Ok so i was hoping everything would work out and i’d be happy and the dealer would be happy and everything would be great. that’s why i’ve been holding back on this post. but today, i was downright insulted and now i’m pissed. my only recourse is to try and let other people know what a terrible experience i had there. that’s the point of the internet…right?
everyone withing the sound of my website–DO NOT GO TO RUSSELL SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228.
i repeat DO NOT GO TO SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228.
so there was the little thing about them trying to not give me the price and financing that was on the CONTRACT THAT I SIGNED. but ok, we got past that.
then there was the fact that they were supposed to replace the bumper cover before i bought it, and instead, they just pushed out the dent. so you can see the bumper is all messed up, and the paint is cracked and will prolly chip off. again, that was in the CONTRACT I SIGNED. so i called the service department about that. and they told me to speak with the sales manager. so i left him a voice mail. he never returned my call.
it just so happened that i got the Subaru of America’s "tell us about your purchasing experience" survey that evening. so i went to the website and i told them about my experience. i was civil, but basically said that it was incredible to me that a service company would try to jerk me around on the contract and THEN not return my calls. I think i was honest. I didn’t give them zero’s on the whole thing. just some of the things.
so on monday i got the note saying that my plates (they call them Tag’s around here) had arrived at the dealership. so we packed up the captain and all that shit and drove the 35 mins to get there. once we arrived at Russell SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228, i went in to get my plates. oh and look at that. I had ORDERED and PAID for some "save the bay" , but somehow, they sent the dealership plain old MD tags. i almost totally lost it. so i spoke with the sales manager–the one that never called me back. he said "oh we’ll have to look that up" so i said–"will you do that now, because i’m pretty positive i ordered the bay tags"…lo and behold i had. so he’s like well there’s plenty of time on your temp tags. so we’ll call you when they come in…" I said…"i really can’t believe this, not ONE thing has gone right on this thing, NOT EVEN the plates. nothing, the price the car, the plates. nothing–"
ok, i was still in control at this point.
so i brought up that there is the problem with the bumper. and the sales manager gives me this story of how the paint guy is only in on wednesday and friday mornings. so i’d have schedule an appointment and then come all the way back….at this point my original sales guy was there to. I said that it was getting very old coming all the way back to the dealership all the time. so the manager launched into this whole thing about having a loaner dropped off at the house and this and that. so i just said–let’s go look at the bumper and you tell me what is going to happen. so we look at it, and the sales guy says oh yeah, that’s not good-….so i basically said, "look, i want a new bumper, i thought you were going to do it then, i didn’t specifically say a new bumper b/c when i thought you were going to get the NEW car ready to be sold it would have NEW parts, and not DAMAGED ones". he agreed and said that he’d have to go over the manager’s head and talk to the general sales manager. whatever the fuck that means. so we left it that he’d call me. i got back in to the car and was just shaking my head.
so i get home, and get ready for this call i have this afternoon. and my sales guy from Russell SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228 calls and says that he has my plates there. how? i mean i thought they come from the MVA (DMV) with the title and everything, but apparently he magicked them up. ok, great, i’m getting more happy now. so then he goes into this "well i’m not sure what we can do about this bumper here….i spoke to my manager, and well he showed me the survey you submitted, and well, you really killed me on that. i really don’t know why you would to that to me."
that was it–lock and load–safety off, jefke is on an express train to angry man town.
a quick aside; my father is a goddammned master at yelling at people that have screwed him over. he’s an artist. he keeps it pretty cool at first, then puts out some leading questions, and then just smacks them with volume, obscenities and insults. he doesn’t do it lightly, but he’s been in bidness for himself so long and every so often you need to get all up in someone’s shit to get what should have been done–done. i’m a wuss really, but he’s my dad, and i guess a little bit of that is in my blood, and it only comes out every so seldomly often. well this was one of those times
i saw red, i swear…
"yeah, i did, you’re right–but seriously–what can i do, really what should i have done. there’s no doubt that this has been a awful experience. i can’t tell if you’re doing all this to try and take advantage of me–or if this is jsut how you guys operate or what, but it’s not right…you want me not to say that?"
