Since my last post, I was contacted by Honda corporate. (from here on out I will not be capitalizing honda, they suck) This was only after I reached out via email. First I emailed the "customer relations manager". After not hearing anything back for two days (zero, zilch, nada, not a peep) I proceeded to email the "senior vice president, auto sales division", the "executive vice president and coo" and the ceo himself. About a day after sending my email to those folks, I receive a phone call out of the blue from honda customer service on June 11, 2019. The strange thing about this is I NEVER gave them my phone number in any correspondence with them.
The customer service rep summarized my issue and promised to look into it and call me back by the following Monday (June 17). After not hearing anything back, I called them today (June 19) to follow up. I had to leave a voicemail for the rep. He called back within a couple hours and told me he had spoken to the dealership and the "zone rep". I was informed that the dealer had determined that the issue with my steering wheel was not a defect and therefore the warranty claim was denied. The rep then continued to tell me he had inquired about an out-of-warranty goodwill replacement. I was then informed this was also denied because of an email I sent that hurt the dealer's service manager's feelings. The rep then told me, and this is a direct quote, "You basically talked yourself out of the goodwill replacement". I sent ONE email to the service manager and NEVER got a response. How they use this for a basis of denial for some "goodwill replacement" is beyond me. Why even tell me about this option then??? The rep then told me the other option discussed was splitting the cost of the replacement with me. I declined this option for two reasons. First, I'm not paying to fix a material defect and second, after how I was treated by this dealer I am NOT going to be spending any of my money there.
So at this point, I am sticking with my $17 steering wheel cover from Amazon. (Which is better quality than the leather-wrapped steering wheel on my $32,000 car) I also plan to discourage everyone I know from buying honda vehicles. I have been buying and driving honda's since 2007, and honda values my business so much they are willing to throw it away over something that costs them less than $250.
For anyone wondering, here is the complete email I sent to the hurt feelings honda dealer:
Hi Steve,
I was in there Tuesday to have you guys submit a warranty claim for the cracking leather on my steering wheel. Yesterday I received a call from the other Steve informing me that the zone rep had denied the claim. He also advised me to contact the selling dealer (Walser) in order to have them resubmit the claim to try and fight the denial. I spoke with Walser yesterday, and the adviser there told me I should have been given a reason (by the zone rep) as to why it was denied. Could you please send me that information?
Before I make the seemingly pointless trip to Burnsville to have Walser resubmit this, is there anything else you can do on my behalf to appeal the denial? It is very frustrating to have a brand new car with a defect and have some random "zone rep" determines (based solely on pictures) it is not covered by the warranty. I took pictures in the daylight yesterday and anyone with half a brain can clearly see the leather is cracking along the grain. This is not damage caused by me.
Thank you,
Corey
