Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Requested that Subaru of Prince George complete the installation of brake discs and pads on a 2016 ****** ********. Also requested for the brake fluid to be flushed at the time of the appointment. Subaru of Prince George attempted to charge for additional work for a piece that was broken by their mechanic while they were installing the brakes on the vehicle. Notably, the broken piece is positioned directly behind the brake disc that they were installing, yet they wanted an additional half hour to complete the repairs that became necessary because of their work. In completing the repairs, the mechanic utilized spare piece from the vehicle, rather than providing a replacement. After the appointment, it became apparent that the mechanic had not completed the work requested, and had attempted additional work to the transmission of the vehicle that has resulted in substantial damage, the extent of which remains to be determined. However, the shoddy work of Subaru of Prince George left me stranded on the roadside, and with a $700 bill to have my car towed to another Subaru dealership. The respective dealership identified safety calls that were completely neglected by the Service team at Subaru of Prince George. It just doesn't make sense why one dealership can immediately identify areas to enhance a customer's experience, while the other dealership creates new issues for their paying customers. Thanks to Subaru of Prince George, I now cannot drive my vehicle, as the parts required to repair the transmission could take two weeks to arrive. In summary, I took my ****** to Subaru of Prince George for brakes to be installed, and for a flush of the brake fluids. They couldn't remove a wheel without breaking something, overlooked work that was requested, overlooked safety recalls, and attempted work that wasn't requested for an unknown reason. The response of "management" has been abysmal. If you like paying money for someone to wreck your car, this is the right place

  Customer response

  10/08/2022

  Good afternoon,

  The service required for my car has been completed by Subaru Coquitlam. The dealership has completed the repairs under 'Enhanced Warranty' provided by Subaru Canada. As such, I am only seeking reimbursement for the towing expenses ($738.39) incurred as a result of this incident.

  Please advise if further information is required.

  Thank you.

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  Good afternoon BBB,

   

  In response to this customer's complaint we would like to acknowledge that although unfortunate this is the customer's opinion of events.

  The customer supplied the dealership with brake pads and rotors. He signed and initialed all requested work order lines noting the repairs to be performed.  There was no brake fluid flush requested or approved. See attached file.

  Upon the shop trying to remove one of the rear wheels there was a wheel stud broken. We supplied and replaced (at our cost, see attached file) both the wheel stud and nut. We did not use one from the customers vehicle as he stated.  We have no history on this unit other than one

  occasion from 2019 when the vehicle was towed to us for a transmission fill.  Where has this vehicle been serviced for all this time?

  There is a lot of assumptions being made by the customer towards our Dealership.

  On behalf of the dealership we don't feel we have done anything wrong and in any way have impacted his vehicle. If the vehicle was repaired under warranty, how is this possible?

   

  Kind regards,

  Kimberley H*****

  GM

   

  Customer response

  12/08/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  Good afternoon Better Business Bureau,
  
  I am rejecting the response from Subaru of Prince George for the reasons that follow:

  
  

  It is quite disheartening to see the response from the General Manager of Subaru of Prince George, and the lack of integrity that they are demonstrating. I find it quite alarming that this business has actually doubled down on their position and has effectively: (1) called a customer a liar, and (2) took parts from a customer's vehicle and attempted to charge the customer for it. Please see the attached photo of the lugs contained in the packaging for 'Subaru Locking Lugs'. Prior to being taken to Subaru of Prince George, this was a set of four. (ie. the locking lugs went on the car, the other lugs being replaced came off). After being to Subaru of Prince George, only three remain. It appears that Subaru of Prince George took a part out of my car and attempted to charge me for it, all the while calling me a liar. 

  
  

  With respect to the comments made by the General Manager, please consider the following:

  
  

  1. The General Manager is correct that brake rotors and pads were supplied. At the time that the service was booked b 'Jordan S.' at 10:11 am on July the 23rd, I inquired about a brake flush and was advised that it would be approximately $150 (in addition to the costs for the installation of rotors and pads), but Jordan could not confirm the actual costs given the other work being completed. I also discussed the brake flush with 'Vanessa H' on the morning of July 25th when the car was dropped off, and was advised that the work would be completed. Perhaps the General Manager should make inquiries with the staff before alleging that the customer is *****. Granted, given the time that has passed, I wouldn't expect the greatest accuracy of recall from staff about a single appointment. That being said, it would have been much more timely if the General Manager had made inquiries when I initially emailed them about the situation on August 2nd.

