Muhammad

When I went to pick my car up from the local Porsche/Audi dealer this afternoon, something seemed odd as I was exiting the service advisor's office with his company. We stood outside for a couple minutes, and it became painfully obvious that he was waiting for some gratuity.

Keep in mind that I had requeted the car be ready by 3:00, and even called him at 2:45, left a VM, and didn't get a call back until 3:30ish, making me run more than an hour late on my plans. On the flip side, they washed the car and the experience was what I expected going in.

Beyond that, I couldn't figure out what was worthy of a tip. Also note that in the past, I have tipped <i>mechanics</i> as much as $50 when they actually did me favors. This was my first-ever visit to this dealership, and so far the only favor I received was a one-hour delay.

The moments waiting for him to go get the car were straight out of Curb Your Enthusiasm---word for word, even. The old, "Any other questions? Anything I can help you with? We have bottled water in the showroom if you'd like!" lines were flowing.

While I was waiting several minutes for him to drive the car 30 feet, my thoughts went from "darn, wish I had some cash" to "now the SERVICE ADVISOR wants to be tipped, too?!?"

So after he brought the car up I figured I'd address the issue and asked if it was expected of customers to provide gratuity for the service advisors. He said it's "not necessary" but that's about as glaring a "yes" as he could say.

I know it lacks <i>class</i> to ask if somebody wants gratuity when they clearly do, but I think it puts customers in a very awkward situation to expect gratuity in the middle of a business day. It's a well-known fact that many people don't want or need to carry cash anymore. I'm one of them.

Personally, I think $100/hour for labor is gratuity enough on my first visit. This isn't Madison Ave.

Anyway, I'm obviously in a nice little mess with this particular advisor and have no choice but to tip him in the future, or risk sub-par service. It never ends, does it?

Will $5 be enough?

Egil A64.2s - S6

Only then if they deserve it. But I'm a Canadian ;-)

LMGotts

...or a can...

<img src="http://www.wingnet.org/sales/pix/eee08.jpg">

The <i>expectant</i> advisor is unacceptable, IMO.

chairman

some pizzas for lunch. I like Larry's idea as well.

ICONCLS

I include the mechanic also, not every visit though or my SA and mechanic would weigh 300 lbs. now

BTW, I *never* have any cash on me also, quite embarrassing sometimes.

atgmartin4.2

Expectant: you mean like pregnant? :-P

6ULDV8

You need to have a little chat with the dealer principle or general manager. I'm sure they will thank you for bringing this to their attention. Not only is that kind of thing frowned upon, its grounds for dismissal. Next time, tell the service advisor, "you want a tip?, GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS, YOUR A DISGRACE".

frankie@work

they really went above and beyond the call of normal duty (which of course is a judgement call). As far as being in the dog house with this particular adviser, I wouldn't sweat that in the least. As a matter of fact, I do believe they earn a commission on any business they write. Perhaps you should have a civil, friendly conversation with the Service Manager for more info (that's a good thing to do regardless).

PaulW

They charge so much to begin with, it's like paying to have a race car prepped by a top of the line shop.

However, they are changing oil, doing brakes, and generally making too many mistakes on the repairs they perform. It's customary for Audi to clean your car after repairing it, if for no reason it's probably dirtier than it was when you brought it in.

I wouldn't tip him, and if I did, $5 would seem to be more of an insult than anything, I don't think he could get a #2 at Wendy's for $5 anymore.

Muhammad

I guess I'll forget about it and drop off some cookies around the holidays. Thanks for the responses