Seriously, I Have a Question (posted 6/27/2007)

Those of you that know me well are pretty aware of how I feel about car safety, and you may be aware of the heinous accident I had in 1999.  If not, suffice it to say that a drunk driver slammed the trunk of our car into the back seat.  I was convinced that the design of the car we were in was mainly responsible for the fact that we all escaped with relatively minor injuries, and therefore I have only bought Hondas since.

This past Saturday I had a problem with my Honda, and as my dad was following me back to my parents' house, he noticed my brake lights weren't working.  Long story short (I know, like that's hardly possible coming from Wendy), I took the car into the dealership and the service advisor told me the reason my brake lights weren't working is because there were NO BULBS in them.

Uh... ***blank expression: this does not compute***... What do you mean, the bulbs were missing?  How does that happen?  I'm stupefied.

Can anyone tell me how the %&#@ someone's brake light bulbs would be missing?  Consider the following:

1. No one has had access to the trunk of the car except me, my husband, and the service dept of my dealership.

2. To my knowledge, my alarm has not sounded and I have not had any break-ins.

3. My tail lights were operational--they weren't missing bulbs.

4. I had an oil change at the dealership on May 16, and the invoice says a complimentary inspection was performed that includes checking the brake lights.

I'm dumbfounded, and frankly, I'm also furious.  If you drive in Phoenix you know that people here are extremely tailgate-happy.  No wonder I've had so many more jerks tailing me lately--I didn't have any freaking brake lights.  My daughter is 3 months old.  Just thinking how easily we could have been rear-ended with my young child in the car makes me livid.

If anyone can explain this to me, I would love to hear it.  I truly can't imagine a reasonable explanation other than someone removed the bulbs while my car was at the dealership.  In the meantime, I've sent the general manager of the dealership a 2-page letter via certified mail.  I'm asking him to explain how this happened, why I was charged $11.80 to replace something that should have been there to begin with, and exactly why I should continue to be their loyal customer as they have compromised the safety of me and my family.  I asked him to respond by July 9 under threat of taking my business elsewhere, spreading the word to everyone I know, and filing a complaint with the BBB.  We'll see what happens.