It was only for a rear body repair job that the Fortuner SUV was checked in at the Toyota Fairview Quezon City dealer, to fix a dent on the bumper.
They told Tong Santos the job would take four days. But it dragged on for a month.
When he returned to claim his SUV, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
The were footprints on the dashboard. A footrest was missing from the pedals section.
The interior was dirty and unkempt. There was a break in the rear glass panel.
The repaint job was messed up. Some of the wiring of the electronic components had come undone.
And still more problems that did not exist previously.
These, plus other complaints, were brought up with Toyota Fairview management, which, Tong Santos said, treated the matter with little more than a casual shrug.
“When I switched to reverse. The transmission mechanism wouldn’t obey, and neither was my rear-view camera working,” Tong added. “I was stumped. What happened? ‘You have a three-month warranty period anyway’ to return it for a back-job, came the meek and canned response.”
Tong was to learn later from inspecting the on-dash camera, which switched on automatically whenever the vehicle is used, that his car was used apparently for practice driving.
Not just that the car was used as though it was a driving school laboratory, it appeared to have been used also as a rest lounge, with the fuel supply having been drastically diminished from being used outside the premises and the air-conditioning turned on while parked.
Toyota Fairview management offered to replace the unit, but it turned out that he has to loan some money to cough up a differential cost factor for that.
“Sobrang nawala na yung trust ko sa ano ng Toyota, ng casa sa ginawa nila (Toyota lost my trust … what their dealer did),” was all Tong Santos could mutter.
Toyota Motor Philippines issued the following statement:
“Toyota Motor Philippines (TMO) regrets the isolated incident which happened in one of its dealers. We have reviewed the footage of the video which was posted by the concerned customer on social media and we express great concern on its contents. TMP does not tolerate such acts and will certainly take appropriate action to address the same. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this incident as we continue to assure TMP’s commitment to provide the best products and services to all our valued customers.”
The Department of Trade and Industry said Toyota Fairview could be liable for damages in a prospective civil and administrative case if it comes to that.
According to Trade Undersecretary Ted Pascua, “There could even be an issue of criminal liability.”
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