ComplaintsforO'Brien Kia of Bloomington

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a 2015 Kia Sorento, a vehicle that is notoriously vulnerable to theft due to online videos recording how easy it is to steal. I also have an aftermarket remote start on this same Kia. I called O’Brien Kia a few weeks ago to discuss the customer satisfaction service of upgrading my vehicle’s software to mitigate theft. I spoke with ******* (****). I was very clear about my concern, which was the possibility of my aftermarket remote start becoming inoperable after Kia’s software upgrade. I was assured by **** and others that Kia addressed the aftermarket remote start issue. I handed my keys over to their service team. After about an hour, I picked my vehicle up from the service department only to learn that my aftermarket remote start was not inoperable, but adversely affected by the new software upgrade. In essence, attempting to use my aftermarket remote start now triggers the vehicle’s security alarm. Ouch. Not only was I misinformed by the service department at O’Brien Kia, the technician who performed the software upgrade was unable to reverse the software upgrade which was my request. I left the dealership calmly but frustrated. I then called Kia Customer Support. They suggested I open a tech line case on a remote start. I find it unfortunate that the service department at O’Brien Kia didn’t recommend this possibility to me. One week later, I took my vehicle back to O’Brien to see if the technicians could work something out with the Kia engineers. Troubleshooting did not go as hoped. I am now left with a dysfunctional aftermarket remote start. Had I been properly informed by the service department at O’Brien Kia, I would have opted to not have the anti theft software upgraded. Their negligence now has me (1) without my aftermarket remote start, and (2) facing a potential cost of $1,000 to install a genuine kia remote start onto my vehicle.

  Business response

  10/09/2023

  We contacted the customer today and have an appointment to pick his vehicle up on Friday, drop him off a loaner vehicle so we can have a technician figure out why his steering wheel is shaking.  We will repair and return to him.

  Customer response

  10/10/2023

   I am rejecting this response because: the business has confused me with a different customer.  I was never contacted, and my steering wheel is not shaking.  I opened a complaint about a dysfunctional remote start.

  Let’s try again, O’Brien!

  
  

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  Forgive the confusion - we have attempted to reach out to the customer and will reach out again today.  We will make sure that the customer is taken care of.  Our advisor said that the conversation with the customer took place about this update possibly wiping out the ability for the remote start to work.  The advisor said that the customer understood that and approved the update to take place, taking the risk.  With that said, if the customer doesn't feel that way, then we need to take responsibility for not making the possibility of the remote start not working more clear.  It is our responsibility as the dealer to be a good communicator with the customer and verify that they completely understand these situations and it appears as if we failed to do that in this instance.  Ashley Wilson, our Service Manager at Kia will be reaching out to set it up for us to get the customer back in so we can make sure that his remote start works, or we will replace it with a new one.  

  Customer response

  10/14/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, andand am willing to give O’Brien Kia a chance to get this right.
  
  In their response, they claim their advisor communicated the possibility of a dysfunctional remote start and that I understood and was willing to take that risk.  This is completely false.  
  
  While I appreciate the business taking responsibility and their willingness to take care of me, I will not tolerate any further claims that their service department made me aware of the risk of losing my remote start.  In fact, it was the opposite.  I was led to believe by their advisor that the software patch would not disrupt my aftermarket remote start.  I was misled.
  
  I am taking no responsibility in this incident.  The advisors at O’Brien Kia are supposed to be the subject matter experts.  They failed to properly communicate the risk.
  

  Mistakes happen, but any failure to make this right by my accord will result in an escalation of this matter at local small claims court.

