The Consumer Complaints Blog

I sent the e-mail message below to Davewood Mazda in Newmarket regarding my windshield that was damaged by a wiper blade installed at there dealership. The response from the manager Marilyn was that she had spoken to the service advisor Troy who had responded that “there’s only one way to put on a wiper.” I responded that he is either wrong or the wiper blade provided to me was defected as it HAD caused the damage to my windshield.

In the end Marilyn made it clear that there was nothing they could do not only because it was installed almost a year ago but mainly because I will not be purchasing another Mazda. The bottom line was that since I was no longer going to be there customer they’ve washed their hands of me.

Well I’m glad now that I decided not to get another Mazda as they do not deserve my business or loyalty.

Thanks,

Lidia (last name protected for privacy)
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I bring my CX7 (Plate # AZAY 058) to your dealership regularly for service.

Last year I had my wipers replaced using my points at your dealership. My left wiper (when siting in the car) was not installed correctly and made what appeared to be a”streak” on my windshield. This streak would appear to be gone when wet and would reappear when dry so I assumed it was something that could just be cleaned.

I had my end of lease inspection today and it turns out this “streak” is actually a scratch and have been quoted $471.69 to replace the windshield.

I have been coming to your dealership for service over the last three years and hope that there is something you can do to rectify this incident that has left me with damage that is not my fault.

Please forward my concern to the appropriate person who can deal with my situation. I can be contacted either at work at the number below or on my cell phone at (phone number protected for privacy).

Thank you,

Lidia (last name protected for privacy)

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I was completely mislead by two different sales associates into thinking I qualified for an incentive that they knew I did not qualify for. They neglected to tell me I didnt qualify until conveniently 24 hours after I picked up the vehicle. I explained that as a result I did not want the vehicle and I was told to bad the deal was already done. I expressed my concern to the manager and he arrogantly told me that I was out of luck and that I should have known the details of a program that Ford was offering. The associates knew I did not qualify prior to the deal being completed they even asked to see information to verify that I qualified prior to completion of the deal, I provided them with all the info and they clearly looked at it and even photocopied it but did not tell me that I would not qualify. Then they asked for a 3000$ down payment and told me I would get it back in a couple weeks when they clearly knew I wouldnt. My experience at Brock Ford was the worst purchasing experience I ever had. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

Jim’s Auto Repair
Hamilton Rd,
London, On
CA

I have an old sportscar. It is German. It had a blown head gasket, clouds of white smoke out the tailpipe. The son said no problem. $700. I have all parts already.

Then when I talked to the owner, the dad: he told me he can’t do it for $700 and quoted $1000.00.

I had the head gasket replaced, water pump, timing belt and tentioner and the starter all replaced with new product.

The bill was $1030.00.

I went to pick up my car and they told me I need new plugs, as the engine was running on 5 out of 6 cylinders!

The washer pump did not work now (I had to re solder the wires they tore out) They did not understand why I had wires running into my hood…(heated washer jets)and they lost the retaining nut for my washer tank and -get this… they crammed foam into the engine bay.

Coolant was pouring out of one hose clamp…but I was told it was not leaking as they tested it.

I picked up new plugs and had them install… no change. Then they claimed after “testing” that there was only 60 psi on cylinder #4 and that it was dead.

Nothing they could do. I was told to buy an additive to free “stuck” rings.

I took my car to another garage and they found the compression to be 165 psi across all 6 cylinders, and that the injector was plugged. I replaced it and all was good for about 3 days…

The same thing happened.

Replaced the injector again and 4 days later… back to square one.

I inquired at many shops why my engine was doing this, and a main tech from my dealership told me there is only two likely reasons, first the head could be warped or cracked… or the gasket was improperly replaced. I am getting the engine inspected to find out the cause.

Jim’s Auto aslo did not bother to plane down the heads… Jim claimed he tested with a straight edge and it was only out .004″ well within spec. So he decided not to send it out to be re surfaced.

The mounting for the brand new water pump was also stripped and had to be re tapped at my expence.

All in all I spent about $2000 in labour and parts to have the head gasket blow again only 3 months later!

Jim said it is not his problem.

He feels that he did his job right.

Don’t ever take anything to Jim’s Auto.

Not only could they not even diagnose a simple injector fouling but their workmanship is very poor!

I heard from a neibour that they also scammed them.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I had recently had a bad experience with the Service side of Vickar Community Chevrolet in Winnipeg Manitoba.

I had made 3 appointments to get warranty work done on my vehicle, and had the first appointment canceled because when i called earlier that day to see if i had rent-a-car coverage with my warranty. The gentleman on the other end said ” we don’t have any technicians here at that time”
to which i replied ” why would you make me an appointment at that time if you don’t have any staff there?”
He had no answer but apologized and re-booked me for the following week, which was completely fine with me.

