Green Lincoln Mazda

In August 2008 I purchased a near-perfect 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis with a little more than 25,000 miles on it. During the twenty-six months I have owned it, I have not put so much as a tiny scratch on i Grand Marquis with a little more than 25,000 miles on it. During the twenty-six months I have owned it, I have not put so much as a tiny scratch on it. On Wednesday, October 6, 2010, I decided to go to Green Lincoln Mercury Mazda at 3760 Sixth Street Highway West in Springfield, Illinois (62703), for an oil change. I arrived shortly after 11:00 a.m. and slowly approached the service bay as I had never been there before. There were two cars in the service bay when I arrived. I nosed my car into the bay, a couple of feet behind the second car and shifted the car into park. At that exact instant, a huge overhead door came into my view and continued down to the windshield, completely shattering it. It seems the service writer (whom I believe was Toby Luster, the "service adviser"), had, as they say in the south--and if he is to be believed--called himself looking to see if there were any cars in the driveway, saw none, hit the button to lower one of the two huge overhead doors at each end of the service bay, turned his back and walked away. Since the door could not be moved off of my car, I suggested the use of the dealer's hydraulic repair jacks. Two upright hydraulic jacks were brought out from the shop and the door was lifted off of the car. An employee carefully backed my car up and parked it in the Green parking lot. The service writer immediately attempted to place the blame for the accident on me. The only way the accident could have been my fault would have been if I had turned right toward the service bay, accelerated to 60 mph or more, then jammed on my brakes, just in time to nose under the door as it lowered onto my windshield. This would have been a physical impossibility, since I could never have stopped in time to avoid damaging the two cars which were parked in front of my car. In the first place, it was a beautiful morning. The sun was out, the wind was calm, the temperature was in the mid- to upper-sixties and I was wearing a short sleeved shirt. There was no attempt to lower the second door and as far as I am concerned, with the weather being as nice as it was, there was no reason why the door had to be lowered in the first place. What's more, the door itself, as heavy as it is, has no clutch and no safety stop of any kind. Once locked on the my windshield it could not be lifted off by three grown men. The service writer even went so far in his accusations as to point out to me that he had another employee who witnessed the event, thereby insinuating that I was obviously at fault for the accident. I said, are you saying I was at fault in this accident?" He said, "Yes." The fact is, when I nosed my car into the bay, there were no employees in the bay. None. He also made a smart-xxx remark, referring to me as "Hollywood," because I happened to be wearing sunglasses. The employees I met at Todd Green's Springfield dealership are not only extremely rude, they are all liars. After I searched most of the premises, looking for the general manager (Tim Nice), and could not find him, he eventually met me in a large waiting room. He said the windshield would be replaced by the dealership and gave me the key to a "loner" car, a late-model white Mazda, which he said was parked in the parking lot. I asked him if I could get the oil change for which I came to his dealership in the first place and he said there was no way I could get an oil change, since an appointment was required. This also is not true. I had called Green the previous week and talked to the girl who answered the telephone about service. I asked her which day of the week was the slowest day for service and she said if I came in either Wednesday or Thursday morning around 10:30 or so I would not have a problem getting service or having to wait very long. I specifically asked her if I needed to make an appointment and she said, "No." So much for the argument that I have to make an appointment on the other side of town for a simple oil change. The statements and the tone of the general manager continued to infer that if I had made an appointment and not just shown up at his dealership for an oil change, the accident would somehow not have happened at all. It is difficult to explain how many efforts were made to place blame on me for the problem and for my damaged vehicle. As I was talking with the general manager, who attempted to end the discussion a number of times by saying the dealership would replace the windshield, another employee interrupted to caution me about approaching an overhead door slowly. At this point, I came very close to completely losing my temper. I could not have approached the service bay any slower than I did and I thoroughly resented his accusation that I did not know how to drive. I have driven cars, trucks and tanks for the better part of 61 years. I have never had a ticket or an accident during the 22 years I have spent in Springfield and I did not need his advice, which