I purchased my Honda Accord from Power Honda in Albany back in October of 2011. I have taken it there for regular tune ups, oil changes and service work loyally since buying it. I've never had a problem with the car, it's ran perfectly. This past weekend, I brought it in for a routine oil change. Everything went smoothly, however, when we went to check out, the service tech had recommended that I have the transmission fluid flushed on the car. This was interesting to find out, especially since your guys had just changed it 6,000 miles ago. When I told the service advisor of this, he went out to the car, proceeded to check the transmission fluid, came back into the building and told us it was a false alarm and that the fluid looked perfect. This seems deceptive to me. Why are your techs recommending a service that has already been done on my car and not needed?
I decided to leave it alone, pay my bill and leave. My fiancé and I spent the afternoon 3 miles away and when we went to go home, the car started to idle funny. We decided it was probably a fluke and pulled back out onto the main road. At this point, the car is making a loud muffled noise and not wanting to rev up much when accelerating. I got to a main intersection trying to head back to I-5 North and was stopped at a red light. The car is wanting to die, sputtering, it's idling really low and suddenly it dies on me. I put the car in park, turned the key in the ignition, it starts right back up, the light turns green and before I can hit the gas, it dies again. Traffic is heavy behind me, people are getting irritated, the car behind me nearly plows into the back of my bumper. There are no indicators on the dashboard showing me anything is wrong. I again put the car in park, turn the key in the ignition, slide it into drive very quickly and hit the gas. This gets me through the intersection and to the next light that is red. Again, the car dies on me twice. At this point, I'm just trying to get back to the dealership to find out what has been done to my vehicle. We've nearly been hit now several times by the cars behind us, I'm panicked and shaking because I don't know what is going on with my car that has had no problem whatsoever up until this point and worried we're going to have a serious accident. We finally manage to get back to the dealership where the service advisor (Derrel Dale) is just about to leave for the day as it's now after 4pm. He tells us there's not much that can be done until Monday since everyone has gone. Monday we get a call from Chad Augustine, the service manager, that the vehicle is ready to be picked up. The tech that had originally worked on it (Hugh Brower) had removed the air filter to inspect it and not clipped it all the way back into place.
When we arrived at the dealership yesterday to pick up our car, Chad didn't even offer an apology, he simply handed us the keys and said "There you go." When I decided to voice my concern about the lack of quality that was applied while working on my vehicle during the oil change, the fact that our safety had been compromised and this "mistake" very easily could have caused a serious collision with my vehicle, Chad's response was very nonchalant. I was told he had spoken to the tech Monday morning, he'd never made that kind of mistake in the past and these things happen when the tech is in a rush and hopefully it wouldn't happen again in the future. When my fiancé pointed out that there wasn't anyone else waiting in the lobby while we were having the oil changed and there was no reason to be in a rush, Chad spat out that there were "fifteen appointments on Saturday and one tech, what do you want me to say?". I had a hard time picking my jaw up from the floor. Are you seriously telling me that this is the way one of your managers handles this type of situation? I told Chad that I, too, work in customer service and that I understand this isn't his fault, per se, but that it was unacceptable for this type of mistake to happen and that his lack of concern and sincerity had me completely boggled. He sat there staring at me and stated that there has to be a solution to every problem and that he didn't know what I wanted and didn't know what else he could say to me.
There were other customers in the lobby at this time and I hope to God every one of them heard this entire conversation. What kind of person do you have managing your service department? Is this really how you want to treat your customers? Is this what we can expect? I had to take off work, use my PTO, come in there and get my vehicle after your crew caused a hazardous error which put my safety in very real jeopardy. How it is my problem that you have chosen to short-staff your service department to the point that your techs are doing shoddy work is beyond me and I certainly didn't deserve the mechanical mess it put me in or the pathetic response your service manager gave me. read more