Robinson Brothers Ford is NOT to be trusted! Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Nothing but lies from their service department. Bought a used car without noticing or even looking for this one defect, which is unsightly and very costly and troublesome to repair. I talked to the used car salesman the next day, and he acted concerned and convinced me to let their service department take a look at it to diagnose it. Service advised it would cost about $300 to fix.
They promised to investigate the problem just to be sure what was going on, that there wasnt some larger problem. I think they lied about their willingness to investigate because within just a few minutes of dropping it off, they were leaving me messages stating they were done with the investigation. I dont believe they even checked on it at all, because right after I dropped it off, I observed my car being moved to a faraway rear lot. Instead of investigating and offering solutions, they decided to blame-shift.
They did not come right out and accuse me of causing the defect myself, but that is what they were strongly implying. They claimed that Somebody did this very recently they were trying to let me know that there was no way I could prove that this had happened before I bought the car. They also advised that this defect was not noticed prior to sale, implying it was done after it was sold, which is untrue.
I called service back and the guy who oversees the garage said my car had not even been in the shop AT ALL. When I advised that I was already getting messages that it had been checked out, and he transferred me to the service manager, who claimed that it had, in fact, been checked out, and that he had decided not to do any further investigation, and that the fix was suddenly now going to cost $1,000 (which I took to mean that they didnt want anything to do with it or with me).
To top that off, while my car was parked there, Somebody busted the tail light for me. Needless to say, Ill not be giving this dealership any more money in the future, and neither will anyone I know.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
BuyersBeware
United States of AmericaI guess I'm not the only dissatisfied customer
#3Author of original report
Thu, October 20, 2011
Apparently, there are enough dissatisfied Robinson Brothers Ford customers out there, that if the dealership reads a complaint like mine, they are not even able to figure out which customer it was. That says a lot about that place.
The "facts" as stated by the General Manager are not related to my report in any way, but are apparently related to some totally different customer and vehicle. So, there are more customers out there who can tell you about this place.
My report stands as-is, and has not been addressed in any way by their attempt at a rebuttal. For example, they write about a compass issue. Mine didnt have a broken compass. That's some other customer who you failed to satisfy.
They write, "The customers statement/story that we had never serviced the vehicle is a fabrication...." First, let me point out the downright shadiness of any business, of any type, whose first reaction is to call its customer a liar. (A "fabrication" is a lie). I would stay away from any business that tries to make you feel like you are the dishonest one.
Secondly, I never reported any lack of the standard pre-sale oil change and maintenance which you would get at any major chain dealership. I think their rebuttal must have been written without really reading my report.
What I stated was that they claimed they would investigate a specific problem which was discovered just after the sale. And then they did not seem to investigate it at all, and then they lied about investigating it. And then they quoted me a new price of triple the original amount, just as a way of telling me to hit the road. Plus, they implied strongly that I had caused the problem on the car they had just sold me, and that even if I did not cause it, I had no proof otherwise. They didn't want to fix it and they wanted me to know it.
They write, "The customer then brought the vehicle back into our shop for another issue seven weeks after the purchase..." which, again, is describing some other dissatisfied Robinson Brothers Ford customer, as of course I would not set foot in that dealership again, least of all for service.
It's ironic justice, that in trying to rebut and refute a customer's claims, you call me (even though you thought you were talking about some other customer) unreasonable and not rationally listening, yet, all you achieved by filing your rebuttal is that you made it clear that there are multiple customers with serious, costly issues on the cars you are selling, and that they are in no way satisfied by your attempts to resolve the matter and your refusal to listen and do what you say you will do.
Robinson Brothers Ford Lincoln
Baton Rouge,Louisiana,
United States of America
The facts behind this case
#3UPDATE Employee
Tue, October 18, 2011
I am the General Manager of Robinson Brothers Ford Lincoln. I will state for you the facts regarding this customer and how we handled his service experience.
* We sold this customer a used truck with over 80,000 miles. The customers statement/story that we had never serviced the vehicle is a fabrication. Absolutely all vehicles sold on our lot must be checked in service. We spent over $1600 on this truck in our shop before we ever made it available for sale.
A few weeks after the purchase the customer complained of a leak which our used car manager good willed at a cost of over $300 - zero charge to the customer, and it was our first response - no hassle, no drama, we just repaired the leak - even though the customer only had a 50-50 warranty for 30 days, we paid 100% and didn't ask the customer to pay one cent.
The customer then brought the vehicle back into our shop for another issue seven weeks after the purchase. Again, in the interest of customer satisfaction we agreed to pay for half of the cost of the repair even though the 50-50 warranty had long expired. The customer called me and I proceeded to have a conference call with the customer and our service director so we could look into his concern. The customer went off on repeated tirades and rants - at every point citing typical references of shady car dealers even though we clearly had done over and above, and had itemized and documented for him every action that we had taken - he repeatedly tried to make the statements over and over, not rationally listening to any explanation that we tried to provide him.
The customer then attempted to make the claim that we had somehow damaged his compass - citing his friend the "expert" mechanic who told him that we had broken it and completely ignoring the fact that the work we had done on his vehicle was in no way near or related to the compass.
The compass casing wasn't broken (located in the rear view mirror) - a common problem with the compass component is inside the mirror and it is almost always a connection issue - again, even though we had done nothing wrong we repaired the compass at no charge to the customer.
The cliffs notes on this customer is we gave him excellent service, over and above what was reasonable. In this customers mind if everything isn't free then you are automatically shady, underhanded, or liars.
Our reputation of serving the Baton Rouge and surrounding communities is well known - we take care of our customers, and in this case we did more than take care of him, he's just more interested in spreading conspiracy theories than looking at the facts.
Chris Savage General Manager Robinson Brothers Ford Lincoln