In summary, for those who do not wish to read a wall of text, they have a despicable policy of banning anyone who records them and threatening to have you forcefully "escorted off the property". They clearly do not wish to be held accountable for anything they tell people. This policy is not shared with other locations such as precision Hyundai.
A couple years back, while my car was under warranty, I had water building up in one of my headlights. They told me that it was normal to see water in your headlight when I first went in. The second time I went in, after confirming with Hyundai that there should not be water in your headlight, they agreed to fix it. I considered the matter closed but it seemed very strange that they would say something so ridiculous.
Recently I had to bring my car in for a recall. To be clear, I don't blame Hyundai or Hyundai Gallery for that matter for the recall. Recalls happen with just about any car manufacturer. Part of the recall was that they asked me to bring in relevant receipts that were related to the recall. I did, the recall was performed, and I was told I would hear about the receipts I brought in within two business days. A week and a half later I had not heard a peep from them, and given my previous experience with the headlight I was more than a little suspicious. When I went in to talk to them about it, I decided to record the audio on my phone just in case they said something unbelievable such as "it is normal to have water in your headlight".
The manager began explaining that they would not be covering the receipts I had brought in, which I did not really find surprising, but when I mentioned out of courtesy that I was recording our interaction he completely lost it. He told me he would not say anything further, except that I had to leave the property immediately. He even threatened to have the police escort me off of the premises. He also said that going forward, they would not ever service my car again even if directed to do so by Hyundai Canada. I was polite and professional the whole time, the only thing I did was record my conversation with them.
I complied with their request and left the property. I ended up going to Precision Hyundai who gave me the same answers regarding the recall which once again wasn't surprising. However when I asked about their policy with recording he said that it was fine so long as I wasn't trying to record peoples personal information. This is completely reasonable and I would never do that anyway.
Hyundai Gallery's policy to ban anyone who records them permanently and threaten to call the police shows that they have no integrity and are not willing to be held to any level of accountability for their actions. I have no doubt that their policy of having zero accountability is going to put peoples lives in jeopardy given the importance of automotive safety.
#1 - I do not recommend using this place for service or for car purchases. There are many other locations in the city such as precision Hyundai which hold themselves to a much higher standard. Please do not support these abhorrent business practices.
#2 - If you do use their service center, my recommendation is to record everything and just not tell them. I told them I was recording as courtesy because personally, I would want to know if I was being recorded. However, you are under no obligation to inform a business if and when you decide to record them. Given their policy of banning anyone who records them and threatening to have them forcefully removed from their property, it really does not make sense to tell them you are recording. read more