  
  

  2. As above, the General Manager should discuss the broken wheel stud with 'Vanessa H.' I received a voicemail from Subaru of Prince George at 12:54 pm on July 25th. Upon calling the Service Department back at 2:46 pm, I was advised that the wheel stud had been broken and that it would cost me an additional $60 to have it repaired. While I expressed concern with the logic of not having a wheel stud repaired, and questioned why Subaru of Prince George had not immediately repaired the broken part given that the damaged item was directly accessible when the rear brake rotor was being worked on, and as I was clearly a safety conscious individual (ie. taking the vehicle in for the brakes to be serviced), I agreed to go ahead with the repair. Upon picking up the car shortly before 5 pm, I was advised that the broken stud and corresponding labour were covered by the dealership. Interestingly, had it not been covered by the dealership, I would have been paying for my own lug to be reused on my car according to the invoice from Subaru of Prince George. The General Manager can follow up with 'Vanessa H.' to confirm the accuracy of the information about the interaction with 'Vanessa H.'
  
  3. With respect to the observations about the service history, I would like to reiterate to the General Manager that I am not the original owner of the vehicle. I purchased the car in August of 2020, and the previous work done on the transmission by Subaru of Prince George (for the previous owner) was completed in October of 2019. In the photos originally submitted, it is apparent that there is a new bolt in my transmission pan, in contrast to the bolts that are black and coated with road debris, the metallic bolt appears brand new (as has been confirmed by all who actually look at the photo). So, the comments about the previous service appear to be a bit of a red herring: if the bolt had been there for three years, or even a matter of weeks, would it not be coated with road spray? Please see a further photo of the transmission pan after it was serviced by Subaru of Coquitlam, and note the absence of road spray built up on the bolts, similar to the metallic bolt in the previous photo. Please note what it looks like when a bolt has been recently disturbed, if the metallic bolt is not a complete giveaway.

  
  

  4. Finally, the vehicle was repaired under the 'Enhanced Warranty' provided by Subaru Canada. I'm not certain how questioning why the work was completed under warranty addresses the presence of a brand new bolt in the transmission on my car, nor how the bolt cannot be linked to the "repairs" done on my car by Subaru of Prince George.

  
  

  In summary, it appears that the General Manager is attempting to point to anything and everything to suggest that they are not at fault, but they aren't actually addressing the key points before them. It is unfortunate, as when I have spoken with others in the community about the incident, it was suggested that the General Manager is a person 'that cares'. Unfortunately, my experience with Subaru of Prince George suggests the exact opposite: not only is the service sub-standard (particularly in comparison to the other Subaru dealership that assisted with the consequent repairs of my vehicle), but they appear to attempt to charge customers for their own parts and then call them liars, rather than take ownership for their errors. I reject the response of the business, and sadly note that it appears that there is a complete lack of integrity at the business, from the General Manager down.

  
  

  Finally, it may be relevant to the Better Business Bureau that this dealership omitted completing safety recalls on my car that were not only immediately identified by the Subaru of Coquitlam, but also immediately repaired. So, in addition to the questionable treatment after I brought a concern about their service to their attention, Subaru of Prince George doesn't care about my safety either? 

  
  

  I'm sure Subaru of Canada and community members will be quite alarmed by my experience when I continue to share it with others.

  
  

  Thank you for your attempt to assist Better Business Bureau. If there is no further response from the business, I will gladly provide feedback through your website.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

  Business response

  01/09/2022

  Compliant ID  17662456
  
  To address the key points:
  
  The brake flush – while the customer may have verbally requested this to be added to his brake replacement service, he unfortunately did not note that it was missing from the work order at drop off and signed off stating the brake replacement was all that was being done. If it had been noted at that time it could have been corrected. Unfortunately, we are not able to perform work unless authorized.
  
  The call about the broken lug nut – while it is our policy to supply and repair any pieces damaged during a job, and the call was made in error to inform the customer of the broken lug nut and value of that item, that call was made with the same intention as stated above – we do not perform work unless authorized.
  
