FCA not honouring free service
 

So, been a very long road this one.

I purchased a 2015 GC Overland and loved it.

All worked fine, with the usual issue that many have written about that required software upgrades.

One of those software upgrades 'stuffed up' the GPS. I was unable to change states. I think I was 8 months in to owning the car (I also had the one that made the engine fans come on all the time, how embarrassing was that one!)

Anyway, off I went to my support guys and asked them to fix it. They could not, as FCA didn't have a fix, but would in a few months..

Fast forward 18+ months, and still no fix. The solution... Just use the voice system... Ok, so if I can to go to a street in Canberra, it tries to take me to Darwin!!!

I then hit up FCA and ask them to swap out the unit as it does not affect all cars. NO, can't do that, it won't work...

Then the lies start. Robert Lawson of FCA in writing told me that this would not work and they would not do it. I'm a computer guy, and a car guy (I run 5 car forums) and know that you can swap out units and make them work in your own car (yes, there is component protection etc, but that can be changed by the dealer).

Why should somebody have to wait 18+ months to have their NAV work in the car properly, when it did when I purchased the car!!??

I kept on with a level and fair head with FCA and Robert Lawson, giving him the facts, even to the point where another forum member kindly send me a copy of a letter from FCA saying they would fix his identical problem and swap out the unit. They did the work, and hey presto, he had working sat nav again.

No, Robert Lawson of FCA blank refused, and even worse, advised this would not fix my problem. I kept on working with my local suttons dealership who advised they could not log a problem ticket with FCA as Robert was telling them it was no use, they would not fix the issue.

I then in frustration found 'Shubhra Kaushik' (hubhra.kaushik@fcagroup.com) as a last resort.
She was great, and very quickly heard my frustration and arranged for the unit to be swapped.

What changed their mind, this and other Jeep forums. It seems that the internet can help in your issues with car manufacturers and sticking up for fixing issues that can be repaired.

So, all good. Sat Nav working as good as it was 18+ months after the purchase of the car.

Even better, Shubhra offers me a free next service to 'compensate' me for my troubles.
Great, I'll get that when the car is due for service.

When the time comes, I contact the dealer and advise it's a free one (which is great, as the last one cost $2000!!!).

But, FCA are back to their old customer service levels. Sorry, you did not 'accept' our offer, and know you can't have a free service.

So, here we go again. A long campaign to get a 'free' service that had already been offered...

What is wrong with these guys? Why are the so determined to keep on shooting themselves in the foot? What difference does/did it make to FCA to pay for a service a few months ago, and pay for it now? Is there something going on with servicing that would have mean't that the price would have been different.

So, they win, I loose is one way to look at it.

Is it just me? Am I being too fussy to expect what I'm expecting?

I've got so many email correspondences and logs of calls that my mind boggles...

Robert Lawson is no longer there unfortunately.

Well, at the very least after all the struggles, you did get that free head unit which outweigh the free service.

Enjoy the car.

I think you mean't to say 'fortunately'... My experience was outright lies..
Also, I think they may have just done a software update (which was all I was after!) to fix the Head Unit...Again, I've no idea, the clarity of what actually took place is still unknown to me!

Many of us had great success from Robert customer service, who actually responds to our queries.. You must have caught him as he was leaving?

FCA called me last week regarding on my engine issues I had, and if they were able to help etc. So, on the positive side, they have changed game for the better for me?

Note to self:

DONT. ALLOW. SOFTWARE. UPDATES !!!

Yeah, I too found Robert one of the more helpful FCA people... though wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up burnt out by spending years in the middle of FCA’s bullshit and unhappy customers...

Holy crap mate, what sort of service did you have on a 2015 that cost $2k?

Thank you soo much for your post, 2 weeks ago I had a 30,000km service on my 2016 Overland and exactly the same fault has happened. On pickup the whole Uconnect was locked up, they then disconnected the battery to do a reset and the same stuck in NSW Australia for all addresses inputted in GPS has occurred. I expect my fight with FCA is about to start as I have been waiting for my promised Uconnect update and free map update that they offered on purchase and have consistently reneged on for the last 8 months.
Brad

These days most car makers include navigation just so they can charge a fee for an update.

Avoide it! TomTom or Google work much better.
.

Just a 'normal' service as far as I was concerned. 24 Month/40K service..

I just double checked, sorry, it was actually $1195 for the service ($609.25 in labour!)

Mine has done that twice - once spontaneously and once after the map update. The work around is to change the country - to Australia - and then select the new state. Works on mine. Stupid, but it works.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

I'm sorta' with Joe98.

Laredo: No sat nav or power tailgate to go wrong. Still plenty of gadgetry to play with. I use a Tom Tom and shift it to whichever car I'm using. Free updates, international maps, no probs. Also, I never service at dealers and pay heaps less at a Jeep specialist, and no updates to screw me up.

