City KIA of Greater Orlando - Service Center

Service Center? No, It's the Dis-Service, Anti-Service Dpt. I am a positive person. I preface this letter with this statement because I want you to know that the content of this letter is meant with positive in I am a positive person. I preface this letter with this statement because I want you to know that the content of this letter is meant with positive intent, in hopes that it can effect change at your establishment. I purchased my Kia Soul from City Kia or Orlando two years ago in February. While I was reluctant to purchase a Kia, as all of my previous vehicles were Mercedes Benz, I connected with the style and performance of the Kia Soul. Today, I am rethinking this purchase, future Kia purchases, as well as any future business with City Kia of Orlando. A week ago I made an appointment online at www.citykia.com to have my car serviced at City Kia. I needed to complete an oil change and have some general maintenance done to my Kia Soul. I went into this appointment with positive expectations! Please allow me to recount my day’s experiences. I arrived at 12:58pm to City Kia’s service department. Outside of the Service Center, I saw two men who looked like employees with City Kia shirts on. One was sitting on a chair outside of the building’s doors and another was standing next to him. The two were engaged in a conversation. When I pulled up, I wasn’t sure how to proceed. I knew that I made an appointment for 1:00pm, but there was no direction as to what should happen next. I waited in my car for a few minutes, fully expecting a service associate to approach my vehicle. Nobody approached, or even seemed to recognize the fact that I pulled up. Not wanting to be late for my 1:00pm appointment, I got out of my car and approached the two young men in front of the service center in shirts that looked like uniforms. I waited to see if they would conclude their conversation, or at the very least, acknowledge my presence in front of them. Neither of these things occurred. I waited a minute or two and then interrupted their conversation by politely saying with a smile, “Hello! I have a service appointment!” The gentlemen both looked me up and down and the one sitting down motioned wordlessly to the two glass doors outside of the building. Perhaps it was beyond him to utter words to me, a lowly female customer. I took from the motion towards the doors that I should enter. So I entered the City Kia Service department, which was bustling! Upon entering, I looked around to attempt to decipher where I should go and what I should do. There was a female receptionist to my right who stared at me, but did not acknowledge my presence or offer assistance. I stared around the service department confused for 5-10 minutes before finally asking the young lady what I needed to do. She looked up from her desk, apparently bothered by my question and told me that I needed to speak to “a tech” and she motioned towards the other side of the room. Looking over, I saw a few men in Kia shirts who were busy staring at computers, on the phone, speaking to each other, and one who was actually helping another customer. Rather than feeling welcomed to this establishment - I felt as if I was a burden. This is not a warm welcome for someone who arranged an appointment ahead of time! Finally I was acknowledged by a new hire who took my keys, took information from my vehicle and sat down with me to discuss what would occur during the visit. I originally wanted just an oil change, but the gentleman suggested the “Every 15,000 - 45,000 - 75,000… Miles” Package. This cost $159.95 + Tax. I agreed to this price, based on the gentleman’s suggestion about tire rotation and the miles already on my vehicle. Though I didn’t know it at the time, these few moments were the longest human interaction I would have while at City Kia’s Service department. He quoted about two hours for the service package we discussed. I noticed that the last thing included in the package was a “Platinum Car Wash Package.” I asked the gentleman about the car wash and he informed me that it would take an extra hour to wash my car. I agreed to this - three hours in total was alright for me, as long as I could work from the waiting lobby on the wifi provided. I spent 90 minutes waiting for my vehicle before I was called to the reception desk with a few other customers. The gentleman who called us over began charging the customers in line ahead of me for their service and handing them their paperwork. When it was my turn, he informed me that my car was not in fact washed. I expressed my disappointment in this, as this was my second visit to City Kia for an oil change and it was the second time they had a reason for not being able to wash my vehicle. He apologized and explained something about construction that was preventing the car wash. He walked away for a moment and then came back and asked me to return tomorrow for my car wash. He also gave me a 15% discount on the service provided. He asked me how I wanted to pay, gave me a total and promptly charged my card. He then stapled my receipts together, handed me my paperwork and my keys and told me I was all set. I asked him how my car was, and he said, “Everything ok!” I then looked outside and saw my vehicle pulled up and no employees in sight. When I opened the door to my car, the first thing I noticed was a half full can of Diet Coke in my cupholder. I saw this and found it odd as I do not drink soda, neither diet soda. As it was not there when I left my car initially, I can only conclude that it belonged to the technician who serviced my car. I found this gross, sloppy and a sign of disrespect. Do your technicians all drink sodas in customer’s vehicles? Is this normal protocol? I wonder if anything is ever spilled in a customer’s vehicle? This can’t be a best practice. I briefly reviewed the paperwork that was given to me and looked for evidence that my car had even been serviced. I saw that the paperwork detailed how there was a full service car wash and separately detailed that the dashboard was wiped down and the windshield was cleaned. I looked up and saw the same smudges and smears on my windshield that were their before I dropped off the car and the dash was not at all wiped down. It puzzled me as to why it was on my