|
|
Review 1/28/2009
|
|
It is too late for me to formally complain about this business—I am just now getting over my anger enough to be civilized about my various experiences with Santa Monica Chevrolet.
In the summer of 2007, I was in Los Angeles for my job. I needed to complete service on my vehicle, and searched the Chevy website. The closest (by 8-10 miles) service shop that honored the warranty of the vehicle was Santa Monica Chevrolet. Therefore, I made an appointment to bring my vehicle in. Since I still had to work that day, I brought the vehicle in first thing in the morning. The person who booked the appointment had assured me that they would provide a courtesy shuttle. Therefore, after I dropped the car off, I waited for the shuttle in the waiting area. I may have missed the first shuttle, because after 20 minutes, I inquired about the following shuttle. It turned out that the shuttle was a person’s own vehicle, and it was definitely not fit to drive customers around in. There were cigarettes, trash, and food containers in the car. The seatbelts did not seem to work correctly, and once I had been picked up, it turned out there were several other people in the car waiting to get home.
Once I was called at the end of the day, there was only an hour to return to the shop to get my car. Although I understand that the shop did not get time to call me earlier, I had no way to return to the shop, but they told me I would be charged if I did not pick up the vehicle. I rented a town car (it was the only option available) and returned to the shop to find out that I would be charged for everything I thought was covered by the manufacturer’s warranty—about $200 worth of rotation, fluid checking, and routine filter replacement! It has ALWAYS been low-cost or free at any other certified Chevy service center.
When I complained to the manager, he told me that it was late, and I could come back later. I insisted that these services were not that expensive, and that I believed they were covered under warranty if they were that expensive. A service manager told me that I could take it up with the car company, which I did not, given all the trouble I had been through that day. I swore never to return to that place...
...However, about 1 year later (Summer of ‘08) I relocated to Los Angeles permanently. I had serviced my Chevy before I left, but on the trip, the tumbler had broken (the tumbler is the part that locks the door from the outside, and accepts the key). I could not find a near-by service center, so I ended up taking my car there again. I had hoped that, by then, they might be under new management. However, I ended up dealing with the same people, and again having trouble.
I had a friend come pick me up. But when she was running late, I asked if they still had the courtesy shuttle (hoping that they had a new driver). The manager told me, no, they only do that until 11 am. I waited for my friend and returned later in the day; they were “certain” that the tumbler had broken because of an attempted theft, and that it would cost hundreds to fix. There were several reasons why this sounded strange, since it had broken while I was driving the vehicle—all other times, since I was moving out to LA with a car full of valuables—the car had been supervised the entire time or in GATED, secured parking. I had suspected the clip might be faulty, since the tumbler had “slowly sunk” into the door as opposed to broken through, and the O-seal around the tumbler had been in tact until I inserted my key. On top of that, I audibly heard a drop of the clip as the tumbler sank. Although I know that these thefts happen (someone uses a screwdriver to “knock in” a tumbler), the personnel at Santa Monica Chevrolet refused to consider the option—before they even looked at the vehicle, the service manager had suggested that had been the case. In other words, something just did not seem right to me. Additionally, the person I spoke to at SMC told me that if I had a problem with it, I should talk to my insurance agent—that this was definitely not a warrantee issue. Every time I tried to make my case—that I believed a clip was to blame—I got the “don’t worry your pretty self” speech. THAT infuriated me.
I called my insurance carrier, and they also felt like the situation warranted a second opinion. I waited until my warranty expired (it was only a few more weeks at that point) and had the tumbler looked at by one of the more reputable auto-body shops in the area—recommended by my insurance agent. I dropped the car off—and a clean, safe courtesy shuttle drove me to work. The service manager at this shop even waited for me to come by after work, since I usually work later hours—he didn’t have to, the shop was closed, but he waited. When I picked up the vehicle, they had just gone ahead and fixed the entire thing—the tumbler, the door and all of the integrated parts that Santa Monica Chevy wanted to charge me with weren’t broken, the tumbler had slipped due to a cracked holding clip. The part ended up costing this shop only a DOLLAR, and they did not charge me a dime.
Needless to say, I was happy to have my car fixed; but I was extremely angered regarding the whole situation with the certified service center and how I had been treated by Santa Monica Chevrolet in general. The second time I visited the shop, I did my best to give them another chance. Instead of being honest, and doing the job right, they were happy to charge me nearly a thousand dollars for something a reputable company would have fixed for free.
As I reflect upon my experiences with this company, I cannot in any good faith recommend their staff or services. I felt like, because of my age and because I am female, the service people did not take my concerns seriously—even though I know something about my car, and do a lot of research when something doesn’t go right. I can not imagine the service staff talking to, say, my dad in the way they spoke to me. Every attempt to address these issues was countered with “nice talk” but no apologies, and no action on the part of the business. I honestly had hoped their practices had changed, but this kind of treatment is unacceptable in 07, 08 and now.
|
|
|
|