St. James Volkswagen

Dealing with St. James Volkswagen/St James Audi has always been difficult and disappointing but this time it is just that much worse...It goes all the way up to the top. I'm probably going to have to c always been difficult and disappointing but this time it is just that much worse...It goes all the way up to the top. I'm probably going to have to call Visa now to dispute a claim since the dealership won't do the right thing and issue me a refund that I requested last week. Background: I recently bought out my car after the lease ran out. I wanted extended warranty so I spoke with Mike, the finance manager. He told me I had to get an inspection done in order to get a warranty on my car so I went through that process. I asked what the cost of the warranty was and he showed me different prices. He explained that if I bought a warranty, I wouldn't have to pay for the inspection and I agreed since I was certain that I would buy the warranty he showed me. After the inspection, the price of the warranty quoted was nearly $1000 higher than the price he quoted the time before! I asked him why the price he quoted was no longer available and he said it is what it is - if I didn't like it, I could just pay $230 for the inspection I didn't need without the warranty! I didn't have any options at the time so I bought the warranty and decided to shop around; the warranty had a 60 day cancellation window. I found much better prices online and found out that the warranty Audi sells is from a 3rd party anyways so you're always better off going to those companies directly instead of through Audi. I called Mike to cancel the warranty but he refused unless I paid for the inspection. I reminded him that he had failed to honour the price he quoted so it wasn't fair to expect me to hold up my end of the deal either. I asked to speak with the manager of the dealership but Mike said the general manager was too busy and didn't forward my request. I waited until later that day and tried calling the switchboard and asking for the manager myself. Mark was transferred to the call in less than 20 seconds. I explained to Mark the experience I recently had with Mike (it's never been good but this time was undeniably rotten). I also let him know about how I had been frequently disappointed with the dealership over the past and was Mark seemed to take my feedback to heart (and it wasn't all bad, there were a few people who definitely stood out there as exceptional) and said he would take care of things for me. When he called me back, however, he was demanding now that I paid for the dealership cost of the inspection - $160 so he wouldn't be out of pocket for the ordeal...pardon me? I have to pay for his finance manager's deceitful behaviour so he can break even?! It's also very difficult to believe that he paid $160 to his staff for an inspection - I'm guessing he is charging me the rate for his garage and still making a profit from the problem his staff caused. I can't believe, after hearing that his manager was playing sneaky games to increase his commission and denying me the right to speak to the owner, the most important thing on his mind was his out of pocket expense for the inspection I was duped into having. At no time did Mark even offer me the original price of the warranty that I was quoted either. If any of my staff told a customer that the couldn't speak to me, that would be grounds for immediate dismissal - that is completely unacceptable. Mark finally agreed to refund the warranty after I told him I could just call Visa and have it done anyways since they were violating the terms of the agreement - not great customer service, making me fight for a basic right, but I was happy to at least get my money back...only he didn't refund the warranty! He took my info down and it still hasn't posted to my account. I waited a couple of days and decided to call back. He didn't return my call so I called again and now he is out of town for over a week and Mike, the finance manager said he wasn't told anything about the situation so he's not going to refund it either. It's unfortunate that they care so little about customers. I'm definitely going to be buying more cars in the future so now they are inadvertently giving up all of that business! Why don't companies realize it's on their repeat business where they become established? If you need a Volkswagen, go to Autohaus on Pembina. St James has terrible management and they don't stand up for their customers. I know it's not the end of the world and it's not going to ruin my day, I'm just surprised by companies that don't understand that bad customer service is so detrimental to their business. I hope that they take heed and pay closer attention to the feedback they receive from so-called "valued customers". I will also post a follow up if they do anything to change my opinion of them. [FYI - I've been a longstanding customer at St James being responsible for the purchase of 6 vehicles through them over the past 13 years. I had previously convinced my dad to buy 2 vehicles through them but he recently made a purchase through Autohaus instead.] More