When I first purchased my Mazda 5 from this location in 2010, we opted to have a moonroof installed. I had to bring it back a few weeks after buying it and it was sent to some place in Racine. It came back and they had stolen money out of my "change bin".
The salesperson apologized and handed me a $10 bill.
Our salesperson was great and we were willing to recommend Mazda and Amato to other family members buying vehicles. One bought a Mazda 6 from our salesperson just a few months after we purchased ours. The other bought a used CX-9 from another dealer because this location didn’t have any in stock.
During the Fall of 2011 someone backed into my car. We exchanged insurance information and I got quotes. One from Amato's body shop. I was in contact with the insurance company and called Amato to drop off my car. I specifically asked about the insurance information and the advisor told me that everything was in place. I dropped off my car at Amato’s Body Shop in early January 2012. The service advisor put all of the paperwork together and started work on my car. Days went by without my car.
When they completed the work and processed payment, the insurance company refused to pay. Apparently the claim, and subsequent work, was never authorized. There should have been a “claim number” and there wasn’t one. I trusted that Amato knew what they were doing and that everything was okay with the insurance. I had made it clear that it was insurance work, and they never checked for a claim number? I was told that --I-- never had it authorized. Like --I-- know what I’m doing? They’re the body shop--shouldn’t --they-- know that they need a claim number before they’ll get paid? Shouldn’t --they-- check these things before I drop off my car AND before --they-- start the work?
No--it was me. My issue. To top it off, after a week without my car, Amato REFUSED to give me my car back until --I-- paid for it.
I talked to my insurance company--and an attorney--and we agreed that I'd pay for the vehicle and be reimbursed by insurance. I wasted hours of my time dealing with this. Not to mention that when I was leaving I found that they had scratched my car on one side. I was so angry and eager to leave that I told the body shop manager (who agreed that they did the scratch) that I would just bring it back. I never did.
The next year, 2013, with less than 20,000 miles on my Mazda 5, I noticed that there was shaking/wobbling in the passenger side front tire/wheel. I brought it in to have this resolved. I presumed I just needed balancing or an alignment.
While the details are not documented on the invoice, I had to bring it back at least 3 times, though it was probably 5 times. Each time I’d drive to their location, wait for the shuttle, get to work/home and wait a few hours, get picked up by the shuttle, and then wait for my car. At least 3 times, but it felt like 5.
After all of these drop offs and returns, they found that there was a warranty issue with a wheel bearing, and the issue caused damage to the front tires. I was told that the wheel bearing was under warranty, but the tires were not. I had to pay for tires, though they gave me a "discount" on the new tires. Each time I dropped off my car they uncovered something “new” to discuss. First the wheel bearing, but they didn’t have the part, then the tires, but they didn’t have the tires, etc.
After however many visits, wasting hours of my time, the issue was finally "resolved". I drove away and noticed that it was still wobbly. Just miles from Amato, I called back -- while I was driving. The service advisor, Chris Minor, told me that it wasn't a problem. He said that I’d notice it for a while and that the car just needed several thousand miles to even out--it would go away.
I don't put many miles on my car. It's 5 years old now and I haven't hit 30,000 miles. It took quite some time to put "several thousand miles" on my car.
When I noticed that it wasn't going away, I was hesitant to call back. Like everyone, I’m busy. The thought of bringing it back to repeat the same process of bringing it back in over and over and over followed by having to pay for another set of new tires, or whatever, was daunting.
While more than 12 months passed, there was no point in which I felt like this would be an issue. They did the work, the car wasn’t fixed properly, obviously they’d fix it again.
On June 25th, 2015 I called to resolve this.
I pulled out the original invoice and read a paragraph about customer service and if I can't say that I was "completely satisfied" that I should call Mike Evans.
I started with Mike.
After being short with me from the beginning, leaving me on speaker phone instead of picking up the phone, and only after he realized that I was getting upset, he finally picked up the phone and looked up my invoice.
From the start he explained that I took too long to call back. From the start I explained that I was told that it was fixed and needed "several thousand miles" to go away. It took me a while to put miles on it, and I was hesitant to even call given my previous experience.
He stuck with his side--it was a warranty issue and the warranty has expired and, therefore, not Amato's problem. I was told that Amato would not fix the car "under warranty" (Implying that it would be entirely out-of-pocket for me).
There was no point in which he said, "Bring it in, we'll take a look at it and set things right." Or something like, “Your satisfaction is important, bring it in and we’ll work something out.” This is how you handle a difficult customer situation. This is how you keep people coming back--even if they are upset. You stay calm and work through it.
Throughout the entire conversation it was CLEAR that I was bothering him and that Amato would not be providing any "free" or "discounted" work. I took too long to call back; it was my problem.
I was becoming more and more upset as we talked. But, there was never a point in which I called him names or became rude. I have a customer service background and set him up for various opportunities to offer a coupon, or a “wink wink” discount. He wasn’t interested. And I was growing more and more upset. This didn’t seem to matter to Mike.
Within the conversation, when it became clear that he was not interested in “discussing” Amato’s role in my issue, I mentioned that I'd referred my in-laws to Amato to buy a Mazda, and I was not having a good experience. I asked, “Based on what you’re telling me, do you think that I’m going to recommend Amato again?”
He told me that there was nothing he could do. It was out-of-warranty.
I then explained to --Mike Evans-- the person listed to contact if I’m not “completely satisfied”, the person who should be the best at customer service in the organization, that I'd also had an issue with the body shop doing work on my car before insurance approved it--and that they held my car hostage until I paid for it.
He told me that there was nothing he could do.
You--reading this--would you be upset? I was. Still not rude. Not calling him names. Not saying that I was going to call an attorney or whatever. But, upset. I kept waiting for his customer service skills to kick in and just have me come in--to resolve it. Instead, I continued listening to him, not believing that THIS is how I was being treated by the guy I was supposed to contact if I was not “completely satisfied”.
And... he hung up on me.
THIS is John Amato service.
DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS PLACE. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE FOR SERVICE. DO NOT USE THE BODY SHOP.
The buying experience was lovely. The post-purchase service has been terrible. From the start. While I can’t say that the handful of times I took my car in for an oil change [few and far between as I use synthetic oil and, as noted, put few miles on my car] were bad, the major reasons I’ve brought my car in for service have been TERRIBLE. From the start--the moon roof with money stolen, to the body shop not doing their job to make sure the car was approved, to the warranty issue that they took weeks to resolve. Oh, and wait, they never truly resolved.
This is the true face of Amato--if you have an issue with their service, “Have a nice day. Good bye.” [click]