"but the didn’t return phone calls, you never called me…"
"oh yes i did, i called the service department, and then told me not to call you, but to talk to your manager…i left him a voicemail on 7/14–the day i got that survey…you ask him to check his records. he never called…but really why should i be following up on this, I"M THE CUSTOMER!!"
"well after seeing this survey–my manager is not very motivated to do anything for you…"
"WHAT? you’re telling me you won’t do anything b/c of what i wrote?"
"well yes"
"ok–that’s it–i guess i should call subaru of america and see if i can get this taken care of at another dealership, this is insane"
"well yes, i think you should do that"
"ok, fine. jesus christ–can you ship me the fucking plates, b/c i’m not gonna drive over to goddamm’d bumblefuck to pick the fucking things up!"
"you don’t need to talk to me like that"
"oh i don’t, you don’t seem to listen otherwise–what am i supposed to do here? can you ship me the plates?"
"yes, I will ship you the plates"
"ok, great, thanks"
<click>
hmm, as i read it now. it’s not all that dramatic. damn. natty thought i was going to have a heart attack though. as i never really get like that with anyone (well not to their faces). she could tell i was pretty beside myself.
so i promptly called SOA and had them open up my case (i had a call in to them when the dealership never returned my call). i couldn’t get very far b/c my case worker was at lunch. but the guy said he’d forward the info to her and have her call the dealership-and i stopped him right there… "oh, no thanks-you don’t understand i will NEVER speak to, or GO back to that dealership–EVER, there has to be some other way for us to fix this, all i want is the car to be in the condition it should have been when i bought it–don’t have her call them and try to fix it with them, i WILL NOT go back there–sorry"
the guy on the phone was very nice, he said he’d note that and have my case worker call me back.
but whatever. i love the car, i just hate Russell SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228, and i’m pretty convinced that they’d do this to anyone. sad thing is that i bought the mazda mobile from Russell and they were great. the sales guy was no pressure, the car was perfect, he even put the plates on for me. this time they were just going to give them to me and let me do it. for a 28k car, i expect a little bit of service. anyway screw them.
i hope google picks this up so that people that are thinking of going to this dealer can avoid all the hassle and just go to one of the other 10 or so subaru dealers in maryland. these guys are shady, mean, and big poopie heads. i don’t say such things lightly, nor do i like to blast off on tirades that could hurt a business and then hurt their employees and their families and their families and the planet and shit. but i really feel like in this case i gave them several chances to make things right and they totally tried to fuck me. and you know me, i’m a big wuss-so for me to get to the point of actually yelling at someone–it’s a big deal.
so in conclusion: DON’T SHOP AT Russell SUBARU 6624 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore , MD 21228.
so to wrap things up, at least i think, SOA has offered to cover the costs of getting the bumper repainted at another dealership. i guess they contacts the fucks at Russell Automotive, and the wouldn’t budge–how ass backwards is that? but at anyrate, let me say that i’ve been happy with SOA’s professionalism and level of service. my anger, bile, hatred, disgust, whining, bitching, moaning, and general ill will is not directed toward Subaru, but rather at Russell Automotive. my outback is kickass (so far) and i feel like SOA has put in some effort to make things right. so i guess this is me happy with the outcome–(i know it’s awkward for me too).
20 responses so far ↓
1 Don // Jul 27, 2005 at 9:43 pm
Hopefully Subaru of America will get things taken care of you. I think you need to be sure that they know just how shitty the people there were, and how he said b/c of the negative survey that they refused to fix your car. I’d call WJZ or get some TV station there. Tell them they touched your pee pee too or something.
MAKE THEM PAY!
You could do what I did when I had tons of problems and fallings out with my old web hosting company. I registered fuckinterland.com and put up a site saying how much I hated them. I cited specific examples of how they sucked, and other people posted about how they sucked too. It had a good run until their lawyers contacted me and forced me to take it down.
In the end I felt like I won because people did actually find the site and share their bad experiences. Hopefully I saved somebody from choosing them as their web host.
