Owner Advocate callers now put on hold; no voice mail

[JAXRS6]

Until my call today, I would get my AOA owner advocate's voice mail & leave a message if he was busy. But today I 'm listening to one of those endless recordings instead: "All of our advocates are currently assisting other customers. Please remain on the line for the next available advocate."

I think I know why: My guy once said he has 800 clients! That's a helluva lot & I suspect the advocates were getting so many voice mail messages that they had no hope of ever catching up. So, to give them relief, we end up waiting instead.

The solution would be to hire more advocates, but somehow I think AOA is not about to do that due to the expense.

Today is a busy day for accountants in the US, but I don't see why it should be any busier than any other Thursday for advocates. I was on hold for 20 minutes, then got a sound of a phone ringing at the other end, then a couple of clicks, then a rapid busy signal. Obviously the call was over.

Am I pis*ed? You have no idea....

:vgrumpy: :vgrumpy: :vgrumpy:

[Bauer]

Well that sucks...sorry to hear it. Is it the Onstar, gas or some other problem.

I am feeling pretty good about my two blown turbos right about now....didn't have to call anyone or wait on the phone.

[JAXRS6]

Originally posted by Bauer
[BIs it the Onstar, gas or some other problem. [/B]

I was trying to follow up on a call from my advocate earlier this week about brake fluid that will tolerate higher temperatures. He confirmed was has been reported here by others -- that Audi will not honor its warranty for problems that can be blamed on such fluid.

My question today was going to be something like this: "Since Audi does not want me to use higher temperature tolerance brake fluid to protect my brakes, will they fix under warranty any damage done at a non-competitive track event (such as an Audi Club school) when I have the standard factory fluid instead?"

And then, "if not, why not?"

[jimmy94507]

Jack,

I've had my Advocate working on this since last September. I wanted an answer prior to the National at Infineon, and again, prior to the January event at Laguna Seca. He keeps forwarding my e-mail to "Eng." and they essentially give the same answer - "flush your brake system with new AoA fluid and you should be OK". And "They haven't qualified any of the alternative Hi-Temp fluids". My Advocate even called me last week to advise he got a response from Eng. that was essentially the same. I asked if he could forward a copy of the memo? Unable to do so; just wanted to let me know he hadn't forgotten me.

I encourage all of you who might attend an Audi driving school to contact your Advocate and press for a recommendation for a Hi-Temp brake fluid!!

Regards, Jim

[JAXRS6]

Originally posted by jimmy94507
I encourage all of you who might attend an Audi driving school to contact your Advocate and press for a recommendation for a Hi-Temp brake fluid!!

Good idea, except now we apparently gotta wait 20 minutes for the privilege of being disconnected!

I hope others will call anyway, tho -- and if this interminable being-put-on-hold practice continues, start burying them with mail. Oops -- I almost forgot -- the one piece of mail I sent to my advocate was intercepted by someone else!

This is SO ironic. Companies that used to do this -- Comcast Cable, Sprint, utilitity companies etc. -- finally are getting enough people on board so that the waiting is not so bad now. And what is Audi doing? Putting us on hold!

As the slogan goes, "Never follow...." :bye2:

PS -- Congrats on figuring out that my name is Jack! (Big clue for others: I own an RS6, right? Whose is it? Jack's...aka JAX)

[JAXRS6]

I called my AOA advocate today & got right through. He explained that the recording I heard yesterday is used only when all eight of the advocates are on the phone at once, which means no lines are available to take voice mail. So, it shouldn't happen too often -- and he's going to let his boss know about my 20 minute wait followed by virtual disconnect.

RE brakes -- he said it was his thought that Audi should honor brake problems under warranty if the event attended was a school & not competitive, and the brake fluid was OEM...but he didn't offer a guarantee.

Another source suggested I put in a better fluid before an event, then remove it afterwards & replace with stock fluid.

And yet another source, when I suggested attending an Audi school so that Audi might feel more obligated to honor warranty, suggested instead that I go to a non-Audi school in order to prevent Audi knowing about it! (The Audi schools are sponsored by clubs rather than the factory, of course, but the ones I've attended had dealer people present; ergo "they will know.")

Any thoughts about any of this? Personally I draw the line at lying -- won't do it -- but that doesn't mean I have to tell if not asked.

