Incident 1.
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My car barely 2 years old: I had a fuel cap error displaying on my dashboard. To be careful, I call my dealership in order to consult for this warning. They told me to come and and have it checked.
Once I get there, I explain to them that I have never left the cap open accidentally. This is clearly a glitch in the system. They told me that the mecanic will take a look at my system and see why this happens. The consultant (Daniel) clearly leads me into believing that the computer diagnostic fees of $60 will waived because it should be covered by the warranty. Being certain that it will be covered I went ahead with the deal.
When I came back to collect my car, they charged me the fee and the consultant told me that it needed a reset. I was upset that they did not find the cause of this error, rather they just reset my computer and charged me a fee of $60 for probably something that took 2 minutes to do. I was not impressed and I expressed it. The consultant (Daniel) told me to hold on to the receipt in case it happens again. In the event it does happen again, perhaps it will be convered by Honda Canada's warranty service...
To me this is exploiting a client to make quick $$$.
Inciden no. 2:
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Same guy: I did the maintenance D (~$500) on my car in due time. I know that they charge more but I figured that Excel would offer a better service. After my car got serviced, I noticed a clicking noise in my car. First I though it was something lose in my trunk (stuff that I keep in my trunk). I realized about 1.5 months later that it was my rear right brake.
I called them back to ask politely that my rear right brake is making some noise. I told them that this should have been inspected during my last major maintenance, to which Daniel confirmed that it was done. He asked me AGAIN to come in and get it checked out. They told me that there would be a $40 diagnosis fee, but lead me to believe AGAIN that if these problems are related, they would waive the fee.
He calls me back after the inspection and tells me that it would cost $170 to shave my discs to reduce the noice. I again responded politely with: "What was the $500 maintenance for then? Why wasn't I told then? " He does not provide me a clear answer. He tries to push for the disc repair and I had to ask him many questions to try to see if it was really necessary. After probing further, he reluctantly confirmed with me that this job was not necessary as it does no damage to my car. I disputed with him a bit and expressed my discontent over the principal of charging twice for an inspection that was clearly included in my previous maintenance service. He keeps telling me that it was my fault, the rust accumulated on my wheels and things like this happens when I leave the car outside in the rain. (Btw, my car goes from garage to garage every single day! I very rarely leave it out). For some reason I told him even that I don't use the car that much because I bike during the summer, he told me that if I keep my car idle for a long time, that would surely cause my wheels to rust. At that point, I understood that he was taking me for a fool.
Seeing how this was going nowhere, I talked to the manager and he was very very uncooperative. I tried to tell him that my car brake inspection was not done properly and I should not be charged for the diagnosis fee. He tells me that he would credit the fee only if I do the brakes with them. To me, this is like a bribe... He made me understand that he was willing to lose a good client (I purchase my car there and got it serviced for 3 years) over a small $40 diagnosis fee. I then got up abruptly and paid the diagnosis fee and told Excel Honda to never ever call me again for a service reminder.
Summary:
It is not the first time that I hear Excel Honda trying to squeeze every dollar out of a client. I have other small series of events that supports how they want to impose services that are not at the interest of the client. They advices mainly serves the purpose of making money, and not offser sounds solutions. Beware, I am never returning there. In fact, I have a personal mission to spread the word on how bad their advice and inappropriate their service really is.
Bernoulli
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
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