Biddulph Mazda Service Department Warranty Issues No attempt at resolution Peoria Arizona
Initial letter sent to the AZ BBB:
We bought our car from Biddulph Mazda and had all the service work done there (warranty and non warranty). We were/are completely up to date with all required servicing for our car to remain in warranty.
We had issues with severe tire wear on our Mazda 3.We contacted Biddulph after having the tires looked at numerous times and their solution to the problem was to tell us that if we remained on their 'tires for life program'-that if we spent $500 to get a $200 service done that they'd replace two tires for us.
I explained to them that after the numerous tire balancing and tire rotations and alignments that there would be no reason for the wear that we had. We spoke to Anthony Demarco, President of Biddulph, and he declined to help, saying that we needed to get back on the tires for life program.
I then emailed all the principals at Biddulph asking them to contact the Mazda Regional District Service Manager and they ignored my request altogether telling me to talk with the service manager, which I did. He told me to get back on the tires for life deal.
To make a long story short, I was able to contact the Mazda rep by myself (no help from Biddulph) and he requested us to send the complete service history to him via fax. We did and he agreed to replace two tires out of the four. I then asked Mr. Gillig (the rep) to replace the other two-as they were so worn as to be unsafe and he politely declined.
The car was taken to Bell Rd. Mazda to get worked on. They did a before and after measurement of the alignment on the front and rear of the car. They were so grossly out of whack that the service tech said no wonder you had your tires wear out.
I have all the email correspondence from Mr. Gillig (The rep), all paperwork from Biddulph, the paper work showing how far out of whack the suspension was (After paying for two alignments at Biddulph). We had to pay for the two other tires ourselves. I am looking to get reimbursed the money that we're out for the replacement of the tires on a 1 year old car.
I have received a response to the intial inquiry and will post it soon. I can also add photos of the tires, too!
Bruce
Tempe, Arizona
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Sleepybunny726
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Tires for life is not cost effective
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, April 13, 2009
I too purchased a 2006 Mazda 3 (5 door) and have very few good experiences with this particular dealer. My AC stopped working the with in the first year I owned it. i took it down there twice, the 2nd time they charged me $140 to flush my AC system. Why in the world would my AC need to be flushed after 10-11 months of owning it? Well, after a nice hot summer, right back to square one, took it back and sure enough I had a leak. Did they refund my money? Of Course not. And on top of that they want you to stick to a maintenance plan that is highly un-needed. Cars are already expensive, lets not make the customers fork out $600 every 3 months just to get a couple of free tires. The tires that came on my vehicle didnt last that long. They are extremely expensive for a small car, I just spend a total of $560 for 4 new tires. All because they're low profile racing tires.
Basically, the maintenance that they want you to stick to, you could spend half of that by going to your local lube and oil shop and buy tires from Discount and probably get a better job. Not only that, you don't get pressured by the service reps to spend money you either cant afford or shouldnt have to spend. If you're worried about your warranty just save all your paper work when you do get your car serviced.
Over all experience, fair, would I buy another car from here? probably not. But I do love Mazda and I really like my car.
B
Tempe,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Update...BBB is "In the pockets" of the local car dealerships
#3Author of original report
Mon, August 06, 2007
I went to arbitration with the local BBB which was a waste of my time. Every one of the people that worked there couldn't grasp the concept that my car was still under FACTORY warranty and the fact that MAZDA corproate was smart enough to distance themselves from Bilddulph and their "Tires for Life" scam.
The board members are no more experts in the auto field than my 12 year old daughter. it's pretty telling who's at fault when MAZDA corporate takes the steps to satisfy my complaint. while Anthony De Marco and Biddulph sits on their rears and do nothing!
Beware if you ever have a need to take your car to this dealer for service. The service manager checks for tire wear on cars by glancing under the front end. LOL
Anyways, don't waste your time with the BBB. they are bought and paid for by the businesses that enroll in their program (also a scam).
If you have a legitimate complaint (I guess you wouldn't be here if you didn't think that you did) go to the corporate entity with as much information as you can.
Once again. stay away form Biddulph. they are bad news.