South Coast Mitsubishi Sold electronic component, never installed and still tried to charge me Costa Mesa California

Date of Purchase on vehicle-. Went to South Coast Mitsubishi and Purchased 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X with SSS Package. Sam the person that sold the car informed me as part of the sale that they would be able to install the ipod integration into the vehicle and that I could set an appointment up with the service department to have the part installed. Purchased vehicle as well as Injen intake, Greddy full cat back exhaust with a due bill and paid for the ipod integration on August 6th.

Aug 6th-Went to South Coast Mitsubishi to have the Ipod integration installed. Spoke to Chris (service rep) and explained to him that I just purchased the vehicle and Sam told me that I can install the iPod integration. Chris Confirmed and took my car into the que.

To preface this the vehicle comes standard with an AUX input. I can go to any electronics store and purchase a cable for about $5, which plugs into the headset of the ipod and will play the audio but has no integration into the headunit. I knew this before I set up the appointment. I clarified with Chris that I was paying $175 for the actual integration into the factory head unit. At the time of dropping of the vehicle both Chris and Rigo the shop manager were in on the conversation. They both confirmed that they would be able to integrate the ipod into the head unit. They took the car and I paid $175 for the parts and installation. They said it would be two hours and my car would be ready

I pick up the vehicle six hours later and get in the car and plug in my ipod into the glove box. I wait..I wait.I wait. Come to find out that the experts at South Coast Mitsubishi spent 6 hours and all they did was hard wire the AUX function that is already standard on the vehicle and put it into the glove box with a wire that plugs into the head jack. I was amazed at how ridiculous the situation was. Specifically because I spoke to Rigo specifically what I wanted. Oh and to recap I was very specific with him and the service rep when I dropped of the car. I was even more impressed by the lack of logical sense that these people havewhy would I want to have the ipod in the glove box if there wasn't functionality on the nav unit? As if I am going to want to take my iPod out every time I need to change a song or play/pause the music etc.

So I get out of the car and speak to Rigo and ask why he didn't install what I asked him to install and his reply was that he could go to Radioshack and see if there was a solution. My response was Why wasn't this thought of before I left my car with you for six hours, you took apart my entire dashyou're telling me this now. Rigo tells me that I can come back next week and they will have the part to make it function correctly. I didn't ask for a refund because it sounded like they were going to make good on the situation. I leave frustrated that I have to come back because these people couldn't get this taken care of the first time

August 15th: Today was the day for the return appointment to get the problem fixed as well as install the Injen intake and Greddy exhaust. I made my appointment for 8am and was told that everything would be done by 1:00 pm. I drop off the car and there is a new service rep. I explain the situation to him regarding the problem with the iPod integration and he assures me that it will be taken care of. I also tell him that I have a CEL and that it is revving high and low. He takes the vehicle and I speak to Rigo again regarding the iPod and he says that he now has the part to make it work. He tells me that the part is an additional $50, which I pay because I wanted the problem fixed.

The service rep indicated that it would be finished by noon. One 'oclock comes around and I call the service department. They say that they haven't even brought the car in and that it should be done by 6:00pm. Based on my last visit I should have anticipated this. So I pick up the vehicle at 6:00 pm and to my utter amazement they didn't fix the ipod problem. Now what they did was add a video input (red, white, yellow. I ask Rigo what the problem is and he says,We found out that we can't do it, so I installed this. I was baffled at this point. At what point do service managers just start installing stuff this guy Rigo is the service manager of what I was told is the top evo dealer and service department in the country and this is the guy's response. I tell him thanks for trying but this isn't what I paid for and I want to get a refund. He says he will check into it and get back to me.

At this point I was very frustrated at how much time this had consumed. I also was at the South Coast's mercy, if I started any problems then it would be all awkward if I ever had to come back and get warranty work done so I had to be super nice through the whole matter while I was extremely frustrated.

