Stranger than fiction

[Adam in CO]

So, I had a REALLY bad (they've all been bad) service experience at the Hummer dealer, so I wrote this letter:






Stacie Collins
Hummer Customer Service
P.O. Box 33177
Detroit, MI 48232

October 17, 2006

Dear Stacie,

Thank you for speaking with me on October 12th, 2006 regarding my experience with the local Hummer dealership and service department. This letter is to follow up on our conversation in order to provide you a documented version of our conversation regarding Medved Hummer in Castle Rock, CO. I think it’s important that you know the extent to which a representative company of your product lacks regard for the “Hummer experience”. I hope you agree, and will be able to improve the situation, so that Hummer can continue to thrive in the Denver market.

I bought my H2 in 2002 from the Castle Rock, CO Medved Hummer dealership. At the time I was literally forced into buying an extended warranty on the vehicle. The finance manager told me verbatim that he would not sell me the vehicle without it because “he simply didn’t have to”. This was at the height of Hummer popularity, when the vehicles were in much demand, and difficult to acquire. I paid for the warranty figuring that it may very well benefit me in the future.

Until recently, Dan Nohr, was the service writer at the Medved Hummer dealership. Under his tenure, I had experienced minor issues worthy of complaint but they were mostly to be expected from a large dealership. Until now I have kept my frustrations at bay. Dan proved himself to be an exemplary service advisor, and personally made up for the customer service that Medved Hummer lacks. For four years, he saw that all of my service needs were taken care of by Medved Hummer, and that warrantable services were covered under the extended service warranty that I was forced to pay for.

On Thursday, October 5th, I brought my Hummer to Medved for service work. At this time, I was told that Dan Nohr had been transferred to the Doge dealership and a new service writer would be handling the service writing on my vehicle. Unfortunately, this person was not in that day either, and I was introduced to a Chevrolet service advisor named Sean P. Smith.

When I initially contacted the dealership and Sean Smith about servicing my Hummer, I was told that they would have the vehicle back to me the next day. The next day, Friday, the service advisor told me that it would not be until the following Monday that an adjuster from the extended warranty company could come for an inspection. At this time, Sean suggested that I return the rental vehicle to the dealership since the extended warranty company would not pay for a rental vehicle during a time when my vehicle was not actually being serviced.

As you can imagine, I was frustrated with this proposal for a number of reasons. First of all, the Medved dealership is a forty minute drive from my house. Secondly, I was supposed to have had my own vehicle back by then. Thirdly, I fail to understand why no one at Medved had the foresight to schedule the warranty adjuster at the time that I made the appointment to have my Hummer serviced. Lastly, I am aghast that Medved so bluntly and obviously inconvenienced their client without so much as an apology, or the wherewithal to compensate me for the hassle. Left with no other choice, I agreed to pay for the extended time on the rental vehicle.

The following Monday did include a visit from the adjuster from the extended warranty company, or so I was told. It also included a call from Sean Smith advising me that he had in fact been there, that all was well, and that the vehicle would be returned to me the following day. I am sorry to say that Tuesday came and went with no vehicle, and no call to inform me of why I wasn’t getting it back as promised. I finally called the dealership at the end of Tuesday to be told that Sean Smith was gone for the day and that I would have to wait until the next morning to speak with him.

Again, I am astonished at the complete lack of basic customer service skills displayed by Medved, as I am sure you are too at this point.

[Adam in CO]

(part 2)

Wednesday morning came with a call from Sean Smith. He was calling to advise me about the fact that the extended warranty that I was forced into buying would not be honored and that my portion of the money due would be in the two-thousand dollar range. Please note that no modifications have taken place on the vehicle since the last time that it was serviced by Medved, and Dan Nohr was the service writer. The warranty company had no issue covering their share of the services. I told Sean Smith to go ahead with the repairs and proceeded to call the Medved service manager, in hopes that he would be better equipped to represent my situation. The conversation proved to be a waste of my time, and I was left wondering whether I was talking to a dealership employee that should be representing me, or to one of the extended warranty company who clearly would not. I even suggested that he contact Dan Nohr to see what approach with the extended warranty company had been successful in the past. If the service manager did take this small step to assist me, I have not seen the fruits of that labor.


