Craig Gates
Dealer Principal/Owner
Columbia Ford Kia
234 Willimantic Road, Route 6
Columbia, CT 06237
29 Reviews
Write a Review29 Reviews of Craig Gates
October 02, 2024
Thank you Jordan Handfield for a seamless transition into a new car! Columbia Ford is always there for me! a new car! Columbia Ford is always there for me! More
Other Employees Tagged: Denny Gates, Eric Gates, Mike Pahlas , Jordan Handfield
May 20, 2024
I dealt with Ryan. Very knowledgeable and patient. even went back a few days after the purchase of my new Kia because I could not figure out all the technology! Very knowledgeable and patient. even went back a few days after the purchase of my new Kia because I could not figure out all the technology! More
Other Employees Tagged: Ryan McLeod
February 23, 2024
Ask about all approved finance options! ! We were approved at a 2 percent lower interest rate that we were not informed about. Only found out when the letter from the other bank arrived in t ! We were approved at a 2 percent lower interest rate that we were not informed about. Only found out when the letter from the other bank arrived in the mail. Of course, we received the song and dance from the dealer in which they said it must have been an oversight. I say either incompetence or it was done purposely (if the bank they used gave a bigger kickback). Either way we ended up having to refinance just to get the rate we initially were approved for. Someone should really look into these practices........This will unfortunately be the last purchase I make from a Gates dealership. More
Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler, Denny Gates, Eric Gates, Dave Munkelt , Alisa Velasquez
January 31, 2024
Wonderful dealership. Friendly staff in the service dept. I've been working with Andy Caldwell for several years. I can't say enough positive comments about this dealershi Friendly staff in the service dept. I've been working with Andy Caldwell for several years. I can't say enough positive comments about this dealership. More
Other Employees Tagged: Bobby Eskey, Eric Gates, Jimmie Bletsch
October 12, 2023
Been doing business with the dealership for a long time. They are going downhill. Brought my 2021 Ford Explorer to them inside the 3/36,000 bumper to bumper warranty at 35,120 miles on the odomete for a bad They are going downhill. Brought my 2021 Ford Explorer to them inside the 3/36,000 bumper to bumper warranty at 35,120 miles on the odomete for a bad parking sensor. They couldn't get me in for 2 weeks. Arrived at the dealer with 36,044 miles. No mention of out of pocket costs and I show up to pickup the vehicle and I am told I am out of warranty. I also had an extended Ford warranty and they tell me I owe $100 for a part that should have been $0. Oh it gets worse. The service manager asked me where I bought the truck. I asked why? He said, "The front bumper was repainted.' I said, "I bought the truck here brand new." The sensor in question had a broken clip which happens to be located behind that bumper cover he said was repainted. Wonder how that got broken? IN the end after arguing with them for more than an hour they removed the cost. Don't count on them if your expecting good customer service. They are all about nickel and diming people to death. Ford Motor also would not help the situation and told me "Sorry your outside our bumper to bumper and your going to have to pay the $100 deductible." This will be the last Ford I every buy and last time I send anyone to this dealership. More
August 02, 2023
The staff at the dealership were very helpful and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this dealership to anyone. knowledgeable. I highly recommend this dealership to anyone. More
Other Employees Tagged: John Senick, Eric Gates
June 14, 2023
I had an excellent experience purchasing a car there. Tony was polite and professional and would definitely buy from again. Tony was polite and professional and would definitely buy from again. More
Other Employees Tagged: Eric Gates , Tony Mauro
April 22, 2023
I brought my F350 to them with a extra warranty I purchased from another dealership and the service department was rude disrespectful and ignorant. It started with my wipers not working . They said i purchased from another dealership and the service department was rude disrespectful and ignorant. It started with my wipers not working . They said in a few days they would call me and make a appointment. 