Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Brought my 2013 VW Beetle convertible in for 4 new tires and a tune up. Service person ***** told me I needed an ****** mile check. He quoted me a price of $1510. I asked him why the price was so high, he said the tires were close to $1000. I told him I saw an add online that said the price of tires wer buy 3, get the fourth for $1. He said he had no knowledge of this. He wanted me to send him a copy of the add. I got the impression that he didnt believe me. He called me back and told me that my car needed more work. I asked how much, he said $2,900. I said, just give me what I asked for and dont do anything else. He then quoted me a price of $2,100 but that I would need a battery. I asked him for the price of the battery he said about $150. I told him to put the battery in and that I would be down to pick up the car. My cost was over $2,300. I am a 71 year old disabled Vietnam veteran. I feel that I was taken advantage of by this dealership. ***** told me the price was so high because they charge $189 an hour for labor. The total labor cost was $1,100. When I drove the vehicle home, I tried to put the convertible top down. The top would not go down. I called ***** up and told him. He said that they did not work on the convertible top and stated we dont have any mechanics that work on convertibles. I told him that before I brought the car down, the top worked fine. He made an appointment for me the following week. I told him I was not going to give him any more money and that they were at fault for the top not working. I told him that when they put the new battery in, they did not keep power to the computer in the car and it caused the computer to default the motor for the top. They said it was not their problem. I advised the that I would take out a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the ************************* ***** said go ahead. I got the impression that hes been thru this before. Please help. Respectfully *********************

