Honda of the Avenues

I am writing to advise of the epic fail that was my very I am writing to advise of the epic fail that was my very first experience with Honda at the Avenues' Service Department yesterday (8/8/13) We pur I am writing to advise of the epic fail that was my very first experience with Honda at the Avenues' Service Department yesterday (8/8/13) We purchased our new CRV four days ago, on Monday 8/5/13 and in working with our sales representative, Ross Chaundry, and the internet sale representative, Nick Bowman, we were told to return to have the accessories we were told came in our package installed. Nick and Ross told us that we still needed the Polysteel coating on our paint, the windows tinted, the door guards and the trunk tray for the rear of the car. I'd like to note Nick and Ross inspected the car with us, looked closely at the paint and touched the paint and advised us that it did not yet have the Polysteel coating. Ross also told us the door guards were a part of the extra package we agreed to buy. My husband told Ross that he did not know what were door guards and Ross described them to us. We understood that we were due those four items to complete our new car purchase and I told my husband and my two sons to each remember one item so that we did not forget any of the four. Nick and Ross and the sales manager, Ben, were all very reassuring that we made a good purchase with a good price, that they were grateful for our business, and that the remaining details could be ironed out promptly. On Tuesday 8/6/13 I spoke via phone to Nick Bowman to arrange a time to return for our remaining items to be added to the car and he said that he would have the Parts Manager Patrick call me back to make an appointment. Patrick then called and explained that the Polysteel required six hours for its application and that this could not be done during the evening. Patrick said he had no appointments available for the next day and so we agreed I would bring the car on Thursday, that I could ride the shuttle to and from my work so there would be ample time for the service department to apply said Polysteel. Thursday 8/8/13 I arrived precisely at 8:00 to drop off the CRV and I spoke with the service representative Matt. I handed him my paperwork and asked if I was having the windows tinted to which I responded, "Yes, and the liner pan in the back, the Polysteel, and the door guards." I counted off these things on my fingers and held up four fingers to show him. He said something like "okay" and then showed me where to wait and sign up for the shuttle. At noon, I received a call from work, I believe from Matt, saying that my car was ready. I thought that sounded strange since the Polysteel application was supposed to take around 6 hours, but it did not occur to me to ask about the discrepancy. I reiterated to Matt that I would come for the car after I left work at 4:00. The shuttle driver James picked me up at 4:00 as promised. Curiously, I got another call shortly after getting into the shuttle in which another service representative, someone other than James, told me, "Your car is ready, and, uh, its been ready for a while now." I told the male caller that I was in the shuttle and en route to the dealership, that I had explained to Matt that I would come after leaving work. I asked if that had not been communicated to him and he said it had not. The shuttle driver, James, then asked me who was my service representative and he I told him Matt. He said, "Ah." I asked him to elaborate and he told me that whenever he goes to look for Matt he has a hard time finding him, that he is always running around. I asked if that was indicative that Matt just works very hard to take care of his customers or that he was disorganized, to which James answered, "both." He added, “Matt tries really hard.” After spending the next 90 minutes riding the shuttle to the beach and through Arlington we finally arrived back to Honda at the Avenues around 5:30. I was told that Matt had gone home and it took the staff another 10 minutes to locate which service representative was supposed to help me. I then was shown a paper by a young man, who was chewing gum, at a counter that said the trunk tray had been placed in the back of the car and the windows tinted. I asked the young man about the Polysteel and the door guards and he said that he did not know about those, that only the windows and the liner pan had been provided. I then asked to speak to Nick Bowman. The young man asked me to have a seat and said he would find Nick. Another fifteen minutes went by and I went up to the counter to ask the young man how much longer before I could speak with Nick. He then told me that Nick had left for the day. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he said he would arrange that. I asked how long before I could speak with a supervisor and he said when he finished working on the paper in front of him. Then the young man walked away and came back a few minutes later. He threw up his hands and said, "Don't get mad at me." He then told me that there was already Polysteel on the car, that Nick and Ross had misinformed us and that they would be "remprimanded" for doing so. Curiously at no time did either the young man or the unseen supervisor walk out to the car to look at it to determine whether or not it actually had the Polysteel. I began to wonder at this point if Polysteel is something akin to fairy dust- that we’re paying money for something that it is doubtful even exists. When I asked about the door guards, the young man told me that he had no paperwork that indicated door guards were owed to us and that they would not be installed on my car today, that I would have to come back another time. He pointed to my paper titled “WE OWE” that listed Polysteel, tint, trunk tray and another item that appeared to have been crossed out. My husband’s signature was at the bottom of the page and the young man told me, “Hey, you signed it.” I asked again to speak with a manager and he told me the manager would not speak with me. I asked why the manager would not speak with me and he told me, still chomping on his gum, that the manager was with another customer. I asked for the name of this manager and was told it was "Apollo." I asked if I could expect that someone would call me tomorrow on this matter and he only shrugged. I left the dealership at 6:10 very angry. Please understand that it took a significant amount of work to arrange to bring the car to the dealership yesterday. I had to have a coworker cover for me so I could arrive late and then come in very early the next day to compensate her time. I had to get it all approved by my supervisor. And when Patrick could not give me an appointment for Wednesday I had to call all involved back and re-arrange all this for Thursday. It is not a simple task to simply return and do it all over again. My experience in buying this car on Monday stands in very stark contrast to the way I was treated in the service department Thursday. Three days prior we were treated very warmly when buying the car. All involved appeared seemed to competent and friendly and I did not suspect I might have need to micromanage further interactions in receiving service at this dealership. I felt as though the young man with the chewing gum was essentially calling me a liar when I explained about the Polysteel and the door guards. I feel as though I've been snookered, naively fallen prey to a bait and switch. Seriously, I want one more person from Lou Sobh’s Honda at the Avenues to tell me now "less than a five out of five is a fail." There is a distinct lack of communication between personnel and departments at this dealership. With perfectly good computers all over the dealership's building it's really tough to understand why staff don't record information and share it with other staff or at least speak to one another. Surely you can do better. We were loyal to Coggin Toyota for the past eight years and while their service was truly not perfect, those guys are looking like rock stars just now. So all that I wrote above I sent in an email to Nick Bowman on 8/9/13. When I did not hear from him after a few hours I called and spoke to Ashlee Johnson on 8/9 and then also sent her the email. Ashlee said she would research it. Ultimately Nick Bowman called back on Monday 8/12/13 and offered we could choose between the visor for our sunroof or door guards. When I asked what was the visor, Nick said, "Its a piece of plastic." He said the visor we had paid for, but did not explain we had not paid for door guards (?). Ultimately I asked for the door guards. He never said why he initially thought there was no Polysteel on the car but did remark, "its really good wax" as if he was asserting that its not that big a deal. I called and set up a time with Patrick that I would come to have the door guards installed which he told me would take two hours, but that Nick was arranging a loaner car for me to use. When I dropped the car off on 8/14 at 4:30 pm. I had to wait for another 30 minutes for Nick to arrive with the loaner car. I left the dealership in the loaner car at 5:00 and at 5:15 I got a call from the dealership saying the installation of the door guards was complete and my car ready to be picked up. Quite frankly, being offered the loaner car to use for 15 minutes was more hassle than help, but I see that Nick was trying. Let me stress that at no point during any of these transactions did anybody ever once say to me, "Ma'am, I'm sorry for your trouble" or "I'm sorry for any confusion." Ashlee never called me back to follow up after that initial phone call. We did get a generic email from Ashlee welcoming us to the dealership, but it did not reflect any knowledge of our earlier conversation. Nick Bowman called and asked us to give him good marks in our survery and wrote to ask us to make referrals to him, but never actually asked us how was our experience or if we were satisfied. I believe we basically got what we paid for (I think?) and were treated like our time was not especially valuable. Truly it was a stressful, unpleasant experience and it is my intent to never ever return to Lou Sobh's Honda of the Avenues ever again. I did learn a lot, though, about being really picky about seeing every little detail in writing. Next time I'll go to Coggin Honda and will tell my friends to do the same. Just a suggestion, when you put somebody through something like this and want to show them you want their business, try and offer them a free oil change. Or a crappy piece of plastic visor for the sunroof. Check it out...low cost, high yield. More

