I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my recent visit to the Tysons Corner Collision Center. Almost a year ago, I wrote another letter about the excellent service as well as the quality of repairs that I received from your body shop manager Robert Kelly. Since then, I have expressed to my fellow friends at the Porsche Club of America how wonderful your service and collision center is. Telling them that I would not trust anyone else with my car. When I recently came back for a cracked taillight and minor scratch on my bumper, I was expecting the same level of excellence as my previous visit. However, my experience was very disappointing.

I came in for an estimate on September 4th and had Tamara review the damage and she sent me an estimate on the 7th. I emailed her on the 16th to schedule an appointment and proceeded to call multiple times. I was repeatedly told that she was not available and when I asked if anyone else could help, I was told no. Finally I was able to make contact, which then took over a week for her to get back to me to schedule the drop off on Oct. 11th.

Upon inspection of the repair, there was a noticeable dimple where the repair was made on the bumper. I did not accept this repair and was told that this time it should only take two days to fix.

When I brought the car back, I used the after hours night drop box. I dropped off the car on Wednesday evening and had intended to pick it up Friday. After not hearing anything from the dealer on Thursday, I emailed Tamara early Friday afternoon to see if we were still on schedule and when I could pick it up. I received no response; therefore I called on Saturday to see if it was available for pickup. The receptionist said that she could take a message for Tamara and she could call me on Monday, at which point I asked to speak to a manager. I was then transferred Eric Kandill, who first apologized for the delay, explaining that the car would not be completed until Tuesday. He then said that he would talk with Tamara and assured me that he would call to follow-up on the repairs Monday.

After not hearing anything from either Eric or Tamara on Monday, I sent Tamara a follow-up email Tuesday morning asking about the status of the car asking when I could pick it up. An email was returned saying that this repair was again delayed another day and that it would be ready on Wednesday for pickup.

Wednesday morning I was emailed by Tamara to let me know that the car would be ready on that afternoon so that I could pick it up. I responded letting her know that I would not be available but would come on Thursday. When I went to get the vehicle I was handed the key and told where it was. No one walked out with me to go over the repair. I also asked if the car had been washed prior to my pickup. I was told that it had been but that was before the heavy rain from the day before.

In conclusion, it has taken almost two months from start to finish to properly complete a five-day repair. I have had to manage every detail of this process from drop off to delivery and even two final inspections. In the future, I hope that you better communicate with your customers about their vehicles and follow through when you assure them something. This sort of service I would expect from a lower quality dealership or independent repair shop and not a member of the Penske Automotive Group. I also plan to communicate my dissatisfaction with this service to trusted review websites such as yelp and also the Chesapeake Chapter of the Porsche Club of America.

Since this letter was sent the General Manager of the Collision Center called and apologized. He did not offer any incentive for me to return. He also did not offer a free car wash since the car was delivered dirty. The saga continues

If that happens to you, move to a different table and by all means get your key back. If they can’t find tell them you’ll wait and do nothing else.

They want to play the payment game, and constantly change everything around. If you ask them a question about something, they go back to the office for about 5 minutes or more and come back and tell you. They take their time on purpose.

They charged us $700 to activate the alarm system and that is another scam.
Watch out for this one also. You tell the finance manager you need to see a contract, he tells you to sign this first and he will show you the contract. It’s basically a paper you need to verify your name and address. You sign it and he gives you another paper to sign and on and on, as you have already forgotten about the contract you want to see.

Avoid this trap. You see, when you sign the 1st form, your mind thinks that was easy and he hands you another one and you naturally sign it. Do Not Fall Into This Trap.
Tell the finance manager you need to see a contract right now or we go.
Of course not having your car key is a problem.

The salesperson told us that was the lowest interest rate they could get us at 6.79%.
The finance manager tells us later that if we buy their $2000 service contract he will take off .2% off the finance charge.

We scheduled the Honda Pilot for the coating of wax they put on it and finance manager said it was free. That’s a lie, It costs us $100.00 and they even did a bad job of putting the wax on as there were traces of wax in the crevices.

Interesting thing is when we bought the Pilot, they brought our CRV around. Remember the one they lost the key too. Bob Bridge Honda is high pressure sales, scam artists, add on all kinds of stuff and the sales man and finance manager lied right to my face. Next time I give a dealer my car key, nothing happens till I get my car key back and the third time I ask for the key the whole place will hear me.