Man, russelautomotivesucks.com is available too!!
2 Don // Jul 27, 2005 at 9:45 pm
I just submitted this specific post’s url to Google too. Hopefully that will help!
3 AnonymousCoworker // Jul 28, 2005 at 9:50 am
Sweet Jesus! I don’t know if I would have had the energy to do all that with a new baby and everything.
Lots of my family live in Catonsville, so I’ll be sure to pass the word around.
Bastards.
4 AnonymousCoworker // Jul 28, 2005 at 9:50 am
Or, you could always take them up against Judge Judy.
5 jefke // Jul 28, 2005 at 3:26 pm
hmm, judge judy…too bad whopmer isn’t around anymore.
UP
so SOA called me and said that they contacted the dealership, and spoke with another general manager, and he “didn’t” know who i had spoken with. he gave SOA his cell phone number to have me call him. i told SOA, that i really don’t want to have anything to do with this dealership. to which they replied, that since all of this was part of the whole purchase deal, no other dealership is going to touch it. and as each dealership is technically independent–in the end there is nothing that SOA can do to make them do anything.
i think i’m gonna throw in the towel. i pretty much refuse to drive out there. these guys aren’t going to do anything for me, and i don’t want to hear the manager bullshit me and try to make it seem like this was all my fault somehow. i played all my cards and they know that they’re never getting anymore business out of me…so i don’t think they’ll do anything to fix the situation. maybe i’ll just go and shit on the hood of one of those ugly tribecas that they have on display.
6 jsargevt // Jul 28, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Sorry to see that you are getting a screw-job from a local Subaru dealership. I find it funny that they’re holding your review of their dealership against you and NOT helping fix the issue. I’d keep pestering SOA for help.
Incidentally we only have 1 subaru dealership here in Raleigh and they suck ass as well, so I’ll never own a Subaru for as long as I live down in this furnace of a city.
You should have checked out one of those sweet Audi A3s that just came out - same price as your Subaru. Heck an A4 wagon is only a couple k more than the subaru - I can only hope that the Audi dealership up there isn’t as shitty as the subaru one!
I say go back to your shit-add Subaru dealership and make them WORK to fix what is wrong - I wouldn’t give up so soon and I’d make DAMN sure that you speak face-to-face with the dealership manager (not the sales manager) and keep on going up the local chain until you get to the person who will care that you’re pissed off. I’d get in there and cause a ruckus while they’re trying to sell cars to potential clients - I assure you that you’ll get the right person in front of you ASAP.
Have fun with it! I say veny out ALL your rage this way!
jsarge
7 Jimmy // Jul 28, 2005 at 9:31 pm
See if the Baltimore Sun has a consumer advocate that you could write to, do one of those Shame on You things.
8 rcg // Jul 29, 2005 at 9:12 am
Write a letter to the president of Subaru USA. Not a long one, a short one. In particular, mention that they used your poor review of their quality of service against you.
Don’t swear in it. And tell him how much you love the car, and how you’d like to believe that the actions of a single dealership don’t reflect on the company overall.
I’ll edit it if you like.
9 rcg // Jul 29, 2005 at 9:17 am
Fred Adcock is the executive VP of SOA.
10 jefke // Jul 29, 2005 at 12:02 pm
wow, finally some action on jefke.com…
sarge: good points, i’ve been looking at that A3, looks like a very sweet car, however it’s bascially the same size as the mazdamobile–and the “whole” reason to get the outback was to have some more space….
as for the A4 avant’s, i test drove a couple of those before getting the mazdamobile, used– they were great, though the backseat legroom is totally non existant, and while i haven’t actually crunched the number i think the outback is a bit bigger overall…plus the outback has the 8.9 inches of ground clearance which i totally need for….err, um , well i don’t need that but it’s cool.
