to complete the post-purchase customer satisfaction rating. I explained that I was having a lot of issues with the van, and that at this point the entire ordeal had been wholly unsatisfactory before proceeding. I chose to skip several questions because I didn’t feel it fair to answer while the situation while still pending. 

1:00 PM My husband left Mr. Pellegrino a voice mail requested status and a call back

4:30 PM I left Mr. LaPorte a voice mail requesting status and a call back.

5:15 PM Received phone call back from Mr. LaPorte. After another 24 hours of possessing the vehicle, Ourisman Honda did nothing.

• Mr. LaPorte stated that according to a service technician (Chris), the Honda Odyssey is not capable of supporting the remote start features of the system Ourisman installed. Mr. LaPorte offered me the option of having Ourisman remove the system entirely or accept the remote start system as-is. Either option would be done at no charge to me. I informed Mr.LaPorte that I would need to consult my husband before making that decision, but he would not home until late that evening.
• Q: WHY IS OURISMAN HONDA INSTALLING AN AFTERMARKET PRODUCT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THEIR VEHICLES?????
• I explained to Mr. LaPorte that while I found the whole remote starter situation completely preposterous, it was a secondary concern to the much greater primary issue of the transmission leak. I again asked for an explanation of

1.      The nature of the problem (hose/clamp/cap/etc)

2.      The underlying cause of the problem (impact on vehicle, etc)

3.      The work done by Ourisman Honda to resolve the issue

·        I asked what further steps had been taken by the service department today, re looking into the transmission fluid leak. Mr. LaPorte reported that *nothing*had been done, that they had simply parked it. It was his understanding that the service team saw no fluid accumulation under the vehicle, so they had decided the leaking witnessed yesterday by the Ourisman driver (Louis), my husband and myself must have simply been residual leaking from the earlier incident.

·        Mr. LaPorte told me that there was NO cap on the transmission of the comparable vehicle he personally examined last Friday, and seemed surprised when I told him that my Odyssey had had a cap put into it prior to delivering it back to me yesterday (3/3/08)

·        I again requested that all of my questions be answered and documented (I still have NO documentation or receipt of any of Ourisman Honda’s efforts). Mr. LaPorte agreed and said that he’d call me back when he had a chance to review the service history for me.

 Wednesday, March 5, 2008 

9:30 AM  My son and I visited another local Honda dealership (Hersons Honda) whom I have had only positive experiences with.

1. I had them pop the hood of the showroom Odyssey, to confirm that a cap was indeed MISSING from the transmission upon its original delivery to us. Pictures taken.
2. I talked to a service manager (Gregg Patterson) about the remote starter. He explained the limitations that HONDA specifically and purposely imposes, which basically works out to the remote start system is to be deactivated whenever any vehicle door is opened (this is not even the case with ours). The keyless entry SHOULD work, and the system SHOULD be able to be shut off remotely. This is for safety and legal reasons, basically the same reasons its illegal here to leave your keys in the ignition in an unlocked and unoccupied car. Hersons Honda will NOT install an aftermarket remote start system in any Honda, and in fact specifically recommends against it. His advice was to have Ourisman Honda remove the remote start system.

10:30 AM I called Mr. Pellegrino and asked him to have the remote start system removed. I asked Mr. Pellegrino if the removal of this system would return the van to factory specifications (i.e. there was no splicing etc done to the electrical system) – Mr. Pellegrino conformed that yes, the system would be returned to factory condition. I asked Mr. Pellegrino to provide me with the Generall Managers full name and telephone extension (Rich Kandel, 301-656-1000, ext 232), and to provide Aileen’s last name (Aileen Jorss). Mr. Pellegrino complied and gave me this information. I also gave Mr. Pellegrino my husband’s office number so that they could work out the details for the delivery of the van and the pick-up of the rental car.

1:30 PM Left voice mail for Mr. Pellegrino asking him explain services thus far.

2:00 PM Mr. Pellegrino returned my call, and answered the questions as notated below.

Q: What was the original cause(s) of the transmission fluid leak.

A: Per Mr. Pellegrino, the cause of the leak was a loose clamp on one of the trans lines. The pressure of driving the vehicle with the loose clamp must have then pushed the hose off the fitting, causing the transmission fluid to leak.

 

Q: And there was also a cap missing?

