Lee Johnson Auto Family

Problem taken care of and apology accepted.
TKs to Phil and Eric.

I had Mazda Warranty work done, after the work was done I had to bring it back two times for things that were caused by the the shop Mech. when he put my Mazda back together. I had to make two trips back to get car fixed, not good workmanship.

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

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

I appreciate your response Geoff. I haven't had problems with your service before and it just seemed that there were a few things that happened this time that didn't add up. Casey was always polite and helpful, but I did feel I was blamed for both driving with a service engine light on as well as damaging the wiper blade. I do understand that you have to protect your business, I've been in that position before myself so I get it. I must take part of the blame for not calling immediately upon noticing the problem with the wiper blade, but that was a few days after I picked up the vehicle so the question of doubt would still have been there. At the time I was wondering if you were drumming up your own business, which I've fallen victim to previously with another vendor.

Because you have responded and will be reimbursing me for the 2nd oil change I will definitely reevaulate your rating on Surecritic; this shows me that you do take things seriously and you have the customers best interest at heart. It has restored my faith in your service. Thank you for taking the time to respond and explain the situation. Because of this I'm sure I will be re-visiting your location when I need additional service. Thank you for going the extra mile.

I brought my car in for an oil change on March 8th and at the same time asked them to check on my brakes an other service needed. I scheduled an appointment for March 19th for the additional services, which included brakes, water filter etc. I dropped my car off the night before and the morning of the 19th I was called by Casey to ask me if my service light was on when I dropped off the car. I told him no it wasn't. He told me that when the tech got in my car the service engine light was on and there was a problem with the oil gage and my oil was thick and black. Well, the problem here is that I had the oil changed just 11 days prior at their location. So either the tech was lying, which I feel is what happened because I know for a fact that engine light wasn't on, or they didn't do the oil change the week before or it was done incorrectly. Either way the oil should not have been black, but Casey told me that they had to do another oil change. He also said he didn't charge me for it but on my bill for the March 19th services is a charge for $32.70 for oil and filter change. So I paid twice for a service I didn't need. In addition to the other services performed that day I asked that they replace my wipers. A day or two after picking up my car I needed to use my windshield wipers and when I turned them on the driver side arm was overextending the window. I didn't get a chance to go in or call immediately due to my schedule but I did call Casey within a few days to tell him what was happening. I stopped in after work that day to show him and he saw that the hinge the wiper arm sits on appeared to be broken. I told him it wasn't broken when I turned it in and asked if I needed to pay to fix it and he said "if we did break it we'll fix it be we'll need to look at it". I scheduled an appointment for April 3rd to have it 'looked at'. Casey called me at work to tell me that there was a fracture and the only way that could happen is if it was freezing weather and I turned on my wipers and they were stuck causing it to snap. Again I reiterated I hadn't used the wipers except for that once after picking it up and it wasn't freezing. He told me it would be $300 to fix and possibly $500 if they needed to fix the motor as well. In the end he didn't charge me for the fix because the tech who was working on the car could not get the wiper arm off; it appeared someone used an impact tool to tighten the arm in the first place causing the crack. Casey said he didn't feel right charging me for something that 'possibly' could have happened at the shop, basically implying he didn't quite believe I wasn't a fault. At this point I don't feel comfortable coming back. I used to be happy with the service but these few instances have made me leary. Are they drumming up their own business? And Casey lied about charging me a second time for the oil change and I would really like a refund of the $32.70 I paid a 2nd time when it wasn't needed. I don't like having my answers or comments questioned like I'm wrong or lying and it will take some convincing for me to bring the car back or to recommend Lee Johnson to someone else. I would love to hear your feedback on this.

Thank you for being expedient and thorough in caring for my car.

Nice workers at the Oil Change Department.
However, their printer was broken so it took time for them to run back and forth for my printout. Also, then couldn't get a receipt since their computer wasn't synced to their other office computer.
Love to receive more coupons for Service & oil change! Thanks!