Date: Mon, 30 Dec 91 15:43:27 EST
From: Mikko H. Lipasti <mhl@husky.ece.cmu.edu>
Message-Id: <9112302043.AA02295@husky.ECE.CMU.EDU>
To: bovik@k.gp.cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Denny's Exxon at Penn & Braddock


Harry,

I thought I'd share my experiences with Denny's Exxon auto repair at Penn
& Braddock.  In August '91, my brother's car (which I was driving at the
time) stalled and died on the road and was towed to Denny's Exxon for
repairs.  After four days (including a weekend) a mechanic finally looked at
it and said the Engine Control Module was fried (the car is an '86 Cavalier).
The part was promptly replaced and the car seemed fine.

Less than a month later, my brother (who was now driving the car in upstate
New York) started experiencing the same symptoms that preceded the earlier
breakdown.  After several months of these symptoms, he took it in to a Chevy
dealer to have it checked out.  The ECM was fried again.  This time, however,
the replacement would cost an extra $100, since the ECM replacement was not
a genuine GM part, but an aftermarket "rebuilt" one  (Chevy has a policy
of requiring you to return a bad ECM to them or paying a $100 "core charge."
Evidently this is to prevent aftermarket suppliers from cloning or rebuilding
the parts with poor results--a policy that, if more effective, might have
saved us from our troubles).  He paid up promptly, had the ECM replaced, and
has had no further problems.

The trouble w/ the situation was that Denny's mechanic claimed to have used
a genuine GM part (he certainly charged us for one) and even required us to
return the original part or pay the Chevy "core charge" of $100.  Unwittingly,
we did, and were stuck with an aftermarket part that Chevy wouldn't accept
as a core replacement.  When I confronted Denny with this situation, he at
first tried to weasel out of it by claiming that we "chose" the aftermarket
part after his mechanic told us the GM part was twice as expensive.  This 
couldn't have been true since the Chevy dealer in NY charged the exact same
price for the ECM as he did.  Then he tried to pass the buck to the parts 
shop and told me to contact them for a refund.  Finally I got upset and told
him that if he wanted me to remain a happy customer, he should refund the
entire cost of the repair (he does have a 4-month 4,000 mile unconditional
warranty on all repairs).  After chewing on that for a couple of days, he
agreed to refund the money in its entirety (including labor charges).  Frankly,
I was quite surprised!

So, all in all, I would give Denny's Exxon a mixed report card.  I think a 
dose of aggressive, assertive behavior on the part of the customer makes a
world of difference to his attitude and customer service.  I can't really
complain since we got a few months use out of that ECM and ran up absolutely
no cost for it.

Hope that helps someone out.

-Mikko Lipasti