Lee Johnson Auto Family Review from GEORGE E M. on 05/05/2012

GEORGE E M.

Carnation, WA

MAZDA MAZDA 5

Lee Johnson Auto Family

ReScore Review™

05/15/2012

Verified Customer

Category: Sales

Now that’s the Lee Johnson We Remember!

Thank you very much for contacting us so quickly about our first response to your survey. James contacted us the very next day (again, a heck of a guy, you should pay him more). Eventually, we worked with Pete the Sales Manager and were able to work through the issues cited above. The short answer is, last Friday; Phil in the Service department cut me an additional key and reattached the front corner panel. Before he gave me the car back he ran it through the car wash for me as well. I was in the Service area for about 30 minutes total.
That’s customer service! And the reason we keep coming back to Lee Johnson’s dealership. We are very happy with your responsiveness and the quality of the service. We feel very comfortable returning next time we are in the market for a vehicle and recommending your dealership as highly as in the past. We know that you will take care of the customer.
And we still love the car.
George and Geffen Myers

Recommended

Original Review

05/05/2012

Category: Sales

Great until we talked to the finance guy.

We had been in the market for a vehicle to replace my wife's 1997 Pontiac Transport van. We purchased that van at Lee Johnson's in 1997 and were very happy with it. In fact, in the last 20 years we have had 5 vehicles - 3 of them have been purchased from Lee Johnson dealership. I have recommended you to many of my friends over the years and know of at least two who then purchased vehicles from you as well.

With that said, our last visit to your dealership was a bit of a shock to see how large you have grown! A much bigger lot than I remembered. We were met in the lot by your salesman James Goldman - wow - what a great guy. He is unassuming but very knowledgeable of the vehicles. We described what we wanted and he knew exactly where those vehicles were. We quickly found the Mazda 5 and took it for a spin. He worked with us figuring out the different payment schedules running back and forth so much I felt sorry for him. On a scale of 1 – 5 he is a 5. He worked hard for us and was pleasant through the whole purchase process. He deserves a raise and a paid vacation. To put it succinctly, he is exactly the kind of employee I would want on my staff.

However, as good as James is, dealing with your Finance Manager, Robert Zemke, was the extreme opposite end of the scale. He was rude, abusive and over-aggressive. After telling him for the THIRD time we did not want the bumper to bumper warranty or the loan gap insurance, we just about walked out. I am not sure how many times he brought out his big red folder (with the word “Research” written across the front) but I found such cheap theatrics reprehensible. Further, he would play they “let me scare you” scenarios to my wife and would not talk directly to me. I didn’t appreciate his hard-sell technique of trying to scare my wife in to buying these packages thinking she would fold. I find such behavior Neanderthalic.

At one point my wife and I looked at each other questioning whether we were going to get up and leave because of him. We decided we liked the car and that we would be the adults in the room. So, we suffered through his 10 minute speech about how only that car was authorized to go through the Lee Johnson car wash. He told us stories how your shop manager yelled at a customer who kept bringing other cars through the wash. Really? It’s that bad that you have to lecture customers – paying customers! – about that?
I kept thinking that this guy is the Finance Manager, which means he is leading and training other finance people to be as rude and obnoxious as he is; you may want to rethink your company’s approach to that. I have never appreciated school yard bullying.

Two other issues bothered me. One, we brought the vehicle home and the very next morning found the driver front corner panel had popped out of place. So, now two things come to mind – 1. Your 150 point inspection form wasn’t very effective or your inspector wasn’t very attentive. 2. Amazingly it popped out of place after we turned down your bumper to bumper warranty. A bit cynical of me, I admit, but after hearing the party line from Mr. Zemke I had a bad taste in my mouth.

The last issue that bothered us and, I admit I didn’t realize it until the next day, the car came with only one key – one ‘very expensive to get copies of’ key. One very expensive to get copy that can only be made at a dealership like yours. That’s pretty sad that we spend over $20K at your dealership and the ‘Certified Pre-Owned’ inspection doesn’t include ensuring there are two keys. Now we must spend an additional couple hundred dollars to get spares made that should have been provided by your dealership. That should be your company policy that no “Certified Pre-Owned” car goes off your lot with only one key.
In conclusion, we have always had a great experience at Lee Johnson’s Dealership in the past, both buying cars and working with your service department. I still remember how good Scott Trail was with the Mazdas – that guy memorized the vehicles inside and out. This last time, though, I was under-whelmed with your choice of finance managers. Further, the problem with the front corner panel popping out and lack of keys are issues you should have handled before we ever walked onto your lot. For those three reasons I will find it hard to recommend you as highly as I have in the past.

If you would like to follow up on this communication please feel free to contact us. You should have our contact information in your files.

Wishing it had been better,
George and Geffen Myers

Not Recommended

Pete B. from Lee Johnson Auto Family responded on 05/06/2012 11:07 AM

Thank you for your review. We appreciate your feedback as it is the only way we can make sure our customer service continues to improve. I apologize for any inconvenience caused by your recent experience and we would like to be able to work with you to rectify the issue. Please understand that our business is customer service and everything that we offer is meant to help our customers, not hinder them, and we certainly do not want you to feel pressured at any point in time while you are here at our dealership. That being said, I would like to offer for you to come back in and meet with me personally in the hope that I can resolve your concern. I cannot undo any of the things that happened during your visit, but I would like to offer to take care of the key issue for you in the hopes that I can restore your faith in the customer service of the Lee Johnson Auto Family as it truly is our main focus. Without loyal customers such as yourselves our business would not have made it the 79 years and counting that it has. Thank you very much for your business and I will speak with you soon. Pete Berkey Sales Manager 425-827-0521