Thomas Chevrolet Inc.

I am the original owner and proudly drive a Chevy Traverse with 187,miles on it Thomas Chevrolet is where I go to service my vehicle! They have consistently delivered on the brand promise of value, performance and a commitment to doing things right for the customerWhile I have had moments when a service advisor was not on their "A" game, more often than not I have work with customer service superstars like Matt or Colleen They really know how to organize the right people for any project and be a strong advocate for the customerRecently, my car was in for what would ultimately become a major overhaul (timing chain plus AC replacement and a car inspection) I am out of warranty based on my mileage and so everything would be out of pocket Each step along the way, Matt kept me informed about the progress with detailed explanations so that a regular person would understand At key decision points, we discussed the options and the pros/cons for each He worked his team hard for the best prices on parts and labor time The time and care that he took are all trademarks of a true professional I spent several thousand dollars on the work done on my vehicle during this service appointment Without reservation, I feel that every dollar spent was meticulously scrutinized to ensure maximum valueBig thanks to the service team that worked as my pit crew (Larry, Pat and Bob) I appreciate everything that you were able to do to get me back on the road Your subject matter expertise and your customer first attitude only reinforces why I feel so positive about this dealership You guys are the best!
In Philly, we have an expression we use when we trust the work of someone and are willing to stake our reputation on it We say, "I got a guy who can do that" Well, let me say this point blank My guy for working our my car is Matt and the service team at Thomas Chevrolet!

Review: The primary nature choices above don't really address this. I just don't want other people to get ripped off.

I purchased a 2007 Chevy HHR at the end of September 2012 as a certified vehicle. This past Saturday (5/18/13), I took the car to the aforementioned dealership for inspection. I was told the car needed nearly $1300 in repairs: struts HAD to be replaced to pass inspection, rotors and brakes were optional, but would need to be repaired within a short period of time. I asked if the rotors could be resurfaced and was told they could not. I was told the work would take 5-6 hours to complete and it was already 11:30AM (I had been there since 9AM) Fortunately for me, they had no shuttle service and I had no ride at my disposal. I was told this would be better to complete during the week anyway. I paid for the inspection and said I would need to contact my supervisor and look at my calendar to try to figure out what day would work best and then I would call.

The more I thought about this, the more it didn't make sense to me. How could a certified vehicle have this many things wrong in only 8 months? I had a certified pre-owned Aveo for 6 years before I needed to have the brakes worked, so I know I am not hard on brakes. I looked up the GM 172 point inspection online and all three of these "inspection fails" were on the certification sheet.

I took the car to my old mechanic and had him look at it. Nothing wrong with the struts. The rotors could be resurfaced, but I did need new pads. I ended up paying for the inspection again, just because I didn't want to have to go back to the dearlership to have them tell me something else was wrong or couldn't be done! Even with that additional amount, I still paid 86% LESS than what they quoted me.

This is a disgrace and a ripoff. This is a total disservice. I received an email from Thomas Chevrolet asking me to give them a "Completely Satisfied" when I get their survey from headquarters. Are they kidding? I emailed the service manager back and said I absolutely would not and that I would not be back again.Desired Settlement: Refund my inspection cost since due to your greediness, I moved on and had the car inspected elsewhere. Refund the cost of brake repairs, since I know I am not hard on brakes and they obviously were not checked with the certified inspection. Total cost=$230.02

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

First, let me introduce myself. My name is [redacted] and I have been the service Director for Thomas Chevrolet since February 4th, 2013. Although I am new to this store I have been working for automotive dealerships my whole adult life. I received your letter and appreciate the opportunity to respond. Let me start by saying wise business practice is not to “rip people off”. We pride ourselves at Thomas Chevrolet on giving our customers the best automotive service experience. Unfortunately Ms Lord did not have this experience and it saddens me that I was not given the opportunity to rectify the situation.

