Dean Swindler

Rowe Auburn responded

Thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience with our service department. When your appointment was made, you stated to our service adviser that you were experiencing braking issues and that you had to pump your brakes in order to come to a safe stop. You also stated that you had your own personal mechanic and another dealership diagnose the braking issue and that it was the master cylinder. Our service adviser explained to you in detail that we would like to diagnose the problem in order to ensure that replacing the master cylinder would resolve the braking issue. He also took the time to explain to you that in the event replacing the master cylinder did not resolve the issue that the vehicle would still be unsafe to drive. You stated that all you wanted us to do is replace the master cylinder because that was what had been diagnosed to be the cause of the braking issue. We did exactly what you had requested and we agree with you that it did not fix the problem. The replacement of the master cylinder made the issue worse. The service adviser reviewed your vehicles status with you, advised you on the fact that the vehicle was still unsafe to drive, but you chose to pay the bill for the service and leave. When you proceeded to leave, you came back within a few minutes stating that we made the vehicle worse than what it was and demanded that we fix it using very curse words to the service adviser, the assistant service manager and in front of other customers. At that time, I was asked to speak with you so that we could try to resolve the issue. You were very gracious to take the time to speak with me in a very calm, collective manner. However, we did not make your vehicle unsafe to drive. The braking issue was important enough to you to want to have it properly fixed. The work that you requested us to do was properly performed and it only made the issue more apparent. Any vehicle that requires the operator to pump their brakes in order to come to a safe stop is an unsafe motor vehicle. After I met with the service technician that worked on your vehicle and the service departments shop foreman concerning the issue, I explained to you that when we replaced the master cylinder it did in fact make the problem worse, but again, there was another issue over and above the master cylinder that was causing the braking issue. You insisted that we were responsible because we did not fix the issue and demanded that we fix it at our expense. I once again took the time to explain to you that there was an underlying issue and that it was not the master cylinder, but you refused to believe what I was explaining to you. We offered to diagnose the issue so that we could determine what the cause of the braking issue was, but you insisted that we were the cause of the issue. You stated that your brakes worked better with the old master cylinder and that you would like us to take the new master cylinder off and replace it with your old one. I advised you that the vehicle would still be unsafe to drive, but that didn't seem to be a concern of yours any more. I proceeded to have our service department swap out the master cylinder as requested and while that was being performed, I met with the service manager who had just returned from a meeting about your situation. We agreed that we were unable to resolve your braking issue and that we would give you a 100% refund. We performed the services that you requested us to do and we are sorry that we were unable to fix the braking issue to your satisfaction. Please give our Assistant General Manager, Don Lerette a call at 207-784-2321 or 207-854-2555 to review your concerns. Best Regards, Dean Swindler