Worst case they tell me they can’t find the key. I’ll take a cab home and go to the local DMV office and talk to the person who oversees car dealers. This person has the power to pull their license. I went to the DMV once before, he called the dealership and got instant results.

Bob Bridge Honda will lie to you, play all kinds of numbers games, and good luck getting your car key back.

You can go with them when they drive your trade in, they will most likely drive a very short distance thru the lot and it kind of makes you feel like an idiot. The answer for that one is, I knew you weren’t going that far, but I’ve had problems with car dealers losing my keys, and didn’t want it to happen again.

Bob Bridge Honda is not a good place to buy a car, sales people lie, finance manger lies, they add on all kinds of extras and the service department does a crappy job putting wax on the vehicle.

Always, Always get your key back and make sure the car is not blocked in.

I recommend McElveen to the lowcountry locals as well as newcomers and vistors to Charleston. They are located right off the interstate in Summerville, the 1st stop before driving into Charleston!

Buyer be aware. Martin Cadila will sell you their cars. But they are nowhere to be found when it comes to servicing the cars they sold. They will give you all kinds of excuses (bankruptcy filing being the main one) to not deliver on the warraty they touted when trying to make a sale.

Up and down the organization starting from the general mamanger to the sales manager and even down to sales staff, they behave like fly-by-night third class used car dealer.

If you want to have business realtionship with a classy and professional car dealer, and get your hard eanred money’s worth, stay away from Martin Cadillac in Elgnelwwod Cliffs, NJ.

When it comes to unprofessionalsim in dealing with customers, lack of timeliness in solving customer problems and unresponsivenss to cusotmer issues and concerns, nobody beats Martin Cadillac in Enlgwood Cliffs, NJ.

- Chrome metal piece next to side view mirror falling off
- Paint on driver side front door starting to peel off
- Carpet under the front passenger seat cut open

It has been two weeks since I notified the dealer as well GM customer service of the defects. Despite number of phone calls and e-mails nothing has been done to fix these problems. The dealer has not even set up an appointment for me to brining the vehicle in for a fix. Their excuse? They do not have even a single loaner!

Most disappointing in this whole process was the dealer and GM’s lack of follow through and ownership for the problems with the car they sold.

After so many mail messages and phone calls resulting in no actions from the dealer, I have given up on them fixing the defects in a timely manner. I am at their mercy and all I could do now is for the dealer to find time to help me which has been very clear to me that (helping its customer) is neither the dealer nor GM’s priority. Not after they sold the car.

According to North Jersey.COM, the dealer recently filed for bankruptcy and here is a part of the article on the bankruptcy and how they – the dealer and GM – are (mis)handling one of their customers like me.

“A repeat Martin Cadillac customer who claims he paid the dealership a $15,000 deposit more than a month ago and never received his car — a $51,000 2010 Cadillac DTS with a Tuscan bronze finish and “shale” interior. He has been unable to get his deposit back after complaining for weeks to Martin Cadillac and to representatives of GM. Large said GM refused to get involved. “General Motors is very culpable and they refuse to take any responsibility at all,” he said.”

If you are looking for a quality product and service, my advice is for you to drive past very fast Martin Cadillac in Englewood Cliff, NJ. Whether it is giving back refund for your deposit, fixing defects on your brand new car that is one day old or standing by their products and service, do not count Martin Cadillac or GM.

By the way, while filing my complaint to Better Business Bureau, I have learned the BBB has rated Martin Cadillac of Englewood Cliffs NJ, “F”, the lowest rating possible given to any business. Apparently there are many consumers out there wronged by this dealer and Cadillac.

These guys dont care about the customer experience. Its more about selling that particular car and the moment you sign the deal, they dont care much…

I would NEVER go back to these guys..

On the other hand, I called up the BMW dealership and asked them if they could help figure this out and they actually spent 30 mins explaining me the legalities etc even though I had dont no business with them and showed no intention of doing any unless this got sorted out.

PS: The salesman I interacted with is Sunil Loprinzi.

Almost a month went by and still no payment. I called Mr. Dave Lawhorn. He said “Send me the paperwork again. They (Accounts Payable) must have lost track of it”. I resent on 7/20/10 and the next day Mr. Lawhorn said he got it. Thirty days latter, no payment! I called and asked for the Accounts Payable person who I found out was Ms. Ashley Parker. Ms. Parker asked me to send her the paperwork. She did confirm she got it and would give me an answer in a day or so. 15 days latter no payment or even a call from her.

