Worst Mazda dealership (Montreal) & even worse reponse from Mazda Canada
I promised myself I would post this after a few weeks of not having received a response. I haven't, so here it is, buyer beware.
Michel Benchimol
Mazda Canada Inc.
305 Milner Ave., Ste. 400
Scarborough, Ontario M1B 3V4, Canada
Mr. Benchimol,
I am 27 years old. The first car I ever drove was the Protgs first model year. My mother purchased it and I drove my first years in it. I said back then, never really believing, that my first car would be a Protg. In 2001 I was tired of driving a used car, I had a good job and was starting to think it was time to buy a new car. After thoroughly looking at what was available, I decided on the Protg 2001 ES GT. From the time I started looking for a car to the time I took delivery, a total of only 4 weeks had gone by. Needless to say I have always been a fan of Mazda.
Before I continue, let me be clear, I love Mazda, I love my car and I dont believe this specific case to represent the true image of Mazda. However, I believe some sort of action needs to be taken to correct the image being portrayed by one dealership.
I'm writing to express my serious dismay and disappointment in a specific Mazda dealership. All my dealings with Mazda have led me to believe that Mazda now finally has strived to truly become the leading auto manufacturer it was always meant to be except this one.
Here is a short synopsis of my two dealings with the Mazda 2-20 dealership in Dollard Des Ormeaux, QC.
Date: Oct 29 2003 / Invoice: 909249
I brought my car in for a 30,000km basic maintenance. Everything was fine, but what struck me as a little odd was that a customer came in after having picked up his car and was furious because his car had been scratched while at the dealership. The service person there, without even looking at the car, claimed that wasnt so. Usually I tend to believe that the person claiming it happened to be correct and not lying. In this case I thought that there could be no way this service person was treating a customer like that unless he really was in the right. I didnt pay too much attention, but the customer left without any sort of help, word or compensation. I ignored it.
Date: Jan 06 2004 (two days before my birthday of all things) / Invoice: 912499
I brought my car in for a 36,000km large maintenance. I asked for a check on the coolant system and the exhaust system (I drove the car into deep snow that had hard ice under it and was worried I damaged something. I received a call midday telling me that my front brake pads were 10% and that the back was 50%. He told me sir, here we dont resurface discs, we just replace discs and pads with a lifetime warranty. He led me to believe he was changing me $450 for all four brakes. I okd the repair.
I received a call at the end of the day from the service department. They said they have good news and bad news. Good news was that the maintenance was done, the bad news was that they had scratched the front bumper. They said they needed to keep the car for 3 days to have it repaired (they replaced the whole front bumper assembly) and gave me a loaner in the mean time.
When I picked up the car this is what I found:
- The bumper was replaced as promised
- The coolant leak was checked, no leak
- The exhaust was never checked, and it wasnt even on the work order (I smell exhaust in the car when the defrost or air conditioning systems are on, which was the first reason I was writing this)
- Only the FRONT brakes were changed out, and it cost me an insane amount of $450 (which I just realized now by looking at the work order in detail, this just infuriates me to no end)
- I had a burnt out headlight bulb that was not burnt before I brought the car in for maintenance
- A belt is consistently whining
This is far from what I would call a proper maintenance.
This is what I firmly believe:
- They scratched the bumper BEFORE telling me about the brakes. They charged me an insane amount for the brakes to make up for the FREE bumper replacement they gave me (unless you can confirm that it costs $450 (before tax!) for front brake discs and pads?!)
- They do NOT complete all checks that are listed on the work order. If they did, my car would have FAILED the lighting systems check they supposedly did.
Needless to say, this very much disappointed me. Kudos to you for excellent cars, but something needs to be done about these people. I cant be the first person to complain about this dealership. I now fear that I would encounter the same kind of treatment elsewhere and that the only reason I havent before is that I havent been looking for problems. Unfortunately, Honda and Toyota are starting to look a little more interesting.
