I work in the automotive industry for a supplier (not of CD players). It has been my experience that all warranty parts are to be replaced with factory originals (i.e. not re-conditioned). If a part was re-conditioned, it is the responsibility of the dealer to identify it as such. I admit that not all dealers are completely forthcoming with their customers, so if you didn’t ask, they probably wouldn’t tell you.
Honestly, I believe this issue has more to do with the dealership than the manufacturer. I would recommend you deal with the people who did the work. Most people don’t realize how isolated dealerships are from the manufacturers (more often than not).
Hope that helps a little bit. For what it’s worth, I don’t have any of the parts I’ve developed on the 2004 Dodge trucks, so I won’t be hurt if you don’t buy one.
i had such a problem with a cd player once. got it replaced and after a while it did the same thing again, so I returned it and got my money back. I think that self-made/burned cd’s caused that older cd player to go bad. I could be wrong, but both cd players lost their functionality after using copied cd’s.
Just recenlty had a problem with my Fujitsu-Siemens laptop. Took them forever to fix. Not only did I not have my laptop for over a month, I also had to endure their horrible music everytime they put me on hold…hope dodge has good music while they put you on the wait and everything works out for you.
Yeah, you got a problem. You think there’s actually some human being giving time and attention to what you wrote, actually reading it, analysing it, like a College English proffesor, beyond the space of 3.5 minutes.
Well, no.
Gerard is dead right.
Dan, you could have just as said in your letter to customer service: “I’ve got a broken radio, and I was just elected as the King Of Bavaria, who just gave massive tax breaks to your company to do business in my domain. Here’s my problem, and, if I don’t get it fixed, I’m making a declaration of war and shutting down three Dodge factories doing business in my fiefdom!”
Here’s what you would have gotten back:
Dear Daniel, King of Bavaria:
"Thank you for your email regarding your Dodge Ram 1500.
"Your request was received and reviewed by the Customer Assistance Center.
"Your concerns, particularly in view of the expense and inconvenience involved in this issue, are understandable. However, your request for consideration in this matter must be declined, because the vehicle in question has exceeded the time or mileage limitations of the original manufacturer’s warranty.
"Although a more favorable reply could not be provided, sharing your concern with us is appreciated.
Agree with 5280, go to an aftermarket shop to get it done. I had a simalar problem with a Dodge van. Since the waranty had expired they said all they had available was a remanufctured unit. Went to Bestbuy - for less than $200 I was a happy driver with a CD playing the Blues.
As a “some minion below” for one of the largest Co’s in America I agree with going to the top. But I would advise you to use the investor relations 800 number from the web site. That is the one number that always gets answered in any major corporation. Let them know that as an “investor” you expect to have this problem solved. The key is that you get to somebody whose time is more valuable than your problem. It wouldn’t hurt to point out that you will be discussing the resolution of this issue on the web site you run that gets X numbers of hits a day.
It has been my experience that all warranty parts are to be replaced with factory originals (i.e. not re-conditioned). If a part was re-conditioned, it is the responsibility of the dealer to identify it as such. I admit that not all dealers are completely forthcoming with their customers, so if you didn’t ask, they probably wouldn’t tell you.