Auto Serv of Tilton Ignored customer after knowingly making a vehicle sale with a faulty transmission Tilton New Hampshire

Email sent to Auto Serv detailing all events and concerns. 

Good evening Mr. Paul Gaudet Sr., Mr. Paul Guadet Jr. & Mr. Denis Gaudet,  

                I am sending this email to express concerns I have had based on my experience with the management in the service department. On August 29, 2019 I had the pleasure of working with Sales Associate, Rob Briggs to solidify a very specific vehicle I needed within a small timeframe. That evening we signed off on a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. Throughout the process Rob was thorough, attentive, kind and honest. His customer service is the reason why my search ended at AutoServ of Tilton.

                I shared with Rob Briggs and the gentlemen from finance that I was looking forward to returning to purchase the additional vans I needed within six months. It is unfortunate that my experience since that day has changed my mind, as well as prevented colleagues of mine from shopping with AutoServ of Tilton.

Upon my husband driving the vehicle within less than a two week period, the check engine light came on. My husband expressed worry that he thought there was a concern with the front end and/or transmission and wanted to take it back to Auto Serv to have it checked. I immediately emailed Rob Briggs.

Bruk Transportation <bruktransportation@gmail.com>

Sep 10, 2019, 6:04 PM

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to Robert

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Good evening Rob,

I am reaching out to you regarding some concerns we have come across with the Caravan. 

- Check engine light is on

- Heat and AC makes noise

- Front end needs to be checked 

- On the highway it pulls to the right.

I called into service this evening to schedule an appointment and was advised the next available appointment is a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately, that is too far as this vehicle is for daily business purposes. 

We are willing to try and find a local place that may be able to take us sooner, but because it’s within the 30 days don’t want to worry about the $100 deductible. 

Please advise.

Thanks 

Tawana 

Rob relied to my email:

Robert Briggs rbriggs@sales.autoserv.com via motosnap.com 

Sep 11, 2019, 9:21 AM

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to me

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Suzy from service will be contacting you.

Thanks,
Robert Briggs 
AutoServ of Tilton 
40 East Main Street 
Tilton, NH 03276  
(603) 286-3141 ext 2056  
http://www.autoserv.com/

I was contacted by the Service Department the morning of September 11th and the representative was very helpful in diligently trying to make a way to fit the vehicle into the schedule for service. I shared with the representative that I would need a van comparable to the Dodge Caravan as a loaner; this was a request in which the service department was unable to assist with.

I was advised that I would need to see if there was anything the sales department could do in order to assist. I reached back out to Rob Briggs and he explained that unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to accommodate me.

I shared my disappointment with having to deal with a check engine light after having the vehicle a week and a half and I really needed AutoServ to provide a van so that we could bring the vehicle into to be serviced. Rob said he would speak to a manager and see If there was anything they could do.

I called back a few hours later and was put on the phone with a Sales Manager, I believe his name is Richard, and he secured a van for us to borrow while our van was being serviced. We brought the van in for service that evening, I called the Service Advisor assigned to our vehicle, Sharon Flinn, the next day to review all of our concerns and to specify the concern with the possibility of the front end or transmission being a problem. On September 13th I received the following email and attached report from Sharon Flinn.

Sharon Flinn <flinns@autoserv.com>

Error! Filename not specified.Sep 13, 2019, 10:44 AM

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to BRUKTRANSPORTATION

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Dear Tawana M Cabezas,

The work on your 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan has been completed.  To review the final vehicle report, please view the attached report.

Your vehicle will be ready for pick-up at the time we previously discussed but if you need to reach you can call me at 603-729-1190 or e-mail me at flinns@autoserv.com.

Thank you for your patronage and we look forward to continuing to providing you and your vehicle with our finest service.

Sincerely,

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Sharon Flinn

Upon picking up the van, my husband indicated the concern was still present, but the check engine light was off. I called Sharon Flinn to ask for clarification and a review of the attached report. I was advised that there was no indication of concern for the items asked to be checked out.

I was also advised that the check engine light code was cleared as a result of a stored code (P1741). I shared that I was concerned that the “stored code” was clear, but the code is also a specific indicator of transmission concerns. Sharon indicated that there were no concerns related to the transmission brought to her attention.

I shared with Sharon my concern of feeling like this is being ignored and expressed wanting to have any concerns taken care of prior to my 30-day warranty expiring. In addition, we live more than 30 miles away from AutoServ and it is an inconvenience to bring the van in for service and the concerns are not being addressed during the initial visit.

On October 4th, the check engine came back on. I called several times and left messages for Sharon or John to please return my call and received no call backs.

I sent the following email to Sharon Flinn and John Labonte in the Service Department to receive no response.

