My Dealership Experience: Integrity Hyundai lethbridge (LONG BUT WORTH IT)

[SteveG]

Email to Hyundai Canada Customer Relations Department

My Name is Steve Groenink and at the end of August I purchased a 2010 Genesis Coupe V6 GT w/navigation VIN#xxxxxxxxxx



Heres my experiences with the service department at my dealership



Day 1, Visit 1:

Did the Delivery inspection with the Salesperson (Terry) everything looked great. Later that day I noticed a chip in the powdercoat of my left rear Brembo brake caliper, I went back to the dealership and showed the sales manager. He tried to tell me that it could have happened while I was driving, as if a rock hit it (billion to one chance). I talked to the service dept who said the tech had found the chip during the PDI and had informed the sales dept of the problem (they never told me, tried to blame it one me)



Service Dept opened up a warranty claim but kept insisting it could be "repaired" even at my Insistance that powdercoat cannot be repaired that it must be completely re-done. I spoke with telephone customer relations who told me the dealership had authorization to repair the Powdercoat only at this time but the CR agent said he would look into it and call me back. Two weeks with no callback I went to the dealership and Percy (service manager) assured me they had a local bodyshop that would NOT paint the caliper but would indeed "repair" the powdercoat. I agreed for them to do the repair. They booked me in for the repair and arranged with the service dept to get me a loaner car for the day.



Dropped the car off and confirmed that the caliper would NOT be painted and that it would be re-powdercoated and that they'd call me that evening, 5pm comes around and no phone call. Next afternoon rolls around and low and behold the Brembo sticker is still intact and I can clearly see the outline where the chip was, in other words they used paint to fill in the chip. Service dept says sorry they can't do anything about it and close the repair order. I'm pissed this was a deficiency the dealership tried to hide from me during the Delivery inspection and in my eyes the car should have been flawless before it was delivered to me.



-Visit 2

2,000km oil change, no problems at all



-Visit 3

Called the dealership to ask about the rev-hang TSB that was released to solve a persistant issue where the ECU doesn’t let the engine rpm slow down between shifts. I provided the Canadian TSB number to the service person on the phone said she'd look into it and call me back. 5Hrs later I call her back (no callback TO me) and she says its an American TSB number and is only applicable if my car shows a CEL code. I re-iterate it is a Canadian TSB and it most definately doesn’t require a CEL code to be applied. She says sorry thats all she can do.



I drive to the dealership and Percy the service manager is visibly agitated with me at this point and I offer to help him find the TSB in his system. He says "I have it right here and it needs a CEL code" and shows me the printed out piece of paper, I politely point out that he is showing me a transmission TSB for the Genesis Sedan, he blows it off and looks at his computer again and I tell him the exact options to find it "Service bulletins->Engine control->Genesis COUPE" and its right there at the top of the list. He back peddled a little bit and said he'd book me in first thing in the morning but there is a date of manufacture restriction and my car may not fall into it, I say thats fine as long as they can physically check whether or not it applies to my car. Turns out it doesn’t apply to my car which is perfectly fine on my end and i'm satisfied that my car already has the latest version (not perfect but not as bad as others)



-Visit 4

Oil change at 8,000km

Drop the car off and tell them I'll wait and they tell me it should only take half an hour or so. An hour later Percy comes out front and wants to confirm with me that I don't need my tires rotated as he has noticed I am running winter tires. I kindly explain to him that you cannot rotate the tires on any Genesis coupe due to the staggered and directional tires and the effect it would have on the traction control system. Percy says “oh right but we can rotate left and right”....I say "no, the tires are directional" and he walks away.



I walk over to the shop viewing area in time to watch them putting my wheels back on the car (I only asked for an oil change, nothing else) with an impact gun and just sits there on each lug nut for 5+ seconds on each of the lug nuts. Yes he was using a torque stick except they are incredibly in-accurate and any tire shop knows they cause wheel stud failures and incorrectly torque’d wheels. I ask Percy to have the tech loosen and then re-torque by hand each lug-nut. He apologizes profusely and says sure no problem.