The service manager did inform me that the vehicle would be ready to go by 5pm that day. This is now five full business days after I was promised the vehicle, two of which I was paying for the rental car out of my pocket. When I showed up at 5:15, it was of course, not completed and I was forced to wait more than an hour. When I finally received possession of the vehicle I was informed that not only could they not finish the tasks I asked them to because of a lack of parts, but that they had destroyed other parts and ignored some of my requests completely.

They claimed to be waiting for a steering stabilizer from another vendor that was giving them the runaround, but when I called the vendor they confirmed that Medved had not contacted them in request for the part. You should know that this has happened at least once before between Medved and this vendor. I had asked them to reseat some weather stripping that had come loose, and I actually found those parts sitting in the backseat, completely ignored. Medved also informed me that they had broken off a lug nut stud, and removed another one so that they could match it and would have those parts the next day.

Upon my return the following day, (another forty minute drive and the fifth day after I was promised my vehicle) to pick up the lug nuts that I was promised, I was informed that they were not there yet. I had made the appointment the previous day to pick these parts up. Again, Medved was displaying their utter inability to put a small amount of effort into a customer and save them a large amount of hassle. Nobody called me ahead of time to save me the drive. What they did agree to, was to have them in the next couple of hours, and have them delivered to me that afternoon. That was five days ago, October 12. As of today, the 17th, I have not received even a phone call, let alone the lug nuts. I assume driving around with six, when eight are required is a safety hazard, but in their actions, Medved shows an obvious disregard for their customer?s safety. You should know that I was able to pick up replacement lug nuts, at no charge, from the local Discount Tire the following day. It makes me wonder why nobody at Medved took the step to walk across the street to the auto parts store to purchase the replacement part. At the very least, they should have advised me to do so.

I am absolutely disgusted with Medved and their complete deficiency in very basic customer service skills. I apologize for the length of this letter, and any hassle it may cause for you in dealing with this complaint. I assume, however, that you will appreciate the opportunity to recognize how representatives of your company are treating their customers. These are people customers who want to repeatedly spend $60,000 or more on a vehicle! I can assure you that any dealers in town selling cars at that price take much better care of their customers. I know this because I have owned a number of high end vehicles in the past, and never had similar complaints regarding the sales or service. I hope that you will take the necessary steps to ensure that Medved corrects their policies so that Hummer can retain their strong presence in the Denver market. As it stands now, Medved is the only authorized dealer of new Hummers and I would never, ever refer any of my friends or family to that particular dealership.

Stacie, thank you for taking the time to speak with me last week; your attention to my concerns and willingness to rectify the problem is exactly what is lacking from the Medved dealership that Hummer has authorized to represent itself in the Denver area. Enclosed you will find the documents you requested. The original invoice from Medved, a copy of the credit card slip I used to pay the invoice and the proof of ownership of the vehicle are attached. Please contact me should you need my assistance.


Sincerely,



Adam P. Smith
President
Colorado Real Estate Finance Group, Inc.
adam@corefinancegroup.com

APS/amg

Enclosures

Cc: Sheldon Smith, Attorney at Law, Holland & Hart
Dan Nohr, Service Advisor, Medved Dodge

[Adam in CO]

So the weird part is that Hummer actually called and said they are reimbursing me for the total cost of repairs from that visit. Go figure.

[CO Hummer]

Originally Posted by Adam in CO

Enclosed you will find the documents you requested. The original invoice from Medved, a copy of the credit card slip

Any chance I could get a copy of that credit card slip?

[CO Hummer]

Originally Posted by Adam in CO

So the weird part is that Hummer actually called and said they are reimbursing me for the total cost of repairs from that visit. Go figure.

Really? Wow, that's pretty unheard of!

I've always have, and always will, HATE MEDVED. That's one of the things that drove me to start changing my own fluids, etc.

