Kindra H

Review of Galles Motor Company

How do you "fix" a car, but a car isn't fixed at a...

How do you "fix" a car, but a car isn't fixed at all? I took my 2013 Chevy Sonic in yesterday to get my Chevrolet MyLink radio looked at since my screen was frozen and the radio wouldn't turn on. I left my car and they called me later to let me know that a replacement order for a radio would need to be acquired. They then asked if it would be fine to leave my car overnight with them and to get it fixed the next day (today). I said sure.

Well, today rolls around and I get a call saying that my car has been fixed. Once I get to Galles Chevrolet, I'm told again that my car is ready to go. I get my invoice saying that the radio was replaced as expected. I wait for about 10 minutes in the waiting room to get my car key. The moment I put my car key into the ignition, I'm expecting the radio to turn on like normal. But, what do I get instead? A radio that is "locked". I can't use the newly replaced radio.

I go back inside into the service department to tell them that my radio still doesn't work. I'm told that the radio they ordered had a "locked VIN" that they somehow couldn't access. Therefore, the radio that was installed can't be used. I have to wait the weekend and go back next Tuesday to get *another* radio installed in. I'm told by Assistant Service Manager Christopher Ortega that I would get a free gas fill up next week for the inconvenience.

I never thought that I could get my car "fixed" but have nothing fixed at all. Galles Chevrolet proved that it's possible. The inconvenience of bringing my car in during my work hours, finding rides to get home and to get to the dealership, and to be told that my car isn't fixed is more than immensely frustrating. If my car isn't fixed next week when I go back in, I'm changing my rating to 1 star.

Update:
My rating changed to 1 star. Here's why --
I took my car in again today (Tuesday). I decided to wait in the waiting room. About an hour and a half later, I was told that the newly replaced MyLink car radio works. I say great. I check the radio. It works, except there's one component that should be working that isn't at all (the volume and source switcher on the steering wheel). It's a small component, but if I expect something to be fixed, I expect the entirety of components to be working correctly. If something isn't working at the time of replacing a part, please communicate that to a customer.

When coming back to the service center to explain that the MyLink still didn't work like it should, I got a little lecture about how the workers at Galles Chevrolet are the middleman in this and that sometimes parts don't work how they should. I understand that completely. The annoyance from a customer's end comes from the lack of communication in regards to whether a part works completely or not before letting a customer drive off with a car that isn't fixed. In the first case, it was obvious that no serviceman TESTED to see if the new radio worked in the first place. In the second case, the radio worked, but there were still components of it that did not work as I drove off that should have been TESTED prior to me driving off with the car. Please do not tell customers that a car is READY to be driven and picked up without having tested a part!