Then I ask him what weight and grade of oil they are running (knowing full well its supposed to be 5w40 full synthetic and there was a TSB stating this) he says 5w20 but will check with their "genesis coupe tech". The tech comes in and tells me they use either/or but they recommend using the 5w20 as the 5w40 is too thick for the winter....ummm WRONG they are both 5w oils in cold temperatures with the differences being at operating temps the 5w40 has a higher protection level (hence the 40 rating) than the 20.



I'm pretty much disgusted at this point but I have no-where else within 200km to have my car serviced but I feel helpless because I still have a few issues that need to be addressed on my car which I know there are either TSB’s already released or in-the works. I am the Administrator for www.gencoupe.ca which is an online forum dedicated to Canadian owners of Genesis coupes.



Steve Groenink

Who then forwarded this email to the dealership



Steve

[SteveG]

General Manager of the Dealership emailed me today

Steve,



I just wanted to take this opportunity to say "Thank-you" for the e-mail you sent to Hyundai Canada Customer Service in regards to your "disgust" of the service you received at Integrity Hyundai. We really appreciate your feedback as we are always looking for ways to improve our business practices and especially our customer service.



Our dealership receives hundreds of letters, e-mails, and phone calls each year from customers, and the overwhelming majority of those customers are extremely impressed with the customer service they have received in the Sales Department and the Service Department. In fact, Integrity Hyundai has received numerous awards and accolades from Hyundai Canada for our outstanding commitment to customer service.



Even though our dealership continues to be a proven leader in the area of customer service, we are very aware that we can improve, and more importantly we WANT to improve.



I was very impressed with your detailed recollection of events over the past 3 months and I would certainly agree that some of the statements you made are accurate and we will be addressing those in our next managers meeting. As I mentioned, we are continually striving to improve our business and the way we deal with customers and challenging situations. This obviously is one of those challenging situations that we will look at and dissect with the intent of preventing similar results.



It is obvious that we at Integrity Hyundai can not meet your expectations and expertise in regards to the 2010 Genesis Coupe. We completely recognize that your knowledge and commitment to this model line is unmatched and we certainly feel that we have no choice but to recommend that you consider servicing your vehicle at a dealership that can best facilitate your expectations and most importantly your expertise.



I would be more than willing to recommend a Hyundai dealership in southern Alberta and forward your service records to them at your request.



Thank-you once again for the time and effort it took to contact Hyundai Customer Service and please feel free to contact me in regards to this issue or anything.







xxxxx xxxxxx

General Manager

Integrity Hyundai

"We Promise - We Deliver...That's Integrity!

My Reply

xxxxxx,



Thank you for the reply, I know it can be difficult to hear complaints and respond with professionalism sometimes. I have friends that own new car dealerships and deal on a daily basis with similar situations and I know that sometimes the processes are broken and a lot of the time the people at the top of the management chain never hear about issues until they are too late.



If you have been made aware of these issues and have the intention of fixing the broken processes that caused my unsatisfactory experiences then I have acheived my goal.



The Genesis brand is supposed to be a brand that builds prestige for the Hyundai name and with the help of dealerships getting behind that idea, helps sales as well as helping existing owners with something that has plagued Hyundai owners for many years and that's resale value.



As for recommending another dealership to service my vehicle. If that was something I wished to happen then I would have purchased my car somewhere else. As long as I as an owner and a customer am treated with honesty and respect I have no problem having my vehicle serviced at your dealership.



Thank you for your time

Steve Groenink

His reply

Steve,



I appreciate your perspective but I don't think you understand my position in regards to this situation. First of all, I never have any problem responding to complaints in a professional manner. Unlike your friends who own car dealerships, we don't have situations like this on a daily basis, in fact we never have situations like this.



