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Thread: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

  1. #1
    Jr Member Cyclic's Avatar
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    Default Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    Hey guys. Sorry but this is a long one but I hope my experience might be helpful to some. I've mentioned this in my car thread but some background into my issue was that I had bought the Aerokit package and I had an issue with the fit of the spoiler.

    I opened a case with Mazda with the help of the service department. They replaced the spoiler with a new one which fitted better but still not correct. Some may think this isn't a big deal but the 4 piece Aerokit was $2000 and the spoiler alone was around $400. So to me, it had better fit properly since it's simply a factory spoiler painted in gloss black.

    After 8 months of a drawn out process with them telling me "we'll call you in 1 to 2 weeks to bring your car in with a Mazda rep", in which I had to follow up every time after a month since they never call me back, they informed me that the dealership has changed owners. My case file belonged to the previous owners and that I'd have to start the whole process again. I pointed out that this was ridiculous and a big waste of my time since I had brought my car in many times to address this.

    We had came to an agreement that I would get 4 free oil changes and we would drop this case. I was satisfied with this deal and we all moved on. One important thing to note is that I had proposed this alternative earlier but was told it was not possible as the owner would not approve it. However, when the new ownership took place the service manager said they can now give me the 4 free oil changes.

    I've had 2 of the 4 free oil changes since then and last week I went in for my 3rd. To my surprise, there was a new oil change package that's now $89.99 and I can't simply get an oil change without the added nonsense. Again I was speaking to the same service manager about my remaining 2 free oil changes and he told me that they can't honour the remaining 2 since there is a change in ownership and any agreements or deals made with the previous owners will not carry forward.

    I argued that this was false and pointed out the date of my 2 oil changes which had already taken place and he said that he wasn't sure how I got those and that shouldn't have happened. I have only dealt with one person regarding this whole dilemma from start to finish and it was always the same service manager, John. I can sympathize that they deal with countless customers and can't keep track of all the details but I only have my own issues to deal with and seriously, I've been in every 4 months... It's not a long time to be forgetting everything.

    I was willing to compromise and pay the difference between the cost of the new and old oil change packages since the agreement was made under the pricing of the old package. He still said his hands are tied and he is not allowed to do anything. I asked to speak with the ownership or someone in charge in which everyone there refused to escalate to and gave me an email address to write my concerns to. It's not a matter of money, it isn't much, but it's a matter of principle. Why should I do business with people who aren't honest and do not keep up their end of the deal?

    I wrote an email and received a response from their Director of Operations. I had stated in my email what had happened with everything and asked for an official confirmation of when the NEW ownership came into effect to prove whether my agreement was made before or after the change. I told the director that my first 2 free oil changes were in July and November of 2015. After lengthy emails back and forth, the director still would not answer my question even though I have brought it to attention in each email.

    The director then proceeded to blame everything on the service manager and said he has been removed from his position for making bad decisions (lol). Other than the new ownership, everyone who worked there before still works there now. I tried to reason that their employees and their mistakes are their responsibility. Seriously, what is 2 oil changes going to cost them to keep me as a customer seeing as how they provided no real reasons as to why they backed out of our deal half way?

    In the end, the director wouldn't do what I think is right by me. I had stated if I am to not receive what was agreed upon then fix my spoiler. They said they submitted a ticket to Mazda in which it said they "consider this defect normal." Funny how it went from replacing my spoiler with a new one, to sending a Mazda specialist to fix it (which never happened as the ownership changed), to "everything is normal" after a year and a half later. I would need my old files from the previous owners to show the previous efforts that went into this ordeal which conveniently, is not possible.

    The director copied and pasted the ticket to me and I found errors in there along with her email response showing their lack of attention to details and ability to listen and understand. How can I be assured they handled my concerns properly when the simple things are riddled with errors? I even doubt now that the new pictures they took and sent to Mazda effectively showed the issues with the spoiler.

