Until yesterday, the last time I went to Limbaugh Toyota was at 7 years old, when it was Jim Limbaugh. I remember him as a kind and fair person, but also a businessperson that didn't take any excuses. I never heard my parents EVER complain about Limbaugh. Sadly, people care about people a lot less in 2023 than in the 1990s. A recording will be on Youtube at some point.
Yesterday, I had been referred to Limbaugh Toyota by Nationwide Insurance and Gerber Collision, for an appointment at 9am, which had been on the books since November 30th. It was to fix a problem with how Gerber installed a part, and Gerber was paying Limbaugh.
Within 15 seconds of arriving at the Collision Center, I was greeted by Pat, the Collision manager, with "It was worked on by someone else? We aren't touching it! It's MY policy, I'm the boss. End of discussion! Have a nice day!" He said that in a rather aggressive and angry way, so I asked what was going on, why so angry, why so unprofessional. I don't have a clue to this day, why he got so angry with me, in such a short time, but that is not normal. He didn't even take a second to figure out what was going on.
I went to the main dealer building to see if I could figure out either... why he was so angry with a person he has never met, or if I was in the wrong place. Nobody seemed to know of any appointment.
Then Jeff, the Service Manager got involved, and called me to his office. We sat down, and I explained what occurred. I tell him that if I continue to be abused like this, I will be pretty vocal about how I was treated and let people know. He started raising my voice trying to say I threatened him. Thank goodness I recorded the discussion, because I didn't, and I wasn't using foul language with him either. I was telling him, as a customer, I find the behavior unacceptable, and then left his office.
I went to try to find someone in a higher position, and was introduced to Kay. Kay was the only person in this dealership who actually tried. She's the Customer Relations Manager. She wanted me to tell Brian (the owner) about the issue, since he was nearby, so I did, but he didn't seem to care to hear it (like a brick wall), and directed me back to Kay. Kay heard me out, and tried to arrange a resolution, despite the poor behavior of management. I accepted her solution.
I went to service, and let the gentlemen look at the issue. Issue couldn't be fixed because the part needed to be replaced a third time. They scheduled me for 10am this morning. I accepted, and left, intending on returning and everything being all good.
3 hours later while I was way up in Jasper with my brother on his last day in town for a while, I get a phone call from Gerber, because apparently Brian was determined to ruin the day. Brian told Gerber that I was no longer welcome on the property.
That left me wondering....what...did I do... to deserve that?
This is reinforcement that from the top down, Limbaugh doesn't like its customers, and feels that it can abuse them. I'm sorry that this historic business has went downhill, as it has. I support smaller businesses, but I can't support this behavior. read more