A: Mr. Pellegrino admitted there was also a plug missing, but stated it was something difficult to see. When I stated that I was able to immediately spot it, as it was quite a conspicuous absence, and noted that this hole now did in fact have a cap/plug in it, he agreed we must be referring to the same plug. Originally he seemed to think I was describing some other sort of threaded holes put in place by Honda to allow for potential future work. Mr. Pellegrino also stated that the service technician working on my car used a car/plug he already had (AKA not necessarily an Odyssey plug) 

Q: Why was the transmission fluid still leaking on Monday afternoon? A: Per Mr. Pellegrino, the transmission fluid was not actually leaking on Monday, but there was some fluid overflow that Ourisman Honda must ave missed. Mr. Pellegrino assured me the car was reexamined for leaks, and it was determined there were none. The residual fluids were then better cleaned up as to prevent the appearance of further leakage.

When asked for his opinion as to the original cause of these issues, Mr. Pellegrino stated that he is of the opinion that the van came off the truck from the factory with both the clamp loose and the plug missing.

3:00 PM Called Rich Kandel, the General Manager of Ourisman Honda (301-656-1000, ext 232) and left a voice mail asking him to:

1. Personally provide documentation of (a) the source of the problems (b) the steps taken to resolve the problems and (c) the cause of the problem (also to be noted if the cause is suspected or unknown), for both times the van has been in his shop.

1. Provide an explanation as to how this van passed the required Honda PDI before it was delivered to me, and

1. Determine what and how he was going to do to make this right from a customer service and satisfaction perspective.

5:00 PM My husband arrived at Ourisman Honda to pick up the van. Upon asking for the General Manager, he was informed that Rich Kandel had just left minutes before and wouldn’t be back for a few days whilst he “went out of town to visit a sick relative”…

 Husband picked up van and brought it home after much discussion with service department personnel. The Service Director (Jim MacMillan) agreed to document our issues in letter form given Rich’s absence, and said this letter would be ready by tomorrow (3/6/08). 

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Gave van a cursory once-over. Ourisman Honda returned van with a half tank of gas (when they took receipt of it the tank was nearly full).

3:45 PM Called Honda of America back for status.

1. Spoke with Vika, who gave me the following details:

·        Case # N012008-03-0400200

·        Regional Case Manager is Ron Robbins 1-800-999-1009, option 1, ext. 118125 

1. Left voice mail message for Mr. Robbins

4:30 PM Left message for Mr. Pellegrino re the status of the promised letter and Rich Kandel’s expected return.

4:45 PM Mr. Pellegrino called back and stated the letter will not be ready today (as promised), but that they were “aiming for tomorrow”. Also stated Mr. Kandel was expected to return to work next Tuesday (3/11/08).

8:15 PM After reviewing all the paperwork provided by Ourisman Honda, I realized we have been given no documentation regarding the extended warranty we purchased, so I emailed Mr. LaPorte asking him to mail it to us.

Friday, March 7, 2008 

Spoke with Ron Robbins at Honda America. Not much to offer. I explained the following:

• My husband and I are really shaken at this point. I am truly afraid that the vehicle may not be safe for my family, given the problems with hoses, clamps and missing caps/plugs that were all discovered almost immediately after delivery. I also stated my husband would like to see the van replaced.
• Ourisman Honda would not admit that a  cap was missing from the transmission until after I told Mr. Pellegrino that I had taken pictures of the transmission before it was towed back (no cap), and after it was returned (with cap). This fact makes me extremely anxious about what else the dealership maybe hiding.
• I have lost a tremendous amount of sleep and have extreme anxiety over this situation, and literally have become physically ill
• Family plans have been cancelled on at least 3 separate days to deal with this, not to begin to mention the countless hours I’ve lost on the telephone trying to get this resolved with Ourisman Honda, the hours I’ve lost with my kids
• My husband had to work until 10 PM last night just to begin to catch up on all the work that has accumulated during the time off he’s had to take to deal with this situation

Mr. Robbins stated that:

• The van would most certainly not be replaced, though I may “think that ideal”. I disagreed and stated nothing about this situation, including a future change of vehicles, could possibly be ideal for me. I just wanted to enjoy my new car purchase.
• The dealership told him that they had offered me the first year’s maintenance free on the Odyssey. I countered that unless he was referring to the 7500 and 15k scheduled maintenances, not only was this was the first I had heard of this “offer”, but that I felt that was irrelevant since minimal maintenance would be required during the first year, and because the dealership was aware I only drove an average of about 7k miles a year.
• The dealership told him that they were extending the warranty to 80k. I again countered that this was irrelevant, since I had already purchased the 7 year/80k extended warranty coverage.
• Honda America would take no involvement regarding the remote starter system since it was an aftermarket product.
• He was sure I would feel better if I gave it a week, and told me he’d call me back then (gratuitous and patronizing?  I think so.)

