Avoid Acura Of Pleasanton's (California) Service Department!!

[b_waxson]

AVOID ACURA OF PLEASANTON'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT ALL COST! This is an unscrupulous dealership. Absolutely the worst service department I've ever dealt with. My 2005 TSX has only 20k miles on it, so there's still 30k miles left on the warranty. A couple of weeks ago I took her in for what I thought was some minor warranty fixes. Little did I know... The way I was treated by this dealership was nothing short of despicable. The dealership's henchman, Service Manager Bruce Peters, basically refused to perform any warranty work for me, and treated me like dirt. Problem 1: Split along the stitched seam on the driver's-side seat back bolster. The Service Manager refused to fix the split in the stitching because he claims: 1) that I get into the car "wrong" (whatever that means). He claims that I brush against the side-bolster of the seat, and that this is not the correct way to get into the car. I asked where in the owners manual it describes the "correct" way to get into the car to no avail. 2) that I wear the wrong kind of pants. Yes, you read that right. The guy told me that blue jeans tend to scuff the leather, and that I might not have this problem if I wore slacks. Apparently getting into the car with Levis is not considered "normal use" under the terms of the warranty. 3) that I should have taken it back to the dealer who sold me the car (in Sacramento, about 80 miles away). Ya, I don't get it, either. That's not what the warranty says... He finished blowing me off by saying that after only 20,000 miles I had "worn the seat out" and that I would have to pay to have it fixed. Understand, I really only use this car to take my daughter to daycare in the morning and for an occasional drive. I work 3 miles from home, so I don't even have a commute. The good news is that I have this creep on videotape saying all of this! I also taped him demonstrating the "proper" method of getting into the car (twice) and his butt hit within a fraction of an inch of the spot on the side bolster that my "abnormal" ingress motion hits. Even though I had him on tape, he denied that he came anywhere near it. When I demonstrated how I get into the car, the jerk told me, "that's not how you get in." I'm not kidding, the guy just met me and never seen me get into the car and he has the gall to call me a liar. Now THAT'S customer service! Problem 2: Defective CD Player Good ol' Bruce also refused to replace my CD player that has a tendency to intermittently skip and/or loose it's place on discs. It's a completely random problem, and happens with pre-recorded and CD-R discs. Tough-guy Bruce said that they didn't observe it skipping, so they won't replace it. When I asked him what possible motivation I could have to ask for a new CD player if it worked OK, he admitted that he couldn't think of any-- but he still refused to replace it. Apparently the customer's word is not good enough for Acura of Pleasanton. So it looks like the only way I can get a CD player that works correctly is if I drive to the dealership with it skipping or carry my camcorder at all times and make a recording of it skipping. Actually, considering how reluctant these guys are to fix anything under warranty, I doubt that taped evidence would be good enough to get a new unit. Both of these problems are supposed to be covered under warranty, and this dealership simply refuses to do the work based on the flimsiest of excuses. Honda reimburses the dealership for warranty work, so other than the fact that I bought the car at another dealer, I don't understand what their problem is. Maybe it's the dealership, or maybe Service Manager Bruce just enjoys being a giant a-hole. Way-back-when my Nissan dealer replaced a defective tape deck on my old Sentra just on my say-so that there was a problem (in addition to other fixes), and that car cost half as much as the TSX. Our local Toyota dealer has been fine when it comes to warranty service on our minivan, and I know that the local Audi dealer did a ton of work on my brother-in-law's A4 and never questioned what he said, or refused to do the work. Needless to say, this is not the kind of customer service I was expecting on a $30k+ car. God forbid something serious should go wrong... Hey, here's an example of just how knowledgeable the service department is at Acura of Pleasanton... On the same visit I had them do a minor service (oil change, etc.). When I picked up the car I was scolded for previously running Mobile 1 in my TSX because: 1) they said Mobile 1 is "too thin". Apparently they don't understand the basic concept of the oil viscosity rating. 2) they claim the owners manual specifically says that synthetic oil is not recommended on the TSX. Actually, the manual says that the use of synthetic oil is perfectly acceptable. 3) they assert that you can't switch back to conventional oil once you start using synthetic. I have no idea of where this comment comes from. All of this information is, of course, wrong. Just more quality service from your friends at Acura of Pleasanton. Jeez, they didn't even wash my car, even though they said that they would do it for me. My advice is to take your car to a dealership that doesn't try and get out of their warranty obligations with flimsy excuses. I wouldn't trust these bozos to tune up my kid's bicycle, let alone my car. By the way, I'll be posting the video of my good buddy Bruce the service manager telling me that my warranty is void because I wear the wrong kind of pants on YouTube soon. I'll post a link when it's up.

