
Josefina of El Monte, CA on June 14, 2002
I bought a New 2002 Honda Accord EX on May 31, 2002, from Metro Honda and before leaving the dealer, my husband noticed some scratches on the hood, and notified the sales person. We were told to go back the following day and that it would be fixed. We went in the next day, and were told to make an appointment for a weekday, and that it would only take about 30 minutes.
We made the appointment for Tuesday, June 4. We were there since 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., that's when I walked out and noticed that the car was parked outside. I went inside the office to ask about the car and Cliff Nguyen told me that the scratches from the hood could not be removed, unless the car was sent to the body shop but that it would take about three days for the car to be ready. I said that it was o.k., and asked if I could borrow a car from the dealer, or a rented car? He said NO, with no other explanation. I didn't get a call, so I called on Saturday, June 8 and was told that the car was ready. We had to find a ride, and when we arrived, my husband and I noticed that the car had not been moved from the parking space where we left it. They had smeared some paint on the scratches and didn't even bother to wash the car. I asked since when was the so called "paint job" done and Cliff, the sales manager, just said, "a couple of days ago".
We told him that this was not the job that was supposed to be made on a new car and that I did not like it, and all he said was that it would take about three days to sent it to be shop if we didn't like the way it looked. I asked if it would be fixed this time and he said YES. I asked twice if I should call him, and he said No, that he would call me back on Tuesday, when the car would be ready.
I was very upset that both my husband and myself had lost the whole day of work on Tuesday for nothing, that when I got home, I wrote a letter to the general manager, Bill Vazac, letting him know how upset and unhappy I was.
No one called me back on Tuesday regarding the car, so I called on Wednesday June 12, and was told that Cliff was not there, and no one knew anything about the car. Later that day James, the sales consultant, called me back because of the letter that I had sent in, and asked what he could do to help. I told all I wanted way the car to be fixed. He said he didn't know anything but that he would call me back. He called back to tell me that the only thing he found out was that the car was barely sent into the shop yesturday, on June 11, and that it would be ready on Friday June 14.
Also, Chris, the floor manager, called me back, because of the letter, and was willing to help, but all he could tell me was the same thing James had told me, that the car would be ready on Friday. Today, Thursday June 13, I had a message on my answering machine, that my car was ready and that I could go pick it up, but to try to be there by 7:00 p.m., before Service closed. I called back to verify that the car was ready, because I didn't want to make the trip for nothing and they said Yes that the car was ready. Both me and my husband had to get out of work early, and find a ride, just to go there and see that the car was the same, except, they had washed and moved the car from the parking space. I asked to speak to the manager and they were paging Cliff, I refused to speak to him and asked to speak to someone else. Neal Audet, assistant manager, came out to see us. We explained what was happening and that I had been without a car for nine days, and worst of all, they had not done anything to fix the problem.
I was told, again, that I had to leave the car there so that they could fix it right, this time. Neal was very understanding and helpfull and did more than the manager had done in the past nine days. He got us a rented car and told us that as soon as the car was ready, he would let us know, but it would take a few more days.