The next appointment i had my father drop off the car two hours earlier than my previous appointment time. He was sent away with the explanation that ” the work that we need to do on your vehicle will take too much time to complete before the end of the day”. I just didn’t understand why they didn’t put me in a rent-a-car for that one night?? considering the fact that my warranty covers a rent-a-car if my vehicle is tied up over night.
So when i returned home that night after work to find my vehicle in my driveway, i was not impressed.
I picked up the phone and let Vickar Community Chevrolet know that i was very unimpressed with there service that they have/haven’t provided to me. they then apologized again and re booked me for the following Tuesday.

When i came in on Tuesday morning there was a line up of cars so i parked in the parking lot because if i would have lined up i would have been blocking the entrance to the dealership. So while inside i waited for 10 minutes before a “service advisor” spoke to me and asked where my car was. I told him it was out in the lot because i couldn’t park behind the other vehicles for the reason that i would be blocking the entrance. Well he didn’t understand that i guess and told me to park there anyway and wait till someone let me in.
8:30 rolls around and I’m finished with the paper work and now sitting in a small room with 10 other people which they called the “lounge”. After waiting for a whole hour for my shuttle to take me home i realized that i might be waiting a while. So in that instant i called a friend to come pick me up because now i was teetering on being late for work. My friend showed up so i went to the front where i had given my name for the shuttle and told them that i had got my own shuttle and if the shuttle wasn’t in operation when i come pick up my car could they please let me know. By the time i had gotten to work i was 30 mins late.

1:30 pm i get a call from the “service advisor” that my vehicle had been checked over and is ready for me to pick up. I asked him at that point if he could check the pressure in my back passenger tire because for a while it was loosing pressure. He agreed and he said he’d call me back after that was done.

4:00 pm i get a call again from the “service advisor” telling me that everything was complete for what they could do for that day and they can get the shuttle to pick me up. I asked if they could pick me up at 530 because I knew that they close at 6 and i could get off work a little early to pick up my car. He “advised” me that the shuttle could not pick me up at that time because ” they don’t run at that time”. I replied ” why don’t all of your services run within your hours of operation?” He didn’t have an answer for me. I told him i would try to get out of work early and be ready for the next available shuttle.

So when i finally arrived at the dealership that night i found out that they had only lubed the gear shifter and glued a piece in my trunk. ya that’s it! the whole day and they glued and lubed something!
At that point i told him to cancel everything he had ordered for my vehicle and that i was done doing business with this service dept. and that I’ve had the worst experience dealing with them than i had had anywhere else that offers customer service…including fast food!
He then went and spoke with his manager and they cleared everything up so that i wouldn’t be charged for anything that they did on my vehicle that day. (first decent thing they’ve done for me)
After, he reminded me that the tire that was loosing pressure wouldn’t be covered anywhere else but Vickar. I declined the offer and told him i still was not going to be having any service done here. He gave me my keys and i walked out to my car…but to only find one more surprise.

I let my vehicle warm up and then backed out. But when i backed out of the spot i heard a strange almost rubbing noise. I thought it was just the parking lot and i was going to try it on the road and see how it sounds. Nope, still the same noise. I put my four ways on and got out of my vehicle, walked around to the back and discovered that they had put a donut on my vehicle!

I got back into my vehicle and reversed it back to the service doors and walked inside and exclaimed “HEY WHO AUTHORIZED YOU TO PUT A DONUT ON MY CAR!” (and even when we went over the work order and he told me nothing of them replacing my tire with the donut.)
He told me ” well the tire was in the trunk”.
“no it isn’t, why would i be back in here if it was!!!”
He then ran to the back and rolled out my tire and rim for me.
“and now you can go put it back on my car” i said.
So then he got a technician to take my car into the back and put my tire back on and my donut back in my car and i was out of there.

At no point throughout this whole ordeal was i ever offered any type of compensation for my wasted time and money. All i wanted was my vehicle and needs to be taken care of…which it was certainly not.

…. a side note is that i am 22 years old. wonder if that had anything to do with it.

I also wanted to add that i had a great experience buying my vehicle from Vickar Community Chevrolet in Winnipeg. Its just too bad the service side of business cost them all of my business.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I would like to share a recent experience with a Canadian Tire store in Toronto.

This is the letter I wrote to their Corporate Office:

I’m writing this letter to share a recent experience at a Canadian Tire Auto service located at Weston Road and 401 (#119).

Please be sure that I will be sharing this horrifying experience to all of my family and friends including any outlet available to me.

I received a phone call from head office offering their sincerest apology and that they will be forwarding my complaint to the owner of the store who did eventually contact me. He also gave his sincerest apologies regarding my awful experience and that he will convey this to the entire staff as an example of ‘what not to do’ in terms of customer service.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.