I'll begin by stating that I've done business with their Greenwood Mall location in Indianapolis since I moved here in 2004. This includes every service that I don't do myself on my daily drivers and SCCA event cars. They've always treated me right... until a recent change in managers. I could give 20 examples, but I'll stick to 2 or 3. Up until my recent string of bad experiences, it wasn't uncommon for me to have a vehicle there for an expensive service (automatic transaxle fluid exchange, differential or transfer case service, etc.) at least once a month and sometimes multiple vehicles in a given month.
For the sake of debate, my highly-exotic vehicle is a 2014 Mazda5 with under 60,000 miles (same chassis as a 2009+ Mazda 3). This is the vehicle I spend most of my time in and the one that I want to go down the road smoothly in. Not an unreasonable request... or is it?
Example 1: Scheduled appointment for oil change and swap to winter tires and wheels in December 2017. Result, forgot to change oil... the main reason I brought the vehicle in. Nobody here listens unless you ask at least 3 times. During this process, they tried to upsell me on new rotors and pads for nearly $800.00. Also, my OEM wheel lock key mysteriously came up missing, so I asked them to throw the locks in the trash and install normal lugs once they removed them. At pick-up, locks had been reinstalled.
Example 2: April 2017... Scheduled appointment for oil change and new all-season tires to replace old winter tires and install TPMS sensors in winter wheels since I'll now be driving on them all year (snowfall here is usually minimal and I have other AWD vehicles for bad conditions). Result was 'that's a hard size to find' for 205/50R17... simply ridiculous. Had to settle for budget firestone $100.00 tires to replace $200.00 winter performance blizzak. Result: Tires installed, oil change done, zero attention paid to TPMS sensor request and I was not told they didn't install them until I figured it out myself while driving to reset them. Called back and was told "we installed a new TPMS service kit" which was a lie as the stems physically bolt to the sensor (they actually installed new valve stems... which now cost $40.00 instead of $4.00 because of the TPMS buzz-word). During this process, they tried to upsell me on new rotors and pads for nearly $800.00. Also, they tried to upcharge because my OEM wheel lock key could not be found. This time I asked them to install 20 new lugs. Now, the locks are finally gone.
Example 3: April 2017... Scheduled appointment (at a different store this time) for TPMS sensors forgotten a week earlier. Confirmed correct sensors in stock by lady at the front desk (no prejudice, the previous manager was male) and requested they not lose hub centric rings and please rebalance tires. Arrived at store, had to physically look up part number and cross-reference for employee to find they had none in stock (standard 2009+ Mazda frequency TPMS sensor). After missing an hour and a half of work that I'll never get back, I left with the promise sensors would be there in a few days.
Example 4: May 2017... Rescheduled appointment from example 3 above. Wife had to take vehicle in. TPMS sensors installed. 2 hub centric rings missing, wheels not rebalanced after installation. I will note that I was refunded $40.00 for previous service kit as I was buying yet another one with the actual sensors (i.e. stems are already installed on them).
I'm literally at the end of the rope with this chain. I did inquire about the previous managers I'd dealt with to find they'd all been promoted. I won't name them, but they were outstanding at actually listening and doing what they were asked instead of looking for an upsell and doing what they believe needs done.
I've ordered a new set of centering rings, but have had to drive on the interstate for a week on brand new tires out of balance between 50 and 70mph. I'm sure they're completely shot, all because neither a tech nor a manager can use common sense or double-check their work. So, 2 sets of tires in 4 weeks. I paid for road hazard on the first set (additional 25%), but apparently it doesn't cover their mistakes. read more