Brought it back to the dealer in 2010 for a moonroof installation and money was stolen out of my "change bin".
The salesperson apologized and handed me a $10 bill.
During Fall 2011, someone backed into my car. In early January 2012, the Amato advisor put all of the paperwork together and started work on my car. However, Amato's Body Shop hadn't confirmed the claim, and I was denied. They held my car hostage until I paid for the repair.
The next year, 2013, with less than 20,000 miles on my Mazda 5, I noticed that there was shaking/wobbling in the passenger side front tire/wheel.
While the details are not documented on the invoice, I had to bring it back at least 3 times, though it was probably 5 times. Each time I'd drive to their location, wait for the shuttle, get to work/home and wait a few hours, get picked up by the shuttle, and then wait for my car. At least 3 times, but it felt like 5.
I was told that the wheel bearing was under warranty, but the tires were not. I had to pay for tires, though they gave me a "discount". Each time I dropped off my car they uncovered something "new" to discuss. First the wheel bearing, but they didn't have the part, then the tires, but they didn't have the tires, etc.
After however many visits, I drove away and noticed that it was still wobbly. I called back -- while I was driving. The service advisor said that the car just needed several thousand miles to even out--it would go away.
I don't put many miles on my car. It's 5 years old now and I haven't hit 30,000 miles.
On June 25th, 2015 I called to resolve this.
The invoice states that if I can't say that I was "completely satisfied" that I should call Mike Evans.
I started with Mike.
After being short with me from the beginning, leaving me on speaker phone instead of picking up the phone, and only after he realized that I was getting upset, he finally picked up the phone and looked up my invoice... he explained that I took too long to call back. From the start I explained that I was told that it was fixed and needed "several thousand miles" to go away.
He stuck with his side--it was a warranty issue and the warranty has expired and, therefore, not Amato's problem. I was told that Amato would not fix the car "under warranty".
There was no point in which he said, "Bring it in, we'll take a look at it and set things right." Or something like, "Your satisfaction is important, bring it in and we'll work something out." This is how you handle a difficult customer situation. This is how you keep people coming back--even if they are upset. You stay calm and work through it.
I was becoming more and more upset as we talked. But, there was never a point in which I called him names or became rude.
Within the conversation, when it became clear that he was not interested in "discussing" Amato's role in my issue, I mentioned that I'd referred my in-laws to Amato to buy a Mazda, and I was not having a good experience. I asked, "Based on what you're telling me, do you think that I'm going to recommend Amato again?"
He told me that there was nothing he could do. It was out-of-warranty.
I then explained to --Mike Evans-- the person listed to contact if I'm not "completely satisfied", who should be the best at customer service in the organization, that I'd also had an issue with the body shop doing work on my car before insurance approved it--and that they held my car hostage until I paid for it.
I kept waiting for his customer service skills to kick in and just have me come in--to resolve it. Instead, I continued listening to him, not believing that THIS is how I was being treated by the guy I was supposed to contact if I was not "completely satisfied".
And... he hung up on me.
THIS is John Amato service.
DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS PLACE. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE FOR SERVICE. DO NOT USE THE BODY SHOP.
The buying experience was lovely. The post-purchase service has been terrible. read more