was obviously another employee effort to somehow make the accident my fault. I was able to handle what happened to the car I have babied for over two years, but the insinuations, the efforts to place blame on me and the outright lying I have had to endure from the employees of this dealership have really been beyond the pale. The general manager said the windshield could not be replaced on the day of the accident. I asked him why--with all the glass companies in Springfield--and he said he had a business contract for glass repair and that the company would not be able to get the correct windshield until the following day (Thursday). He said I would get a telephone call the next day after the work had been completed. I finally left the building and my car, located the Mazda in the parking lot, spent some time trying to figure out the basics of the vehicle (having never driven a Mazda) and started to drive home. Since I was still trying to figure out the accessories on the car, I drove a pretty good way before I discovered the gas gage showed the car was on empty. Since I had only a short distance to go, I continued on home and parked the car. I have not driven the Mazda since arriving at my house. Shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, I received a telephone call from Mike Helfrich, the service manager. He said the car was ready and I could come and get it. I again asked if I could get the oil changed before I picked the car up, since they had not serviced it on Wednesday. He said he could not change the oil without an appointment, he could not do it "today" and he could not do it on Friday. I said, "In other words, you are saying you refuse to service my car?" He denied this accusation and again said I had to have an appointment. I replied, "You don't mind if I don't believe you, do you?" He said, "Okay, so call me a liar," and hung up on me! I immediately called Tim Nice, the general manager, and told him about the conversation I had with his service manager. All he said was that I could pick up the car. I asked him why they could not change the oil since the car was already there, but he did not answer me, simply repeating the fact that I could pick up the car. I then told him that he would have to have somebody drive my car to my house and pick up the Mazda, because he had given me a loaner that was out of gas. He said, "The car is out of gas?" I said "yes" and asked him when he would be returning my car. He said, "When I get around to it," and hung up. This conversation was more than 24 hours ago. My car has been at Green Lincoln Mercury Mazda for over two days and no effort has been made to return it to me. The police say there is nothing I can do but go and pick it up, since Green is not preventing me from getting my car. When I asked how I could do that, the policeman said I could drive the Mazda until it ran out of gas and then call the dealer or take a cab to pick up my car. He said he was sorry I was treated the way I was treated, but there was nothing he could do. He also said he would never have taken a car to Green in the first place. I said I had a Mercury and it was the only factory dealer in the area. He told me that was up to me, but even so, he still would not have gone to Green. I called Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, and a customer service representative said she would make a report and send it to a consumer conflict resolution specialist (or some such person) to try and resolve the issue. I asked here where this consumer person was and she said he was at the dealer. She said there was nothing else she could do because Green's dealership is independent of Ford Motor Company. She apologized many times for the treatment I have been receiving and said she hoped my car would be returned. I also left a message for Todd Green at his home and another message at his office. Todd is the dealer principle and owner of the Green Family Stores Service Centers. So much for free and independent businesses. I doubt I would be worse off if I were dealing with Obama's General Motors Corporation. Even as I write this, I still have no car and no solution. Maybe I can charge them rent for parking a Mazda with no gas in the tank. UPDATE It seems the insults never end. I finally got my car back, 28 hours after it was promised. The two Green employees who arrived with the car were not carrying chips on their shoulders, they were carrying railroad ties. The black one told me I was lucky to have had my windshield replaced. He said they did not have to fix it. I asked him if he was a lawyer and he said, "No, but my mother is." He did not wish to pursue the matter any further, although he complained about everything else of which he could think My car was only returned because Todd Green called me back a little after 4:00 p.m. today. He asked for a few minutes and said he would call me back, which he did almost immediately. He said the car would be returned and transferred me to his general manager, Tim Nice, who is anything but nice. Tim could not resist one last jab. He wanted to know why I couldn't go to a gas station and "put a couple of dollars worth of gas" in his