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[mayonaise]

I would recommend you file a complaint with Acura Corporate. Although I'm not sure if this is the right number (pulled from Acura's website), you can start here:

Acura Client Services
(800) 382-2238

1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501-2746

Honda/Acura is known to take these types of complaints against dealers pretty seriously. It couldn't hurt, anyway. I live in the South Bay, so there's not much chance that I'll ever go there, but thanks for the tip. Hope everything gets sorted out. I've heard of shady dealers before, but that's a new low... Especially for an Acura dealer.

[justtorespond]

hey there, I'm going to send your story to consumerist.com. If and when they decide to put it on their main page.. that dealership and all its employees are going to be in a world of hurt.

[b_waxson]

Originally Posted by justtorespond

hey there, I'm going to send your story to consumerist.com. If and when they decide to put it on their main page.. that dealership and all its employees are going to be in a world of hurt.

UPDATE:

I've just received a phone call from my buddy Bruce at Acura of Pleasanton and now he wants to work with me to resolve my concerns. I've been told that the district sales manager can authorize these repairs and I've got an appointment to meet with him in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you all posted, but at this point I'm guessing that their going to fix the seat and CD player so that this will go away.

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!

GOD BLESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET!!!!

[justtorespond]

Originally Posted by b_waxson

UPDATE:

I've just received a phone call from my buddy Bruce at Acura of Pleasanton and now he wants to work with me to resolve my concerns. I've been told that the district sales manager can authorize these repairs and I've got an appointment to meet with him in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you all posted, but at this point I'm guessing that their going to fix the seat and CD player so that this will go away.

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!

GOD BLESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET!!!!

what did i tell you? look here. consumerist put up the story

thousands saw it.

[matelot]

you seem to be pretty frigging obsessed with this Bruce guy.....
seems you're more interested in getting back at him than getting
what you went in there for - getting your issue taken care of.


and we still deserve to see the video you promised

[b_waxson]

Originally Posted by matelot

you seem to be pretty frigging obsessed with this Bruce guy.....
seems you're more interested in getting back at him than getting
what you went in there for - getting your issue taken care of.

and we still deserve to see the video you promised

I wouldn't say that I'm obsessed... he's the one that gave me the reasons that they wouldn't do the work, and for the most part he's the one that I dealt with at the dealership, so naturally he's going to be the one I talk about when I tell the story.

If I was only interested in getting back at the service manager, I'd be trying to get him fired - I'm not trying to do that. If this is the guy the dealership wants to represent them, that's their business. I'm just trying to get the damn car fixed.

As for what I owe... I have a 1-year-old, and she deserves my attention more than anyone. For now I think that I'll wait and see what the dealership does to make this right before I spend time digitizing the tape and posting it.

I wanna see the video!

[matelot]

Originally Posted by consumerist_f1u

I wanna see the video!

dont hold your breath

[94civicEX]

Make sure and give us an update to this!

It's dealers like this that give all of them a bad name.

[b_waxson]

Originally Posted by 94civicEX

Make sure and give us an update to this!

Will do! Thanks again, everyone!

[matelot]

this guy is full of shit
video my ass
fucking troll

[TheOtherDave™]

Originally Posted by matelot

this guy is full of shit
video my ass
fucking troll

The only one who is getting hot under the collar about this video is you.
I strongly suggest you calm down and cut the flaming now.