• Initial Complaint

  03/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought two identical Kia Forte's (GT Line) at O’Brien Kia in Bloomington, IL brand new on May 14, 2020. They both had some sort of non Kia aftermarket remote starter put on them by someone. One car works fine, the battery on the other car goes dead unless you leave the car plugged in to a charger every night. I can't drive the car out of town because the battery will go dead overnight. I need to get this car fixed. This purchase was made at the height of the pandemic lockdowns. I drove seven hours from Nicholasville, Kentucky all the way to Bloomington, Illinois to get these two cars because this was the closest dealership to my house that said they had them. The remote starter wasn't the genuine Kia remote starter system I ordered, it was some aftermarket thing they apparently found at a local shop. That shop wired it incorrectly, and now it drains the battery every day so I have to plug the car in overnight or I can't start it in the morning. ****** ****** in the service department at O’Brien Kia refuses to help. I have had this car serviced multiple times for this problem, starting at *** **** *** in Nicholasville, KY on October 1, 2020. The remote starter has been removed, but it didn't help the parasitic drain because *** **** *** says the main wiring harness was damaged by the installers. I paid for a brand new car that works. I did not get one. This dealer does not stand behind their products. ****** ****** In O'Brien Kia's service department says it is some company named ****** *****’s problem. However, I did not pay ****** ***** to put in a remote starter. O’Brien Kia did. I have never spoken with ****** *****, visited their facility, or paid them. I wanted a genuine Kia remote starter, and I was led to believe that I paid for one at the sale. I was not told that some aftermarket gizmo was what I was getting. I paid top dollar for a brand new car from O’Brien Kia that worked. and I did not get one. O’Brien Kia must pay to fix my car.

  Business response

  03/28/2023

  In response to the complaint:

   We would never tell a customer that we are "unwilling" to help.  We are happy to look at the vehicle.  The customer has had the vehicle for 34 months, and this is the first that we have ever heard from the customer.  We are unaware of any work that he has had at other repair facilities, what they have done to his vehicle or not done.  He is free to bring the vehicle to us for a complimentary diagnosis of the issue he is experiencing.  

  Customer response

  03/28/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  O'Brien Kia is a 14-hour round trip drive from my house.  I have told you this over and over again.I have been working with ******* Kia ****** ********) in Nicholasville, KY which is 10 minutes from my house.  Your employee, ***** ****, originally suggested this. You can call ******* and verify that they were made aware of the issue more than 30 months ago.

  ******* Kia says major damage was done when the aftermarket remote starter was incorrectly installed by non-Kia personnel before I bought the putative new car.  They say O'Brien Kia should pay for it, and I agree.

  Business response

  03/28/2023

  We are not going to comment on another service facilities assessment or work performed.  The customer has had the vehicle for almost 3 years now.  Our recommendation would have been to reach out to us so that we could be involved and help him through this process when he was having issues if he didn't want to bring the vehicle back to us to look at.  He has on his own free will decided to get another service facility involved, have them perform work on the vehicle, approve a bill to be spent on the vehicle and now he wants us to pay for it.  That isn't how things work.  We have no idea what he has done or not done to the vehicle or what this other facility has done or not done to the vehicle.  The customer made a choice to drive 14 hours to purchase the vehicle.  Again, we are happy to diagnose the issues the vehicle is having free of charge.  Whatever the customers business is with another dealership is between he and the other dealership.  Our final suggestion is to bring it to us to be looked at. 

  Customer response

  03/28/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I made a choice to drive 14 hours for two vehicles that were not available at any closer dealerships during the pandemic lockdowns.  I have bought 4 great Kias over the past decade from ******* Kia and I mistakenly assumed another dealership would not take advantage of the long distance to try to cheat me by hiding substandard non-Kia parts in my brand new car. 
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bought our Kia Stinger in March of this year with 11k miles in May the rear bumper corner popped out after shutting the rear hatch. Took the car in May 16th and never received any response as to the warranty for 5 weeks until I called the sales person and had them follow up . Here it is 6 weeks later and they want us to video the bumper and start a claim all over. It’s a 30$ part and 1hr of labor ( I work in a bodyshop ). They are not honoring their warranty after the sale of the car and feel like we’re just getting a run around. There is also a warranty claim for our steering wheel replacement but we are not confident they can handle the job seeing how when we originally brought our car in back in May for the warranty claim they also did an oil change on our car and upon checking the fluid levels the next day we were a qt short on oil. I’ve since filled it and it is still full so no chance of burning and the floor in our garage where the car parks is spotless . This complaint is mainly about service after sales which we are not receiving and would not recommend anyone to this dealership for any reason, even to air a tire. I bought the rear bumper clip to fix the bumper from Napleton Kia in Urbana and will replace it myself because we are tired of seeing the rear bumper on this expensive car sticking out when we look out the side mirror and it’s starting to chip the paint from rubbing on the side marker light. This is not a Kia problem but a dealership problem and poor service.