It was a great experience. The employees were friendly and helpful. The sales people who assisted me were not pushy! I feel that I bought my car at a reasonable price. This is my second Honda from "Hon and helpful. The sales people who assisted me were not pushy! I feel that I bought my car at a reasonable price. This is my second Honda from "Honda at the Avenues." More

Nick Bowman seemed honest and good to work with. There was not a lot of back and fourth haggling. The finanace people were easy to deal with as was the sales manager. I would recommend Honda of the Avenue was not a lot of back and fourth haggling. The finanace people were easy to deal with as was the sales manager. I would recommend Honda of the Avenues because I beleive they were honest with me. More

After having shopped numerous dealerships and vehicles, including Honda's, we chose to go with the Accord EXL V6 with Navi. Within minutes of making a selection through USAA, Nick responded with an e-mail including Honda's, we chose to go with the Accord EXL V6 with Navi. Within minutes of making a selection through USAA, Nick responded with an e-mail and phone call. He informed me that he did in fact have the exact vehicle we were shopping for and we met personally within an hour. Nick was exceptionally professional as well as knowledgeable with exceptional presentation skills. He listened well to all of our questions and through his responses we immediately felt at ease throughout the entire sales process. Thank you Nick!!! More

Best experience ever in buying a car. Couldn't ask for a more helpful staff. Justin and Gabe went the extra mile to make sure I went home with a new car that I felt comfortable buying. for a more helpful staff. Justin and Gabe went the extra mile to make sure I went home with a new car that I felt comfortable buying. More

Gabriel was EXCELLENT!!! He really took his time to listen to our "wants and needs", then found a vehicle that met most of them. Apollo and Dustin were very helpful to the process as well, clearly exp listen to our "wants and needs", then found a vehicle that met most of them. Apollo and Dustin were very helpful to the process as well, clearly explaining various aspects of the truck and the deal. Keith was GREAT, helping us to determine what, if any, financing was best for our needs, and optimizing the terms for us. Although the process took a bit longer than we anticipated, it was very favorable. We will be HIGHLY RECOMMENDING Honda of the Avenues! More

I first went to honda avenues and spoke with Ross C. he was very courteous and knowledgeable. He was not pushy and had a very good demeanor. I kept up my online searching and also went to consumer repo was very courteous and knowledgeable. He was not pushy and had a very good demeanor. I kept up my online searching and also went to consumer reports CR stated that avenues had an excellent msrp on the honda fit. I had just come from an unpleasant experience with another dealer and I found myself back at Honda Avenues. I spoke to Nick Bowman and we proceeded to work out a deal that I was very happy with. Nick is a quiet man with a courteous manner and a great working knowledge of his product. He was most helpful in working out a deal including my trade in. I also spoke with one of the managers Ben who sweetened the deal a bit. I gave the downpayment to Tom Terranova, got a great deal on financing and finished the deal on wednesday the 31st of july when my daughter and I picked up her terrific new fit. The car was delivered in beautiful condition. Nick Boeman and the gm Chris saw me and my aughter out to the car. All those involved left me with the satisfaction of knowing that if there were any problems along the way that they would be pleased and eager to help out. This is a clean customer friendly dealership with many attractive surroundings and comfortable waiting areas. I would definitely give this dealership an A+ in all areas. More

Ross Chaudhry was amazing! Very knowledgeable about Honda and the CR-V!! I would recommend Ross to anyone that is looking for a new or used car. Honda and the CR-V!! I would recommend Ross to anyone that is looking for a new or used car. More

It was a wonderful experience everyone I made contact there were AWESOME! Thank ! Nick shoed me what I wanted to look at. He was very patient with me while I was comparing a couple cars I had in mind. there were AWESOME! Thank ! Nick shoed me what I wanted to look at. He was very patient with me while I was comparing a couple cars I had in mind. More

Bobby Howard is a terrible communicator. I stopped going to Honda on Atlantic Blvd. because he tried to rip me off. I recently went to have my car serviced at the Avenues location and waited 4 hours to find to Honda on Atlantic Blvd. because he tried to rip me off. I recently went to have my car serviced at the Avenues location and waited 4 hours to find out nothing had been done to my car, apparently he told the service personell that I would not be waiting at the dealership so they didn't make my service a priority. Because he is now at the Avenues location, I guess I will be returning to the Honda on Atlantic. More