  Business Response

  Date: 04/25/2024

  Good morning, 
  I would like to start by saying that my company and I pride ourselves on doing business in a transparent and honest way, and always look to provide the best customer service possible.  We understand that our reputation is the most important form of advertising we have, so with this in mind, we go out of our way to treat people with the respect that they deserve.  In this situation we attempted to do everything we could to make ************** happy but unfortunately our best efforts fell short.  I will address each of **************** complaints below in a bullet point form.  I would like to start by addressing what I consider the most important thing said in this complaint.  His statement about my service consultant taking advantage of a 71-year-old Vietnam Veteran is completely erroneous.  We have strict legal compliance and discrimination policies that ensure every customer receives the exact same treatment, process, and the exact same pricing structure. This compliance process is in place so that every customer regardless of their race,religion, creed, sexual orientation or veteran or military status is treated with respect and pays the same labor rate.  If I thought or found out that any of my employees were taking advantage of their clients, let alone someone that put their life on the line for our country, they would no longer work here.
  A part of our discrimination policy is for each customer interaction to be documented in the most effective way possible.  This is why we utilize a program called Text2Drive.  This program allows us to easily contact our service clients to send pictures, videos, price quotes and so we can keep them updated on the progress we are making on their repairs.  I will come back to this later. 
  I asked him why the price was so high, he said the tires were close to $1000. I told him I saw an add online that said the price of tires were buy 3, get the fourth for $1. He said he had no knowledge of this. He wanted me to send him a copy of the add. I got the impression that he didnt believe me.
  ***** asked for a copy of the coupon, as per company policy that is clearly stated in the coupons legal disclaimer. *Must present when service order is written. One coupon per customer. May not be combined with other offers. Not applicable to prior purchases. Once ***** verified the coupon, he immediately agreed to honor it and applied it to the pricing.  You will also see that the disclaimer states that the coupon may not be combined with other offers.  I do not understand how it can be said that we took advantage of ************** when ***** went above and beyond in price matching the three full price tires cost to an online special price that ************** had found elsewhere.  ***** always had knowledge of the special we are running.  
  He called me back and told me that my car needed more work. I asked how much, he said $2,900. I said, just give me what I asked for and dont do anything else. He then quoted me a price of $2,100 but that I would need a battery. I asked him for the price of the battery he said about $150. I told him to put the battery in and that I would be down to pick up the car. My cost was over $2,300. I am a 71 year old disabled Vietnam veteran. I feel that I was taken advantage of by this dealership. ***** told me the price was so high because they charge $189 an hour for labor. The total labor cost was $1,100.
  I will attach the video that our technician sent to *************. We understand that the automotive industry has historically had a negative reputation.  Some people feel that service departments will offer repairs that vehicles dont really need.  We have never practiced this dishonest and morally wrong practice.  However, because some clients will be less trusting here due to an experience they had at a different dealership, we thought it would be a nice feature to be able to show our clients what is going on with their car in a user-friendly and transparent way.  We perform a free safety inspection on every car that comes into our shop regardless of age or mileage of the vehicle.  If our technician finds any other necessary repairs that were not discussed when the car was dropped off,they shoot a video showing the issues and explaining exactly what they found.  I understand that $2900 is a lot of money but we consider it our moral obligation to be sure that every person that services their vehicle here leaves knowing exactly what their car needs.  Especially when the car is 11 years old and has spent its whole life in ************ The salt and condition of our roads have a very negative effect on vehicles over time and we know that people rely on their cars to get to work, the grocery store and doctor ************ so when we see safety issues, we are sure to make people aware of the exact condition their car is in.  Because we take this policy very seriously, we do not assume what a client will be willing to pay, or able to afford.  Therefore, we present everything we find to our clients with a video, inform them of the cost associated with the extra work, and let the customer decide what they deem necessary.  According to our Text2Drive system, the video sent to ************** was viewed 6 times. 
  As stated in **************** complaint, our labor rate is $189.  On attached repair order 66073,you will see a column labeled hours that is the amount of labor hours charged for each part of the work performed.  We charge 2 hours for the tires, 4.6 hours for the 80k service and .5 hours for the battery.  7.1 hours X $189 comes to a total labor cost of $1341.90.  ************** was only charged $1103.90, which comes out to an average of $155.48 per hour.  I understand if someone was charged more than the stated customer labor rate, that they would feel taken advantage of.  It is very hard for me to understand how we took advantage of ************** when we not only price matched the cost of the tires, on top of honoring the coupon, but we also discounted the labor rate. 
  When I drove the vehicle home, I tried to put the convertible top down. The top would not go down. I called ***** up and told him. He said that they did not work on the convertible top and stated we dont have any mechanics that work on convertibles. I told him that before I brought the car down, the top worked fine. He made an appointment for me the following week. I told him I was not going to give him any more money and that they were at fault for the top not working. I told him that when they put the new battery in, they did not keep power to the computer in the car and it caused the computer to default the motor for the top. They said it was not their problem.
  There is a second repair order (#*****) attached.  This is from when we agreed to have ************** come back in for us to diagnose the convertible top issue, free of charge, with the understanding that if something we had done caused the malfunction, we would absolutely have covered the cost of the repair.  When he arrived, we had our shop *******, who has been a master certified VW Technician for 27 years, address this concern.  He has been working on convertible tops since ************************************************************* my entire career, 18 with VW.  Without putting words into ****** mouth, I would venture to believe that he also feels the same way about our shop foremans abilities.  ***** assures me that he never said, we dont have any mechanics that work on convertibles. What ***** actually said is, we dont have many mechanics that are able to work on convertible tops.  However, we do have 5 different guys that have been around long enough to have been trained by VW on how to work on convertibles, which is a lot more than our competitors.  As you will see in the second video that we shared with **************, our tech found evidence that the driver side rear window motor had failed or that there was a wiring/ terminal issue preventing the convertible top from opening.  We were thorough enough to know with 100% certainty that what the work we performed did not cause the top issue.  So, since we verified that we didnt cause the problem we approached ************** to explain that if we wanted us to go any further, he would need to approve paying for more diagnostic time.   We attempted to explain that without removing interior panels, seats and other components to visually inspect what exactly was causing the malfunction we couldnt tell him what we would need to replace.  The reason we know with 100% certainty that the motor did not fail due to the work that we performed is, all cars have a fuse system that makes it impossible for a power surge, reversing the terminals, or any other random electrical event to short a motor or damage connectors and wires.  If there was a powerful enough surge from the battery to short the motor then the fuse would have blown well before any damage could have occurred, stopping the current from ever traveling to the motor.  It is exactly the same as a surge protector or the ****** system in your home.  These are fail safes that are put in place to stop any damage from happening to your electrical components. For ************** to state that the top was working before he brought it in seems far fetched since the vehicle was towed in and, based on the condition of the vehicle and the amount of work it needed, it seemed as though this car had been sitting without being driven for quite some time. 
  As I said in the beginning of this, we want to take care of every customer that comes through our door and never look to upset people.  In this case we price matched and gave the buy 3 get one for $1 special for the tires.  We were thorough in our inspection of the car and gave the best price possible for all of the work performed.  When he called to say the top wasnt working,we invited him back in to do a complimentary diagnosis.  Upon arrival he made it a point to say to ***** you are going to fix this for free right? We feel that anything other than fixing a problem that we did not create for free, ************* was not going to accept.  When we told him that we would not be fixing the unrelated issue he is having for free he became very aggressive and combative with my service consultant. When ***** walked him out to his vehicle after our technician had inspected the top issue, ************** began verbally assaulting him and threatening him with lawsuits and going to the BBB, so ***** did exactly what I want him to do,which is just walk away and not engage.  I do not expect any of my employees to be subject to any type of aggressive behavior and I feel as though ***** handled this in a professional and reasonable manner.
  I have absolutely no problem paying for mistakes that we make, and I expect every one of my employees to treat people with the utmost respect and to go out of their way to be helpful.  We dont take advantage of ANYONE that comes into my store.  This is a case where we did everything right and it was never going to be enough.  We documented everything we did to the car and were thorough in our explanation of what would be needed every step of the way.  I am sorry ************** isnt happy. However, I dont feel that we should pay to repair someones car just because they threaten to tarnish our name online by attempting to weaponize the BBB and Attorney Generals office.  ***** handled this situation with the utmost professionalism, and I applaud him for just walking away from a situation that, had he reacted differently, would only have gotten worse.   It seems apparent to me that short of repairing **************** car for free, he was never going to be happy.  Based on the videos and documentation we have from this situation I dont feel as though we did anything wrong.  Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. 

