Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Break From Regularly Scheduled Programming, or A Tirade, or I Have To Get This Off My Chest. Or Mind. Or Whatever.

So today was going to be one of those days, you know the sort. Lots to do, errands to run, cooking to do, a blog post to write about a pretty terrific book. And then. Your car doesn't start. Luckily, I can walk the girl to school. Done. Next three hours are spent getting the car towed less than half a mile from my house. Watched my poor car get dragged out of the garage since it won't go into neutral. Can't be good for the tires. And the garage is on an alley. A narrow alley. Finally, finally, we get to the car place and they're going to replace my battery. Great. I'll go home and take a shower while you do that. And then. Pick up car, things are going to be great, gonna get something done. And then. AND THEN.

So I am one of those 'rah rah I love Honda!' people, one of those 'I'll never buy anything but a Honda!' people. Well. Hrmph. I don't know if they still do this, but Honda, Honda has this really GREAT anti-theft device on their radios, it works so well that I need a code to get the radio to work after the battery has been disconnected, a code they supposedly gave me MORE THAN NINE YEARS AGO WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR AND IT'S ON SOME LITTLE WHITE CARD. Right. But, call the dealer and give then your vehicle number and they'll get it for you. Great, I'll do that. But no. They don't do that. They need a serial number from your radio, it's on the back of your radio and yes, you'll need to come in for a service appointment and your dashboard will have to be DISMANTLED to find said serial number, AND Honda would like to CHARGE me to perform this service. WHAT???!!!!!!?????

This may be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. I mean, lets think about the number of people who get their radio stolen vs. the number of people who need to get a new battery. It's hard to imagine the number of people this has 'INCONVENIENCED' - I found one blog post about this with 348 comments. So after I looked thought the glove box twice, the file with all the car information twice, I realized one place I hadn't looked for the SECRET CODE. And I found it. After I had a huge temper tantrum (I was alone in case you're concerned) and got in a tiff with the people at Honda demanding to 'speak to your manager!!!!'

So I am one of the lucky ones. I didn't have to pay $125 to get my radio back that I already paid for once. Take home message - make sure you find that code before you change the battery in your Honda.

I thought this might make me feel better, and it has.

The End.

20 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Oh, man that sounds like a really frustrating morning. I'm so glad you found your code.

Eva said...

Awwww *hugs* Sometimes ranting is the only solution. ;)

Kristy said...

I had this same problem about a year ago. Insanity. However, if you remove the fuse for your radio and re-insert the very exact same fuse...voila. The radio resets and works.

www.shishnit.org

Kristy said...

p.s. thats the very same thing Honda makes you pay for...a fuse removal and reinsertion.

Ti said...

I knew exactly where this story was going because it happened to me!!! Luckily, still had the code in my glove box but after being reminded by your story about how frustrating this is. I am going to write it down somewhere and then send myself an email to remind me where I put it. LOL.

I'm sorry your day was spent stressing! It would be nice if Honda just noted the serial number before changing the battery but I guess they are in it to make money too.

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh, I hope I can find my code! Sorry you had to go through all that hassle...but thanks for the heads up.

Chrisbookarama said...

I know "Ra-Ra Honda People" IRL. lol! Car companies make the simplest things difficult so they can charge more. I swear they get better at it every year. Sorry for the aggravation.

Bookfool said...

Thank you for that little bit of information. I have 3 Hondas on my driveway, but only one has the anti-theft thingy. The others are older. I'll be careful to keep track of my secret code. What a nuisance! I'm glad you found yours!!

Tara said...

bermudaonion, ugh, it was. Thanks.

Eva, thanks and you're totally right.

Kristy, Huh, if I had any idea how to do that! Maybe since Honda's don't generally need much service this is their way to get $$ out of us...

Ti, good thing you found it! I think I was on the early end of this horrible feature and they didn't put the sticker in the glove box which I guess they were doing at some point.

softdrink, I hope so too!

Chris, You couldn't be more right!! Thanks.

Bookfool, ah, a fellow honda fan. They've made this such a hassle. If I couldn't have found it I would have been contacting Honda directly.

Bybee said...

OK, I don't think I want a Honda when I go back to driving someday.

Marie Cloutier said...

Hugs. What a pain. I'm glad you got your code and got it sorted out.

Danielle said...

That's terrible. I would be ranting, too! It's at times like this, that I am thankful I don't own a car.

Les said...

I would not be a very happy camper if this happened to me. Fortunately, I don't own a Honda, but if I ever do, I'll be sure to put the security code someplace where I won't forget it. Maybe the coffee jar. Or the drawer where I keep the wine opener. ;)

I did enjoy your post, though. Thanks for the chuckle. :)

Tara said...

Bybee, apparently they're not doing that anymore, so you should be ok.

Marie, thanks a bunch!

Danielle, you are right about that! There are certainly lots of advantages to not driving.

Les, thanks, I made myself chuckle too and that's what I needed.

Iliana said...

Yep, this happened to me too! We changed out the battery to my car ourselves so I'm thinking yay for saving a bit but then when I couldn't get the radio to work I was freakin' out. Luckily I also found the super secret code card :)

Robin said...

What a great rant! Great ranting is an art form, I'm convinced. ;) I don't have a Honda, but my son does, and I'll be sure to tell him about this!

J.L. Danger said...

Oh geesh! I am glad that this helped make you feel better.

Karen said...

Sometimes getting it all out is the only way to feel a bit better! Glad to hear it helped on this occasion.

Tara said...

Iliana, thank goodness you found that code!

Robin, thanks! Do let him know and save him some aggrevation!

J.Danger, thanks!

Karen, that's really true. I felt as though a weight had been removed from my shoulders.

LisaMM said...

OH! I'm so glad you found that code! What a PITA