Yet ANOTHER Suzuki customer unable to get satisfactory customer service when trying to make a warranty claim from Suzuki's service department. It seems I'm not the only Suzuki car owner to have problems getting their new vehicle repaired under warranty.
Kim Allen-Hickey wrote to me after trying for FIVE MONTHS to get her Suzuki Swift repaired by Suzuki's service department.
Kim's e-mail is below... dated Tuesday, June 9th. 2009.
I WONDER HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT A NEW SUZUKI CAR AND ARE NOW SUFFERING FROM A LACK OF AFTER SALES SERVICE?
Hi Michael,
After reading Jim’s saga with his Suzuki and lack of help from service departments etc. I knew that I was not alone.
I too have had a hard time trying to get Suzuki Australia to honour their Warranty or provide any level of Customer Service.
My Suzuki Swift only had 32,000 klms but overheated and seized on it’s first long trip (only 4 hours) over Christmas and upon towing it to the service centre, the engine was taken apart and service mechanics told me, “It had a faulty thermostat”
While Suzuki admits that this caused the engine to overheat, they would not fix the engine under warranty because I did not still have all of my invoices and receipts for the car’s 2 previous services (although service book had been stamped and dated correctly by an authorised service mechanic) I argued this point and tried in vein to work out an amicable solution with Suzuki who were nothing but insulting, rude and obnoxious in all communications through the whole process. I could not believe that they also wanted me to pay $1000 for labour costs to find their faulty thermostat.
I told Suzuki that I was going to contact Dept of Fair Trading to sort this out and was told “Go ahead, you’ll get nothing”
A car warranty person from Fair Trading visited Suzuki and then told me that Suzuki were now claiming that I drove the car after the engine overheated and so, therefore, there was nothing I could do about it. This claim was completely untrue, this person did not even talk to me about it, only to Suzuki and I was furious that they would go to so much trouble to find loop-holes instead of honouring their so-called Warranty.
Not taking that for an answer, I consulted some Warranty experts and some mechanics for some technical information before I wrote a 3 page complaint, I then took that to Dept of Fair Trading and filed for a hearing date.
At the hearing, sitting in a room with a Conciliator, the rep from Suzuki made a few measly offers which I said ‘no’ to before offering me a whole new short engine for the car, I accepted this offer and was told by him that it would take another month because to get a new one, it would have to be shipped from Japan. I only had to pay some money ($1800) towards the total labour costs. This was agreed and we went on our way.
Upon recently being told that my car was now ready to picked up (5 months now after the event) I asked the service mechanics if they had put a new short engine in it, I was told, “A new one was going to take six weeks to get here, so Suzuki told us to recondition your existing block instead”
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
Not only has it taken this long to get anything done, they have not done what was agreed in court without any consultation and without thinking I would even know (probably because I’m a girl!)
I informed Suzuki that I was not happy about this at all and if they wanted me to accept the car as is, then they could contribute towards some of the labour costs, they said no, they’ll give me nothing further.
I have now been legally advised that I should not pick up or pay any money for the car and that I should renew proceedings again with Dept of Fair Trading.
At this rate, it will be another 5 months before I see my car.
Thanks, Kim.
If anyone else has a story to share please e-mail me at the address below and I'll gladly add it to this site as a public service in the hope that SOMEONE in the Suzuki Motor Company might take notice and improve their appalling customer service procedures.
Michael @ mysuzukicar dot com