   

  Edit, the video files are too large to attach to this system.  I compressed them and they were still too large.  I will be happy to forward them along to anyone if asked.  
  
  *********************
  General Manager
  ***********************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/04/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  I have read Mr. ****** response to my complaint, and I would like to respond to a few points he made.
  
  When I first contacted Colonial Volkswagon to make an appointment to have my tires replaced, the service person I spoke to on the phone (it was not *****) said to me, If you can wait until Monday April 1st that there would be a special to buy 3 tires and get the fourth for $1.00. I stated I could wait, and they made the appointment for Monday April 1st. On the Monday ***** quoted me $1510 for 4 tires and a tune up, both of which I requested, and an 80K maintenance check which ***** said I needed. He told me the transmission fluid for this was expensive, approximately $360 and the tires were approximately $1,000. I told ************ saw an ad online that stated buy 3 tires get the fourth for $!.00. ***** said he had no knowledge of this ad and wanted me to send him a copy of it. If in fact ***** had knowledge of the sale, why would he ask me to send him a copy of the ad to him. ************** states ***** asked me for a coupon and that it must be present when the service order was written. I never had a coupon, never saw  a coupon, and was never asked for a coupon. If I never had a coupon, how could ***** verify it as stated by Mr. ****** ************** also states, ***** went above and beyond in price matching the tires, that ************** had found elsewhere There was no price matching I found the ad for the tire sale on Colonial Volkswagon of Medford. I still have a screenshot of the ad which ***** asked me to send him. Why would *****, according to Mr. ****** do any price matching. It appears that ************** had no knowledge of the tire sale either. On this issue alone I was overcharged. $1510 for $1,000 tires that were $742,  $360 for Transmission fluid, that wasnt needed and 2 hours labor cost for at $189 an hour for installation of tires that were included in the cost of the tires.
  
   
  
  After I returned home, while my car was still in the shop, ***** called me and told me my car needed more work. I asked him how much and he stated $2900 (which would have included tie rod ends and wheel alignment) I told ***** to give me what I requested (4 tires and a tune up) and nothing else. He quoted that the price would be $2100. Then said I needed a battery. How can ***** give me the first price of $1510, tell me I needed more work for a total of $2900? I told him I did not want the extra work, and he only drops the price now being stated as being $2100? I then asked what the cost of the battery and ****** was said the $2100 would be $2300. This was the first mention of a battery after I stated I didnt want the extra work done. When the tow truck driver arrived at my house to pick up the car, he started the car and carefully drove it on the flatbed. The tow truck delivered it to Colonial VW the tow truck operator drove the car off the flatbed to a location that ***** requested. Its kind of a coincidence that the car battery went dead in the Colonial VW parking lot. I told ***** that he could have a new battery put in and that I would be down to pick up the car.
  
   
  
  When I picked up my car, ***** was not there. The service manager said he would get my car. When he gave me my car, he made a comment saying the car looked great, beautiful convertible top in good shape. I told him I just had the top-down last week. I drove the car home, had a snack, and took the car for a ride. The convertible top would not go down. I called ***** and told him the top would not go down. ***** said, We did not work on the top I said I did not think he did but when they replaced the battery, they did not keep power to the computer in the car. That caused the computer to default. ***** said it was not their problem.
  
