Beaskiro Pickleball

Review of Camelback Hyundai Kia

***UPDATE 7/21/2015 - 3 stars for service recovery...

***UPDATE 7/21/2015 - 3 stars for service recovery

After writing my initial review, I was reached out to promptly by Cameron Williams at the corporate offices of Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Cameron did a great job empathizing with my situation and committed to working with the dealership to ensure it is not repeated with other customers.

Cameron's responsiveness, ownership, and commitment to resolving this issue reflect the integrity that I associate with the Berkshire name.

He worked to fully resolve my complaint to my satisfaction and more importantly, his actions show that his company cares about service recovery and treating people right.

BUYERS BEWARE. If you are reading this, you will hopefully avoid the same mistakes we made. If you are going to buy a car, make sure to do your homework, not just on the vehicle and pricing you are looking for, but make sure you find a REPUTABLE dealer, and work to negotiate fairly. Don't let yourself get bullied and if you see red flags or feel uncomfortable at any time, have the courage to walk out. No matter how good of a job your salesperson does, it is not worth it to do business with a company that has a poor track record resolving disputes and complaints. Check BBB scores (F at time of writing) and reviews here and on yelp. We did not think to do this prior to giving our business to this dealer, and we deeply regret it. We paid for it in time, energy, stress, and our pocket books (although I am not claiming we were ripped off by any means. We had to work hard to make sure we weren't).

This was the worst purchasing experience at a dealership we've ever had. I don't fault them for playing the typical sales games and inflating sticker prices with FMV adjustments, because I've seen other dealers do this too. But some of the conduct we witnessed was appauling. An employee storming through the lobby muttering "f***** retard" about who knows what. A customer next to us shouting about how he just wanted his keys back so he can leave. Badgering people to buy gap insurance and in house warranty coverage with multiple salesman after repeated no's, when they had the opportunity to win service business down the road if they backed off. And then acting offended when NO was the final answer.

But the most disturbing thing is the employees that take pride in mentioning they are owned by Berkshire Hathaway, as if this somehow lends credibility to the dealership. The business practices I witnessed certainly don't seem to align with the high standard of ethics that Berkshire is known for. Even though they are just one of 81 dealerships bought out by Berkshire, I can't imagine Warren Buffett being pleased if he were a fly on the wall for a day at this place. The Berkshire Nissan and Toyota dealerships right next door both receive A's on BBB, in stark contrast to the F put up by Camelback Hyundai. Even if this was due to poor business practices prior to the buyout, there are plenty of recent bad reviews to show that it hasn't changed much.

I hope management takes note of this and comes up with a plan to change the culture of this place so that employees and customers alike are treated with respect. It's too late for us, so my only hope is that future customers don't have to endure what we did.