The classic MedVed moment for me was when I first got my H2. I took it in three times to get a weird squeal in the steering column dealth with (when I turn left). I still have the exact same noise. After three times bringing it, they finally kept it for TWO complete weeks on the forth trip to try and figure out what it was. At the end of two weeks they said........."well, we've determined that the noise is within exceptable levels, so live with it". Nice.

[PARAGON]

GO HUMMER!

[BKLYNH2]

Nice work Adam.

[Humdingah]

I had the same issue when trying to buy an H2 from Medved...told them exactly what I wanted down to each and eery option and asked how long it would take to order or trade out with another dealer. Even went so far as to offer them a $5,000 deposit...was told I'd have a call later that day in regards to the vehicle. A second call to their Sales Manager a week later and the same promises of "I'll personally get back to you later today"...today came and went. A call to Al Serra Hummer in Colorado Springs and a week later I had exactly what I wanted when they traded-out with a dealer in Texas. They even called me so I could see them roll it off the truck for me.

I will never step foot in another Medved dealership, regardless of brand, and will do everything I can to dissuade anyone from buying a vehicle from them.

[robb]

Wow! Great to hear you got reimbursed.

[KenP]

Glad that worked out for you.

I guess Hummer realizes the potential lose of business from dealerships like Medved. I've heard NOTHING but bad things about them and I live 2k miles away!

Good job Adam.

[partsguy]

Originally Posted by CO Hummer

Really? Wow, that's pretty unheard of!

I've always have, and always will, HATE MEDVED. That's one of the things that drove me to start changing my own fluids, etc.

The classic MedVed moment for me was when I first got my H2. I took it in three times to get a weird squeal in the steering column dealth with (when I turn left). I still have the exact same noise. After three times bringing it, they finally kept it for TWO complete weeks on the forth trip to try and figure out what it was. At the end of two weeks they said........."well, we've determined that the noise is within exceptable levels, so live with it". Nice.

Canceling cam.

[PARAGON]

Originally Posted by partsguy

Canceling cam.

hey, can you get the air suspension sensor pieces separate or do you have to get the whole affair?

I think the whole thing is part # 15124929

I broke a little piece in the arm and have had it zip-tied for about 6 months now and just remembered it when you said cam, for some reason.

[timgco]

MEDVED = SUCK

AlSerra is only another 20 minutes. That's why i buy and get my trucks serviced through them. Everyone I have dealt with at Al Serra has been more than helpful.

Adam, try Brian down there next time. That guys stays on top of $hit!


ALSERRA > Medved by far.

Great to here HUMMER is standing up.

[CO Hummer]

Originally Posted by timgco

MEDVED = SUCK

Who has the better H1/H2 return policy?

[partsguy]

Originally Posted by PARAGON

hey, can you get the air suspension sensor pieces separate or do you have to get the whole affair?

I think the whole thing is part # 15124929

I broke a little piece in the arm and have had it zip-tied for about 6 months now and just remembered it when you said cam, for some reason.

You're talking about the servo arm?

[PARAGON]

Originally Posted by partsguy

You're talking about the servo arm?

I broke some little plastic piece that attaches the 2 arms.

[partsguy]

it's all one unit.A center link in between a bracket on one side and the servo w/connector on the other.

[johndjmix1]

Exactly why I went to Montana to buy my H2. Medved wouldnt even come anything off the list price!?!!!!!

--John

[BlueHUMMERH2]

I was at Medved once. I saw what to me was a giant red flag posted in all of the sales offices on a piece of printer paper, something to the effect of: "A manditory charge of $xxx will be added to every vehicle for diddly squat, and it is non-negotiable." That was likely a key insight into exactly the kind of business they practiced, and what I should expect to deal with should I have purchased a vehicle there. IMHO, of course.

I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble with them.

[CO Hummer]

Adam,
Make sure you tell us what Medved says when you tell them about this. I gotta hear their justification for what they did in spite of Hummer paying for their mistake.