Now 2 months latter Ms. Parker and Mr. Lawhorn will not even take my phone call or return my voicemail.

IS THIS THE COMPANY YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR FAMILY’S 2ND LARGEST PURCHASE FROM?

I secured my own financing through Capital One and was given a list of approved used car dealers who had the cars I was interested in. Dick Hannah was offering a 2008 Dodge Avenger in the color I wanted so I figured the no-hassle, pre-approved financing would make this quick and painless. I got a call from a sales consultant, Mirela, offering a test drive the same day I was approved. I explained that I was waiting for the check to arrive in a couple of days, but she said I should come see it sooner in case it was sold before I got there. I went the next day for a test drive and really liked the car, so Mirela said that we could do the paperwork and, since I was preapproved, I might even be able to take it that day. It turned out that they needed the check first. Not a problem.

Three days later, the check came. I had the purchase agreement and other information necessary to insure the car so I swapped it with my ’95 Pontiac, which I sold right away. I got a ride over to the dealership, planning to drive away in my new car after signing a couple of final forms. Half an hour later a sales manager, Saeed, tells me that they have had problems with these Capital One checks in the past, and that I will have to wait three or four days for the check to be cleared. I explained that this was information I could have used when I first mentioned the check and that now I would have to rent a car for a few days, not to mention I was paying for full coverage on a car that I wasn’t driving. He apologized and took $463 off the price to compensate for my rental. Mirela also agreed to deliver the car to me at home as soon as everything was approved. After being told I could take the car when I brought in the check, it was a big letdown to have to wait again.

Capital One Blank Checks have three things they need from the dealership: faxes of the filled out check, the buyer’s order, and the vehicle “book out” sheet ( listing options and specs so they can make sure the loan does not exceed 110% of the actual value of the car). Once they receive these documents, they will authorize the check within 24 hours. Apparently the people at Dick Hannah can’t even do this.

The following Monday, I called Capital One to make sure there were no delays in their approval, and was told that they had not received any documents from the dealer. I called my sales consultant, Mirela, and asked her to make sure the documents were faxed ASAP. The next day I called Capital One again, and this time I was told that they only got the buyer’s order and were waiting on the other documents. The dealership had made me copies of the check so I sent that in myself. I left a voice message for the unavailable sales staff, as well as wrote an email to their website’s “contact us” address, neither of which was responded to.

On Wednesday I called the dealership again, and this time got a hold of Saeed who said he had talked to Capital One and had to adjust the price and needed my signature on the edited check. It seems they had to drop the price another $389 to satisfy the 110% Loan to Value requirement. I went in and initialed the changes, got the new purchase agreement, and asked if I could wait for them to get the approval and take the car. I was told that this wouldn’t happen today so I went back home, realizing that their “previous problems” with the checks were from the dealership, not Capital One.

The next morning I called Capital One yet again only to find that the check had been approved the previous afternoon. When I tried to reach Mirela or Saeed, they were in a sales training session, so I left my number again and waited for the call back. It never came. I called again in the afternoon, again leaving my number for a return call. At four in the afternoon I get a call back. Apparently now they are waiting for the check to actually clear the bank. When I asked Saeed if he really thought that Capital One would bounce a check after giving them clearance to deposit it, he actually said he wanted to be sure first, and that IF the check cleared tomorrow, I could get the car. Shakespeare once wrote that “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind”, and I couldn’t help but to wonder what atrocities the Dick Hannah dealership has committed to warrant suspicion for one of the few consumer-minded banks around. I think that these hucksters would have preferred to arrange my financing themselves (something I did with them 2 years ago and got stuck with a 23.99% loan. This time I found my own financing at 6.71%, quite a difference!).

If they had been upfront about the delays when I first talked with them on the phone, or when I test drove the car, or when I was filling out the paperwork, or even before I left that first day, I may have not felt so misled by them. If they had immediately faxed over the paperwork to expedite the process, I would have been more patient. If they bothered to return my calls or respond to my email, I would have been more understanding of their concerns. They showed me none of these courtesies and have lost a repeat customer. Hopefully my enjoyment of the car will not be tainted by the frustrating experience of acquiring it. I will never buy from any of the Dick Hannah dealerships again and I will urge Capital One to drop them from their list of approved dealers.