I have been a toyota owner for over 25 years, betw...

I have been a toyota owner for over 25 years, between my former husband and I we had 4 toyotas in that time that we loved. Red Deer Toyota has put an end to that last fall (or at least has made the idea of getting another Toyota quite unlikely). It was last fall I had my vehicle scheduled in for service and brought it in for the 7:30 doors opening time to ensure I'd get on the shuttle (7 person van) to get back to town to ensure I'd make it to a course I was booked in to attend.

I got there 7:40, traffic slow that morning as we'd just got a tremendous dump of snow the day prior. On getting there I handed my key and asked about the shuttle as I did not see it outside where it should be. I was told it had already left for town. Left? The doors were only open 10 minutes? I ended up waiting 40 minutes for the shuttle to return to get me to town and found that the shuttle driver had left with only TWO people in the 7 passenger van. I was quite anxious as I was fearing not making it to my booked appointment in town. As it went, I did not get back in time and had to rebook the course.

At the end of the day when I went to get my vehicle I was then told that now it needed all 4 struts replaced. (the maintenance was a regular maintenance, but they did manage to find other 'minor' issues making the bill for the day quite a significant one already and then tell me I needed struts).

I was going to book the appointment but I made a request to perhaps have a loaner vehicle set aside so I'd not be at the mercy of a shuttle driver that takes off in under 10 min of door opening with merely 2 people aboard. I was told I could not use a loaner as they are for people whose vehicles are not drivable and mine would still be drivable. I asked then if perhaps the way the shuttle operates could be looked into to better serve the customers. I was told maybe I should try to get in on time. REALLY??? The doors open at 7:30 and with severe snow I was in for 7:40... I don't know about everyone but I really don't think that is a tardy arrival time given the road conditions??!!!

The woman at the booking desk (Kathy W) was totally unhelpful - she portrayed a person who ldid not give a damn about the customer and would not do anything to try to make the next experience an improvement. She denied allowing for use of a loaner vehicle nor passing on to the appropriate people a consideration of using the shuttle more appropriately to allow for more than 2 people to use it at a time and so I requested speaking to a manager. She would not get me a manager. She was, in my eyes, the absolute opposite of what one should have as the front staff interacting with customers.

In the end there was no attempt to please the customer (myself) with regards to transportation back to town and no apology for leaving me stranded in the morning with a 40 minute wait for the shuttle to come back.

As well, the struts - well I did not book them in and had them looked at by another party and was told they did NOT need replacing. So.... there you have it, they were going to take advantage of my lack in mechanical skills to get me to pay for a pricey fix that was not even needed!!!

I shall try Another Toyota dealership for any work to my vehicles or future purchases as I have read others have done. I need a place where customer service is a priority, Customer services doesn't matter one little bit to these fools.