[matelot]

well I hate BS

[b_waxson]

Originally Posted by matelot

this guy is full of shit
video my ass
fucking troll

Wow, how things have degenerated here. I'd like to thank matelot for all of his insightful prose. It's great to know there are people in the group that are really interested in sharing their experiences and contributing in a positive way .

You know, I use this forum when trying to get other owner's opinions/observations and as a great technical resource. I've never posted before because I haven't done anything to the car yet, so I didn't have anything to contribute. I finally posted here to let others know of my terrible experiences with Acura of Pleasanton's Service Department - that was my only motivation. Nobody should be treated the way I was on a $30k car that's still under warranty. To be honest, I didn't think that my posting here was going to lead to the car being fixed; I really did originally intended to post the video to let others see how I was treated. It's not often you get something like this on tape!

Anyway, I DO have the video and what's important is that the DEALERSHIP knows that I have it. They don't want me to post it, and for good reason. As it stands, I've got a lot more bargaining power with these guys if I don't post it. If the dealership doesn't make good on the repairs, they know what's going to happen; I'll have no qualms about posting it on YouTube if the Regional Service Manager (whom I'm now supposedly dealing with) gives me the same line of BS. So far it looks like they're going to make good, but we'll see.

I'm sorry that people in the group are disappointed that I haven't posted the video. If I was on the other side of the fence, I'd want to see it, too. But the truth is that I want my car fixed, and to be honest, that's a hell of a lot more important to me than providing entertainment or proof of my sincerity to members of the group - especially when they're so polite . I guess I'll have to let my words speak to my sincerity. Think about it. If I was only out to cause the dealership trouble, I wouldn't be posting updates... I've already caused them a HEAP of trouble.

The thing is that this dealership really did treat me like crap, and they don't deserve the business. Maybe more important, other owners don't deserve to be treated the way I that I was. Even if they do make the repairs, I'm not going to be happy with this dealership, but at least I won't be pissed off every time I get into my TSX because it will be fixed. In any case, I still stand by my initial statement that this dealership's service department should be avoided. I certainly won't be going back there after this episode.

I'm sorry that you all will likely not get to see what I'm sure would be a very entertaining video, but the car isn't fixed yet, so I guess there's still hope. Frankly, I'm hoping they just fix my damn car so I can quit spending time on this.

As for Mr. matelot - take a chill pill, dude. So far all you've done in this thread is slam me. If you spend the time to actually read what I've written, you'd see that I'm just trying to let others know of my experiences with this dealership. If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. It doesn't justify the name calling or the bad attitude.

To everyone else in the group - thanks again for your help!

[ACURAmechanic]

I have worked in various dealerships for 15 years, and i am usually very skeptical of people who complain about dealers. That being said, I dont doubt your story at all.

I often tell new employees, half jokingly, that when people come on to the lot they are expecting to get screwed because two of the sorriest bastards on earth work here; mechanics and salesmen. And it appears that Bruce Peters and the rest of Acura of Pleasanton are working hard to perpetuate my little axiom.

But on the bright side, when a DSM gets involved the customer usually gets what they deserve or some times more tham they deserve. So I am sure every thing will work out for you. I wish you the best of luck and thank you for warning us about that dealership.

IT IS DEALERS LIKE THAT ,THAT GIVE THE REST OF US A BAD NAME

[ACURAmechanic]

By the way, you may of misunderstood Matelot's troll comment. A troll is an employee of a dealership who slanders a competing dealer to steal their customer base. I think that is what he was so eloquently trying to convey.

[Danny6996]

To B waxson and justtorespond,
I'm not here to defend big corporations or anything but if you think about it, why else would a dealership not want to do warranty work? Dealerships get audited for fraudulent warranty claims all the time, if a dealership can't justify a wear and tear item as a warranty issue then why are you slandering them? I've been on both sides of the spectrum but fair is fair, I hate it when I get dropped calls or my cell phone freezes up, but hey I've dropped it, I know I have and I'm not gonna go boycott Motorola or degrade their name on the internet because I'm not getting my way. As far as CD's go, I don't know, I've had the same problem with burnt discs too, I think it's something with the quality of disc I was using, I went from cheap ones to Fuji and that seemed to work fine. Good luck with all that, lifes too short to be angry.....