    So now I will be bringing my business elsewhere to a more attentive and reliable service department. Just an FYI, Select Mazda and Mazda of Hamilton are under the same new ownership. Now that they are no longer affiliated dealerships with TM3 and do not wish to become one again, there is no reason for me to go there after all of this. I guess it's partly my fault for ignoring all these small signs indicating a lack of reliability from their service department.
    2005 GT GFX Black Mica
    2015 GT Aerokit Snowflake White Pearl

  2. #2
    Moderator natspriceless's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    @Cyclic I am upset for you...that's some BS right there if you ask me and from where I'm sitting [as someone who in the past was a director of ops for 2 different companies] I will flat out say that it seems that Mazda needs to re-evaluate the person sitting in that position. As a director, you are responsible for the actions of the team and you are paid the big bucks to ensure there are not errors on documentation or with the company's actions/processes. I actually think that it is a violation of some portion of the ESA that you were told you the person was no longer in the position due to bad decisions they have made...a true professional would have just said that the person was either no longer with the company or was now in a better position for their skill set, end of story...sort of along the lines of you not being able to give a defamatory reference to a potential employer, you must simply say "I am not able to comment" and the person who asked the question knows that mean to 110 (which is hiring code for NO) the applicant.

    My personal opinion, I'd keep pursuing this. If you are looking for information when the new owners came to be, see if there was maybe a press release about it online somewhere. I'm will to bet that if they are now part of a group of companies the acquisition was celebrated somewhere on the web.
    My Parents bought me more Hot Wheels than Barbies when I was little...

  3. #3
    Jr Member Cyclic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    Thanks @natspriceless I am certain of when the new ownership came into effect as I have posted previously last year that they've decided to cut ties with TM3 and the discounts when the owners came in. There is also another thread posted by someone else reporting on this as well. I was merely asking them to prove their validity in their claims to back out of our agreement which they failed to do as the director herself refused to give me a date to prove otherwise.

    While people may have different views on what good customer service is, I am with you that the leadership is responsible for the team's actions. The service manager is in the position to make certain calls and whether he was demoted or not, those calls were still made and it should be followed through. Especially when it's just 2 oil changes. Just basic customer service in my opinion. And in this case, instead of taking responsibility, the director flat out blamed it on the service manager! I would link the emails here as it's quite comical but nothing would come out of it and the chain is quite lengthy.

    Just as examples, the "date submitted" field in the ticket is set to 3/13/2016 and the director had responded to my concerns with the amount of 6 free oil changes when it's only 4 total. When I pointed out these little errors in details she just said the date was a typo and that the number of free oil changes is irrelevant. Ok typo, but I argued the amount is relevant since they refused to give me 2 owed oil changes, let alone trying to argue for 4 lol. These might seem trivial and think I am just being difficult but it's just the tip of the iceberg that begun since August 2014 when I received my car from them. Her responses and tone was not professional at all. The only good thing about this dealership is their sales manager, Paul who is a great guy.

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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    Cyclic, your not alone. Their customer service skills are lacking. I've seen one of the girls at the small 3 desks make fun of a customer once they left. This was with myself and two other customers waiting in the little waiting room. We all heard her. They also charge way more for an oil change then other dealerships like Achilles.

  5. #5
    Jr Member Cyclic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    I've asked them to update the contact info from my wife's cell to mine on 5 different occasions!! When I was in last week and saw that it still hasn't been changed in their system, I asked why haven't they updated it and they told me they switched over to new systems when the new owners came. I pointed out that I've been here multiple times since the new ownership and they told me they "literally just got new computers last week." Being in IT and not stupid when it comes to servers and databases, I just laughed to myself at the notion that the records can't be updated over a span of a year just because you got new computers last week. Just goes to show they have no idea what to tell their customers when their service is lacking. Hard to feel confident that the service department here will take care of your car and address your concerns.

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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    The new owner took over more than 6 months ago. How long will they use this excuse?

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    Jr Member ShibbyDibbyDoo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    100% agreement with you. I've noticed a huge drop in their customer service. I'll be taking my business elsewhere.
    2014 Mazda 3 Sport GT
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    I bought my car from this dealership 2 years before the new guy took over. 100% these guys are scammers and know what there doing, I only go back for basic oil changes. Sorry for your bad luck with these guys, but I know one thing Ill buy a different brand next time around.

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    Jr Member 2012mazda3hatch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mazda of Hamilton (formerly Hamilton Mazda) - Review of new ownership

    Hey everyone,
    I bought my car from Mazda of Hamilton in June of 2016. As soon as I got my car I noticed a weird noise coming from the front wheel well, I called them about it and they did not believe me because the vehicle was fine when I bought it. I got it serviced at the Mazda in Guelph and they said all 4 brakes needed to be serviced, and my serpentine belt needed to be replaced. Mazda of Hamilton also said they would get me a second set of keys for my car, but failed to do so even after I called them several times. I would not recommend buying from them at all, and I will not buy from them again.

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