Autobarn City Volkswagen

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 11, 2015/04/29) */ Contact Name and Title: [redacted] GM Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX Contact Email: [redacted] @ [redacted] .com Originaly, the [redacted] was listed as a wholesale for retail car and would be sold as an as/is carAfter multiple customers came to the dealership and refused to purchase the vehicle even at the wholesale price, the dealership decided to invest additional work and money into the ***We raised the price to reflect the current market value, based on the new conditioning and adjusted our advertised priceThe customer brought in an outdated ad for the car and even though we offered to negotiate off of the new price, the customer saw no value in the reconditioning we didThe car is now sold, but I would be happy to look for alternative cars for the customer if they are still in the market Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 13, 2015/04/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) That was not the case, we offered to pay the exact price and no one offered any price adjustment priceIn fact, we weren't contacted in kind of way...The so- called manager was even rude from the startUnacceptable Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 17, 2015/05/21) */ At this time, I am not sure what remedy can be offered other than the one I provided, which is to offer a different car to the customerSince the original car is sold, in the effort of customer assistance, I could offer the customer a gas card $to be seen as a reimbursement of time and gas used to come to the dealershipBeyond those two options, I am not sure that the parties are going to agree on the facts Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 19, 2015/05/26) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I will accept gas card for time and gas

This appears to be a very old complaint, not sure what I can do to assist at this point I am happy to offer a discount to the customer for a service he may need at this time It appears that the content of the complaint is revolving around old parts, we are always happy to return the old parts to the customer if requested prior to the service Since this service was performed in 2014, we would no longer have any old parts from that service [redacted] General ManagerAutobarn City VW [redacted]

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 13, 2015/10/07) */ Ms [redacted] had a lease turn in and as such the dealership does not take the vehicle in tradeThe customer is always responsible for any turn in or damages to the leased vehicleThe only time the dealership takes responsibility for the vehicle is if we take it in trade and the vehicle shows as a trade on the new paperworkMs [redacted] was made aware that in her case, we would not be able to take her car in trade based on the outstanding damages that existed on her vehicle

Per customer's request, I am having a check issued and sent to the customer today in the amount of $ This should satisfy the customer's complaint and close the issue for all parties [redacted] Chief Operating OfficerThe Autobarn Dealer Group [redacted] ***Evanston , IL [redacted]

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: there was never an issue with the oil panThe real problem was with the valve cover gasketsI was told that I received a refund but didn't receive anything.
Sincerely,
*** ***

I'm sorry for your experience, I'd be happy to have the vehicle inspected by another mechanic at our Evanston VW dealership. Please contact me to set up a convenient time. *** ***Chief Operating OfficerThe Autobarn Dealer Group*** text please

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2015/06/12) */
After I reread the complaint, I remembered this is the one that was sent to me with my service manager's name as the complainant a few months backI redirected the orrignal complaint to your office and requested the correct consumer name
Sorry for not remembering that in my response a few days ago
The good news is that we credited the Mr*** on April 18, and this should be closed in good favor of the dealershipI have included the email string between my service manager and I, as well as a copy of the credit card credit
I assume this will close the case, but please let me know if you need any additional information
Sincerely,
*** ***
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 14, 2015/06/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I did get the credit as requested

Please have the customer contact me directly to resolve this issue. First, I apologize the sales manager has not returned the calls, nor resolved this for the customer. Upon the customer contacting me, I will immediately credit issued and the SWAT device deactivated per the customers
request. My purpose for requesting the customers contact is to both apologize and request the customer to share the their experience with me. Regards,*** ***Chief Operating OfficerThe Autobarn Dealer Group*** *** ***Evanston ,IL 60202*** *** * ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2015/10/07) */
Ms*** had a lease turn in and as such the dealership does not take the vehicle in tradeThe customer is always responsible for any turn in or damages to the leased vehicleThe only time the dealership takes responsibility for the vehicle
is if we take it in trade and the vehicle shows as a trade on the new paperworkMs*** was made aware that in her case, we would not be able to take her car in trade based on the outstanding damages that existed on her vehicle

Brought in my *** for service due to a power steering pump failureCar had just under 23k miles and in immaculate conditionReceived it back with scratches on the steering wheel and a big gouge on the glove box lidTook a week for them to get back to me after I called, emailed, and sent pictures of the damageBrought it back in and they claim the damage was done by the towing companyI explained that the flatbed driver used the tow hook while I sat inside and steered the car onto the truckI then followed the truck to the dealership, and then sat inside the car again while it was unloadedThe flatbed driver was never in the car! Getting nowhere with the service manager, I contacted corporate VW customer serviceThey try for over a week to help resolve this issueThe Autobarn Ciy VW concedes nothing and VW customer service calls me bewildered that they can't helpBy the waythe service department at the Autobarn City VW, never filled out an inspection report before servicing my car, and admitted as such to VW customer service! That is standard procedure!
Avoid this place at all costs, this is not only my first VW, this is also my last

