[bear]

I just received a package from Honda Canada containing an Acura inscribed pen.

Here is a small excerpt from the letter:

" As the proud owner of a brand new 2002 MDX, you may have experienced some delay in the on-time delivery or your vehicle and some of the accessories you ordered. This was due to the enormous and somewhat unexpected flood of customer orders for the new MDX, however, we sincerely hope that you are presently enjoying your new MDX and that the wait, if any, was worthwhile."

The Fisher Space Pen, according to the letter, was designed by NASA for use on the Apollo space missions. It is still used by astronauts today, and the pen will write under water, upside down, and in very cold conditions. It has a shelf life of nearly 100 years.

Although the pen is quite stylish and does have a good feel, I would prefer 12 month's worth of scheduled maintenance (second of course, to having the MDX delivered a lot sooner).

It seems like the head office here in Canada is trying some PR in an attempt to win back a bit of the respect they lost recently with the MDX fiasco. If they really want to show they care, I think a good first step would be to use the purchaser's name instead of "Dear MDX Customer".

 

[octavian]

Dear acuramdx.org poster, uh, I mean, bear,

LOL...yes, I would agree, a couple of free oil changes would make more sense than a Space Pen for what you went thru.

 

[grknot]

pen

Lucky you,

I waited 8 months in CT and did not even get a cheap plastic pen let alone any sort of free service....but again, I will remember this in two years when I look to replace another car which most likely will be in the Acura, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes range.

 

[golfski]

My wife got her pen shortly after delivery - with a "thank you for your business" letter. Her name was spelled incorrectly, and it was addressed to Mr. - still, a nice touch I thought.

Sound's like Acura Canada's marketing tried to be too clever.... combining the pen - the token gift which you probably would have received anyway, with their apology. Kind of cheapens the impact of both.

Well, at least they didn't say they were throwing in the first scheduled maintenance as a part of their apology - it's already free in Canada.

 

[mod]

I got a keychain!

I haven't even received my car yet but the dealer sent me a keychain with a somewhat coarse die cast MDX on the end. Without the large letters "MDX" stamped on the hood it may be mistaken for a Honda Passport, perhaps. The dealer's name and phone number are on the sides.

Just thought I'd mention this in the light of such other cheap give-a-ways.

Now, I wonder what Mercedes, BMW and Lexus are doing?

 

[BostonX]

Check this out...

I got a pen with my owner's manual, etc.. Pretty cool pen I must admit...

Yesterday I received a letter from Acura America (Richardson, Texas) thanking me for "once again selecting Acura as your vehicle of choice" and closing with "welcome back to the Acura family". The only problem is that I've never owned an Acura (or a Honda for that matter) before! At least the letter was addressed to me personally, that was a nice touch.
This is no big deal but all these posts indicate that Acura's sales and customer relations needs to be brought up to speed to match the quality of their vehicles.

 

[Pierre]

Although the pen is quite stylish and does have a good feel, I would prefer 12 month's worth of scheduled maintenance (second of course, to having the MDX delivered a lot sooner).

It seems like the head office here in Canada is trying some PR in an attempt to win back a bit of the respect they lost recently with the MDX fiasco. If they really want to show they care, I think a good first step would be to use the purchaser's name instead of "Dear MDX Customer".

Agree on the personalization bit. I also got a pen with the same letter, in September last year.

Don't forget that we get the first 2 scheduled maintenance free in Canada.

 

[tvfromhouston]

Here in Houston, I got 2 years of free maintainence when I got my X. And they also threw in a free Acura pen.

Originally, I thought the free maintainance was part of the Acura ownership experience, but I guess not.

 

[OscarD]

The day I put down my $1500 deposit - I kept my dealership coffee mug. I was told the wait would be 6 weeks. (beige/touring/navi) We'll see. Based on what I have read in this forum, I'm thinking 50-50 at best.

 

[Aiya]

hmmm, I don't know too much about this free givaway thing as I don't recall receiving very much with any vehicle I purchased in the past. So receiving the pen would have brought a smile to my face (yes, I am that easy to please) =T

As for BMW's, I was told by my cousin he had to beg for freebies, keychains, floormats, etc. With a purchase of a M vehicle will get you the weekend driving experience in NC tho. Nice!