I explained I didn’t think this was at all satisfactory. I stated I was trying to have an intelligent conversation with him, but didn’t think I was doing a very good job due to the fact I was trying to chase my not-yet 2 year old and my 3 year old children while speaking with him. I thus requested that he call my husband immediately to explain and discuss things further, as I was not comfortable serving as a liaision between them.

Random notes:

2 techs named Chris worked on the car per Gino (3/3/08); Chris the service tech and a different Chris was the alarm/RS tech

Letter received -inconsistencies with other info received thus far. Also, letter falsely states that the car was returned for service because of the remote start issue instead of the ATF issue.

McDade not MacMillan authored the letter

Car has been in Ourisman Honda service department on the following dates:

1. Friday February 29, 2008
2. Saturday March 1, 2008
3. Sunday March 2, 2008
4. Monday March 3, 2008 (returned to owners for approximately 2 hours before coming back for further transmission service)
5. Tuesday March 4, 2008
6. Wednesday March 5, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

• Hersons – Major damage
• HOA contacted
• Oursiman replaces damaged van with new one, VIN # 5FNRL38448B048573
  • Pete London – sales
  • Kwame – Finance
  • Asked staff that ideally we didn’t want to replace car, rather we wanted Ourisman to just buy the defective van back. Was advised by manager on duty (Loc) that was not possible since Ourisman was not obligated to replace or buy back van.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

12:30

• Noticed small dent on lower drivers side of fender. Small scratch also observed, but no paint damage or differing paint visible
• Called Ron at HOA re the (a) concern that we didn’t have documentation that Ourisman reassumed possession of the vehicle and (b) how to handle the dent

12:45

• Called Kwame Kuffour (Ourisman Finance) to confirm that all paperwork was being mailed to me, as was promised On Tuesday evening when we took possession of the new van. He stated yes, that he had spoken with Shazia and Peter, and that they were going to get copies of all paperwork to us (voided contracts, etc). Expressed concern that we’d gotten notice to pick up the tags for the old van at Ourisman, and asked Kwame who was dealing with the Maryland MVA paperwork, and could confirm that my husband and I no longer had our names on the MVA paperwork or associated with the defective vehicle’s VIN (5FNRL38478B039818). Kwame told me Michelle was working that, and transferred me to that department
• Darlene (Ourisman Accounting) answered the line, stated that Michelle was out for the day, but that she was familiar with our situation and assured me that they were dealing with all the MVA issues, and that all paperwork for the original van (VIN: 5FNRL38478B039818) was pulled and that the new van’s paperwork had been submitted in its place.

1:00 Tried to call Gino, got voice mail. Called Gary McDade  (Ourisman Service Mgr.) instead and left voicemail message asking him to call me.

1:40 Talked to Gino Pellegrino about dent – Gino agreed it was unlikely the damage could have taken place after delivery, and advised me that an outside vendor handled body work for Ourisman. Mr. Pellegrino advised me to talk to Pete London or Rich Kandel to get the service approved, and that he would start working on things from his end.

1:45 Called Pete London who advised me that someone from Ourisman needs to see the damage and make a determination if it’s something “Bobby” can handle before approving work from an outside source.

2:00

• Called Gino back, left VM with the information Pete gave me
• Sent Gino email with pictures

3:45 – Gary McDade called back. I explained the situation to him and agreed to send him pictures for his evaluation, so that he could determine if the job could be done in house, or if he needed to bring in an outside vendor. Pictures sent to Gary via email.

5:00 – Gary called back after having the guy who repairs bumpers review the pictures, said it should just be a simple in-house job (45-60 minutes) and said we could bring it in when we wanted and to let him know.  At 5:30, I called Gary back, and left a voice mail stating that my husband and the boys would be able to bring the van back on Saturday (3/15/08) around 10 AM, and asked him to call back to confirm.

Friday, March 14, 2008
Gary McDade called back to confirm that John and the boys could come in on Saturday 3/15/08 at 10 AM to have the dent fixed