My complaint to Toyota, Part 3

So, having given up on Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (that's the American affiliate, I gather), I turned to Toyota Canada, Inc., even though no vehicle purchase was involved:

Hi,

I'm trying to submit a complaint to Toyota Worldwide [the parent company, also referred to as Toyota Motor Corporation later on --John], but there doesn't seem to be any means of doing this through the toyota.co.jp Web site.

I filed it with toyota.com and got the following response:

Response (Michael) 08/04/2004 07:59 AM
Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We apologize, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. only handles inquiries for vehicles sold in the United States and manufactured to U.S. specifications. Please contact Toyota Canada, Inc. for further assistance with your inquiry.

--

My original complaint [posted earlier --John] follows. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Toyota Canada, Inc. quickly responded:

Dear Mr. Jarvis,

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

We have noted your comments regarding the advertisement and have forwarded them to the appropriate departments within Toyota Canada Inc. for information purposes.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and for providing us with your feedback.

Sincerely,

Christine James
Toyota Canada Inc.

This left me puzzled... especially the information purposes part:

Thanks for the quick response, Christine. I am a little puzzled, however. First, I'd asked two questions at the end of my comments, so they weren't simply intended to inform. Second, am I to understand that Toyota Canada, Inc. was responsible for the production of the advertisement in question? I'd assumed it was produced by Toyota Motor Corporation for an international audience (dubbed in various languages, as appropriate). [I've since realized that the commercial is silent, greatly simplifying this job. --John]

If this is indeed the case, I would appreciate your help in forwarding my comments to Toyota Motor Corporation.

Cheers,

John

Their response was priceless:

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

We have noted your further comments. As well, we would like to take this opportunity to explain that Toyota Canada Inc. and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. (TMS) are separate business entities, as such, we suggest contacting TMS's Customer Relations directly for comment at the following:

TMS
Customer Relations
19001 South Western Ave
Torrance CA USA
90509-2991
Phone: (800) 331-4331
Fax: (310) 618-7814

We would also like to mention that TMS can be contacted through their website - www.toyota.com - select 'Contact Us' at the bottom of the main page, next select the 'FAQ page' link. You may have to create an account with TMS.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

Sincerely,

James Mcwade
Toyota Canada Inc.

That's right, folks: that smacking sound is me being batted back and forth between the American and Canadian arms of Toyota. :-) There's more to come, though; I'm not giving up yet.