1 month later I called them. I brought it in and I didn't want to deal with the first guy I delt with so I asked for another. I have never been treated with such disrespect. They never contacted my insurance but they told me it was turned down and I needed to pay them. I wasn't going to fall for there scam. I have a on board camera. The head service guy told me they were out $600.00 and they weren't going to work on my truck and to find another dealer. I called my insurance company because I bought a premium policy and guess what they said . They never received a call or request for payment from them. They service person who was working on my visit not the mechanic was a new member and never did his job. So I looked at my camera footage and they drove my truck and punched my dash and never replaced the wiper problem.the video showed they worked on my truck or should a say drove the truck for 40 minutes. How could that cost them $600.00 . I tried calling Greg Gatesand Denny Gates multiple times and never received a call back. I have a very large family and friends and I called everyone of them to never use a Gates family dealership again. I'm a contractor and I own 7 ford's and my kids have 3 ford's and 2 Nissan and 1 kia. I have spent over a hundred grand in parts and service there for over 15 yrs. I had just spent 5 grand just on one truck for turbo,y pipes , injectors, 2 batteries, 4 tires,4 shocks,high pressure oil pump and pressure sensor and a few other parts. I can't believe a dealer ship so low and not just that someone deleted my account that had all my purchases of parts and service. So be carefull I'm not saying it will happen to you but I thought it would never happen to me. More
Other Employees Tagged: Joe Berube, Mike Pahlas, Fernando Cruz
November 29, 2022
While the sales department experience was pleasant, the service department experience was something all-together different. Multiple long trips back and forth to the shop for things that should have been t service department experience was something all-together different. Multiple long trips back and forth to the shop for things that should have been taken care of before the truck was delivered. Mike, the service manager, doesn't seem to know the day to day operations, as he stated to me one thing and the repair paperwork showed something totally different. It seems a lot of the negative reviews are generated based on the service department experience. Whether it be lack of competence or lack of supervision, this should not be the case for such a large group of dealerships........Unfortunate. More
Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler, Dale Thompson, Denny Gates, Eric Gates, Jimmie Bletsch, Mike Pahlas, Ilya "Eli" Belyi , Nicole Mooney
September 12, 2022
I recently purchased a Sorento Plug-in hybrid. My experience at Columbia Kia was remarkably terrible. For starters, I didn’t appreciate the sales “games”. I just don’t like to be lied to and I My experience at Columbia Kia was remarkably terrible. For starters, I didn’t appreciate the sales “games”. I just don’t like to be lied to and I really hate the way our sales person and the sales manager played the usual car sales games. I’m not dumb, and I don’t like to be treated like I am. Just tell me a price and I’ll take it or I won’t. The games were almost too much to bear. Despite this, I did want to purchase the Sorento, so I went forward with the deal. When the car finally arrived, I was eager to pick it up. When scheduling the pick-up, I asked if there would be someone present who could show me the features of the car (I bought the car without ever test-driving a Sorento!). I had no idea what it would be like or which features would be helpful). I was told that the sales woman would show us the car’s features. When we arrived, we were greeted and taken directly to our car. It looked beautiful! The sales woman opened the car, handed me the key, and started telling me about the vehicle. Both my husband and I immediately noticed that the sales woman had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. When we asked her about the buttons, dials, and features, she stumbled, mumbled, and often said things that were really ridiculous and obviously false. I asked her if there was someone else who could help us go over the car, and she said that there was no one there who could help but that the online tutorial would be “all we need”. She then took us to the back of the vehicle. She struggled to show us even the most basic things, such as how to put the third row seats down/up using the buttons. She then told us that there is a spare tire under the car. I asked her how I can access the spare tire if I need it. She pointed to a small, rectangular hatch at the back left of the car. She said that, if I pry that open, I’ll have access to the tire. I didn’t think anything else of it and we continued with the painful process. When we got inside, she informed me that downloading the Kia app to my phone was mandatory if I want to see the online tutorial. Since she clearly was not educated/informed about the car we had purchased, I thought it was in my best interest to download the app so I could, hopefully, learn something about my car. Once the app was downloaded, she proceeded to click on buttons on her computer and read the names of the car’s features. No education or explanation at all. Just clicking and reading the names. She then played a few videos, which were little help. After the 4-5 videos, she said that I needed to complete a survey to continue with the process. There were 3 questions. I