  Business response

  07/10/2022

  Our goal is to always provide our customers with an exceptional service experience. Kia, like most manufacturers, does not allow its dealers to self authorize certain repairs. Interior trim repairs and body repairs both fall into that category and can be very frustrating to both the customer and the dealer due to the amount of information the manufacturer asks of us before they will authorize the work.  We completely understand why the customer is upset, however, we opened cases regarding both of his concerns and did not require him to leave his vehicle with us while we processed the claim.  Most dealers require the vehicle to be left.  Kia asked us for a specific video before they would determine what route they wanted us to take regarding his rear bumper. He did send it to our service director, **** ****** and we attached it to the case as promised. Almost a week went by before Kia responded and then asked for another video, this time including the VIN and the customer closing the trunk. For whatever reason he refused to come in to let us take the video or take us up on our offer to allow him to take the video himself.  If he wants this covered, he needs to send the manufacturer what they want so they can continue to try and process the claim.  He can take it to any authorized Kia dealer if he doesn't want to drive back to Bloomington. We also informed him that Kia had given us authorization to replace the steering wheel due to the small defect in the leather and offered to set up an appointment for repairs. He dismissed this and refused to set up any type of appointment. We had attempted to make things as easy as possible for him during what is an extremely time consuming process. This was us trying to go above and beyond for him. We still have the steering wheel that we got Kia to authorize the replacement of and would be happy to install it for him under Kia's Factory Warranty. 

  Customer response

  07/11/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I brought my car to the dealership in May to start the warranty process, they had my car for 8hrs to take all the pictures they needed. After work I picked up my car and was offered no explanation of what was going to take place other than we took pictures of the car and summited a warranty claim. 6 weeks later not a word from the service dept,or dealership about what was happening. No text, email or phone call. I finally had enough and text my salesman and ask him to get involved, he replied back promptly and said that the service dept would be in touch with me soon. A week later I asked the salesman again to see where we were at on the warranty and that I haven’t received any contact with service dept. Later that day Alec did call and assured me that this was going to get handled. I sent videos of the bumper and steering wheel. Again saying this was going to be taken care of. Another week I finally get a text from the service dept asking for more videos and pictures and that they needed to start the warranty process all over again! Again?? My steering wheel replacement was never mentioned until I got frustrated and decided to take the warranty work elsewhere. I have since replaced the bumper clip and fixed my rear bumper again a 30$ part and 1hr of labor. I am a certified tech of over 30yrs at another bigger dealership and am quite capable of installing the steering wheel myself if the send to my address. I already did their job on the rear bumper. Pictures included. Service after the sale is not their Forte and this should be noted in the BBB file. After this settles, we will be giving negative reviews on *********** and multiple other social media outlets.

  Business response

  07/12/2022

  We are not here to frustrate anyone, we simply have to follow the guidelines of the manufacturer for warranty repairs.  They don't allow customers to replace their own parts.  What can we do to help?  I'm unclear what the customer wants us to do, we are happy to help any way possible.

  Customer response

  07/13/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Being unclear to what customer expect is the problem with this dealership. We want and expected this warranty to handled in reasonable time and to the quality of Kia brand. Still today even after all these responses we have yet to hear why it took 6weeks and me getting in touch with the dealership to find out anything. They had our car for 8 hrs, the should be skilled and trained to know what Kia wants for a warranty claims. They never responded after our first visit and left us in the dark. Then to blame the customer for the lack of cooperation and the Kia corp for their rules is mind blowing. Any major dealership could absorb a 30 dollar part and 1 hour of labor and get results without the customer waiting 8 weeks now. Again this come from me working in the business and dealing with warranty claims and repairs. We recommend that the BBB take further action in this and we would  rather never to do business with the O’Brien dealerships again. 8 weeks my wife had to drive this car with the bumper damage and they take no responsibility in this  time frame.

• Initial Complaint

  12/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Received quote for 2022 Kia Niro PHEV LXS from ******* ****** in October. Quote was OTD, including TTL and fees. Paid $300 deposit to have it ordered. When I arrived to pick it up with cash in hand, dealership requested $2k higher than the quoted price, and refused to offer the quoted price. I have submitted a dispute with my credit card company for the deposit, and will pursue small claims court if needed. This should have been a clear-cut deal.

  Business response

  12/27/2021

  I believe the matter has been resolved between us and the customer.  

  Customer response

  12/27/2021

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