- Report: #201126
Complaint Review: Valdosta Lincoln Mercury - Valdosta Georgia
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Valdosta Lincoln Mercury
4534 North Valdosta Road Valdosta, 31602 Georgia, U.S.A.
Phone:
229-2427930
Web:
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Valdosta Lincoln Mercury dishonest liars poor service Valdosta Georgia
*UPDATE Employee: Our response to the situation
*Consumer Comment: I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
*Consumer Comment: I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
*Consumer Comment: I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
*Consumer Comment: I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Replacing Management
A few months ago I brought my 1995 Mercury Tracer to this dealership for service. I intended to sell or trade the car and wanted them to check out the problems I had been experiencing (labored A/C, engine sputtering, cutoff). After keeping it for two weeks they returned it to me saying they had checked it out from end to end, driven it on and off for several days, and in their opinion "not a thing is wrong with it."
They proceeded to try and sell me almost a thousand dollars worth of different parts "just in case", but repeatedly assured me that they had done all they could and couldn't find a single reason for it to cause me any trouble. Feeling reassured I took the car back and parked it for sale.
Eventually the car sold, but two days later the buyer called to inform me that the engine had blown in the middle of traffic and the car had to be towed. Given that the dealership had assured me the car was in good order and that it had been driven less than two miles in the time I'd had it up for sale I felt the service department owed me some answers.
I was referred to a Greg (((ROR REDACTED FULL NAME FOR SECURITY PURPOSES))), who proceeded to speak to me very condescendingly. I asked if it would be possible for the buyer to bring the car back to them for service since it was clearly their fault the problem had gone undiagnosed and unfixed. He flatly refused, saying that the dealership no longer had the tools or expertise to service cars made in the mid 1990s.
When I pointed out that I'd never been refused service for an older car before, and ventured that Mercury Tracers probably hadn't changed all that much (he made an eleven year old car sound as ancient as a Model T), he laughed nastily and said "Well, you would know more about that than me, huh?" He said that as of two weeks ago he had implemented a policy saying the dealership would not service any car older than 1997 and he wouldn't let them see my car even if I'd brought it in for an oil change.
Now, here I caught him in a flat out lie. My other car is a 1996 Ford Taurus. Not seven days earlier I called his dealership for an appointment to bring it in to be serviced. I received an estimate and a time frame I could bring it in. NOT ONCE did anyone say "We can't service your car because it's older than 1997."
When I confronted him with this he became very irritated, saying that I can't prove he didn't implement that policy two weeks ago and I could just "go ahead and try it." He also stated that since I refused to pay for their initial guesswork and they didn't charge me just for saying the car had nothing wrong with it that I had no recourse. He said that once the car is driven off the lot he has no responsibility to stand by his department's service. I once again suggested he make arrangements with the buyer to see the car, and he said Valdosta Lincoln Mercury wasn't interested.
This dealership tried to scam me, then this employee lied to me and tried to humiliate me. According to the mechanic the buyer towed the car to there is absolutely NO WAY any competent mechanic could have missed the problems with that engine. It would seem Valdosta Lincoln Mercury refused to take my money for the inital exam because they knew my car would be unsafe to drive. They wanted me to spend a thousand on superfluous parts and when I wouldn't they passed the buck.
Instead of admitting they were too incompetent to fix my car they told me there was nothing wrong with it, and they endangered my life and that of the buyer by assuring me I could take to the road in an unsafe vehicle. Furthermore, they flat out LIED to me by saying they had a "new policy" not to fix my car and they acted very dishonestly by refusing to rectify the situation. I was treated very shabbily and I highly recommend other consumers STAY AWAY from this dealership's service department.
R.
Valdosta, Georgia
U.S.A.
They proceeded to try and sell me almost a thousand dollars worth of different parts "just in case", but repeatedly assured me that they had done all they could and couldn't find a single reason for it to cause me any trouble. Feeling reassured I took the car back and parked it for sale.
