Audi Burlington - Service Center

Dealer Provides NO Emergency Services to Loyal Audi Owner What should have been a beautiful fall reunion getaway weekend turned into a nightmare, thanks in large part to Audi Burlington. After 49 years of own What should have been a beautiful fall reunion getaway weekend turned into a nightmare, thanks in large part to Audi Burlington. After 49 years of owning mainly European cars(3 Audi's), this was BY FAR our worst customer service experience with any auto service, EVER. We spent 7 days trying to work with Mr. Chamber's Audi Group, initially because they were the closest "Authorized Audi Service Dealer/Facility" when the emergency occurred. It appears they have NO protocols or policies for handling emergencies. In a nutshell, our dealings with Audi Burlington for this breakdown in MA (was a coil failure) involved seventeen phone calls, two flatbed trips for our car, a rental car that ended up being one way for several extra days, an extra nights stay at a hotel, and "potentially"(it didn't happen) a round trip drive from Upstate NY to Burlington to retrieve our car. I guess the "Stellar Customer Service", "A Service Center close by, you can count on", and their Magnus Society rating hyped on the phone(we spent a lot of time on hold) and in advertising ONLY applies to Audi's that they've sold. After the fact, we noticed most of their 5 Star reviews involved purchasing a new car. Ratings are not quite so "stellar" on the service side. This was such an awful and costly experience, ($943.00 NOT including the actual repairs ultimately done to the car in Rochester, NY) that we have contacted Audi America, Client Relations, and have opened a case to explore any recourse. Audi approves these dealers to represent their brand, we feel they should have some stake in their performance. If you care to read the synopsis of this ordeal below, feel free. Otherwise, be warned, if you breakdown in your "luxury" auto anywhere near this dealership, I strongly urge you to find another service location! Thurs. 9/28 @4:45pm-Our A6 begins to seriously malfunction on Rte.93 (just South of Andover). The MIL light starts flashing. We immediately pulled over, grabbed the manual. Problem with engine system."Drive with reduced power, Have condition corrected". Googled local Audi dealers, began calling for assistance. Herb Chambers Burlington Service Dept., the closest at 13 miles away, advised us they were "fully booked until Mon. and based of the age of our car(10 yrs), didn't qualify under the 24 hour assistance program". Next call to Nashua Audi (48 miles farther north). Also couldn't look at the car until Mon., but at least they offered suggestions and said we could have it towed to their location. We limp/lurch the car, in the breakdown lane for 7 miles, to our hotel in Andover. Used Uber for our evening event. Fri. 9/29-Tried to drive car @ 7:30am. No go. Another European car garage in Wilmington was willing to look at the car, if we could get it there. He was a one man shop that would still have to diagnose, then order parts. With him, would be at least Tues. before anything could happen and unfortunately, he was not an authorized Audi location with Triple AAA. We get rides from friends to our events. Sat. 9/30-Call Chamber's Serv. Dept. again as soon as they open. Transferred to Voice Mail. We try again in a couple of hours get Voice Mail again. While the website shows the Service Dept. is open until 4pm, we receive NO return call. Gave up, got more rides. Sun. Oct. 1-We are scheduled to check out of hotel, go to a brunch, then drive 388 miles home. That is difficult without a car. 8am-Find a Rental Car Co. open on Sun. They bring a 2 day rental to hotel and we take them back to Lawrence. Meanwhile, have Called Triple AAA, ordered a flatbed and follow him, in rental, to Audi Burlington. We transfer our stuff, park our car in the lot and leave detailed notes of issues with a receptionist in Sales Dept. She assures us Service will see it between 6:30-7am Monday. We pray they look at it early and may be able to fix it on Mon. We extend our stay at hotel for one more night. Miss the brunch and the Reunion is over, so we wait till Mon am. Mon. 10/2-Wait till 7:30am, hear nothing, call. Transfer to Service, get voice mail . Call back at 8am, operator promises she'll get a message to service. 8:02am Jim returns call. There is no room in schedule, "hope" to look at car on Thurs. or Fri., then they can give us a time frame for repairs! Their best suggestion, is for us to drive rental home and come back when the car is "ready". We are not around the corner, we are 400 MILES AWAY. We have jobs, a dog in a kennel, no free place to stay, and now a rental car for at least another week. We are also not independently wealthy, which I guess they assume we must be. At 11am we check out of hotel and head for Upstate, NY. We are so disgusted and angry, we begin discussing options. We decide to call our regular mechanic and the Audi dealer in Rochester, NY. After considering a few alternatives, we decide to flatbed the car to Rochester and deal with local people we know and trust and who actually give a xxxx about a customer. We call Audi Burlington at 1:54pm and tell them "Not to touch our car, a hauler will be in on Tues. to remove it from their lot." Please call us to acknowledge this instruction. We hear nothing by 3:15pm. Call back, ask for Jim in Service specifically, get his voice mail . Call back and ask to speak with any Manager above Jim. Are transferred to a Jeff Buchholz, also get a voice mail leave detailed message. It states: Audi Burlington is not authorized to repair car and we are removing it from your premises. Please respond. No response from anyone. Tues. 10/3-Transport Carrier dispatch sheet is faxed to us. Pick-up is scheduled today, delivery in Rochester on 10/4. Carrier was apparently unable to pick up today. Do not know if this was due to less than 24 hour notice by carrier or it was a Burlington issue, since no one contacted us. Wed. 10/4- Our local mechanic calls us, driver is at the dealer's in Burlington and they will not release car. Someone tells the driver they weren't given proper authorization. 3:35pm-Call Mr. Buchholz again and get voice mail. Leave an even more specific message, ask for immediate return call. Nothing. Transporter leaves. Thurs. 10/5-Carrier returns today and again is told car hasn't been properly authorized to be released. He calls our local service agent, who calls us. We call and are forced to leave yet another, more pointed voice mail suggesting we will take action if car isn't released. Ask that we be called today to discuss why this is such a problem. Nothing from Burlington and the car still doesn't get picked up. Fri. 10/6-Carrier goes to Burlington for the 3rd time. Burlington claims they cannot find the keys, then cannot locate the car. The carrier FINALLY is given the car after waiting one and a half hours. No one from Audi Burlington ever returns any of our calls. We call Mr. Buchholz one final time, after the car has departed, and request that he contact us to discuss the issue of delaying our vehicle for 3 days. We're still waiting. Of the 17 calls we made to Audi Burlington we spoke with an actual service agent twice, and only one call was ever returned. We have never spoken with a Manager. Our car finally arrives in Rochester on Sat. just before the shop closes. It is inspected on Mon.10/10, and there is a fresh dent, two quarter size patches of missing paint and scratch on the right rear bumper. We know they were not there when the car was dropped off at Audi Burlington, as the carrier inspected the car with us. We will never be able to prove where this occurred, so just one more expense for us in this saga. The car was repaired on 10/11 and available for pickup on 10/12. The cost for actual repairs of Coil#3, 6 new spark plugs and labor: $528.20 + tax. Bottom Line 14 days without a car, should have been 2-3. A thousand dollars in EXTRA costs. That will ruin the best of weekends. More