An extremely disappointed customer.
I promised myself I would post this after a few weeks of not having received a response. I haven't, so here it is, buyer beware.
Michel Benchimol
Mazda Canada Inc.
305 Milner Ave., Ste. 400
Scarborough, Ontario M1B 3V4, Canada
Mr. Benchimol,
I am 27 years old. The first car I ever drove was the Protgs first model year. My mother purchased it and I drove my first years in it. I said back then, never really believing, that my first car would be a Protg. In 2001 I was tired of driving a used car, I had a good job and was starting to think it was time to buy a new car. After thoroughly looking at what was available, I decided on the Protg 2001 ES GT. From the time I started looking for a car to the time I took delivery, a total of only 4 weeks had gone by. Needless to say I have always been a fan of Mazda.
Before I continue, let me be clear, I love Mazda, I love my car and I dont believe this specific case to represent the true image of Mazda. However, I believe some sort of action needs to be taken to correct the image being portrayed by one dealership.
I'm writing to express my serious dismay and disappointment in a specific Mazda dealership. All my dealings with Mazda have led me to believe that Mazda now finally has strived to truly become the leading auto manufacturer it was always meant to be except this one.
Here is a short synopsis of my two dealings with the Mazda 2-20 dealership in Dollard Des Ormeaux, QC.
Date: Oct 29 2003 / Invoice: 909249
I brought my car in for a 30,000km basic maintenance. Everything was fine, but what struck me as a little odd was that a customer came in after having picked up his car and was furious because his car had been scratched while at the dealership. The service person there, without even looking at the car, claimed that wasnt so. Usually I tend to believe that the person claiming it happened to be correct and not lying. In this case I thought that there could be no way this service person was treating a customer like that unless he really was in the right. I didnt pay too much attention, but the customer left without any sort of help, word or compensation. I ignored it.
Date: Jan 06 2004 (two days before my birthday of all things) / Invoice: 912499
I brought my car in for a 36,000km large maintenance. I asked for a check on the coolant system and the exhaust system (I drove the car into deep snow that had hard ice under it and was worried I damaged something. I received a call midday telling me that my front brake pads were 10% and that the back was 50%. He told me sir, here we dont resurface discs, we just replace discs and pads with a lifetime warranty. He led me to believe he was changing me $450 for all four brakes. I okd the repair.
I received a call at the end of the day from the service department. They said they have good news and bad news. Good news was that the maintenance was done, the bad news was that they had scratched the front bumper. They said they needed to keep the car for 3 days to have it repaired (they replaced the whole front bumper assembly) and gave me a loaner in the mean time.
When I picked up the car this is what I found:
- The bumper was replaced as promised
- The coolant leak was checked, no leak
- The exhaust was never checked, and it wasnt even on the work order (I smell exhaust in the car when the defrost or air conditioning systems are on, which was the first reason I was writing this)
- Only the FRONT brakes were changed out, and it cost me an insane amount of $450 (which I just realized now by looking at the work order in detail, this just infuriates me to no end)
- I had a burnt out headlight bulb that was not burnt before I brought the car in for maintenance
- A belt is consistently whining
This is far from what I would call a proper maintenance.
This is what I firmly believe:
- They scratched the bumper BEFORE telling me about the brakes. They charged me an insane amount for the brakes to make up for the FREE bumper replacement they gave me (unless you can confirm that it costs $450 (before tax!) for front brake discs and pads?!)
- They do NOT complete all checks that are listed on the work order. If they did, my car would have FAILED the lighting systems check they supposedly did.
Needless to say, this very much disappointed me. Kudos to you for excellent cars, but something needs to be done about these people. I cant be the first person to complain about this dealership. I now fear that I would encounter the same kind of treatment elsewhere and that the only reason I havent before is that I havent been looking for problems. Unfortunately, Honda and Toyota are starting to look a little more interesting.
An extremely disappointed customer.
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