I believe in the law of 'distance relativity' (the greater the distance from dealers, the closer to nirvana I get).

Absolutely true. I too gave the factory nav a miss and instead use an Android tablet with Backcountry Navigator and Hema apps loaded. A far better solution for my requirements in the Vic high country. I wish the factory screen had Android capability instead.

I kind of had to have the car serviced at the dealer to get the NAV working, their aircon re gassed (leaking) and some other under warranty fixes done..

Was very surprised (in a bad) way to find out it was over $1,000. Left a bad taste in my mouth..

What also was bad was that when I purchased the car, I was told by the dealer that free maps for the 3 years service, all included. What was the shocker was to find out what the maps were 2013, and there was no updates..

How do these companies get away with this?

Because "WE" let them! It's our apathy that is the cause of our frustration. If you have it written " YOUR NEXT SERVICE IS FREE" then it will happen.. if it was verbal, then FORGET it.

Here's the eamil from Shubhra..

"Please note that the free service was offered as a goodwill gesture and an end was put on it for you to accept or reject it. As now we are way past the end date, I am unable to offer you the free service."

Looks like I didn't 'accept' in time. I didn't have a service due, so didn't take notice and just had the email from FCA saying free service...

How stupid am I to think that a 'good will gesture service' would have to be accepted and have a time frame/limit :confused:

Bit of a Piss Poor Effort from FCA. Dangle a Carrot ....with conditions & then leave you.... without a paddle.

FWIW, car serviced yesterday by my independent Jeep guy. I supplied the engine oil bought at Autobarn on one of their 30% discount sales (always buy it when on sale). He supplied everything else. Was a 90k km book service, not one of the biggies:

Labour: 132.00
Parts: 101.80
Loan car: free
My oil: 70.56 (8.4L)

Total cost: $304.36

I did put $12 fuel in the loaner as I had to do a few k's yesterday.

I need an a/c service including re-gas after Christmas, for which he's quoted $165 all up - labour, refrigerant, oil, etc.

Well worth putting in the effort to find guys like this as an alternative to dealers.

SouthernComfort your 2013 GC Laredo probably had a 3 year warranty.

Once a vehicle is out of warranty I recommend going elsewhere for the annual service.

I feel it is prudent once in a while going back to a dealer as they might have heard something from head office that should be looked at.

I have servicing done every 6 months regardless of k's, mainly because I frequently tow a caravan. At the prices I pay the two services per year usually work out less than just one at the dealer.

I've had the dealer do all the 'no cost' recall works. Other than that, I'm not interested in anything the dealer has to offer, including potentially unreliable updates. The specialist I use is a proper mechanic who works exclusively on GC WK2's and he's right across whatever needs to be done. Gives me more confidence than having it in the hands of apprentices that dealers let loose on your car.

I still send my oldie 2012 to the dealers, since the cost of a basic oil change service is only $340 using the correct oils. I only want that stamp so they dont cripple me if/when I go back to claim for a cylinder head recall up until 2022.

I could go to Automasters/Ultratune and gamble the oils used for $190. Which they did on my other car and clogged up the hydraulic lifters, leading to $1.2k repair.

Yeh sure, you can go to Third party servicing centers, and go by the book of ACCC stating you can go elsewhere. But if its anything FCA related, they will / do check your service history, and where you go. Been through it before.

Yep, definitely stay away from generic third party servicing. Need a Jeep specialist who knows what they're doing.

Hey SourthernComfort,

Who's your jeep guy?

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All Grand Cherokee Service & Parts in Springvale, ask for Tam.

http://allgrandcherokee.com.au/

Thanks guys. I'll see what the 'quote' is for the next service 60K and come back to you all.
I'll also question what was %600 in labour on the last service, I didn't pay any attention last time. Not sure why any standard service labour should cost that amount of money.

$647 for a 60K service.

I asked if that includes anything special..but there isn't, only the air conditioning filter (I think they are about $50 online)...

Anybody else have a 60K service and would like to share how much and with who?

Dealers just pile on the labour for any job. I'm convinced they must charge for all the time a car is occupying space on their premises, not just the amount of time spent on the service/job.

Earlier this year I had the alternator replaced by my service guy who charged $198 labour. Dealer had quoted $600 labour.

I have worked in banks all my life (no, never in retail) and I note there is no royal commission into car dealers!

X2 for Tam.

I had my first wrangler serviced twice at the dealer and have never had a dealer service since. The two times they did it was the first two services so very basic, really just engine oil, filter and tyre kick. They charged two hours labour both times for something I could've done in the shed in half an hour.
And on the second service they chipped half the paint off the bonnet hinges. Since then they've only done warranty work and still managed to botch some of that.

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