Why did Brett leave FSF?

Just curious...service person at FSF..Brett Poole..anybody know why he left FSF?

 

I left Brett a few messages a while ago. I know he hadn't been the happiest of campers there and wanted to gt out of the car industry, but it sounds like they had a shake-up too.

Too bad, Brett is a friend (who doesn't return calls!). Plus he hooked me up quite a bit when I was there. I don't know Kevin, and Bruce (??) is from the Maserati sales I think.

Time to begin the rapport-building again. At least John and Guiseppe are still there.

--Dan

 

Guiseppe is awesome. Sorry to see Brett go, he was one of the good ones too.

 

Dont think he left on his own accord.

as Dan stated, FSF is a shakeup. Hang on to your hats, this next year could provide a ton of changes up there......so I hear

 

I was also disappointed when Brett was let go! They are overwhelmed and their service is sort of less than a 100%. My car's been there for the last 5 weeks. I have forgotten what my car drives like!!! Guiseppe helped build my car in the factory and knows my 360 inside and out. But does anyone really knows what in the god's name is going on there?

Cheers,

 

Bruce will be an improvement on whoever was there before. He's a neighbor of mine, and a good guy.

Art

 

Art: perhaps you can make an introduction. I need a new "front-man" who is giving me the real deal up there. Brett is a straight shooter and a good guy.

--Dan

 

I'd like to make sure to get some good service as well. I'm already due for an oil change and after the sandstorm at the Denny's somewhere in new Mexico, air filters as well.

 

Hold on to your hats everyone, change is definitely needed at Ferrari of San Francisco.

I just picked up my car today. I won't go into complete stories because ultimately my car is done.

Brett was very helpful and will be missed. Guisseppe is the one who did my engine out service and finally fixed someone else's mistake. Service is below par there...aside from Guisseppe and Tracy at the front...Ferrari of S.F. service needs help.

I don;t have an over inflated expectation b/c i'm an owner either. The people there appear tired, beat-up, and lacking enthusiasm. I hope something is done. I'll leave it at that.


I'm am embarrased to say this but they are so unorganized, overwhlemed, or just don't care...I drove home with my tow hook still attached in the front bumper. I heard that it was there after driving for 2 hours, parking at Ferrari of San Francisco's showroom, and pulling up to my office...the person who told me...a stranger.....said "you have something sticking out of your bumper"!

 

Thank god, I am not the only one! I experienced the same when I picked up my car after 5 weeks. I live in the Peninsula and it is a chore to get up there only to find out that the job was incomplete for the 2nd time. I didn't want to leave my car there again... I also heard today Silicon valley auto group FKA Ferrari of Los Gatos were sending warranty repairs there and the owners are so fed up they'd rather pay for the service than let FoSF do the warranty repair. What can be done?

 

Maybe we should hire our own mechanic? Pass him around, or rent a place and start doing our own service. (maybe we have something here)

Or, let them know there is a problem. Do they know how bad it is? I'd like to take my car there for fluids, but I want to feel good about it.

Mario, sorry to hear about that, that's a weak oversight.

 

Or, ship your cars to houston. Other dealerships send their challenge cars there for service. (an interesting tidbit I thought)

 

Well, I know Bruce (formerly of Maserati sales) has been moved to the service facility. He's a great guy and has a good head on his shoulders. I'm confident that things will be improving there.

 

I hope you are right about Bruce. Personally he may be great guy, I have not met him and this goes for the rest of the team. I reserve my comments about Kevin. It seems to me they have organizational issues that have to be worked out at the top. May be a trip to Hawaii brings back the moral. I think structurally they have to make changes (i.e. the way they compensate their guys). I understand they are on a flat rate on each job and so they try to finish it as fast as possible to get to the next one. There is a penalty to fall behind, so to avoid the penalty why not cut a few corners. The dealership needs to get involved and fix this problem before as one suggested earlier, some of us start a Ferrari service shop, by the way I am all for it.

Cheers,
Matt

 

I've seen a few people on Ferrarichat do all of their major work on their car. From major work like pulling their engines to minor electrical fix. Most of these people have been back east or out of state. I am all for help others Ferrari owners in this area with repairs. I have assisted with major service on 308's. Now I have a Testarossa and the work is more intensive. I will be the first to offer my help. I would love learn more about my car as I save money. Now that's a win, win.

