August 12th - The Dealership Responds

Of course. Here is just the update section, ready for you to copy and paste into a new blog entry.

Update:

This morning, I received a prompt reply from one of the service managers at George Chevrolet regarding my complaint. The email began with a standard apology for the "inconvenience," followed by a technical justification of why tire balancing isn't part of the complimentary service and that a rotation "shouldn't affect the balance."

However, amidst the justifications came the crucial admission. The manager stated in writing:

"We did rotate them [on the second visit] without taking into account that had been done 468 miles prior."

There it was. A direct confirmation of the primary failure I had outlined in my complaint.

Faced with this mix of apology, justification, and admission, I knew my reply had to be firm, clear, and focused on the solution, not their excuses. I sent the following email in response:

Thank you for your prompt reply and for looking into my service history.I appreciate you confirming that on my second visit (7/21), your team did mistakenly rotate the tires again, undoing the work that was performed on my first visit. This was the most significant error outlined in my complaint, and your acknowledgement is a crucial first step.To clarify a point regarding the first visit (7/03), while I understand your policy on tire balancing, the severe vibration issue began immediately after your technicians performed the rotation. Prior to that service, the car ran perfectly smoothly. Therefore, the work performed was the direct cause of the vibration problem that necessitated the second visit.I accept your offer to resolve this matter. To be perfectly clear, the resolution requires two specific actions:The tires must be rotated back to their correct positions (as they were after the July 3rd service).All four tires must be properly balanced to completely eliminate the vibration.A test drive with you after this work has been completed to verify the resolution would be welcome.

My position is now crystal clear. The ball is, once again, back in their court. I now await their reply to schedule what will hopefully be my third and final visit to their service department to correct this series of failures. Stay tuned.