The allroad is prolly the closest comparision, and that MF is pretty damn expensive, and overall audi’s reliabilty seems to have gone to shit lately…now that said, idon’t think i would have gotten this shitty treatment from the dealer on all this…but i digress. all this and i dont’ think i’d want to park a car as nice as an audi on our street…..
as for contacting newspapers/tv stations, i dunno, that just seems a bit over the top. in the end, we’re talking about a purely cosmetic issue here, and sure the principle that they should be better to their customers, but in the end, it’s a cosmetic problem…and i really really just don’t feel like dealing with it anymore.
now the letter to SOA about the siutation is an interesting one…especially since, i’m a bit annoyed that my specific answers to the survey were revealed to the dealership. i mean shouldn’t they batch that shit up and submit it at a monthly level or something?
i suppose it might have been forwarded on to them so they could fix stuff, but apparently that wasn’t something they wanted to do. fuckers.
i’ll post up pics on flickr of the damage, maybe i’m making a mountain out of a not so big a deal. or something
11 jefke // Jul 29, 2005 at 12:13 pm
ok here are pics i took a couple weeks ago.
i guess deep down i knew this was coming
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefkem/sets/663083/
12 jsargevt // Jul 29, 2005 at 8:17 pm
“looks like someone punched the car”….
Must have been a prior pissed-off customer.
I agree with RCQ - a short letter to the NA prez of Subaru with a CC: to the dealership’s manager/owner.
Other than that I say get over it. Someone’s bound to bounce their door off the side in a parkinglot and make more visible damage than that. I am the same as you though - it would burn me up that they dudn’t fix it as agreed to in the contract. I suppose that if you wanted to be a full-on prick take it to a lawyer to see if there is any recourse (although that will probably cost more than replacing it yourself).
Agreed on the A3 that is one sharp little car. Its high on the short list of replacements for my wife’s Saturn. As far as the back seat of the A4 wagon - well I don’t sit in the back seat. I might have a person sitting in the back seat of my car…..lets see here…..maybe 10 hours a year. Kids? They’re little
They don’t need no stinkin space.
have a great weekend and keep us up to date!
13 rud // Jul 30, 2005 at 11:53 am
You make an important point about your stich, jefke, which i think has gotta give you some serious leverage with SoA.
If SoA was responsible for revealing your name, data to the dealer, then they’ve screwed you too. Assumptions about the professionalism of their dealers aside, you were told that you would have been helped had it not been for that survey. So SoA shares some responsibility for the current state of your car as well.
That seems something worth making quite a big deal about; SoA should back up the intent presupposed by that survey (not just feedback, but to improve cust. rel.) with action.
new father tip: make sure you give natty lotsa brown beer these days, it’s good for the milk.
14 Jimmy // Jul 31, 2005 at 2:57 pm
http://mva.state.md.us/AboutMVA/lemonlaw/default.htm
Bite the bullet and have the dealer fix it. ABSOLUTELY take SOA to task for sharing your info to the dealer and the dealer telling you about it and claiming that they will punish you for your bad review.
15 jefke // Aug 1, 2005 at 3:18 pm
http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=291
sounds familiar…
16 jefke // Aug 2, 2005 at 4:23 pm
final update:
so i called the guy that was recommended by SOA–turns out he was the service manager, and was actually very nice. however he can’t do anything for me with out a written work order from the sales fuckups. he gave me the number of yet another sales manager.
so i called that guy up and left a voicemail. he just called me and was obviously ready for a fight, every sentance was short and curt. I was calm, asked him if he was familiar with my situation, he said he did some research and that i had said when i picked up the car that the work was “to my liking” and that is where the dealership will stand. and then he jsut stopped.
“so that’s it then?” i asked
“yes”
“ok that’s disappointing, last time i talked to terrance he said he’d ship my plates–do you know what the status is of that”
“no i don’t deal with that”
“well i guess that’s it then, well THANK YOU for ALL your help”
as i hung up the phone i remembered the argument i wanted to make, and that was that regardless if what i said at the time of pickup, i’m discovering, NOW that the work is no good, so what about that, i mean, if you get something repaired and then it breaks, isn’t there some warranty or commitment to the work?
