Extended warranty? No thanks…

My 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring is JUST out of warranty… by like 2k miles. I took it in today to Honda Carland for a minor appointment. We bought our car there. We have never taken our car ANYwhere else to get it serviced. Within the last year or so they have become so large (they really are the biggest, baddest sales/service dealership around) that they have outsourced their service scheduling to a call center. The call center people do not know their head from an elephant’s rear. I called them 3 weeks ago to tell them I had a sticker in my car stating I was due for my 40k servicing. First, the woman could not find me by my phone #. She said my phone # returned a list of 74 people or something… THEN, after hearing my name 5 times prior, she asked if I was Angela… No lady… I am not Angela. She said my car is not due for a servicing and that the Odyssey has a 45k servicing which should be my next one but I could bring in my car for that servicing. It was only just over 40k. No thank you… 1 week later, when my car is about 40,600 miles, I get “SERVICE DUE SOON” from my car… Wonderful! I love it when I deal with competent people! It makes my day. So I call back and explain to them what happened and they blew it off, of course. I also let them know about the coupon booklet I had from when I purchased my car that gave me the minor services (every other one) free. They told me to bring it in with me when I came. Today was the appointment. I brought the car in at 9:45 and was told it would take 60-90 mins for the service and a little longer to determine the chronic brake noise issue. I sat back and was entertained by the laptop I decided to bring (though the genius in me forgot the power cable) for about 1 hour and 45 mins and then was called up. I could see on the screen the total price was going to be over $1200. I nearly choked, seriously. I told them about the coupon (that I forgot at home, DOH) which would have knocked off the $110 for the service thus far and she said that wasn’t valid for this service but that I should have a $10 coupon for this one that she’d honor though I didn’t have it with me. I told her the conversation with the woman at the call center. She explained in a more detailed fashion why this coupon was not valid for THIS service and I accepted it though I was not very happy about it. Then she said I needed a steering pump (over $300), brakes and resurfaced rotors ($400) and some sort of rear shock thing that had fluid leaking from it ($400). I was ticked, noticeably. I asked her why when I brought my car in September (when it was FULLY COVERED) was a leak not detected. And before she could answer I asked her why was the steering pump failing NOW when I have documented complaining about noises from the steering going back a year. We went back and forth and she said she would talk to her manager about getting these covered under warranty and getting me a rental car (which is unheard of at this place) to get everything done. Needless to say, all was done under warranty except the standard service and the brakes/rotors which we will get priced elsewhere. On a side note, thank you to Patrick who was going to pick up the girl if I was unable to because of this mess. They got it done in time (3.5 hours at this place today) for me to pick her up though, barely. What a mess… I am leasing next time!

AWESOME DAY!

Today, the boy lost his very first tooth! It has been a long time coming since his adult tooth grew in behind but it is finally OUT! We sang "La Tooth-a-racha" in the car on the way home while rattling the tooth in it's case like a maraca!! WHAT FUN! He also did not get any steps at school today which is a big accomplishment. We have been struggling with him getting steps (behavioral marks) almost on a daily basis. For his good behavior he gets to choose tonights dinner. He chose Taco Bell. Whatever works, eh? Finally, he made a hanukkiah (a menorah for Hanukkah) at school and I got to help. It came out AWESOME. I will post a picture when we get to take it home. He is obsessed with games... like his mommy... so it is a game hanukkiah made with parts of many different games! Martha has nothin on me! ;)

On the GIRL side, she began reading "If You Give a Pig a Pancake"! The boy said she could do it. I thought it was a little much for her. We got through about 5 pages! We will read 5 more tomorrow night. Not bad for my ALMOST 5 year old in pre-k!!