Charlotte/Rock Hill Area - Dealer Warning

[Rockit_z28]

Summary
All my apologies for the long post, but I wanted people to be aware of the situation. In the past, I made multiple recommendations for Burns Chevrolet Cadillac in Rock Hill, SC, but would now suggest that people look elsewhere when purchasing a new vehicle or having any service work performed on their cars. Please note that this was the third vehicle that we have purchased from them and yet they still treated us horribly. It’s a shame when your favorite local dealer starts going downhill and has no respect for you as a customer. They lied to us multiple times first about the costs and twice about completing the work when it was not completed.


I paid $1,000 for the dealer to apply First Place Finish to my wife’s new Cadillac just for the warranty protection. This is not something that I would normally purchase, but my wife is extremely hard on the interior of cars (kid, dogs, etc.). Instead of receiving the appropriate treatment, the car came back in worse condition than I originally purchased the vehicle without the First Place Finish being applied until after our third trip. There was damage to the trunk lid and swirl marks throughout the car that they applied the finish over top of. The sad part is that Burns Chevrolet does not want to take ownership of resolving the problem.

We tried multiple times to let them resolve this and their only response was for us to never come back. As a loyal GM customer, I certainly will not be back to buy or service my next vehicle.


The following is the story my wife wrote about her experience.


Long Story (Wife’s Perspective)
I purchased the car on May 31, 2012. At the time, I purchased the First Place Finish and a rear spoiler. Since the spoiler had to be ordered and painted, the dealer advised to wait and have the First Place Finish applied at a later time. An appointment was scheduled for June 19, 2012 to complete the work, but the body shop had to cancel the appointment. The appointment was rescheduled for June 26, 2012. I dropped the car off at the service department on June 25, 2012 to complete some maintenance items and to check the car for any service bulletins. The body shop received the car on June 26th to complete the additional work.
I arrived at the dealer the afternoon of June 27th to pick up the car. I noticed immediately that there water spots on the car and that certain areas of the car were not even cleaned. There are still scuff marks on the interior and the inside of the trunk lid is full of dirt and pollen. The General Manager, James Burns, comes out to look at the car and agrees that this is not acceptable and that the finish was not even applied. They send the car back to the body shop while I wait the rest of the afternoon for the car. Upon delivery again, I notice marks on the trunk from when they attached the spoiler that are still not removed. Regardless, Burns Chevrolet tells me the car is done and sends me home. I return home and my husband notices swirl marks in the paint finish and that the First Place Finish was still not applied.


We return to the dealer on June 30th to go over the car with them. My husband immediately requests that the Sales Manager, David Choate, review the car with him. David hands off this responsibility to Jamar McKinney, F&I Manager. Upon reviewing the car, Jamar agrees that the car is not properly finished, recognizes the swirl marks, damage on the trunk, and that the First Place Finish was not applied. In order to rectify the situation, Jamar agrees to have the car brought back in again and to refund us the $1,000 for the First Place Finish. He advises us to bring the car back on July 5, 2012 and he will take care of it. A couple of the other sales representatives are near the car and they concurred that the car was not properly detailed.

I drop the car off the morning of July 5th for them to rectify the situation. My husband and I go back to the dealer that evening only to find out that they applied the finish over the swirl marks and still did not fix the trunk lid. Jamar again recognizes that the detailing is job is not correct. He advises us to leave the car and he will talk to the body shop on Friday July 6th.


Jamar calls on Friday July 6th advising that they cannot complete the work, but they will provide us a check and a subcontractor’s name to complete the necessary detailing. He requests that we come down and pick up the car.

We arrive at the dealer Friday evening to meet with Jamar. He immediately notifies us that he does not have all the necessary signatures on the check to give us. My husband suggests that the dealership subcontract the work themselves and pay for it directly. This was to insure the dealer would be responsible for any damage and I would have a vehicle to drive while the work was being completed. Jamar is very reluctant to do this and instead agrees to complete a “We Owe” slip for the work and will mail us the check. I ask about the refund for the First Place Finish that he promised to us the week before. Jamar indicates that the refund will go to the bank and not directly to us. At this point, I become very angry and loud for being lied too about the situation, plus the treatment that I have been receiving. The dealer threatens to call the police to have us removed, but in the meantime the car is sitting on their showroom floor with no way for us to leave. It would have never escalated to this if they would have completed the car right the first time. My husband requests that Mr. Burns contact us regarding the situation. We leave the dealership with the car, but no check and no “We Owe” statement.


On the morning of July 7, 2012, James Burns contacts me and advises me that there is nothing they can do to make me happy and requests that I do not ever come back to the dealership.


On the morning of July 9, 2012, Claude Burns contacts my husband at work. Mr. Burns is very defensive right from the start indicating that there is nothing they can do that will make us happy. He has no interest in hearing both sides of the story. Again, he offers to refund the bank a $1,000 for the cost of the First Place Finish. My husband refuses for them to cancel this. My husband asks why they cannot fix the car under the warranty and Mr. Burns states that if he refunds the money that there is no warranty. At this time, we still have the warranty, but yet they are refusing to fix the car under the warranty. Worse yet, Mr. Burns refuses to take any ownership of the damage caused to the car and does not even request to see the car and the damage. My husband advises him that we will proceed to take any necessary actions to get this resolved.

I thought the customer was always right and especially when multiple people at the dealership recognized that there was a problem. The worst part for unsuspecting customers is that the finish on their car may be damaged for not having any protection that they thought was there.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my problems with Burns Chevrolet. I just hope someone else doesn’t feel the burn of Burns Chevrolet. As proud owners of multiple GM vehicles, we just hope GM is not reverting back to their old ways of doing business and that GM will take ownership of the situation and help us get this resolved.