Is customer satisfaction a top priority for Toyota?

Posted Tue September 22, 2009 1:25 pm, by Keyuanna H. written to Toyota Financial Services

I must say I have always been a avid Toyota fan. Toyotas have been the chief mode of transportation in our family for over 25 years. My first car was a Toyota and I recently purchased a Camry Hybrid. I have also went as far as doing briefings for companies on "TPS" (Toyota Production System) and its' "pull" system. Up until recently, I have had nothing but fondness for what seemed like a very admirable company.

My car was flooded in the after-effects of Hurricane Bill. My very new Camry Hybrid was totaled to my horror and disappointment. I had financed the car, bought GAP coverage, and an extended warranty all through Toyota Financial. I had expected to be on the road in a 2010 Camry in no time. Little did I know, this hope was a short lived. I have been patiently waiting for a person at Toyota Financial to give me the truth or point me in the right direction. My insurance company sent over the check to pay for the current value of the car. The next step would be for Toyota Financial services to cover the difference through the gap insurance, right? Wrong! Toyota representatives told me the extended warranty would have to be cancelled and payment submitted by the car dealership where I purchased the car. Toyota Financial would then have to deposit the checks from my insurance company and car dealership before they would initiate the "GAP process". Oh, and by the way, I would still be required to make the same payments. This leaves me, a single mother of two, without a car (my insurance supplied a rental vehicle until the check was sent to Toyota) without an estimated date to receive one. My insurance company sent the check and after several phone confrontations with Toyota Financial, the check was cashed. Now, I must wait 30 days (the period Toyota Financial gives the delarship to refund the extended warranty) for the extended warranty to be cashed and who knows how long for the "Gap Process" before I can get a new Toyota. (Yet your loyalty is still with this company.) How am I the consumer benefitted by the loss of my vehicle?

I am quite well versed on the customer satisfaction policies of Toyota, but right now it just sounds like verbage that looks good on paper. Needless to say, after this whole mess is done and over, I will take my business elsewhere. It really saddens me to think that a company as well built as Toyota turns its back on its longtime customers. It's a sad day!

1. The #1 policy of a great buisness "treat it's customers like gold".Keep customers!

2.Keep the customer abreast to new developments about their accounts, in my case a totaled car. Don't give consumers the run around.

3. Provide Gap coverage that will elevate stress and long wait periods when the customer is buying another Toyota.

4. Be Honest.