Eventually the car sold, but two days later the buyer called to inform me that the engine had blown in the middle of traffic and the car had to be towed. Given that the dealership had assured me the car was in good order and that it had been driven less than two miles in the time I'd had it up for sale I felt the service department owed me some answers.
I was referred to a Greg (((ROR REDACTED FULL NAME FOR SECURITY PURPOSES))), who proceeded to speak to me very condescendingly. I asked if it would be possible for the buyer to bring the car back to them for service since it was clearly their fault the problem had gone undiagnosed and unfixed. He flatly refused, saying that the dealership no longer had the tools or expertise to service cars made in the mid 1990s.
When I pointed out that I'd never been refused service for an older car before, and ventured that Mercury Tracers probably hadn't changed all that much (he made an eleven year old car sound as ancient as a Model T), he laughed nastily and said "Well, you would know more about that than me, huh?" He said that as of two weeks ago he had implemented a policy saying the dealership would not service any car older than 1997 and he wouldn't let them see my car even if I'd brought it in for an oil change.
Now, here I caught him in a flat out lie. My other car is a 1996 Ford Taurus. Not seven days earlier I called his dealership for an appointment to bring it in to be serviced. I received an estimate and a time frame I could bring it in. NOT ONCE did anyone say "We can't service your car because it's older than 1997."
When I confronted him with this he became very irritated, saying that I can't prove he didn't implement that policy two weeks ago and I could just "go ahead and try it." He also stated that since I refused to pay for their initial guesswork and they didn't charge me just for saying the car had nothing wrong with it that I had no recourse. He said that once the car is driven off the lot he has no responsibility to stand by his department's service. I once again suggested he make arrangements with the buyer to see the car, and he said Valdosta Lincoln Mercury wasn't interested.
This dealership tried to scam me, then this employee lied to me and tried to humiliate me. According to the mechanic the buyer towed the car to there is absolutely NO WAY any competent mechanic could have missed the problems with that engine. It would seem Valdosta Lincoln Mercury refused to take my money for the inital exam because they knew my car would be unsafe to drive. They wanted me to spend a thousand on superfluous parts and when I wouldn't they passed the buck.
Instead of admitting they were too incompetent to fix my car they told me there was nothing wrong with it, and they endangered my life and that of the buyer by assuring me I could take to the road in an unsafe vehicle. Furthermore, they flat out LIED to me by saying they had a "new policy" not to fix my car and they acted very dishonestly by refusing to rectify the situation. I was treated very shabbily and I highly recommend other consumers STAY AWAY from this dealership's service department.
R.
Valdosta, Georgia
U.S.A.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
LOL
Valdosta,Georgia,
United States of America
Replacing Management
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, April 29, 2011
There is more to this story than is being told and I will leave that alone as the original poster has her own set of problems besides her automotive issues.
The person from the company made a comment about replace "top management" I would just like to ask them a question. HOW IS THAT WORKING FOR YA ? You got rid of management that made money for your dad for alot of years and after replacing those guys the business went down hill till finally closing ! Good job
Laurie
Haslet,Texas,
U.S.A.
I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, December 04, 2008
Had been using one dealership - who padded bills with unnecessary repairs everyone who brought in a car for service had to have these repairs - even brand new cars in for their first service since purchase. they seem to have a different item each day that they used to pad the bills. Also very condescending to us when we questioned them. They also did not complete all repairs and when we brought the car back were charged for it all over again. Had to escalate to Toyota Corporate to get refund. Were given a complete detailing as well and they used WAY TOO MUCH ARMOUR ALL ON THE INTERIOR. It was sticky for weeks - no matter how many times we wiped it down. So changed to another dealer and had the car in for overheating - 1st visit they claimed the car did not ever overheat for them. 2nd visit it was overheating when we arrived at the dealership. (mind you freezing temps at the time too) they replaced the thermostat, but did not check for blown head gasket - was assured it was ready for cross country trip. Did not get 300 miles into the trip and had to leave car at another dealership to repair blown head gasket from the original overheating problem and get a rental car to complete the trip. No reimbursment of additional repairs or rental cars.
