Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a vehicle and warranty over a year ago at Bruce Chevrolet. One warranty for the vehicle itself, a second for the tires, and a third for the interior/exterior. The third warranty for the interior/exterior, they did end up refunding me the total cost as they admitted to lieing to me about the colour of the vehicle. They said the colour was a wrap and that if I purchased the package they would restore it to its original colour (black). That turned out not to be the truth as the colour has always been green and the vehicle has no wrap on it. I stopped them from proceeding with the rest of the care package as I was mostly interested in the colour being black. The main reason of filing this complaint is most recently I had a tire blow and submitted a claim for the tire to be repaired or replaced. They said that my tire was too worn down (though I had purchased the vehicle less than a year from the date the tire blew) for them to cover the replacement. While this was frustrating I do understand that at the end of the day I signed a contract. My main issue is that they ignored my texts and wouldn't get back to me for over 2 months from when I told them my tire blew. Further more they sent me a satisfaction survey, of which I said I wasn't satisfied with the wait time and having to reach out on more than one occasion for them to call me back to book a time to see the tire. I requested to be refunded for the warranties on the basis of having over a 2 month wait time, of which they wouldn't have ever responded if I hadn't reach out a third time. I can't wait over 2 months to find out if my vehicle will be covered especially with the tires, since if i bought new tires right away they might not have covered the cost as they cover repairs first if repairs are possible. I want to know what they consider a reasonable call back time to be, and how long someone would have to wait before they reimbursed a warranty package.

  Business response

  17/06/2024

  Response to Customer's Complaint 

   

  In a routine after-sales contact follow up call in March, our customer mentioned to his salesperson he’d had a summer tire blow out.  The salesperson told our customer he would speak with Service and have them contact him.
  The customer and the Service team communicated, unsuccessfully, back and forth via text and phone communication in an effort to appoint the customer. The delay time was created by the communicating efforts of both the customer and our service team.
  17 Apr, 2024 - Service successfully booked a service appointment for 22 Apr, 2024.
  22 Apr, 2024 - The customer brought the tire into the dealership for review and consideration.
  The customer text-messaged his salesperson saying that no one would give him a 'straight answer' as to whether or not the tire would be covered, however, he did sent a screenshot of the message that our Service team had sent him, which stated clearly the tire would not be covered, for repair or replacement, owing to the fact that the tire was so very worn out that wires were showing and it had “broken belts”.
  06 May, 2024 - Service Manager contacted our customer to follow up on a negative customer survey.  The customer responded in a hostile manner, stating he wanted to be reimbursed for his tire warranty due to having been made to wait and also as he was not having his tire repaired/replaced.  The call was recorded for quality assurance purposes.
  The customer states his main issue - he felt his texts had been ignored and that he had waited over 2 months for word if it would be covered.  The reality is the customer’s claim was denied by the insurer, and we apologized to our customer on a number of occasions for any part we played in delaying the course of the matter.
  There are no conditions existing in this case that warrants a policy refund.
  
  

  Customer response

  17/06/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  They have still yet to answer the main question I had in the attached email. Instead they just deflected into speaking on what is covered under the warranty. The question I asked which I still haven't received a response to is as follows; I would like to know how long they are allowed to ignore people who are trying to submit a claim before they would have to refund them the cost of whatever protection plan they purchased. Or better yet, is it their belief that you could ignore someone indefinitely and still not have to reimburse said person for the warranty they purchased? Instead of answering this question they simply told me they would no longer be replying to any questions in regards to what had happened.
  
  

  Business response

  18/06/2024

  In the marketplace today, there exists the possibility of an insurance claim being denied and there exists the possibility of wait times.  To suggest otherwise is not realistic.
  

  The tire was beyond repair or replacement under warranty & our customer was given a head's up from our service team this was likely to be the response from the Insurer and, indeed, First Canadian did deny the claim.  It seems incongruous to be discussing a demand for a tire warranty refund owing to being made to wait for an answer.

  Respectfully, we believe we did our due diligence in this case.