  The replacement lug nuts – we supplied from our own inventory a single hub bolt & wheel nut as seen on ** ****** with no charge to the customer. We can not speak to what the customer had or didn’t have in his car previously. It is not our practice to look for or utilize items owned by a customer – unless that customer requests us to use the parts they provide as in the case with his brakes that were installed.
  
  While performing a brake service or replacement there is no point in time that the technician would have come into contact with the transmission. We can’t speak to why there would be a clean bolt in, on, or around the transmission pan. We referred back to the previous work at our dealership being in 2019 to say that we’ve not had any contact with the vehicle in that time. The customer’s argument that it doesn’t make sense to have a clean bolt there goes both ways. That area of the vehicle has nothing to do with a brake service and it was not worked on at our dealership during that visit. We do not perform work that has not been authorized.
  
  It is unfortunate that the recalls were not noted when the customer was with us. It is our practice to check for recalls at the time of book and at the time of arrival/drop off to ensure that safety concerns are addressed immediately and that anything else be booked in at the customers earliest convenience. We’ve addressed this with our team and reminded them of this importance. It was not our intention to have this or any customer feel unsafe or uncared for.
  
  With regard to the comments about the warranty – the engine light issue and repairs done by *** ******** Subaru were submitted under the Enhanced Warranty Program. This means that the issue was deemed to be a manufacturers defect of some kind – this claim could not have been submitted for damage, accidental or otherwise. The transmission repairs at *** ******** Subaru involved changing seals, and gaskets which would be reasonable to expect after a lengthy period of no service history as this car seems to have.
  
  While we, on the whole, are very sorry for and acknowledge the incredible inconvenience and stress this situation has caused the customer, we can not take responsibility for it. We have always dealt with mistakes of this nature by repairing any damage done, or reimbursing customers for having it corrected elsewhere, when we are at fault. It does appear that something happened with that bolt in the transmission pan, but it simply did not happen here.

   

  We sincerely hope this clarifies any of the prior miscommunications and addresses all points of concern. 

  Customer response

  01/09/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  Good afternoon Better Business Bureau,

  I am rejecting the business response as they have provided a great explanation of what they intend to do in a usual service transaction, but refuse to address what actually happened on this occasion.

  It's swell that they usually avoid taking things out of people's cars, and usually tell people about safety recalls. Also, probably a pretty astute business practice to record all of the services that the client is requesting, but not to make the customer write out on their requests on the contract, even though the customer asked for a particular service at the time of booking and for confirmation at the time of drop off. It's swell that they also allegedly only do work that's on their work order.

  Reading between the lines of their response, they're not actually able to address why a customer that has come to their business, seeking not just competent but professional services, is left feeling as though they should have taken before and after photos of their car. It seems like a pretty questionable business model to leave customer's feeling as though that's the requirement when dealing with the respective business.

  The business appears reliant on the assertion that a new bolt magically appeared in the transmission of my car at some point close in time to the car being in their shop, despite the fact that it had not been in to any other service shops, nor had I attempted service on the car (again, if a customer booked their car in for brake work, why would they endeavour to fix a transmission that has no issues). While the service manager has asserted malicious intent, it seems a lot more likely that an incompetent service person removed a bolt and reinstalled it, than a random person coming into my driveway to swap bolts on the transmission. If it were malicious intent, wouldn't it seem more likely that they would just back off a bolt?

  All of this being said, I return to my rejection of their response. I'm not certain why the business thinks that the evidence lines up to me having a vendetta against their business, and piling significant cost and inconvenience on myself, just because I am trying to target them for work that was done elsewhere.

  They 'can't take responsibility' for the incident, because that would require integrity which they apparently don't have.

  As their response is no more sufficient than the last, I am happy to conclude this attempt to resolve the situation through the Better Business Bureau, and move on to the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Perhaps the business feels that it's more appropriate to pay lawyers to resolve their problems than to run a sound business and demonstrate integrity where they've erred.

  Thank you for your assistance in attempting to resolve this issue Better Business Bureau. Please advise how to conclude this complaint, and file a public complaint through your website.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