Kaptein Caprivi blogs…

Ferdi phoned me late Thursday afternoon. After the 50minute phone call, I asked him if he would be so kind as to send me a written response to my original e-mail. He kindly did, and can be seen at the reply page.

At the end of the call, we agreed on the following two things.

1. We agreed to dissagree. I still think that my Toyota Fortuner was sold to me in an unsafe state. Ferdi dissagreed. I am unhappy with the fact that I have to carry the cost of making this vehecle safe. After my initial visit to Toyota, where I was informed that the tires on my Fortuner will be replaced (at the cost of one tire to me), I managed to write off a tire on a normal gravel road. As soon as we got back to Cape Town, I phoned the service manager who handled my original query and insisted on having the replacement tires installed on the Fortuner straight away. As far as I am concerned, Toyota realise there is a problem with the tires, and that is why they offer to replace the tires in the first place. After a few phone calls he informed me that I will have to wait another 4-6 weeks for the replacement tires. I said to him I am not about to drive in an unsafe vehicle, because Toyota cannot supply me the replacement tires as a matter of urgency. I enquired about paying the extra money towards Bridgestone AT tires, but was told that it will have to be Grabbers or nothing. He informed me there is nothing he can do, and that I should phone the call centre. I phoned, and after a few calls I was again told I will have to wait, as the TIRES ARE ON THEIR WAY FROM OVERSEAS. I went out and spend R11000 on 5 new Bridgestone AT. The new tires transformed the car. It’s not prefect yet, but is a VAST improvement on the original tires. Ferdi said if I only waited, I would have saved myself a lot of money. I told him that if I only waited, I might have killed my family, because I was told a lie regarding the reason of a 6 weeks wait for new tires. I completely disagree that it’s acceptable for Toyota to expect me to wait so long for replacement tires, and on top of this, expect me to pay for usage on a sub-standard product.
2. We agreed that there are a lot of rumours floating around, and from Toyota’s perspective they find it difficult to know what exactly is going on in the market. I pointed out that from a customer perspective, we feel we don’t have ONE knowledgeable source we can contact; who can listen to our questions, and answer them in an authoritative manner. We get to speak on the Forums (which Toyota ignores), we speak to Service Managers who tell us our tires will be replaced, but only in 6 weeks time. We speak to call centre operators, who tells us our tires are on their way from overseas, when they are in fact manufactured right here in the PE. We are told Toyota will decide how much we have to pay in for the replacement tires, but we are never told what the formula is.So, to go over to action. I can see the benefit in Toyota finding out from more Fortuner owners about their experience. As I have quite a bit of traction on my site (not in a wobbly Fortuner way, but rather that a lot of people read my Fortuner stories, I offered that my blog can be a place where people can log an complain regarding their Toyota Fortuners. I will then forward the complaint directly to Ferdi at Toyota, and he will take care of the problem. I will be informed about the state of the query.Please note three things:
   1. I am still unhappy.
   2. My credibility and my blogs credibility is important to me, as a lot of people are reading this blog every single day. So, each letter I receive from an Toyota Fortuner owner, I will forward to Ferdi. BUT, I will keep tabs on those letters, and if nothing comes from those letters, they will be displayed in BIG TOYOTA RED letters on the site.
   3. Toyota will not be allowed to use my site as another means to push this problem under the carpet.

So, if you wish to make use of this service, please send me the following info:

1. Name and surname

2 Car registration number

3 Telehpone number

4. Email address

5. Car Type

6. Your dealer

7. Your story

My intention is to add these stories to my blog, with no contact details, so if you don’t want them on the page, then ask, and I will not put them up.

Mail all the above to me at kaptein AT kapteincaprivi DOT com

Greetings

Kaptein