Secondly, if your "goal" was to assist us in fixing our processes, why would you not have contacted me directly, a person who can directly affect your issues? Instead, you chose to contact Hyundai Customer Service, who has very little, if any influence on our processes, especially considering we are an industry leader in Canada for customer service and Hyundai Canada knows this.



Lastly, your insinuation that we have not treated you with honesty and respect is exactly why I would strongly recommend you consider having your vehicle serviced at another dealership. I appreciate that you have no problem having your vehicle serviced at Integrity Hyundai, but your actions and comments has created the unfortunate reality where we can't say the same thing about you servicing your car at Integrity Hyundai.



If you have any more questions or concerns I suggest you come and see me in person.





xxxxx xxxxxx

General Manager

Integrity Hyundai

"We Promise - We Deliver...That's Integrity!

My Reply

xxxxxx,



I'm not sure if there continuing this conversation has any point but there are a couple additonal points I would like to make in closing.



As for the honesty portion;



-Your sales manager made the accusation of the chip on the brake caliper happened during me driving the vehicle when I later found out that service technician noticed the damage during the PDI and made the service department aware who in-turn told me they had told the service manager before the car was delivered to me.



-Percy assured me the caliper had been re-powdercoated even though on the service order it lists - correction=repainted



Regarding Hyundai canada

-Tamara and Percy were the ones who told me to contact Hyundai canada customer relations department if I was unhappy with the repair on my car and even provided me with the phone number to do so.



I'm not sure where I have become the bad guy in this situation. If at any time someone had pointed me in your direction I would have brought up the same concerns to you personally.



In closing I just want to remind you that the most effective way of advertising both good and bad experiences with a business is word of mouth.



Steve

[SteveG]

And his reply

Steve,



Since you insist...



I am the Sales Manager as well as the General Manager and I am the one who mentioned to you that the caliper could have been chipped after delivery, and even if it were in your estimation a billion to one, it could have happened. The key word I used was "could".



Regardless, you are correct the caliper was chipped from the factory. That is not our fault. The dishonest thing to do would have been to send the car out to a paint shop and have them "touch-up" the caliper before you took delivery. You would never have know either way, but that is dishonest. Instead we did the honest thing and followed the process set by Hyundai Canada. It doesn't surprise me that there was confusion, as I am certain this is the first vehicle that Hyundai has ever made that had Bembro Calipers and they most likely had never seen this problem before and obviously weren't sure how to handle it...like us.



As far as calling Hyundai Canada, I find it hard to believe that a person who has "friends" who own car dealerships who deal with "similar situations on a daily basis" (see your quote)



"I have friends that own new car dealerships and deal on a daily basis with similar situations and I know that sometimes the processes are broken and a lot of the time the people at the top of the management chain never hear about issues until they are too late."



I find it difficult to believe that you thought it would be more effective to "achieve your goal" by calling a customer service line rather than speaking to an owner (like your friends), or general manager, or the sales manager. You have had no problem disagreeing with our Service Manager or Technicians, but when they suggest to call customer service, you thought that would be the most effective way to "achieve your goal". You stopped in at least 20 times prior to the car arriving and had no trouble talking to the Sales Manager/General Manager during that time, but when there is a situation that you feel has been handled incorrectly you need someone "to point you in my direction". WOW!



Lastly, thank-you for giving me advice on the "most effective" way of advertising. Now let me give you some advice...



Good business is based on building strong relationships and the key to building a strong relationship is based on mutual respect.





xxxxx xxxxx

General Manager

Integrity Hyundai

"We Promise - We Deliver...That's Integrity!

and my final reply

Where I talked about having friends who deal with similar situations on a daily basis I was referring to dealing with the breakdown in communication and or processes and striving to fix them and provide better customer service.



The repair to the caliper, j&s did "touch up" the paint and its been noted in the work order as such even though Percy assured me j&S re-powder coated it.



