What started out as a great experience has turned into an - skits2112
What started out as a great experience has turned into an unfortunate series of disappointing exchanges with a service staff and management that are largely unresponsive and surprisingly poorly trained.
My issue all stems from an April 1st, 2026 service visit for my 2021 A4 having dropped the vehicle off to be looked at for a malfunctioning alarm. The service advisor, Tom Pillon, did a pretty poor job of communicating expectations with me such that the car sat for 48 hours with no action until I began calling multiple times. It was after I showed up in person that he offered that there would be no way for him to service my vehicle for another week. Had I not presented myself in person, I'm sure the car would have continued to be parked with no service and barely (if any) communication.
He did make sure to charge me for a diagnostic, however, though he could not articulate to me what the issue actually was.
As a result, I decided to cancel my service contract on April 24, 2026 as I realized that their service department is likely not the best place to service my Audi. I'm fortunate to also own a 911 and a BMW F30 which are both are regularly serviced at authorized independent service centers. I hoped the Benzel Busch name would represent the high quality care and service I expect but I was sorely disappointed.
The crux of my issue, however, has turned out to be less about the haphazard service and more about the slow and painful process of cancelling the service contract.
After finally having had the contract cancelled with a processing date of May 13, 2026, the contract residual amount totaling $1,716.13 remains unpaid despite having sent 2 registered letters that were ignored.
Surprisingly, I've messaged with the Edwin Mercedes, General Manager, who returned one message on July 1, 2026 with a promise to have a staff member follow up on payment. Subsequently, as of July 24, 2026, he has not responded to requests for follow ups nor has had any member of his staff actually reach out to me.
Next steps will be to leave negative reviews where appropriate and file complaints with the BBB, Department of Commerce, and the New Jersey State Attorney General's Office.
It seems like a ridiculous turn of events for something as trivial as a single service visit but, on principle, if a customer is due a service that cannot be performed when requested, then the corporation should clearly articulate the timeline and accommodation for the customer. Moreover, if an amount is due in refund to a customer, said amount should be paid as expected and within a reasonable amount of time. Failure to do so is fraudulent.
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