car. Apparently all the mistakes Green makes are the customer's responsibility to correct. The results? Aside from a whole lot of tiny shards of glass, which had popped out of the windshield due to the tremendous pressure the door had put it under, I found two things of interest. I expected to find bits of glass for a long time, but I did not expect to find my front floor mats missing. The young idiots who delivered the car were especially helpful. Aside from calling me an xxxxxxx under his breath, the African-American said he would return the floor mats if he found them. I said, "If you find them?" The second issue is inconceivable, even under these circumstances. Seems that since I had their vehicle with an empty tank of gas, someone decided to take my vehicle and my gas out to lunch today. I found a cash-register receipt from Cheddars for a sit-down meal on the east side of Springfield, at Dirksen Boulevard and Horizon Drive. My car was supposed to have been ready to pick up 24 hours earlier. The receipt is dated today (October 8, 2010) at 12:57 p.m., and it includes a $3.00 tip for a $7.88 (with tax) meal. It seems those who drive my car tip exceptionally well with their Visa cards. Incidentally, Green Lincoln Mercury Mazda is located on the southern end of Springfield, quite some distance from Cheddars on Horizon Drive. There is no way to know where else they went in my car. I believe I can document the exact number of miles they drove it, but the Springfield police say the use of my car by the dealer's employees for joy riding is a civil matter and does not break any laws. Apparently the only laws Green breaks are on the income side of their ledgers. I also know they did not drive at all carefully. The things in my trunk were all bounced around. These items are never, ever moved when I drive the car, even during the occasional times when there is a need to stop suddenly. You want to meet somebody who is totally pissed off and hostile this week? Come, see me. Is it over? Not quite yet. It will be over when I decide it is over. P.S. According to a site review of Green Lincoln Mercury Mazda, the new car salesman referenced in the duplicate reviews below is no longer with the company, which figures. Turnover at poorly run dealerships is early and often. More

We always dreaded new car shopping.However when we visited Green Mazda,there was definitely a different feeling in the air.We were not pounced on like prey,we met the nicest salesperson and we instant visited Green Mazda,there was definitely a different feeling in the air.We were not pounced on like prey,we met the nicest salesperson and we instantly liked him,his name was Rhett McCrady and he actually was interested in what we wanted and needed and not how fast he could cram us into some model that he could get the biggest commission on.He was open ,honest and didn't try to be pushy or obnoxious at any time during our visit,he even stayed past closing to talk and let us drive a car.When we decided that we could not afford our first choice(and they sure did a nice job trying to get the price right!!),he had us list what we wanted and found a lesser priced model that had almost all the things we wanted and we ended up buying this model.We had to give them a super rating because they played straight from the start,gave us more than fair trade in on our car,we got a super price on our mazda3i and were happy as xxxx and highly recommend visiting this dealership ,if you go to Green Mazda,ask for Rhett McCrady,he is a hoot and will treat you like a human being instead of fresh meat,I wish I could afford another Mazda,because I would be back there in a flash for the super service and a really nice car...Jarvis family,Kincaid il. More

We always dreaded new car shopping.However when we visited Green Mazda,there was definitely a different feeling in the air.We were not pounced on like prey,we met the nicest salesperson and we instant visited Green Mazda,there was definitely a different feeling in the air.We were not pounced on like prey,we met the nicest salesperson and we instantly liked him,his name was Rhett McCrady and he actually was interested in what we wanted and needed and not how fast he could cram us into some model that he could get the biggest commission on.He was open ,honest and didn't try to be pushy or obnoxious at any time during our visit,he even stayed past closing to talk and let us drive a car.When we decided that we could not afford our first choice(and they sure did a nice job trying to get the price right!!),he had us list what we wanted and found a lesser priced model that had almost all the things we wanted and we ended up buying this model.We had to give them a super rating because they played straight from the start,gave us more than fair trade in on our car,we got a super price on our mazda3i and were happy as xxxx and highly recommend visiting this dealership ,if you go to Green Mazda,ask for Rhett McCrady,he is a hoot and will treat you like a human being instead of fresh meat,I wish I could afford another Mazda,because I would be back there in a flash for the super service and a really nice car...Jarvis family,Kincaid il. More