Steve

[a social dsease]

Sounds to me like you're being pretty picky. Is a rock chip on the caliper really a big deal? It seems like you expect every single employee at the dealership to know every exact specification of your car (one that has just recently been released). I think they are performing reasonably and I'm not sure why you feel so slighted....

[SteveG]

Originally posted by a social dsease
Sounds to me like you're being pretty picky. Is a rock chip on the caliper really a big deal? It seems like you expect every single employee at the dealership to know every exact specification of your car (one that has just recently been released). I think they are performing reasonably and I'm not sure why you feel so slighted....

At this point the caliper issue is being resolved but the reason i'm making a big deal about it is the dealership intentionally tried to hide it. Then Hyundai Canada authorized them to re-powdercoat the caliper (btw they're brembo's) and the dealership told me it was re-powder coated when in actuality it was PAINTED.

And yes I am being picky and if this was a $18k hyundai accent I wouldn't be making a big deal but this is a $40k Genesis Coupe.

My Biggest issue is the fact that because i emailed Hyundai Canada with my complaint the dealership has basically told me to f*ck off and my business isnt wanted. To me thats not customer service

FYI its the Dealership's JOB to know the repair specifications for these vehicles! I can see some random joe-blow shop not knowing and of course I would cut them some slack

Steve

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by a social dsease
Sounds to me like you're being pretty picky. Is a rock chip on the caliper really a big deal? It seems like you expect every single employee at the dealership to know every exact specification of your car (one that has just recently been released). I think they are performing reasonably and I'm not sure why you feel so slighted....

I would have to say he is not being picky. If I bought a brand new car, and it came with rock chips, damn right I would want that fixed, and fixed properly too.

[Jlude]

If I bought a brand new car, I would expect it to be brand fucking new.

The chip in the caliper isn't the issue, the low down snake move they pulled, saying it would be repaired properly, knowing very well that the caliper would just be touched up is terrible.

The manager sounds like a jackass. You just blew 30-40k on a fucking Hyundai, where's the customer service? You should post this story on every car forum around, then send the links to the GM and Hyundai Canada. Also, send them the threads of past, where dealerships that have been slimey like them, have had a great deal of negative publicity.

[R-Audi]

No offense.. but I think it sounds like you are being too picky as well.

Rock chip on a brake caliper?
To re-powdercoat them, they would need to be completely taken apart, and completely rebuilt. At least a few hours in labor plus whatever parts. All over a small rock chip? Come on.
I could see if its on the bumper/door etc.. but a brake caliper? THey are going to get chipped and beat anyways...

Like the guy said.. it sounds like you are better off going elsewhere.. I dont think I would want to deal with you either. You seem to really make a mountain out of a molehill here... even when you are wrong!

[Jlude]

Before we say "rock chip"

How big was it? If it's your typical chip like on a front bumper, then yes, that's being petty, but if it's the size of a dime or something around that, then yes, I would expect that to be fully repaired.

He didn't pay for a Hyundai Genesis Coupe /Nav + 1 rock chip.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Steve, people who have built cars from the ground up like yourself should not be buying new cars. You will never ever receive complete satisfaction because i guarantee you're more in the know than any of those techs at Hyundai. Jonny car buyer wouldn't notice the issues you are having and thats who 99% of new car buyers are. If you want perfection and mechanical aptitude then you're going to have to shoot higher than Hyundai bro. Porsche, Ferrari etc is where a person like you will be able to find satisfaction. Don't worry I'm sure you'll be getting rid of that car once the Ft-86 drops.

[SteveG]

Originally posted by R-Audi
No offense.. but I think it sounds like you are being too picky as well.

Rock chip on a brake caliper?
To re-powdercoat them, they would need to be completely taken apart, and completely rebuilt. At least a few hours in labor plus whatever parts. All over a small rock chip? Come on.
I could see if its on the bumper/door etc.. but a brake caliper? THey are going to get chipped and beat anyways...