[Acura Svc Mgr]

My name is Bruce Peters and I am the Service Manager you have all been reading about. I wanted to respond the facts as to the original posters situation. No dealership has the right to deny warranty coverage for repairs, only the Manufacturer can deny warranty coverage. In fact, to do so is illegal for any dealership, of any Manufacturer, as regulated by the Bureau of Automotive Repair. In the event that a claim is denied it is unfortunately the responsibility of the Service Manager to pass along this information as we are the contact person for the Manufacturer at the dealership. Unfortunately this seat repair was denied because the leather side bolster was worn away, the seam and stitching are still currently intact. We at Acura of Pleasanton understand and are empathetic to the client’s disappointment and frustration with the denial of coverage from Acura. On his behalf, prior to the internet postings, I was lobbying to see if Acura would help in any way with the expense of his repair, even though their representative had denied authorizing warranty after a physical inspection. On March 30th Acura’s stance is still that this is considered wear, and not a warrantable repair, caused, possibly, by sliding across the seatback when entering and exiting the vehicle, but agreed to replace the seat back cover as a “One time only Goodwill repair” in the interest of client satisfaction at Acura of Pleasanton. Currently Acura is working to accommodate the client at another dealership as per the client’s request. Acura is also willing to replace his CD player under warranty stating that “the CD player is only designed for OEM CD's. Aftermarket and CD-R may jam the CD changer unit.” The comments made about the synthetic oil were based upon the fact that the clients vehicle came in with a check engine light on and it was determined to be caused from his engine being 3 ½ qts. low on oil. As this is not the OEM oil recommendation he was advised that he may need to check his oil level more often. This was the client’s very first visit to Acura of Pleasanton, we are sorry it could not have been a more pleasant experience for him. Acura of Pleasanton is a 3 time winner of Acura’s “Precision Team Award”, which is the highest award available to a dealership from Acura. Our Service department also won the “2006 Acura Client Experience Award” for customer satisfaction. We did not want to respond sooner to the postings, as we are still working on resolving the client’s concerns and did not want to make any false statements. We appreciate the kind comments made by several of our loyal clients and are always willing to personally address any concerns or questions that any client may have. Thank you all for your feedback and interest in Acura’s client relations.

[lufkintravis]

You know, you shouldn't be a hard-ass just because someone wants to hold on to their hard-earned money just as much as you wanna take it from them and they don't just give in... How many times have dealerships taken advantage of customers, for probably billions collectively... Now, how many customers do you know that have ripped off a dealership (including that crock of SHIT phrase, "You're stealing this car from us @ this price.")? BITCH, PLEASE!

[michelle2007]

To Bruce Peters, I was just about to bring in my 2003 Acura TL Type S for the really cute 2007 model. I wanted to check on the reputation of your dealership and I found this information. After reading this, I decided to buy my car from a different dealership! You lost a sale of a new car and the trade in. It looks like over 7,000 people have read this positing. Good luck with your career, you need it! Cheers!

[DarkDB1]

I recently purchased a 2003 TL Type-S.

I called this dealership to get the code for the radio, I just read the lady the vin number and got the code... Pretty hassle free...

But i want to take it down there to have them check on the transmission for the recall since im paranoid about it blowing before i go over warranty in 28K miles... Or strands me 50 miles from home.

We'll have to see how this goes if they pretty much tell me to leave or not. My car was originally purchased from Acura of Pleasonton so they cant tell me to take it to the original dealers... Maybe next week or the week after.

[KillerX]

your transmission is cover up 109k miles warranty.trans has an ext.on the warranty.service bulletin 02-027

[Dumpster]

To All,
I am a Pleasanton of Acura customer and very very pleased with the Service and Sales departments. ALL of my warranty work I requested was completed and each time the service department has completed extra service or warranty work at NO Charge.
Recently a service took longer than expected and the service department provided a rental car for each car in service (yes, two rental cars for my wife and I) at NO Charge.
I recommend this dealership for anyone who want quality, respect, and TRUE customer service.

[totalimmortal]

I cant trust you, your name is Dumpster.