Had two of my Hondas in to AutoNation Honda Thornton Road in the last 2 months. The first was for an airbag recall. I made an appointment online and indicated I would be waiting for the work to be done. I arrived about half an hour early. I was the next vehicle in line at the time. There were two service writers, one sitting at her computer, the other was writing up a vehicle already in the service breezeway. Neither of them looked my way for 10 minutes. I just sat wondering if I was in the right place. Finally, one of them came up to me and collected my information. I told them I had an appointment and would be waiting. I was told the recall would take approximately 2.5 hours. I was fine with that. I walked outside after nearly 2 hours to see my Element parked in the lot. I asked the other service writer for a status on my vehicle to which she replied she’d just been handed the paperwork for it by the other service writer. She assured me they would start on it immediately. I waited another 2 hours and went back outside to check the status. As both women were busy with customers, I asked the male service writer to check on my Element. He told me he wasn’t handling that vehicle. I asked if he would check anyway. He asked what it was being serviced for. I told him the airbag recall, that it had been 2 hours since being taken back to which he responded the job would take 4.5 hours. I simply stood there looking at him until he finally got up with a huff and walked over to the service bays. He came back and said it would be another 1.5 hours. I returned to the waiting area where I had discovered that everyone who’d dropped their cars off AFTER me said they’d all been drive-ups and hadn’t made appointments. They said the service writers told them they’d work them in. All of their cars, with one exception, were completed before mine — and several had been completed before mine had even been looked at! And I had made an appointment 4 weeks prior to the service date. After about 45 more minutes of waiting, I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, and guess what I saw? My Element was once again parked in the lot. I looked at my service writer and she glanced at me while I just shook my head. Unbelievable! I went inside to use the restroom, and when I came out, a man was waiting on me with my paperwork. He never introduced himself, and I had never seen him before. He said the car was ready and the keys were in it. I asked him for my paperwork, and he said I really didn’t need any since it was a recall and I wasn’t charged anything. Dumbfounded, I explained that I kept all paperwork of repairs on my vehicles for my records. In fact, I pointed out to him that the papers he was holding actually said “Customer Copy” on them. He gave them to me and I left. Every employee I interacted with had a bad attitude, as if doing their job was an imposition. Absolutely no urgency in performing their work. Nothing friendly in their manner. Not concerned that my vehicle had been forgotten for two hours. Not bothered at all that drive-ups were worked on before those making appointments. Failed to inform me of ANYTHING concerning my vehicle. I had to inquire just to get it looked at. How long would I have sat there waiting after my Element was done because no one could be bothered to tell me it was finished. It wasn’t until the service writer saw that I had seen my car that I was told it was ready. I kept the appointment for my CRV a month or so later because I thought there is no way a dealership could operate this haphazardly as part of its everyday operation and remain in business. Service writers and/or techs must have been short staffed that day, I told myself. Besides, it was only getting an oil change and having a noise on startup checked out. I arrived early once again and pulled up to the breezeway. I sat again for some time like before. When someone finally came over to me, I explained I had an appointment and what I needed done. She told me it would be 45 minutes before they could get to it. That’s fine. I was a half hour early anyway. I gave them my cell number and told them I’d be waiting. After 2 hours, and having gone outside to smoke twice, I became concerned that my CRV had been parked in one of the service bays for more than an hour with no one actually working on it. I told the service writer the horrible experience I had last time (I’m sure she remembered) and asked her to please check on my vehicle. She said the tech was working on several cars at the same time and she would let me know when it was finished. I waited patiently for at least another hour…nothing. In the mean time, the customers in the waiting area were all swapping horror stories about the service at this dealership. One lady got an email from the dealership asking if she’d like to reschedule her appointment since she missed that day’s appointment. She was sitting in their waiting room for crying out loud! She went outside and discovered her vehicle had been finished an hour earlier and no one had told her! I stepped out to smoke (I’d been waiting now almost 4 hours for an oil change and a diagnosis of a noise on startup) and saw my CRV sitting on the lot. Goodness knows how long it had been out there since no one bothered to text me. Again, the service writer must have seen me, because I received a text as soon as I entered the waiting room again. I would never have believed a business could operate with such terrible customer service. As a retired Publix grocery manager, I’m usually very good at waiting. I know how often things beyond our control can mess up someone’s plans. I was willing to give this dealership the benefit of the doubt after the first horrendous experience. After my second visit, however, I can only surmise this is standard operating procedure here. I’m astounded that the service side of this dealership gets away with providing very little service, and the service they do provide is inefficient and needs to be painfully extracted by the customers themselves. How it is that the service manager (I assume) could sit in his office with the door closed having what sounded, from the loud and frequent laughter emanating from within, a jolly good time with two other individuals for more than an hour on one occasion — while his service department was metaphorically burning down — I’ll never know. This service department probably needs a change in management. Someone needs to train their employees in effective customer service. Additionally, whoever is in charge of scheduling needs to be retrained to make sure the appropriate techs are available to perform the specific work for which appointments have been made. You should probably have someone from your corporate office spend a few days sitting in your waiting room to hear all the legitimate complaints. I know they’re legitimate because they describe the same experiences I had. I bought my CRV at this dealership, and I’ve never gone for service at any other dealership. I can promise you, however, I will never come back here again, and I will tell everyone who inquires not to go here, either. I will make all future purchases and/or service appointments at the Honda dealership in Woodstock or at Ed Voyle’s Honda. Finally, while Publix prides itself on exceeding customers’ expectations, which is a high bar to meet for other companies, AutoNation Honda Thornton Road doesn’t even come close. And it doesn’t come close not because it can’t, but because no one there even tries. When you get right down to it, this systemic failure in service must be a reflection of management. If I ran a store or a department as poorly as this, I’d be looking for a job at Walmart where service doesn’t matter, because I’d be fired from Publix.
Kelley Cunningham Girling
Jul 2, 2021
