Kathryn Royce

Review of Toronto Hyundai

From Best to Worst.

From Best to Worst.

While my car was under warranty, Hyundai staff and service we're impeccable. I enjoyed coming in and being able to work in the guest lobby while I waited for my vehicle. Staff were always friendly, offered sound advice and helped me out during Christmas with a 10% off service offering.

My warranty had recently ended and I went in for a basic oil change and serpentine belt change. I barley made it 2 blocks away from the dealership when my car started to sound like I was driving a tin can. I heard sparks, grinding, rubbing and a smacking sound. The serpentine belt broke and wrapped around several parts under the hood. When I called Hyundai, I was first asked if I could provide a tow back to the dealership. Why would I pay for the tow?

Hyundai eventually arranged for a tow and once they had my car, I was promised a call with an update by a specific time. That never happened. When I called for an update the person who promised it had left for the day so I escalated to the manager who also promised an update by a certain time and low and behold, that never came. When I followed up the next day, the Manager I had originally escalated to met me with a defensive attitude and suggested that the serpentine belt break may not have been Hyundai's fault.

I too work in customer service and sometimes have to deal with tough customers. I am not a tough customer. I simply wanted Hyundai to take ownership and meet the expectations they were setting (calling when they said they would, do what they said they would do). I was extremely disappointed each time Hyundai made a promise and failed to follow through.

The defensive attitude and suggestive shared thoughts from the Manager that Hyundai may not take ownership of this issue was appalling to me. How could the Manager speculate what the issue was or who was responsible before a throughout investigation and review?

Hyundai ended up replacing the serpentine belt, blamed it on the supplier and chalked it up to a defective belt. Did I mention that they had the same tech who installed the belt - determine that it wasn't an installation error?

The Hyundai Service Rep who was 'managing' the situation promised an engine shampoo since antifreeze had exploded all over my engine due to the belt breaking. Think they did that? No, another hit and miss on my expectations.

I spoke to the Service Rep at the front counter who was managing this situation and told her how disappointed I was with this service and lack of meeting the expectations that they set for me.

When she handed over my keys, I noticed a chunk of plastic was missing out of my key fob. The Service Rep immediately started with 'well, you gave your keys to the tow truck driver so who's to say who did that.."

I expressed how I previously advertised the great service at this location and that I'm extremely disappointed in how this was handled - especially the attitude from the Service Manager. I told her that I'm really considering not coming back to this location and they may lose a customer that potentially could've been a lifetime customer.

I gave Hyundai the opportunity to save me as a customer. I chose not to quietly walk away and go somewhere else. I chose to speak up and give Hyundai the opportunity to keep me as a customer. Part of me wanted to remain a customer and not chalk up one bad experience against the previous great experiences.

The rep who had been handling this situation all along responded to me with this: "I'm sorry, it just seems to be a comedy of errors, I'm so sorry. I hope you have a good weekend."

I was standing at the front counter with keys in my hand, Hyundai had a moment to save a good customer and chose not to.

Not once during the entire situation did anyone at Hyundai ask what I needed or what they could do for me. I was met with missed expectations, defense, lack of ownership and an irritable Service Manager who had more attitude than I did when I was a teenager.

I am no longer a customer at Toronto Hyundai