[eph94]

I already swapped out the OEM brake fluid with ATE Super Blue. If I need to get the brakes done, I'll just have the brakes flushed again with the OEM stuff first. I can't believe they'd be so anal about something like brake fluid, especially when the OEM fluid is inadequate for our cars on the track. If worse comes to worst, I'll pay for all the brake work. As one enthusiast told me, no one ever took their car to the track to save money. I thought long and hard about this and I've decided that I'm not going to risk my brakes not working well at 130MPH because I was concerned about voiding the brake warranty. It sucks, but I guess if we wanna play then we gotta pay. :vgrumpy:

[Benman]

Originally posted by JAXRS6
RE brakes -- he said it was his thought that Audi should honor brake problems under warranty if the event attended was a school & not competitive, and the brake fluid was OEM...but he didn't offer a guarantee.


Any thoughts about any of this? Personally I draw the line at lying -- won't do it -- but that doesn't mean I have to tell if not asked.

Jax:cheers:
As I suggested in another post, that is exactly what I would do. Use the OEM brakes, pads, fluids and then let the dealer worry about the warranty. I was very upfront at the Nationals last year at Infineon Raceway and let my dealer know that the brakes were fried. Since everything was factory no questions were asked and the pads were replaced ($700.00+) with no cost to me. The service manager did however warn me that as soon as things started to change (brake pads, fluids, etc...) he doubted AOA would honor the warranty. So again, just use what they give you, then send them the bill:D

As for the Lying, I'm with you. That is the MAIN reason I am scared of chipping my Beast. Knowing that I will have to deceive my dealer, then wondering if they'll find out then void my warranty just doesn't add up to me. Now if I can just convince them that it is a good idea...:hihi:

Ben:addict:

[JAXRS6]

Originally posted by Benman
The service manager did however warn me that as soon as things started to change (brake pads, fluids, etc...) he doubted AOA would honor the warranty. So again, just use what they give you, then send them the bill

Yo, Benman -- thanks for the feedback but I need some clarification. By "as soon as things started to change (brake pads, fluids, etc)" does he/you mean change to non-stock? :vhmmm:

[Benman]

Originally posted by JAXRS6
Yo, Benman -- thanks for the feedback but I need some clarification. By "as soon as things started to change (brake pads, fluids, etc)" does he/you mean change to non-stock? :vhmmm:
Yes. The dealer had no problem whatsoever that I was attending an Audi driver school (after all it's a DRIVER not racing school). The wear on the pads was suprising to them but under "normal" use, albeit hard. After all they know we don't buy these Beasts to drive like grandmas. His point was that if the pads and fluids were not completely stock I would first need permission from AOA (I assume written) otherwise they would not honor the warranty.

The long explaination was if you chip your car you put added stress on the brakes and chassis (taking corners at speeds faster than you normally could have). If you mod the brakes then your putting more Gs on the chassis than what the RS 6 was designed for. In the end AOA's view is that any mod ties in with everything else (a view I understand but do agree with) and therefor would start voiding warranties. The only exception is if you have AOA's permission which I don't. So that is why I use what I've got. If the brakes are junk afterwards then I send them the bill. It is fully covered (they can't deny the work simply because you are too "spirited" a driver). Hope this helps.:cheers:
Ben:addict:

[JAXRS6]

Sounds good to me, Benman! This approach keeps things simple, keeps me out of trouble with the impact of mods on warranty, and should save me some money too -- not bad! Plus, if AOA or the dealer balks, I'll direct them to your comments here and scream "All I want is to be treated fairly, like Benman was!" Don't see how I can lose doing this; thanks a bunch!:applause:

The only remaining issue I can think of is the fact that, with almost 19K miles on my beast now, and my pads down to about 1/8 inch when I checked a few hundred miles ago, I may not have enough pads left to get through a driving school. So, if I need pads half way through...what to do then? If I take pads with me, they will cost ($532 for fronts alone according to dealer), vs. waiting til after the school & getting replaced under warranty. There may not be an answer for this, other than waiting for current pads to be replaced under warranty before I go to a school. Can you think of anything else?

[Benman]

Originally posted by JAXRS6
The only remaining issue I can think of is the fact that, with almost 19K miles on my beast now, and my pads down to about 1/8 inch when I checked a few hundred miles ago, I may not have enough pads left to get through a driving school. So, if I need pads half way through...what to do then? If I take pads with me, they will cost ($532 for fronts alone according to dealer), vs. waiting til after the school & getting replaced under warranty. There may not be an answer for this, other than waiting for current pads to be replaced under warranty before I go to a school. Can you think of anything else?
Call your dealer and inform them that your pads are low (after all, they might not be in stock). If you think there's still too much padding left (and the dealer has told you they're ready) find a nice back road and do a LOT of FULL ABS stops. It won't take many stops before the brake light comes on indicating that you pads are low. And there is nothing wrong with checking your ABS from time to time to make sure the system is sound. That way you should have plenty of time to get your pads changed before the event.:cheers: