Complaint Review: Fernandez Honda

I purchased a 2004 Honda Odyssey EX with a DVD entertainment system on 03-08-2004. At the time I knew I had fairly good credit so I wanted the lowest possible APR offered. I let the salesperson (Anthony DeLeon) know immediately that I did not want to make a purchase unless I was going to get 3.9% APR. I told him this several times with my wife and mother-in-law present.

He was very nice and a pleasant person to speak with and he also knew that I wanted 3.9% or no deal. We haggled over price and features for a while however I had little time left to finish the deal so I left in order to get to work on time. Anthony DeLeon finished the paperwork and let my mother-in-law drive the vehicle home and he drove to my work location so that we could finish signing the papers. I signed a few papers and he left with the paperwork. It wasn't until two or three weeks later and asking several times that I received the paperwork for the vehicle that I had just purchased. I didn't get 3.9% like I told him and he never bothered to tell me that it was 6.04%. It's my fault for not checking the paperwork I just assumed that I could trust Honda for their word.

I work for a vehicle inpound yard so I'm extremely aware of Texas law concerning lien holders and owners of property and vehicles in general. I deal with this type of work everyday. According to Texas law a dealer is required to complete all the papers that are necessary to title and register a vehicle within 21 working days of the sell date. The sell date was 03-08-2004. The date of registration was 04-07-2004. I actually had to go back to the dealership and receive new paper plates. I still have the new ones they gave me and none of the information like, make of vehicle, vin #, buyer's name, salesperson, and date sold is even filled out at the bottom. I'm very lucky I didn't get stopped by a peace officer.

When I purchased the Odyssey I wanted the DVD entertainment system installed. Honda's largest DVD screen was the seven inch. It seemed a little small for me so I opted for the aftermarket 10.4 inch Audiovox DVD and screen. It was not only larger but also less expensive then Honda's seven inch. Within a few days I met the single best representative Fernandez Honda has, Ginger Rohmer. Ginger Rohmer is the kind of person that listens and waits patiently. She seems to understand people very well and is also the ONLY person that consistently kept me up on info. At this point I was introduced to the company known as Solar Tint. This company has an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau by the way. A representative from Solar Tint took my vehicle and drove it to their place of business which is twenty miles away. They installed THE WRONG DVD system and drove it back to Honda. Each time they use my vehicle its twenty miles and I haven't even used the vehicle yet. What they installed was Honda's seven inch system not the 10.4 system that I paid for.

They also NEVER clean up their mess after they've drilled and sawed or whatever it is they do. So I leave without my vehicle for Solar Tint to add more miles and install the right one. The next day or two I come back for my vehicle. I get to Honda and Ginger and I look at what they've done. Everything seems to be okay and in order. So I take it home and when I get the time I'd test out the system. Testing is complete. Sound comes out through the speakers, but not through the wireless headphones. Evidently the DVD player wasn't a perfect fit sitting inside of the console underneath the CD player so they added a plastic piece on both sides of the player so as to not be able to see through the console. Before I made it home from the dealership they fell off into the dashboard. Now sound did come on through the vehicle's speaker system however that didn't last very long either. During this time I pulled open the drink carrier that sits about eight inches underneath the CD/DVD player. When I try to shut the tray the wires that connected the DVD player interfere so the tray can't close completely and it actually pulls the wires loose.

I was extremely careful shutting the tray back as well and that point there is no sound at all. I decide that maybe I should take the van to Solar Tint myself. So I call and ask them for an appropriate date in which to bring it over. They fit me into their schedule which happened to be a week a way. The manager tells me that he's going to install a face plate and that he'll tint my front windows for free. He also told the manager Ginger Rohmer the same thing. I also told him about the damage that they did to the dashboard prying the main plastic piece off that surrounds the CD/DVD players, and the high whistling sound that I hear when driving the vehicle while the DVD is playing, AND how the DVD screen sags from the ceiling, AND the drink tray. I get there a little before my appointed time which was around nine or ten in the morning. By one or two in the afternoon I find out that a wire went bad and that they're repairing it.

For two thousand dollars they shouldn't be repairing anything that's less then two weeks old. They should have put a brand new one in and left it at that. So anyway they fix the wire and put everything back and the headphones worked. Within an hour they give me my van back. They didn't clean up the mess they made, there was no face plate, and they never tinted my windows. By the way that whistling sound has just about driven me up the wall! These people install products into cars as if all cars electronics are the same. Even if you have two vehicles that are exactly the same model their wiring maybe off just enough to change the magnetic field surrounding the vehicle. With this in mind you should always test your installations especially when dealing with wireless hardware. They never test anything. Not once did I see these people take my van around the block or so to test the equipment. They did fix the DVD sagging problem, but boy is that a time bomb waiting to happen.

So I call Ginger and tell her about my experience with Solar Tint. At this point Ginger's manager, Robert Lopez, is involved. Ginger, Robert, and I talk about the situation and decide or rather Robert decides that it would be best if Solar Tint does their work on Fernandez Honda property. This way it will be done right and under Robert's supervision. I believe Honda repaired the marks and the little nicks that were made by Solar Tint's half *ss professional job. Anyway, Solar Tint arrives in the next day or two. They installed the DVD player inside a pull out compartment located at the bottom of the console. They also drilled holes in the bottom of the console so that the wires could go through.

Originally Solar Tint wanted to place the DVD drive underneath the passenger seat. I didn't want it there because it makes it even more difficult to change DVD's so I opted to have them place it right below the CD player on the front console. They told me it wouldn't be a problem. This WAS the problem in the beginning. For two thousand dollars they could have taken the CD player out and installed a player that plays both DVD's and CD's all in one unit if it was such a problem for them. I've taken my vehicle to several professional audio establishments and I would always get the same perplexed glazed look from people after I tell them the story. Every audio professional I speak to assures me that they can do the job and make it look stock. The DVD player fit snuggly inside the, pull out compartment, and is still fairly reachable however, the little light that use to come on after opening the compartment would no longer turn on. There was another problem that would cause the DVD player to reset a movie after closing the compartment. This would happen because the buttons on the front of the DVD player would press up against the inside of the compartment. They kind of fixed the whistling sound however a new problem arose. Faint lines would now move down the screen when watching a movie.

Everything seemed to be okay at this moment. In May, less then two months from the actual purchase of the vehicle my family and I take a trip to Sabinas Mexico. We've been there many times and I have never had a problem crossing the border. Entering Mexico is a piece of cake it's returning that's time consuming. My children watched movies all the way there and the joy of peace and quiet was an absolute blessing. Upon returning as I was inching my way up to the border agent we prepared ourselves. We turned off the movie, told the kids to be quiet, and took out our papers. I drove up and as soon as the border agent asked us if we were all American citizens the DVD screen came loose from the ceiling of the van. What perfect timing. The border agent could see a gaping hole in the ceiling and decided that it would be best if we pulled to the side. For half an hour I watched as border patrol agents looked through my van, sticking probes down the gas tank, asking us questions, and searching through EVERY BAG.

It probably wasn't as bad as I remember it's just the fact that I had Solar Tint on my mind the entire time, and every moment was aggravating me more and more. We have always been very gentle with the DVD system and even though I have small children they nor my wife and I have ever pulled on the screen. Solar Tint's error was the placement of a piece of particle board between the ceiling and the DVD screen. They secured the screen with wood screws attached to the particle board. This seemed to be stable at first but since a vehicle is mobile they should have used nuts and bolts. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I decided that it would be best for me to cool down and take the van back to Honda the next day. I tell Robert and Ginger that I'm pretty much fed up with Solar Tint's professional work and that I just want the two thousand dollars so that I can take the van to a REAL audio performance store and have them install a system for me. Ginger and Robert comply and they call Solar Tint to come to the dealership and gently remove the DVD system. For two months I wait and never receive an update on anything going on. Robert passed on the info upstairs and never checked on any progress. I finally decide to call and speak to Robert. He seemed perplexed that nobody called me and let's me know he'll call me back with some info. It wasn't until a few days later and after I called that I find out Bill Cook, the financial representative, was suppose to call me and let me know. Robert isn't a financial person and that is understandable. So what happened to Bill Cook? It's been over three weeks. I just got back from my second vacation to Mexico WITHOUT my DVD entertainment system and no one has bothered to let me know jack about anything.