Laurie
Haslet,Texas,
U.S.A.
I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, December 04, 2008
Had been using one dealership - who padded bills with unnecessary repairs everyone who brought in a car for service had to have these repairs - even brand new cars in for their first service since purchase. they seem to have a different item each day that they used to pad the bills. Also very condescending to us when we questioned them. They also did not complete all repairs and when we brought the car back were charged for it all over again. Had to escalate to Toyota Corporate to get refund. Were given a complete detailing as well and they used WAY TOO MUCH ARMOUR ALL ON THE INTERIOR. It was sticky for weeks - no matter how many times we wiped it down. So changed to another dealer and had the car in for overheating - 1st visit they claimed the car did not ever overheat for them. 2nd visit it was overheating when we arrived at the dealership. (mind you freezing temps at the time too) they replaced the thermostat, but did not check for blown head gasket - was assured it was ready for cross country trip. Did not get 300 miles into the trip and had to leave car at another dealership to repair blown head gasket from the original overheating problem and get a rental car to complete the trip. No reimbursment of additional repairs or rental cars.
Laurie
Haslet,Texas,
U.S.A.
I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, December 04, 2008
Had been using one dealership - who padded bills with unnecessary repairs everyone who brought in a car for service had to have these repairs - even brand new cars in for their first service since purchase. they seem to have a different item each day that they used to pad the bills. Also very condescending to us when we questioned them. They also did not complete all repairs and when we brought the car back were charged for it all over again. Had to escalate to Toyota Corporate to get refund. Were given a complete detailing as well and they used WAY TOO MUCH ARMOUR ALL ON THE INTERIOR. It was sticky for weeks - no matter how many times we wiped it down. So changed to another dealer and had the car in for overheating - 1st visit they claimed the car did not ever overheat for them. 2nd visit it was overheating when we arrived at the dealership. (mind you freezing temps at the time too) they replaced the thermostat, but did not check for blown head gasket - was assured it was ready for cross country trip. Did not get 300 miles into the trip and had to leave car at another dealership to repair blown head gasket from the original overheating problem and get a rental car to complete the trip. No reimbursment of additional repairs or rental cars.
Laurie
Haslet,Texas,
U.S.A.
I have had the same thing happen with Toyota Dealer Service in Dallas-Ft Worth Area
#6Consumer Comment
Thu, December 04, 2008
Had been using one dealership - who padded bills with unnecessary repairs everyone who brought in a car for service had to have these repairs - even brand new cars in for their first service since purchase. they seem to have a different item each day that they used to pad the bills. Also very condescending to us when we questioned them. They also did not complete all repairs and when we brought the car back were charged for it all over again. Had to escalate to Toyota Corporate to get refund. Were given a complete detailing as well and they used WAY TOO MUCH ARMOUR ALL ON THE INTERIOR. It was sticky for weeks - no matter how many times we wiped it down. So changed to another dealer and had the car in for overheating - 1st visit they claimed the car did not ever overheat for them. 2nd visit it was overheating when we arrived at the dealership. (mind you freezing temps at the time too) they replaced the thermostat, but did not check for blown head gasket - was assured it was ready for cross country trip. Did not get 300 miles into the trip and had to leave car at another dealership to repair blown head gasket from the original overheating problem and get a rental car to complete the trip. No reimbursment of additional repairs or rental cars.
Ashman
Valdosta,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Our response to the situation
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, December 04, 2008
The events in this case were extremely unfortunate. It seems in retrospect the situation rapidly grew out of control. Because of this and other similar but not as extreme situations, major changes have been made. A total of five top managers(including the Service Manager mentioned in the report) have been replaced. In addition Valdosta Lincoln Mercury is under new ownership as of January of this year. We have made customer satisfaction our top priority and as a result recently attained the status of Lincoln Mercury Elite. It is our mission to prevent an incident such as this from ever happening again. We very much regret the incident and feel we are on the right track to providing great customer service.
