Diamond Bar Honda

[lcy037]

Do not go to Diamond Bar Honda for service or sales. My family purchased 4 Hondas there and figured that we would be getting the best deal since they knew us there. When my girlfriend went to Hardin Honda, they ended up giving her a better deal than Diamond Bar gave me!!

Diamond Bar Honda's service is just like their sales department. Here are 4 situations I'd like to vent on.

1) Took my parent's Honda Odessey into DB Honda and for the first 30K miles, they found nothing wrong. Then after the warranty expired, they found out that the engine head was blown. It costed thousands to fix and seems like they could have found the problem prior to the 36K miles warranty expired.

2) Took my 1999 Honda Civic in because the A/C was not blowing cold enough. Alan Chan told me that it was because the civic had a small engine so it wouldn't be as cold as the mini-van and didnt' even have a mechanic take a look at it. Brought it to Hardin Honda and they discovered it was because the freon was too full so it wasn't circulating the freon.

3) Same thing happened to my 2001 Honda Accord with the A/C. Hardin Honda was able to fix it. This time, the compressor had broke and was replaced under warranty.

4) DB Honda installed a bike rack on my 2005 Honda DRV. They took off the rubber strips so the car made a loud whistle while driving because the wind was blowing into the thin slit on the roof rack. DB Honda said it was a normal noise and they refused to do anything about it. Took it to Hardin Honda, and they suggested that we put the rubber strips back into the slit. Went back to DB Honda to ask for the strips, but they threw them away!!! Took 2 weeks before the new rubber strips arrived and they said they didn't know how to have both the bike rack and the rubber strips installed at the same time. (I took the strips home and cut them up to the correct size and voila...both the strips and bike rack installed at the same time.)

On a side note to #4, while i was waiting in line for service, a Chinese couple pulled in for service after me and Alan Chan actually went to them before me, took their car directly to a mechanic and brought the car back for them in a matter of minutes. It might have been because that they had an easy fix, but they hadn't even taken my information yet and I was before them!!!

I am hoping it won't take you guys as many times to realize that Diamond Bar Honda is not a great car dealership.

[mchastek]

In general, I think the question is, what are Dealerships doing about customer service? If you are in the Automotive Dealership business, I'd like to hear your comments. Customers are what keep the business going, so customer service should be a priority.

[Paul12801]

Did you tell Diamond Bar Honda you are never comming back, and why?

[hrman]

Your experience was unfortunate, but very consistent with the service offered at a number of dealerships. Most fixed end operations do not focus on repeat and referral business. They are more worried about increasing their RO and effective labor rate for each and every visit, versus doing the right thing and work to bring their customers back. In every bad customer service situation, it always comes down to having the wrong people. Dealerships need to start working on who they recruit and hire. So often they hire to fill a spot without really screening the applicant. The reason for the rush hiring decision is because they need someone now and do not have a plan on when and how to replace an employee who is terminated or resigns.
All bad customer service experiences have to do with sub par employees--not the systems and processes.
As traditional car sales continue to dwindle (due to internet), what do you think will happen with the service departments? People who buy cars off the internet are even less likely to have it serviced at the dealership because they have not developed a relationship with anyone during the buying process. This trend could spell trouble for fixed operations....

[Paul12801]

Your experience was unfortunate, but very consistent with the service offered at a number of dealerships. Most fixed end operations do not focus on repeat and referral business. They are more worried about increasing their RO and effective labor rate for each and every visit, versus doing the right thing and work to bring their customers back. In every bad customer service situation, it always comes down to having the wrong people. Dealerships need to start working on who they recruit and hire. So often they hire to fill a spot without really screening the applicant. The reason for the rush hiring decision is because they need someone now and do not have a plan on when and how to replace an employee who is terminated or resigns.
All bad customer service experiences have to do with sub par employees--not the systems and processes.
As traditional car sales continue to dwindle (due to internet), what do you think will happen with the service departments? People who buy cars off the internet are even less likely to have it serviced at the dealership because they have not developed a relationship with anyone during the buying process. This trend could spell trouble for fixed operations....

You have a good point about employees. When is the best time to hire? When you don't need them yet.

About traditional car sales- I've allways thought that the coustomer would rather buy a car from a brick morter store than the internet. The reason why is because on the net its just a car, but in real life you also sell emotion, and passion. You can taste touch hear smell in real life too. It isn't just a car anymore.
Wouldn't you want to deal with a human instead of a machine?
With that said- any dealership that is losing to the internet, should take a good long look in the mirror.

[hrman]

I agree about the touch, feel and smell, however, people no longer want to spend five hours in a dealership haggling over the price of a car. Even after working in the industry for a while, I do not enjoy the car buying experience because it takes too long. Our society is moving at light speed, people want everything to be fast.
I would like to see car salespeople that could handle the deal from start to finish without going to their manager. That process lends itself to anxiety and distrust because the buyer does not know what they are talking about and why it takes so long.
Hopefully, the car buying experience will improve as technology improves.
Randy

[mchastek]

Speaking from the consumer side, the last time I bought a car, I did two things. First, I went to my local dealership for a test-drive. I went back again for another test drive. Once I decided which car I wanted to buy, I went on the internet and contacted every local dealership I could find (up to 100 miles away). After I knew exactly what car I wanted, I knew every dealership carried them. The salespeople (again - we're back at HR!) were not particularly helpful at my local dealer where I took the testdrives, so I had no problem looking elsewhere. Sure, my local dealer played a big part in convincing me to buy the car (because of the testdrive, not the salespeople), but they did NOT convince me I needed to buy from THEM. Big difference.

I agree, the Internet takes away the human element. However, the same car can be bought at every dealer. They all come from the same factory. It's not like a resturant where they all have different recipies. I think the dealerships still play 2 important roles: 1) Test drives, and 2) Service under warranty. As far as the buying process goes, I think the Internet is helping the consumer tremendously - it gets rid of a lot of the game playing, at least in my opinion.