  Customer response

  18/06/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  While I agree that wait times exist my questions have still gone unanswered. Perhaps a 3rd attempt. If they could answer the following questions that would be greatly appreciated. I would like to know how long they are allowed to ignore people who are trying to submit a claim before they would have to refund someone the cost of whatever protection plan they purchased. Or better yet, is it their belief that they could ignore someone indefinitely and still not have to reimburse said person for the warranty they purchased? 
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Hello, My wife and I had purchased a 2016 CRV from Bruce Honda in Yarmouth around the date of February 20 2024. While going through the purchase process we were told by our salesmen **** **** that they currently only had 1 key, but that the previous owner was going to send in the spare. **** told us that worst case we can have another fob made, and that I also had a warranty for 2 free replacements for the fob. Which is wonderful, but I didn’t really want to waste one of my free replacements. **** confirmed with both my wife and I that the new fob wouldn’t use one of My warranty fob replacements. Come April 8th 2024 and I get a new fob, yet I was informed it did in fact use one of my replacements. I asked **** why it used a replacement when we were told it wouldn’t, all he could say is “used cars don’t come with 2 key grantee, that’s what the warranty is for” But that isn’t what we were told. If they are willing to lie about something silly like a key fob. I’m concerned as to what else was a lie.

• Initial Complaint

  30/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In late October I had an accident due to my brakes not working properly. I took my vehicle to the Bruce dealership almost a year prior to the accident and complained but was belittled and made to feel as though I didn’t know what I was experiencing. Even after my accident I was made to feel like I didn’t know what I was talking about and that my car was still in perfect shape. It’s a 2021 Trailblazer so most would want to believe it’s in perfect working order, but I knew something was wrong and was dismissed and made to feel crazy over this experience. Recently I had an issue with a tire so I took it to another dealership to have work done, in this appointment they had found that there were a couple things that needed to be replaced. There is no possibility that my car went from looking like a new car underneath to having to have my brakes replaced and routers replaced. This would have only happened since mid to late November when I have had my last appointment at this dealership with my most recent appointment at the other dealership being January 20th. With this experience it is also making me question what else is wrong and what they are not telling me.

  Business response

  21/02/2023

  Response of the Business 

   

  "It is never our intent to belittle any customer ever.    
  
  
  We cannot "simply come up with a concern or duplicate one" if it is not found during the course of our automotive technicians test drive/s of a customer's vehicle.
  
  
  We took this customer seriously on all occasions that she came into the store, with the last visit being by her grandfather (who was) cursing and threatening us with court action. 
  
  
  We also noted that the customer did not service their brakes at all in 62,000 km - thus the reason why we would recommend a brake replacement.  It should be noted ***** ***** declined any brake service."

• Initial Complaint

  19/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Bought a used car on March 1st this year. Drove fine during the test drive and had a new safety sticker attached. Within a week, the car started to pull hard to both directions and one of the tires started to squeal. When Bruce Ford installed the summer tires, the problem got worse. On July 18, Bruce Ford did a diagnostic test and the veh needs 1000 in repairs including a wheel bearing. I've had the car less than 5 months and have put less than 7000 km on it. Bruce is taking no responsibility for selling me this defective vehicle.

  Business response

  20/07/2022

  Responding to the complaint by **** ******.  Mr ****** did purchase a 2013 Ford Fusion on March 1st 2022 from Bruce Ford. (Sales transactions attached pages labeled A to E)  The 2013 Fusion was purchased as a "Sold As-Is, No Warranty" as stated on the bill of sale (attachment A) Bruce Ford did provide a "7 Day Money Back Guarantee" (attachment C) that Mr. ****** signed.  If he was unhappy with his purchase within the "7 Day Money Back Guarantee" he could return the vehicle following the signed conditions of the contract.  On attachment E of his sales transaction, even though we sold the unit "As Is -No Warranty", we made Mr ****** aware of the Engine light.  We cleared the code but would replace the sensor if the Engine Light comes back on.
  