tried to indicate that I was NOT satisfied (clicking on the sad face). I explained that I did not feel like the features had been explained to me and I do not know how to use the necessary functions of my vehicle. She said that I “had” to indicate that I was satisfied (the smiley face) in order to continue with the process. She said that I could watch the videos as many times as I wanted, but she was unable to provide any education on her own. My husband whispered to me that we should just indicate that we are satisfied so that we can move forward, noting that it is unlikely that we will receive adequate information from that sales woman. Reluctantly, I indicated that I was satisfied on the three questions so we could get finished with the painful process. Our sales woman then asked me to try the Kia app that I had just put on my phone a few minutes prior. The app did not work. We tried using our cell data. We then connected to the wifi in the dealership and the app still didn’t work. The sales woman said “well, I hate to tell you that the Kia app goes down a lot”. What? Why was it MANDATORY for us to put the app on our phone if it rarely works? I asked her what the app is for, and she said that I can use it to start the car and to look at other things pertaining to the car, but she could not expand upon that. She said “Go home and see if you can use the app. If it still doesn’t work, call us next week and we’ll see if someone can fix it for you”. Really? She not only couldn’t figure out how to make the app work, she also couldn’t even explain what the app is used for. Incidentally, both my husband and I are extremely computer-literate. We have again tried to use the app (after arriving at home) and it still is not functional. We can’t figure out if this is Kia’s fault, the dealership’s fault, or our uneducated sales woman’s fault. Regardless, we are unable to use the app, which we were told is “mandatory”. We then went back out to the car with the sales woman. She got in the back seat and struggled to tell us more about the features. Most of what she told us was confusing, contradictory, and incorrect. Seriously. She has NO idea how to use the features of this vehicle (and neither do I because of her incompetence). I again asked her if there was someone else who could help us, and she said that there was no one else there who knows the features but there is a woman who would be available the following week if I want to call and ask questions. Really? I’m paying a ridiculous amount of money for a car and no one can explain the features?!? She then put the license plate on the car. I again asked her about some important aspects, such as the difference between “eco” and“ automatic”. I asked so many questions and I don’t think she could answer ANY of them. I asked her where the battery is located, she said “in the middle”. What does that even mean? She had no idea what she was talking about. My husband said, “let’s just get out of here and we’ll sit down and read the manual”. We drove away, feeling terrible about our new car. On the way home, there was a, metallic rattling sound when I got onto Route 6. I pulled over. It turns out that she did not put the license plate on the car correctly, & it was rattling and sliding all over as I drove. Upon arriving at home, we realized that she had mis-thread the bolt. The bolt head needed to be cut off in order to remove it from the mis-thread hole. We went to 3 hardware stores, trying to find a bolt that fits, and no one has one. So, I am unable to drive my car to work tomorrow because I cannot put the license plate back on the car. Additionally, there are some tiny scratches in my NEW car from where she messed up the license plate. I then went to the back of my car & opened that rectangular hatch she told me was the access to the spare tire. I pried it open, as she indicated. Nope. That is where the battery is. That is NOT the access to the spare tire. At that point, I almost drove back to the dealership to tell the sales manager to take the car back. I’d rather give my business to a dealership that values their customers. To be honest, I’m not upset that our sales woman was clueless. What upsets me is that she made things up & provided false information. It was obvious that she was uneducated, as she stumbled and fumbled to try to explain even the most basic things (and often still was incorrect). If we were valued as customers, she would have admitted that she did not know what she was doing and got someone else to help her. The other thing that is extremely disappointing is that the Columbia Kia leadership allows her to work without being trained or educated. Where is your dedication to high-quality customer service? How can management allow her to work with such limited knowledge? Clearly, the only focus at Columbia Kia is on getting a customer to sign the bill of sale. After that, we’re on our own. More
Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler, Denny Gates, Eric Gates, Ilya "Eli" Belyi , Diane Bardol