Vincent VW: My Experience

STRIKE ONE: My first visit after buying the car for my scheduled 5,000 mile maintenance. I noticed a few days later that a hubcap was missing. I was busy the next couple of days then I called Vincent to let them know that they a.) forgot to put it on or b.) didn't put it on correctly. They said I didn't call soon enough so it wasn't their problem. (Note to Vincent: If all it takes is a $20 hubcap (your cost) to make a person a life-long happy customer who tells all of their friends how wonderful you are...do it! You will more than make up for the cost in repeat service calls and sales!)

Many customers have reported the same issue. At $40+ per wheel cover, I have had to replace three because Vincent Auto did not put them back on correctly.

STRIKE TWO: I made a 10 a.m. appointment on a Saturday for an oil change. After waiting an hour and a half, I asked Service Manager "TC" what the status was. They hadn't started working on it yet. "TC" assured me two technicians would work on it to get it done faster. After another 45 minutes, I went out to the shop to check on how things were going. My car was on the lift but no one was working on it. "TC" told me the two technicians were on their lunch hour.

Why take appointments if you are not going to stay on schedule? If you are not going to stay on schedule, let the customer know so they don't waste their time! Care about your customer! If you accidentally fall behind, extend the courtesy to your customer and tell them when the work will be done...don't lie to them.

I finally got my keys back around 2:15 p.m. (2:22 p.m. is the time stamped on my credit card receipt) Four hours wasted. What a crappy way to spend my Saturday afternoon.

"Vincent Volkswagen: Home of the 4-hour oil Change"

STRIKE THREE: For my 20,000 mile service, I made an appointment at 11:00 a.m. I watched them pull my car into the garage at 11:20 a.m. Better than last time, I guess.

I arrive home and see that they forgot to put two of my hubcaps back on so I drive back IMMEDIATLY. The General Manager, "M", can't find the hubcaps so I request that they just put two new ones on. He says "I'm definitely not going to do that if your old ones are around here somewhere". So I'm thinking to myself "A hubcap would cost me $38 retail (I called Dorschel Toyota for the price for my model Passat), so they must cost the dealer like, $19. Why wouldn't they just spend forty bucks to make a customer happy?" Because they don't care about happy customers, that's why.

General Manager "M" assures me that they'll send someone over to my home to put them on this afternoon.

By 4:30 p.m. I don't hear from anyone so I call Service Manager "TC". He tells me I'll have to wait 3-5 days for them to order the parts. Apparently, just as in my first visit, Vincent couldn't manage something a simple as putting my hubcaps on correctly.

Did they know they didn't have the parts in stock at 2:00 p.m. when this whole debacle started? Why didn't they just take two hubcaps off a car on the lot to keep a customer happy? Why did I waste my Friday afternoon off?

Because Vincent doesn't care about happy customers.

4 hours Lost time=lost confidence. Never again

Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice shame on me. Burn me three times, shame on me, shame on me, shame on me!

Never again.

In all my dealings with Vincent Volkswagen, very simple customer service issues could have been easily and inexpensively resolved to my satisfaction. But this company apparently does not consider good customer service a very high priority in their business model.