This review is LONG overdue…read more
I had my car recently (July 23rd, 2022) serviced and thoroughly inspected at my local dealership's service department prior to going on a major road trip that would span multiple states and about 2500 miles. The dealership's service department gave the car a clean bill of health and guaranteed the car was able to safely make the trip without worry.
Fast forward to day 6 of our trip (August 3rd, 2022), it was late in the day as we were coming into Yellowstone National Park and started hearing a grinding and squealing noise coming from the front of the car. This grinding could be felt in the brake pedal and the steering wheel. The brakes were metal to metal. Since it was late in the day, I was unable to contact the servicing dealer back home, and unable to get a tow truck that night, so using extreme caution, I drove the car to our next destination in Idaho Falls to our hotel (already had reservations).
Knowing that we both had to work when we got back home, and if we were stranded here for several days waiting on a shop or parts, we'd also have to cancel hotel reservations that were already booked and cut our trip short. As you may've already guessed, we were completely stressed out about the situation, including the possibility of having to have the car towed all the way back home, or at the very least, an entire day of travel wasted and have to eliminate a few of our planned stops during our trip most definitely caused tension between my wife and I, especially since the car was given a clean bill of health eleven days and 1,256 miles prior. ALL of this could've been prevented! I'm sure this would be pretty stressful for other travelers and locals alike. No one likes being broke down and stranded, having to wait for repairs.
First thing the next morning (August 4th, 2022), I contacted Les Schwab Tire Center in Idaho Falls (Constitution Way) and spoke to Casey about getting the car in to perform necessary repairs to get us back on the road, since no other local shops could get us in that day. He told me that if I could get there in the next thirty minutes, he would try to work it in, but couldn't guarantee a time frame, as he already had a booked schedule and other "drop off" and "work-in" customers. We were so stressed out, because we still had several days, and over a thousand miles left in our trip with reservations already booked at each of our planned stops, so I was really crossing my fingers that Les Schwab could get the car in quick and get it fixed. For safety reasons, we obviously didn't want to drive any more than necessary or try to make it all the back to Vancouver Washington with the front brakes being metal to metal, that could've led to loss of braking; causing and accident and injuring ourselves and possibly others, or even worse, a friction fire in the middle of nowhere.
Arriving almost 45 minutes later, Casey and his team were able still able expedite my car to a higher priority to get us back on the road quickly. Since all damage had to be photo documented, I was granted access to the shop to photograph the damaged parts. My sincerest apologies for those customers that were delayed due to my problem.
The staff kept me updated as to the progress of my car and estimated time to finish the work, and even offered directions to local restaurants that were within walking distance, and since we had our little mini-doxies in their stroller, the place obviously had to be dog friendly. Since we stayed there at the shop, we were made aware of coffee and vending machines there in the lobby. This was a very positive, professional, and friendly atmosphere, and with the recent chain of events, gave my wife and I a chance to take a breath and relax! After about 3 hours, we were back on the road again to enjoy the rest of our trip with all the stress and frustrations behind us. WOW, that was faster than I expected! Thank you so much for not only getting my car in unscheduled and saving the day, but you also saved our trip!! Can you come to Vancouver and teach our local dealerships about CUSTOMER SERVICE?? They really need it!
I am grateful that although this was a stressful situation, the actual damage was rather minor and easily repaired. It could've been way worse when considering that the dealership really didn't do the job they were paid to do!
So again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Y'ALL ROCK!!
Long Version of this review was not allowed!