Like the guy said.. it sounds like you are better off going elsewhere.. I dont think I would want to deal with you either. You seem to really make a mountain out of a molehill here... even when you are wrong!

Hyundai canada authorized them to have the caliper re-powder coated and repaired properly, that is not the issue they in turn had it touched up with paint then tried to tell me it was powdercoated, the work order even states that it was painted.

Like I said the caliper issue is being dealt with and the current issue is the attrocious customer service and responses by the general manager

Steve

[5G_celica]

I say you're being too picky.

and because of a rock chip on the caliper, you decide to to give the service staff a hard time. like chewing them out for putting 5w-20 in instead of 5w40, even thought they are both recommended oils for the car.

their fixing it for you the way you want... just let it be

[FraserB]

You should probably edit the title for when this hits Google

[a social dsease]

Yes, it does suck to have a chip of any size anywhere on a new vehicle, and the manager could have been more professional in his final email, but I guess I just think you're overblowing things alot for the magnitude of the problem. Is the dealership being 100% perfect? Definitely not. Are they being absolutely awful and terrible? Not in my opinion.
There have been alot of crazy dealership related stories on this forum (eastside dodge for example) and I guess when I opened this thread i was expecting something really juicy. You know, like the tech spilled 2L of cola all over your dash, or the wheel fell off 2 mins after you drove away, or the manager explicity told you to fuck off. I read the whole thread just waiting for this to happen, but when i got to the end I was like "thats it?". It does suck to have this happen, and you have a right to be pissed, but I was just hoping for something more exciting, thats all.

Best of luck getting this resolved. Are you going to keep going back there? Are you satisfied with the performance of the actual vehicle itself so far?

[5hift]

Way too picky.

You obviously know cars, do you expect a bunch of grease monkeys changing tires for 10 bucks a hour to have the same understanding. You come off as arrogant. If you are so much more knowledgeable than these techs, then do the work yourself.

Going over the dealership`s head and complaining directly too cooperate right off the bat was about as big of a bitch move as one could make. I`m glad the GM didn't bite on your BS and told you to take a hike.

You are buying a Hyundai, yet seem to be expecting high end German quality. You remind me of the guy in the McDonald's lineup complaining about the food quality.

[Xtrema]

To make you feel any better, I think BMW cost more and it's the same shitty service.

[89s1]

Originally posted by 5hift
Way too picky.

You obviously know cars, do you expect a bunch of grease monkeys changing tires for 10 bucks a hour to have the same understanding. You come off as arrogant. If you are so much more knowledgeable than these techs, then do the work yourself.

Going over the dealership`s head and complaining directly too cooperate right off the bat was about as big of a bitch move as one could make. I`m glad the GM didn't bite on your BS and told you to take a hike.

You are buying a Hyundai, yet seem to be expecting high end German quality. You remind me of the guy in the McDonald's lineup complaining about the food quality.

lol, the GM did tell him to take a hike. Everything so far sounds like business as usual at a car dealership.

When I worked at T&T Honda as a detailer, I was shocked at just how much more I knew about the vehicles than the techs as just an enthusiast.

[max_boost]

Wasn't that bad...... but I don't expect perfection because I'm not paying the price for it.......

Rock chip on the rear caliper? Crazy. haha sorry man.

The dealer might as well hire you as the manager since you know more than all of them.

[sneek]

hahahaha Honestly you are like me...way too picky.




Magnified rock chip that was on my car when I received it. It happens to be the only chip on my car. probs 1MM by 3MM....just let it slide

[bituerbo]

You're being too picky. Your issues were dealth with, in a pretty efficient manner. Try bringing a car back to GoFC with a rock-chip on the caliper. You'd be laughed out of their used car lot. The manager responded to all concerns you had and in a pretty professional manner. If you know a better way to run a dealership, then prove us all wrong and do it. The fact that he took your 'complaints' personally also shows that he's passionate about his business. Seriously, service your own vehicle if you're that picky.

+1 for Integrity Hyundai Lethbridge.