Pretty typical dealership bait and switch tactics hereOffered to purchase a new GTI that was competitively pricedI should have known it was too good to be true; once I saw the purchase order for my finance company there were over $in additional "fees" added that the sales people swear they disclosed
However, there is a clear difference between being fully honest and partially honest because you fear you'll lose the saleIn this instance the salesperson and his manager were the laterThe actual cost of fees were never disclosed, and the only thing discussed was a "destination charge" when I mentioned that I didn't like the color and wanted them to see if there was a similarly priced GTI in a color I liked, which implied that I'd have to pay extra to have them move the car to their dealership, which seemed fair (they were not able to find it in another color)
It took me an entire day of trying to get them to even generate the PO as well (I was beginning to wonder if they liked the car so much they didn't want to sell it to me?), and didn't receive it until very late in the day when my finance company was ready to closeAfter I had a frustrating argument with the finance person about these fees, the sales guy called me back and offered to remove some of them, but at that point I was so frustrated with the lack of full disclosure and amount of time it took to even generate a PO that I choose to walk away from the dealI really had no trust in them at that point
On top of all of this, I originally went to this dealership because they had listed a used Mazda 3i GT on their websiteTurns out that not only was it not at that location, it wasn't even at the location that was supposed to have it in stockIt had been loaned out to someone getting their car serviced (By the way, I don't know about other people, but it's not exactly endearing to me that the car I'm interesting in purchasing is being lent out willy nilly to folks and then not disclosed in the listing)
Finally, when will dealerships learn that the ole "Let me talk to my sales manager" thing is tired, old, and absolutely ridiculous to behold? If you can't trust your "sales person" to actually sell a car, why are you paying them? Just be candid and honest, that's all the vast majority of folks wantBoth mine and the Autobarn employees time could have been saved had they simply disclosed the actual truth up front
I will say for the sake of my own full disclosure that my salesperson did offer to drive me to the other Mazda dealership, and then home after we found out the Mazda was missing, but everything else negative about this experience vastly outweighs these small nuggets of altruism

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2015/06/12) */
After I reread the complaint, I remembered this is the one that was sent to me with my service manager's name as the complainant a few months back. I redirected the orrignal complaint to your office and requested the correct consumer...

name. Sorry for not remembering that in my response a few days ago.
The good news is that we credited the Mr. [redacted] on April 18, 2015 and this should be closed in good favor of the dealership. I have included the email string between my service manager and I, as well as a copy of the credit card credit.
I assume this will close the case, but please let me know if you need any additional information.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 14, 2015/06/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I did get the credit as requested.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/05/21) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted].com
I am unable to address this complaint. Either the consumer filled out the form incorrectly or the Revdex.com transferred the...

information on the consumer incorrectly.
The complaint shows my manager and my store as the consumer making the complaint.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Deborah [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2015/10/07) */
Ms. [redacted] had a lease turn in and as such the dealership does not take the vehicle in trade. The customer is always responsible for any turn in or damages to the leased vehicle. The only time the dealership takes responsibility for the...

vehicle is if we take it in trade and the vehicle shows as a trade on the new paperwork. Ms. [redacted] was made aware that in her case, we would not be able to take her car in trade based on the outstanding damages that existed on her vehicle.

This appears to be a very old complaint, not sure what I can do to assist at this point.  I am happy to offer a discount to the customer for a service he may need at this time.  It appears that the content of the complaint is revolving around old parts, we are always happy...

to return the old parts to the customer if requested prior to the service.  Since this service was performed in 2014, we would no longer have any old parts from that service. 
[redacted]
General Manager
Autobarn City VW
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/07/26) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@theautobarn.com
I am sorry for the delayed response. I will get an itemized list of expenses the dealership paid on behalf of Mr. [redacted] and I...

will this emailed to Mr. [redacted] by Monday the 28th of July. If there is still a descrepancy, I will address a refund with Mr. [redacted], and if we agree, I will forward this to him immediately.

Per customer's request, I am having a check issued and sent to the customer today in the amount of $360.00  This should satisfy the customer's complaint and close the issue for all parties. [redacted]Chief Operating OfficerThe Autobarn Dealer Group[redacted]Evanston , IL...

60202[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/05/21) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted].com
I am unable to address this complaint. Either the consumer filled out the form incorrectly or the Revdex.com transferred the information on...

the consumer incorrectly.
The complaint shows my manager and my store as the consumer making the complaint.

The customer spent a whole $50 with our dealership on 28th April.  The car was diagnosed by us ( a 2001 VW Passat) and based on age plus the wear and tear needed some repairs.  The actual bill for the diagnosis the customer was responsible for was $140, however they weren't financially...

able to pay the $140 at that time so the general Manger of the store reduced the charge to $50 for the customer.  I am told the customer took our repair order to an independent shop who did the actual repairs for the customer and then, when there was still an issue, the customer returned to us to fix the other shops work but wasn't willing to pay us for this requested fix.  My service manager declined and informed the customer they would need to return to the shop that did the work.   Again, I apologize for the delay in this response, however our dealership did not perform the work on this persons car, therefore not responsible for the workmanship or the parts.   Regards,   [redacted] Chief Operations Officer The Autobarn Dealer Group [redacted] Evanston, IL 60202