What I found was [redacted] came in on Saturday, 5/18/2013 and her vehicle was inspected by my technician. He failed the car for her front struts. My technician stated the vehicles struts had excessive bounce and had signs of leakage. This is a judgment call by any technician that has a state inspection license. When I spoke with my technician, he felt the struts were faulty. Dangerous?, No. But in his judgment they did not pass the state inspection guidelines. When we checked the vehicle for a vibration, we found the rotors to be warped and causing the vibration she asked us to check for her. When rotors warp it is due to heat and wear from braking the car. This is not something that you can foresee seven months prior when inspecting a pre-owned vehicle. Rotor replacement was suggested because if the rotors are resurfaced, the problem more than likely will return. The rotors have only so much metal thickness on them to compensate for heat and wear and if this started due to “normal driving/braking, the rotors will warp again from heat and even less metal on the rotor to dissipate the heat. This in turn creates the pulsation she was experiencing. When turning the rotors in situations such as this we have found the customer will be back in a few months to have them replaced so we try to avoid this by recommending rotor replacement.

I can understand [redacted] frustration when getting two different opinions about her car. I try to put myself in the customers shoes, get facts about the situation and listen to the customer to see what it is I can do to educate the customer or learn from the situation so I can make changes on my end if needed. Unfortunately [redacted] has the impression we just want to “rip people off” and I can assure you that is not the way we do business at Thomas Chevrolet. Do we run into delays? Yes we do. Do we make mistakes? Yes we do. But we do not cheat people. We admit our mistakes when made and move forward. I am not willing to reimburse [redacted] because she took her car elsewhere. She did not allow me the opportunity to help her with this situation. If things were missed on a Certified Inspection, we would correct the issue here at Thomas Chevrolet.

I enclosed the email correspondence between [redacted] and myself for you to see. I received an email from her not knowing who she was or when her car came in for service. We have an outside service that sends out follow up emails to insure customer satisfaction. I received her customer information at the end of the following day after my email was sent to her. If there is anyone who is not completely satisfied with their visit, we want to know and get to the bottom of it to resolve the situation for the

customer as quickly as possible. She must have gotten a link to my email address from this survey but I had no information on her at the time to get the facts.

If Ms Lord wants to speak with me in an attempt to turn this around all she has to do is contact me. She made it very clear that she did not want me to contact her or try to proceed with rectifying the situation. With no communication with the customer I can not resolve any situation. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you want to discuss this further or if you have any questions I may not have answered in this letter.

Sincerely,

Service Director

Thomas Chevrolet Inc.

From: [redacted]

Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 7:42 PM

To: [redacted]

Subject: RE: My disservice

I am the original owner and proudly drive a 2010 Chevy Traverse with 187,000 miles on it. Thomas Chevrolet is where I go to service my vehicle! They have consistently delivered on the brand promise of value, performance and a commitment to doing things right for the customer. While I have had moments when a service advisor was not on their "A" game, more often than not I have work with customer service superstars like Matt or Colleen. They really know how to organize the right people for any project and be a strong advocate for the customer.
Recently, my car was in for what would ultimately become a major overhaul (timing chain plus AC replacement and a car inspection). I am out of warranty based on my mileage and so everything would be out of pocket. Each step along the way, Matt kept me informed about the progress with detailed explanations so that a regular person would understand. At key decision points, we discussed the options and the pros/cons for each. He worked his team hard for the best prices on parts and labor time. The time and care that he took are all trademarks of a true professional. I spent several thousand dollars on the work done on my vehicle during this service appointment. Without reservation, I feel that every dollar spent was meticulously scrutinized to ensure maximum value.
Big thanks to the service team that worked as my pit crew (Larry, Pat and Bob). I appreciate everything that you were able to do to get me back on the road. Your subject matter expertise and your customer first attitude only reinforces why I feel so positive about this dealership. You guys are the best!
In Philly, we have an expression we use when we trust the work of someone and are willing to stake our reputation on it. We say, "I got a guy who can do that". Well, let me say this point blank. My guy for working our my car is Matt and the service team at Thomas Chevrolet!