 

I've started to do small stuff on my car, and with the guidance of two very generous individuals (one of whom is on this board), I think I'll successfully be able to handle most of the routine stuff.

As much as I'd like to help, and be helped by the FoSF organization - unless Guiseppe or John are working with you, don't bother.

The problem is that when you want to be in like flint with the organization, you've either gotta be buying a lot of cars and having them done elsewhere (a la Alfred Chang, etc) or you need to be using them regularly.

Organizationally, here are the issues with FoSF: 1) they are TOTALLY overwhelmed. They will have ~75 cars in service WAITING for work at any given time. A lot of this is due to what happened with FoLG.

2) Payment. While they keep bumping their rates, their mechanics are being paid on a per-job basis, and not very well. That m eans that whether it takes them 10 hours or 40 or 4 to do your major, they get paid the same rate. As a result, two things are happenings a) guys are rushing through jobs, and b) you find a lot of over-turn in employees. They do not have a very good retention rate (John / Guiseppe being the exceptions), and they hire cheap and inexperienced mechanics to fill the void (soon all of them are like this, except the two above).

As a result, you're getting piss-poor work from inexperienced guys who are rushed to make deadlines. You know that FoSF, as a business, is hemorraging money (this is fact). Their service department, normally the bread and butter of any dealership, is actually LOSING money here. Pretty impressive in a sad way.

Oh, if you guys noticed, there is one guy there, Gian-Luca, who they flew out from Italy. He is the *only* guy in the shop who is paid per-hour as opposed to per-job, and is the one they use for the "stumpers." I am still not sure how good he is, though.

I have heard things, good and bad, about Kevin's work @ Rector.

We have a whole SLEW of absolutely talented independants in the area, including some of the world's best. With their help and a little self-interest, there's no need to accept second rate work. But, nothing comes cheap.

--Dan

 

I was chatting with the guy I do my BMW with, and turns out he used to work on 512BBs and Dinos in the UK years ago. He now has an independant shop domestically, and works on his own terms.

This guy is a genius, he can actually diagnose problems instead of taking a crap-shoot and replacing parts untill he gets lucky. He fixes the local dealer's mistakes, and dosen't even charge an arm and a leg.

He's considering getting back into F-cars (with my prodding.) He'd probally shy away from F1s and anything needing an SD tool. At least initially.

Something to think about perhaps a bit more seriously.

 

For older, pre-91, Ferraris I have had good luck with my vintage Mercedes mechanic - Rene at Burlingame motors. I have been out of town last few months, but he is trustworthy, and his rates are reasonable, not sure about his backlog.

 

Anyone hear anything about any new Ferrari dealers opening up? Seems kinda ridiculous that SCal has 4+ dealers and the there's only one in the Bay Area after the demise of Los Gatos.

 

It is ridiculous. There has been talk for some time about FoSF opening a satellite dealership in the mid-Peninsula area, but nothing certain yet.

Gary

 

I got a call from JD Power on behalf of FNA regarding my last service "from hell" at FoSF. This was a nice surprise to ask me on how I felt about my last service. Is this new? This is my first time getting a call to participate in a survey.

 

I just had my first encounter with FSF serice. The belt pulley retaining nut had come off my 360 with the result that both the power steeering and the water pump stopped. This of course resulted in needing to have it sent up on a flatbed. Bruce was my primary contact.

I found Bruce very knowledgable and accomodating. He was incredibly professional at each phone encounter and gave me realistic timing for getting the car back. He was also concerned about when I needed it and asked what my timing requirements were without my asking.

When it came time to settle the invoice he was also extremely reasonable and fair.

Having recently relocated here this was my first experience with these guys but they were really great. I look forward to dealing with them again. They made this little mishap quite painless.

 

I have to admit when I got my belt service scheduled with them all went smoothly and quite to my surprise the price was very reasonable. Two timing belts, and all Acc. blets and had it ready when they said they would. They may be coming around...

 

I'm tempted to get a powercube warranty from FoSF now that my other one ran out. But, I also prefer to have work done by people far more knowledgeable than even John / Guiseppe, who are still very very good guys.

For what it's worth, Kevin seems to be a good guy (I've heard good things about him from the Rector side of things), and Bruce is getting good words too.

With Brad in sales (blargh Evan) - the dealership may really earn the title of Flagship.

--Dan

 

Are you in california?