2016 Dodge Grand Caravan - Check engine light

Bruk Transportation <bruktransportation@gmail.com>

Oct 4, 2019, 4:37 PM

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to Sharon, labontej

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Good evening Sharon & John, 

Sharon thank you for your time and effort previously with our van - this seems to be an ongoing concern. 

As mentioned in the message I left yesterday, the check engine light is back on. When the van was previously returned to Autoserv for service due to the check engine light, I was advised that the check engine light code was cleared as a result of a stored code (P1741).

In addition I made the request for specific additional items to be checked as well, as the vehicle presented concerns that I did not want to ignore, and wanted them to be reviewed within the allowable 30 day warranty window. When we spoke via phone last Wednesday September 25th as a follow up, I expressed my worry that the check engine light was cleared and the possibility that the additional items of concern were not tended to as thoroughly as they could have been. 

While the van does have a warranty, there is a $100 deductible (which I am aware is not a great expense), but there are a great deal of moving parts with having to deal with a reoccurring problem so early on.

The hour travel to and from for an appointment at Autoserv, because this a company vehicle, needing a minivan in its place while its being serviced - this creates more than expected to occur in just over 30 days of purchase. I do understand what comes along with the purchase of a used vehicle; however, it does not sit well that this all began a few weeks after the purchase. 

Thank you for taking the time to review my concern and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best

Tawana Cabezas 

On October 8th, I resent the email due to no response from Sharon or John; and to this day I still have not received a response.

Bruk Transportation <bruktransportation@gmail.com>

Oct 8, 2019, 10:56 AM

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to Sharon, labontej

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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Bruk Transportation <bruktransportation@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2019 at 4:37 PM
Subject: 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan - Check engine light
To: Sharon Flinn <flinns@autoserv.com>, <labontej@autoserv.com>

Good evening Sharon & John, 

Sharon thank you for your time and effort previously with our van - this seems to be an ongoing concern. 

As mentioned in the message I left yesterday, the check engine light is back on. When the van was previously returned to Autoserv for service due to the check engine light, I was advised that the check engine light code was cleared as a result of a stored code (P1741). In addition I made the request for specific additional items to be checked as well, as the vehicle presented concerns that I did not want to ignore, and wanted them to be reviewed within the allowable 30 day warranty window.

When we spoke via phone last Wednesday September 25th as a follow up, I expressed my worry that the check engine light was cleared and the possibility that the additional items of concern were not tended to as thoroughly as they could have been. 

While the van does have a warranty, there is a $100 deductible (which I am aware is not a great expense), but there are a great deal of moving parts with having to deal with a reoccurring problem so early on. The hour travel to and from for an appointment at Autoserv, because this a company vehicle, needing a minivan in its place while its being serviced -

this creates more than expected to occur in just over 30 days of purchase. I do understand what comes along with the purchase of a used vehicle; however, it does not sit well that this all began a few weeks after the purchase. 

Thank you for taking the time to review my concern and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best

Tawana Cabezas 

Saturday December 7th, check engine light still on and no call back or email from Sharon or John. While my husband was driving the van, the transmission started slipping and now it just will not move. We ended up leaving the vehicle an hour away from home in the middle of a driveway for a problem that could have been taken care of in September.

On Sunday morning, I called AutoServ service department and learned it was closed. On Monday morning, 7:30am I called and spoke to Jesse and shared that I have a vehicle that will need to be towed in for service, but I was wondering if it would be possible to get a van as a loaner? Jesse advised me that I should call back a little bit after 8am for the arrival of the managers.

I called back at 8:20am and spoke with Jesse and she took my concern, request for loaner van and my name and contact number and indicted she would pass it along to John, the manager. At/about 9:30am, I called back and spoke to another young lady and she took my information, put me on hold and said she spoke to John and he said, as soon as he had an answer, he would call me back.

At/about 1:30pm, I called back and the gentlemen who answered the phone, said John was sitting next to him, but was on a phone call and he would take my name and number and was going to make sure John called me back. More than 24 hours later, I am still awaiting a call back.

My exasperation with the overall lack of communication and response from the Service Department management team pushed me to contact the Better Business Bureau. While this is not a normal practice for me, working with a company that does think enough of their customers to provide an email response or call back is not something I am accustomed to experiencing.

When you call the very same dealership, where you purchased the vehicle during a high stress time of need and the service department does not provide “service”, it adds stress to the situation and is very disheartening.

We have an exceptional warranty/service plan and planned to tow our vehicle into AutoServ for service and simply had a few questions that the front line staff were not in a position to answer. It has been my experience that taking the time to communicate with your customers is day one information in sales. The situation demonstrated a lack of professionalism and care for customers.