So about a week goes by and I was out of town on some business so I gave Rigo more than enough time to get the matter resolved and refund me. I call him (of course it would be too much to ask for them to contact me to resolve the matter) and ask what the status is on my refund. He tells me that they can refund the cost for the cables but not for the labor. So right here they have admitted their error but they wanted me to pay the labor for their mistake. I indicate to him that there is no way that I will be paying the labor when they made the mistake. I indicate to him that I will get my money back because they made the mistake and that I will be refunding the amount back to my credit card. Rigo then tells me that I won't be welcome at the dealership. So basically if I tried to get my money back that they are trying to steal from me I would be blackballed from the dealership. So I ask Rigo to explain this to me and he said it all with a straight face, If you refund the card you will be blackballed and won't be welcome at any of our dealerships. I was livid at this point, who do they think they are that they can steal my money and basically screw me out of my warranty since they own almost every Mitsubishi dealership in southern California. I ask who is over him to get the matter resolved. I get the information of Chuck who is the CFO of all of the Mitsubishi Super Stores.

I contact Chuck and explain the whole situation to him expecting that at his position he would recognize the potential for customer service and taking into account that I just spent over $37,000 with their dealership. After explaining the situation to Chuck he informs me that he will look into the situation and get it taken care of.

I wait about a week and don't hear from Chuck so I try to call him for three days and have no luck and he never returned my calls. At this point I had zero interest in taking my car to a dealership that would put me through this much of a hassle when they clearly made a mistake. What would be next, I take it in for an oil change and have to buy a new motor that they installed and charge me for it. So with no intention on ever returning to the dealership I contact Mitsubishi Corporate Headquarters expecting to get the matter resolved immediately with them.

I made contact with Mitsubishi corporate and speak to someone in the customer service department. I explain the entire situation to them and the representative tells me that I will have a person assigned to my case. A few hours later Lupe calls me and explains that she has reviewed my case and that Mitsubishi has no control over their dealers and that I will need to resolve the matter with chuck the CFO. That was the extent of the support that I received from Mitsubishi Corporate all two sentences of it.

After receiving no support from Mitsubishi I tried to contact Chuck again. I finally was able to speak to him and he told me that he would look into the matter again and get back to me the next day. He actually calls me back the next day and starts the conversation like this, I have a check for $143 made out to you and I just need to get your mailing address.Pause and if you decide to take the check you will not be welcome at any of our dealerships for service or warranty, At this point I am so taken back at the fact that the CFO of the company actually just said that. I ask Chuck how he can possibly justify that as a valid ethical business solution and he tells me that it is there policy. I reply back. It is your policy to make your customers pay for your mistakes? He then tells me that they have already paid a lot of money to TRY to fix the situation. My comment back was, Well I am not paying for you to try to do something for my car I am paying you to do what I am paying for. The conversation continues for about twenty minutes. I was honestly just trying to find out how they felt they were justified in coming to this decision. I even reiterated to him that I spent $37,000 at their dealership and I was amazed that they were honestly going through this much of a hassle when the bottom line is still the fact that they never installed what they said they would and what I paid them for.

So we stop the bantering back and forth and I ask him straight up, So basically I take the money that is rightfully mine and if I do I am never welcome at your dealership again? He says that is correct. I tell him that he is in a great position because I am at their mercy. With only one other Mitsubishi Dealership in my area my choices are very limited. He then tells me that he will call me back the next day to find out my decision and leaves me with the ultimatum.

10.2.08-Two weeks have gone by and not to my surprise no one has contacted me. I spoke to Lupe at Mitsubishi Corporate and she indicates that Rigo called and said that the entire balance had been refunded. That was interesting information because I just faxed out some information to my credit card company that they need because South Coast is trying to fight the fraudulent charge and I have not received a dime from them. So now they are lying to Mitsubishi Corporate as well as to me.

So these are the facts. I have no need to knock South Coast Mitsubishi. The total sum that I originally wanted refunded was about $225. This in no way is about the money. It is a matter of principle for me. All of the people that I worked with at South Coast Mitsubishi are horrible customer service representatives; they lied to me and tried to steal my money. I bought a brand new car from them and now they are not honoring the warranty that they sold with the vehicle because they have blackballed me from their dealership. They left me with the ultimatum that if I did accept my money back that I am not welcome and they still haven't given me my money back I had to take it back. I am still amazed at the entire situation and how easy it would have been for them to fix the situation and had a happy customer but instead they wanted to steal my money and thought that they would actually get away with it. Again I enter this information on the forums to warn other people against the unethical business practices of South Coast Mitsubishi which is owned by Mitsubishi Super Stores.

Russ
Lake Forest, California
U.S.A.

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