  After speaking with VW mechanics, it was their opinion that the problem occurred because they did not keep the connections to a power source when replacing the battery. It caused a malfunction to the sensor system in the car. ***** also stated that they did not have any mechanics who worked on convertible tops. If they didnt why did he make an appointment for me to bring the car back down to have it checked. ************** stated in his response that the tech said the left rear window motor had failed. The left rear window works just fine. It worked before I brought the car down and it still works fine. ************** states that they did not cause the problem with 100% certainty. If he actually believes this, I would like to know why all the warning lights on my dashboard light up when starting the car, of special note is the light on the dashboard for the convertible top, lights up as soon as I start the car. This has never happened before but started happening as soon as I picked up my car From Colonial VW. Other things have also malfunction such as the trunk would not unlock and open, the odometer and dashboard displays are all out of whack. The VW mechanic my wife and I talked with (as well as many online VW forums online) stated the computer to the car needed to be recalibrated due to the battery being replaced. ***** said it would cost more money to have any problems taken care of.
  
  One other thing related to the top, ************** quotes me saying the top was working fine before I brought it to Colonial. ************** states that my claim that it was working seems farfetched because based on the condition of the car and that it had to be towed in, that it seems like it had been sitting without being driven for quite some time. I have driven this car every day since I bought it. The only exception was when I had to wait 3 days for my appointment for the tires. And actually, the mechanic who videoed the extra things they recommended to have done, states at the end The car is in great shape.
  
  One last thing, ************** states that I became very aggressive and combative with the service consultant. That I began to verbally assault ***** and threatening him with lawsuits and going to the BBB and Attorney General. If this is true, why did they not put in a complaint with the police?  ************** also stated that Colonial should not have to pay for repairs just because someone threatens to tarnish our name by attempting to weaponize the BBB and Attorney General. I did not get aggressive, combative, or verbally assaulting. I was upset but not aggressive or combative. As a consumer I have every right to report a complaint to BBB and the Attorney General and I stated that was what I planned to do.
  
   
  
   *********************
  
    

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/27/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have fixed mu car there in coincidentally a few days later, all my lights startrd popping out in my vehicle, because Im in military training, I asked friends to leave the car there to check why this was happening, and they told me I would have to pay over **** dollars but I dont have this type of money now. They want me to charge now ******************************************* they could charge 35 dollars a day for keeping my car even tho, they new I was in a military mission and they dropped My car. ***** was the one who texted me today and I called him back.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/03/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On July 25th I received an email from Volkswagen Corporate that a member of the colonial Volkswagen staff was to reach out to me regarding remedying a situation. I have filed a complaint against Volkswagen Corporation, and would also like to file a complaint against the vehicle dealership. This complaint is filed where as there are indicators that they mishandled the trade-in of a replacement vehicle that was a lemonspecifically leaving off the tire and wheels protection. Colonial Volkswagen has not communicated any remedies to this issue, and corporate is shifting the blame back to Colonial Volkswagen of Medford. I will be attaching my BBB complaint with corporate, attorney general of ************* complaint, and emails received from my case worker *****************************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/29/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Received an airbag error on my car, brought it to the service department on 2/15. They said the clockspring needed to be replaced and that it was under warranty. They said the part was on backorder, and they would let me know when it arrives. Without the clockspring my car does not have a functioning drivers side airbag or horn, so it is unsafe to drive. After waiting almost 2 months I called the service department again. I asked if they had an updated estimate of when the part would arrive. When the technician said they did not I requested a loaner car so I would not have to continue to drive in an unsafe car. The technician told me that VW corporate wouldn't cover a loaner car, but that he would speak to the service manager about getting a dealer loaner and would follow up. I never received a call back. I called corporate VW, who said that the dealership has the authority to provide a loaner, even if the car was out of warranty, and that I should follow up with the dealership. Because I never heard back from the technician I called and spoke to the service manager. He said that the dealership did not have any loaners and they would request that corporate VW pay for a loaner. He said he would look into it and follow back up with me. I never heard back from the service manager. On 4/20 I sent an email to the general manager and as of 4/29 I had no response. They are providing no solutions, and are keeping me in an unsafe car for a part that is under warranty.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/10/2022

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.