On the 9th of August I went to Fernandez Honda with this letter. I spoke to Robert Loehr for a good thirty minutes. We discussed my situation and I departed with the notion that Robert Loehr was going to help me. The next day I get a call from Robert telling me he was going to resolve the issue today. Thirteen days later on the 23rd I call Fernandez Honda back and speak to Robert Loehr again. I ask him about the 9th and the 10th and his response is, Nobody's called you yet. He seems perplexed and tells me that He'll speak to Bill Cook and give me a call back. He writes down my number, but doesn't call me back. On the 24th I call and Robert is away from his desk and Bill Cook is in a meeting. At this point I'm getting really perturbed at Robert's resolution.

On the 25th I call and Robert is in an interview and Mr. Cook is on the other line. On the 26th I call and ask for Robert and I'm transferred to his desk where I'm abruptly hung up on. So I call again and ask for someone with a higher position then Robert. I wait about two seconds and Robert Loehr answers the line. Amazing! This man is everywhere and no where all at the same time. Bill Cook must be his apprentice. So I speak to Robert Loehr and he let's me know that I either have Honda install their tiny screen DVD system or I have Solar Tint do it again. He also gave me some other choices. I could not have it done at all and just keep the hole in the ceiling of my car. I asked him about returning the vehicle and he basically described how difficult the procedure would be for the dealership. After raising my voice a little from being upset he told me I could go to an audio store of my choosing and have them fax over the dollar amount for parts and installation.

Then the dealership would pay the audio store. I asked why they couldn't just give me a check for two thousand dollars and he told me that if they did it would go to the lender. That's great. So I decide to go with Robert's choice of having the dealership pay an audio store of my choosing. So I take a few days and search around different audio stores. found one that seemed to have the best equipment and warranty around, not to mention their superb customer service. I call Robert Loehr on Friday and he tells me that he will start working on the check. I call him back later on that day and he says that it would be ready on Monday. I knew that Monday was a holiday, but I figured that he knew that and had some way of getting the check. So I wait all weekend AND tell the other company that I would drop off the car on Monday. Not only could Robert not do anything on Monday but I also looked like a liar to the other company after I told them I wasn't going to drop the vehicle off.

Day after day I call Fernandez Honda and day after day I get the run a round. I speak to Robert on Friday, the 10th and he tells me that the check would be ready by four o'clock. Fantastic the only problem is that I have to go to work at two thirty. So I tell him I'll pick up the check tomorrow. It would be a great time for me as well since I have Sunday and Monday off. This is because will have my van for a few days. I can drop off the van on Saturday with the check and get a ride to work. Later on that day I find out I can leave work for a while so I call Robert around six o'clock. I tell him I've decided to pick up the check today and he tells me he told whoever's responsible for getting the check together to forget about it until tomorrow. I don't understand why he didn't have them do it when he had the chance. I called Robert a few times on Saturday and found out that the Comptroller for Fernandez Honda never showed up. Did Robert call me to let me know about this? I actually left for work AGAIN and drove over to the dealership just to find out mostly everyone had left for the day. Well it's Monday and now I have to wait for Honda to receive a letter from Solar Tint authorizing Honda to give me my two thousand dollars.

Jim
San Antonio, Texas
U.S.A.

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