so i called him, and naturally he didn’t answer, but what ever i left another voicemail that said:
“you know, i don’t expect you to return this call, and that’s fine, but i would like to mention that i think the point here is that MAYBE the work is falling apart now, isn’t there some sort or warranty on the work? isnt’ it possible that you didn’t do the job correctly the first time. but whatever, i will say this that i have had a terrible experience here and will do everything in my power to make sure that everyone i know or come in contact with will never set foot in russell automotive’s facilities.”
wish i knew where i got that shit, “facilities” wft? it’s like i’m at debate club or something. but whatever. that’s that. i’m sure i could try to bring this up with the BBB or something but whatever. i’m sure i’ve made too many little mistakes along the way to acutally have any recourse. if the goddamned place wasn’t 35 mins away i really think i might go shit on the hood of one of those ugly tribeca’s.
17 Jimmy // Aug 3, 2005 at 9:34 am
if you get something repaired and then it breaks, isn’t there some warranty or commitment to the work? - Lemon Law
If you want to push this to a resolution, call the guy back (again) and say look, you’ve thought about it, and you’d really like your new car to be a new car. The work they repaired looked good at the time but was not done properly. You’d like them to satisfy the requirements to fix it and sell you a new car, or you feel like your only other recourse is to investigate if the flawed repair job falls under the Maryland Lemon Law definition. I would also still push on SOA that you were told that they weren’t going to do anything for you thanks to a bad review. That’s wrong.
18 jefke // Aug 3, 2005 at 12:58 pm
ah so the saga continues…. if google still looks at how often a term is used on a page when they spider it, then i’m thinking this post and comments should get us some visability in search results..
anyhoo, here is a response to an email i sent into SOA on their mysubaru.com website:
the email:
Greetings,
I have been having problems with my dealer regarding some work they did on my rear bumper. I have been in contact with SOA and have been informed that they cannot help me. What really troubles me, is that my salesman cited things from my ‘Purchase Experience’ survey as reasons to why they (the dealer) will not help me resolve my issues with their work on the bumper.
Is it common practice to pass along customer names and information and specific replies to surveys to the dealer?
This is highly unprofessional and unacceptable.
If the information was passed to the dealer for them to resolve the situation–I would like to inform you that not only did it not resolve the situation?it has made it much worse.
While I am thrilled with the performance of my new Subaru, and have traditionally heard excellent things about the dealer network and SOA, i have to admit that this purchase experience has been a nightmare and has certainly colored my feelings toward Subaru and the quality of franchisees they allow to sell their cars.
jefke >
—
their response (pretty good i think):
Dear Mr. Jefke,
Thank you for contacting Subaru of America, Inc. There is a case that is currently being worked to resolve your concerns. A District Service Operations Manager has been alerted of your concerns. Please allow 3-5 business days for him to review your case. Once I have heard from him, I will be contacting you with an update.
In regards to the survey that you completed. In order for our dealerships to assess the effectiveness of their business they are provided with a copy of all the survey’s that they receive. It is our intent that they will attempt to resolve any negative concerns or issues to improve their business. Your frustration with the handling of your concern is understandable, and we are doing all that we can to resolve your issues.
If you need anything further you may contact us at 1-800-SUBARU3 and refer to your case number XXXXXXX.
Sincerely,
CSR
Subaru of America, Inc
So i wrote back and thanked them for their help and bascially said that if only 1 of the 4 crappy things that russel did has happened then i probaly wouldn’t be takign this so far, but the combination, as well as their overall ‘fuck you, you prick’ attitude has put this all over the top. that and i feel that SOA should be aware of how their dealers treat their customers…
so now we wait.
thanks for all the support and suggestions everyone. if this dosn’t work maybe we can get together, get a keg, and picket the place.
19 Binky // Aug 4, 2005 at 5:06 pm
Reading all that makes my blood boil! You don’t need that kind of crap in your life - ever. But especially not with a newborn. You need to pursue this. I would contact the local paper and kick up a big fuss! And otherwise dream up some ruthless revenge schemes.
20 jefke // Aug 5, 2005 at 4:47 pm
so get this:
my “tags” have been there for a few days, and no they can’t mail them to me. The FAT FUCK LIED TO ME. so now i have ot go the fuck out there to get them!
anger!!
ANGER!!