Bye, Bye Bernardi Honda!!

I had an pretty bad experience with Bernardi Honda in Natick, MA
reciently, and thought I would share the email I sent to their service
manager. PS: They never got back to me. No suprise there. There's a
brand new Honda Dealer just up the road from them in Shrewsbury MA,
Ragsdale Honda.
See ya later Bernardi!

To: Rick Voss - Service Director, Bernardi Honda
Dear Rick;

Yesterday, I had my '99 Civic in for service and repair work, for
$771.55 total. It's been a great car, and Bernardi has been a good
dealership over the years. I have no problems with any of the work
done or the repairs, but I do have a problem with the "Mass State
Inspection" preformed by your dealership.

I arrived at Bernardi a little early. The service and repairs were
complete; they were just starting the state inspection. I was told it
would take about 10 minutes, so I sat in the waiting room (for about 25
minutes). I finally came back into the service department, and with
some checking, I was told "it is ready". Ok, great.

Going over my invoice, the tech told me that "They had to replace the
wipers due to wear, to pass the state inspection". Considering that
I drove the car to Bernardi in the pouring rain that morning, I was a
bit surprised. I'll admit that there was probably a little bit of
wear on the wipers, and that they probably did need to be replaced at
some point in the future, but I've never heard of anyone being denied
an inspection sticker due to simple "wear of the wipers".

I asked the service tech what criteria, what tests, what calibration
standards are used to check wipers. They didn't know, so I checked
it out at the Mass RMV website.

According to the Registry of Motor Vehicels, "(d) Windshield
Wiper(s). Test for proper operation. If the vehicle was equipped with
two wipers, as furnished by the manufacturer, both must be maintained
in good working order. Wiper blades must properly contact the
windshield and, be of the same length as those furnished as original
equipment. The rubber elements shall be free from damage or tears."

I did not have any tears in the wipers. The word "damage" is a
very broad and generalized term. Had it not been raining that day,
I'll bet you would have not even noticed any "wear". The RMV
does not require you to wet the windshield and make a "value
judgment" on the wipers ability to clear the windshield. I've seen
wipers that streak "out of the box", including the ones you just
put on my car.

Finally, I don't understand why I was not told that new wipers were
needed - as I was sitting in the dealership at the time. When I
questioned about them before I left, one of the service techs at
Bernardi suggested that they "put on my old wipers or give me the new
ones for free" (ie: get me out of there, because they knew Bernardi
was wrong). How could you have given me a sticker and then put back on
my old wipers if they were "illegal" to begin with? Huh? Would
you put on a new catalytic converter just to pass inspection and then
put the old one back on for a customer?

I needed the car, so I paid for the new wipers, and don't really have
a problem with the $17.32 it cost me.

What I do have a problem with is the fact that Bernardi is probably
doing the same thing to a lot of their customers that require a new
inspection sticker - including your customers who were referrals by me.


I feel that Bernardi is "interpreting" the RMV requirements,
probably for their own corporate profit, and doing so at the expense of
their customers.

I have lost faith, and all it took was a $17 pair of wipers which I
really didn't need to begin with.

Was it worth it?

 

OTOH, if the wipers did not contact the glass well at the out edges, the
dealer could have a reason to replace them to pass the test. It's a tough
call...