Joel Stambaugh

Review of Audi North Austin

I went to Audi North Austin because my front tire ...

I went to Audi North Austin because my front tire was losing air and I needed someone to look at it. Turns out I had a nail in it so I needed a new tire. The Service manager suggested I get 2 because the other front tire was worn down. However, they did not have the tires in stock but would have them the next day. So I left the car, they paid for a Lyft to take me home.
The next day I kept waiting for a call but none came. Finally I called at 4 pm & was told that the tires just came in & it would be ready about 5:30. They would contact me when done.
At about 4:45, I got a text saying my car was ready along with a phone number. No mention of sending the car to pick me up as I was told would happen. So I responded to the text to please send a car to pick me up. Nothing happened for 15 minutes. So I sent another text asking if they received my text. Still nothing. So I tried to call the number provided. After listening to the endless automated instructions, I finally got to the one that said to leave a message for service. But the mailbox was full & could not take any more messages. Frustrated by this, I called again and the same thing happened. So I called a 3rd time & asked for sales. A very nice young man answered and was dismayed when I told him what happened and put me on hold & went over to service to ask them to call me back. Shortly after that, I received a text in response to the text I had sent 30 minutes earlier asking where to send the car. The car arrived shortly afterwards, they apologized for the inconvenience, I paid the Bill and drove home. I finally got home about 6:45 after the family had finished dinner so I ate alone.

This experience ruined my whole evening & left me with a bad taste in my mouth. When I did speak with someone, they were very professional and helpful. But it took me the better part of 2 days and a lot of frustration just to get a tire fixed! And while text is a fine way to communicate, it s not if the other party does not respond. Late in the day, I was left hanging. A phone call would have cleared up a lot of my questions.

The worst part is that the tire pressure light came on again yesterday indicating a tire is losing air and after checking, it s the same tire they replaced. I filled it up at a local service station & it seems to be holding but now I don t know what to do. Should I go back to this dealer again? I am hesitant to do so but I probably will.

4/21 Update - Marc from the dealership contacted me to see if he could make things right. While he can t change my original experience, he did make me aware of some things that would make my experience better in the future:

1. The dealer service desk is open until 8pm, so while I was getting anxious as the day went on with no response, it was not as dire as I thought. I was concerned about getting my car back that day, and that seemed less and less likely as the clock struck 5:30pm. But they were still going to be open for another 2 hours. Had I known that, I would not have been so anxious.

2. While they are very busy, he will be taking action to ensure the Service voicemail box is cleared out regularly and that text messages are responded to more quickly.

He invited me back in to have the new tires inspected to make sure there is no damage, which there isn t. He also explained that the tire pressure light is a little sensitive on the A4 and could have been tripped by the extreme change in temperature in the past few days.
I am changing my rating to 4 stars