  
  On May 4 2022 Mr ****** came to the dealership for the Seasonal Tire Swap, the sensor for the Engine light and he stated his side mirror was not working.  With the purchase of his vehicle we included winters and all season tires.  At this time all items were completed, tire swap, replace part for Engine light, and we also ordered the switch to repair his mirror (attachment #1 308180).  At no time was there any complaint of "starting to pull hard to both directions" or that "one of the tires was squealing."  Work requested was completed (attachment #1 308180)  with no charge to Mr. ******.
  
  
  On May 25th 2022 Mr. ****** returned to have the part that was ordered back on his May 4th visit, to repair his mirror. (Attachment #2 308364) Again there was no mention of his vehicle "starting to pull hard to both directions" or "one of the tires was squealing." Work was completed and again no charge to Mr ******.
  
  
  On July 11th **** *********, Service Manager of Bruce Ford, received a call from Mr ******. He appeared to be upset and Mr ********* felt he settled him down enough to clearly understand Mr ******'s complaint.  At this time is when he complained about the squeal in his tire, the vehicle pulling and his lights on the dash.  Mr. ********* offered to bring him in that day for a diagnostic and Mr ****** declined and said he couldn't make it on that day.  Mr ********* then booked him for July 13th.  On July 13th Mr ****** did not show. Mr ****** then called and booked an appointment for July 18th.
  
  
  On July 18th Mr ****** came to the dealership with the complaint that "there is a squeal in the tire and the vehicle is pulling when over bumps and concerned it might be a wheel bearing." (attachment #3 308943). He also had a concern of "lights on the dash ABS, traction control, hill assist."   Our service advisor advised Mr ****** he may incur a diagnostic fee to figure out what was going on.  At this time he became rude and loud and demanded he wasn't paying for anything.  Our service department was under the understanding Mr. ****** was waiting for his vehicle. When our advisor was on the lot retrieving another customers vehicle she was approached by Mr ****** in a threatening manner and he raged again about he wasn't paying for anything and threatening a lawyer, our advisor advised Mr. ****** that "she did understand his frustration but she was not the source of his frustration and that she was just trying to get him looked after." 
  Our findings at this time were, "found the steering wheel is off center and that there is a noise in the rear from the left rear wheel bearing, also has a message about steering angle sensor out of calibration."  The technician recommended doing the alignment first and see if that fixes it as the wheel is not centered.  It appears that Mr ****** has hit a pothole.  This is very common on our NS roads.  Our advisor tried several times to reach out to Mr. ****** during the day to give him our findings.  She texted him and stated she would like him to call her so she could go over the findings with him. We did not charge Mr ****** for the diagnosis.  We did not proceed with the repair without his consent.  He texted back and instructed her to leave the keys and invoice in the car and he will pick the vehicle up after hours. Our advisor did what she was instructed to do and also attached an estimate of the repairs and gave him two price options. Later in the evening of the 18th, he texted our advisor, see attached texts.
  
  
  We feel that we have done our due diligence with Mr. ******.  Although we empathize with his circumstance, his repair was not  preexisting.  It is an unfortunate circumstance of hitting a pothole or something of substance. We would be more than happy to repair his vehicle but we feel it should not be at our expense. 
  
  
  
  

  Business response

  29/07/2022

  The accusation that has been made about Bruce Ford selling Mr. ****** "a worn out and unsafe wheel bearing" is not accurate. 

  
  Also, when Mr. ****** spoke with the General Manager of the store on July 21st he accused the technicians of pulling the bearing and compacting it with saw dust.  He also stated that he does not trust the shop.   The wheeling bearing for a 2013 Fusion is a solid sealed unit which would make what Mr. ****** accused us of impossible.

  
  We feel Bruce Ford has done their due diligence in this matter and a wheel bearing is a wear item that can go without warning.  To end this matter and our dealings with Mr. ******, we are prepared to settle and pay only for the left rear wheel bearing part (value at $148).  We do not want to perform the work.  This is all we are willing or will do in this matter.  If Mr. ****** accepts the part to end this matter, we will make arrangements for him to get the part.  This is the last communication.
  on this matter.

  Customer response

  02/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 17587494, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

*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. ↩