bill and yet was not preformed. I also wondered if the closed car wash really effectively prevented the technician from wiping my dashboard or windshield. Because I had an errand to run just down the street, I left City Kia disgruntled, but distracted. After taking care of a short errand, I got back to my car and reviewed the bill one more time. I was so uneasy about the experience I just had. I wasn’t convinced anyone had really serviced my car - the only proof I had was a coke can left in my cupholder. I also searched my windshield for the sticker that indicates when my next service appointment should be and found there was none. The old sticker I had from City Kia was removed, and never replaced with a new one. I imagine this must have been an indication that they didn’t want me to return to their establishment. Nobody on the staff walked me to my car. Nobody on the staff went over the paperwork from my car’s maintenance. Nobody on the staff explained what happened during my service appointment. After thinking through my experiences, I was even more upset. I even began to wonder if there was any service done to my vehicle at all! I called City Kia to discuss my concern. The first call I made was placed on speakerphone and nobody answered the call. I could hear the voice of a young lady in the background and kept saying “Hello?” with no response from the young lady. I hung up and called back. The second time I called, I was placed on hold without a greeting. When the young lady got back to my call three minutes later, I asked to speak to a supervisor and she transferred me to a voicemail. I left a message for a call back. I look forward to hearing back from my voicemail. Dissatisfied with leaving just a voicemail, I drove back to City Kia and asked for a supervisor when I entered the Service Center. Jose R. Martinez, the Assistant Service Manager came out to speak with me. I asked him if we could go someplace to speak and he insisted we stand in the middle of the Service Center to speak. I detailed my experiences and dissatisfaction with the lack of customer service. Jose asked me for more information, walked away for sometime, I think to speak to the Service Manger. I overheard something to the effect of “she already paid for it”, and Jose returned to me and escorted me outside of the Service Center. I felt like I was being kicked out. He asked me where my car was and we began to walk towards it, he told me that he wanted to remove the can of soda that was in my car. I told him that while I found it disgusting, I had already done so myself. He then apologized for what occurred and offered a free oil change. A free oil change - a $19.95 value does not resolve the fact that I paid more than $150.00 for a lackluster service appointment already. He also offered to take the car back “to clean the windshield again”. I corrected him, explaining that it was never done in the first place. He then replied, “to clean it better this time”. This indicates that he did not even believe that his technician never cleaned my windshield or dash in the first place! Is it routine for your employees to dispute details with customers? I told him that I did not have time for this and it was too little, too late. As we wrapped up, he gave me his business card. I had to remind Jose that I needed to know when to return for additional service as there was no sticker indicator on my windshield. Jose went to get a printed sticker and came to my car to place it on my windshield. As he was walking away, I had to ask him to explain to me what happened with my car during the service appointment. He stopped and read through the paperwork to explain to me what occurred. He then and spent two minutes making recommendations about what may need to be serviced next and what to expect going forward. I thanked Jose for the time he spent speaking with me as if I was a real human being and a valued customer. I told him that those few moments are all I really needed at the end of my appointment to ensure I understood what transpired with my vehicle. This is a basic thing I took for granted when receiving service from other dealerships in the past. While Jose offered apologies for what occurred, he did not show real concern or even surprise over my experiences. This leads me to believe that this poor service is the standard rather than the exception at City Kia. I do not see the value in the money that I paid, nor do I feel like things are recouped by providing one complimentary oil change at a future date. At this point, I am unsure that I would return to City Kia for any further service. I am sad to report from experience that the Service Center at City Kia is an anti-service, in fact a disservice establishment. I would rather spend money at a place where I know I will feel there is value added by the human interaction and customer service provided. Kia’s Core Values are not represented at City Kia’s Service department. It is clear that at City Kia they do not embrace those Core Values about “impeccable service” to their customers. I need for there to be change within City Kia’s Service department. I need for there to be major customer service training provided to the team. They do not work together and they do not respect their customers. Without customers, there is no business to be had. I would like to know that City Kia can compensate me by providing more than a complimentary oil change. Since value placed on service is not a priority to City Kia, I would expect to receive a credit for the service that I paid for today as a good faith gesture in hopes that I return for future business. I look forward to hearing from you about this incident and what you plan to do to resolve these heinous customer service issues. More

Customer Will not recommend Kia or their services to anyone. Worst service - what ever happened to the Kia Loyalty treatment. I have owned 4 vehicles to date Will not recommend Kia or their services to anyone. Worst service - what ever happened to the Kia Loyalty treatment. I have owned 4 vehicles to date and have recommended numerous customers who have purchased vehicles. I am ashamed that I recommended them to such a bad company with very little customer service skills. I will no longer recommend customers or purchase anymore vehicles from a corporation such as Kia. More