I haven't posted too often on here, but I felt I needed to get this out, at least to other Audi owners in the Sacramento area. It's a little long winded, but if you want to skip everything, here's the gist:
Niello Service Sucks
Anyhow, I purchased my 2006 A4 at Niello and had a great experience, but my time with their service department has been absolutely horrible. After having my car for 15k miles, I noticed my left headlight had started to flicker and sometimes would not even turn on. After researching the problem, I found out there was a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) for the issue. According to the TSB, some of the headlight housing for the A4’s were faulty and had symptoms that ranged from flickering to not turning on. As such, if the determination was made to be a faulty housing unit, it would be covered under warranty. If it was the bulb, then it would not be covered, but the dealer needed to see the car to make the finding. So with the TSB in hand, I made an appointment with Niello’s service department to have them find a potential warranty covered issue.
On the day of my appointment, the car was dropped off mid-morning and I was assigned Gary Phillips as the service advisor. He told me they needed to check out the issue to see if it was either the bulb or the housing unit. He also said that they could have it done by the end of the day. I explained to Gary that I wanted to know specifically what the problem was before any work was to be done.
Well, they kept the car for 2 days before finally getting around to it! Throughout this time, I was never given any courtesy updates. Instead, I had to call periodically throughout the two days to find out what was going on. They eventually told me that the bulb was faulty and they could replace it for $300. Thanks, but no thanks, especially when I could buy two bulbs for half the cost and install it myself. I told them not to do anything and I would pick up the car.
Here’s the worst part. When I picked up the car, I found out they simply switched bulbs from the left headlight to the right headlight to see if the problem repeated. At most, it was a 1 hour job, yet they had my car for two days and had the audacity to charge me $137?!? I didn’t know service departments charged money for looking at potential warranty issues, especially since Gary Phillips never initially mentioned there would be a “diagnosis” fee. Anyhow, he was really rude and obstinate about the fee. We argued for a good 15 minutes in front of other customers before he finally relented and waived it.
I just wanted to say, I’ve owned an Acura, Lexus, and BMW, but I’ve never been treated as poorly as I have been with Niello’s Service department. While these other luxury makes look into potential warranty issues as a courtesy, Niello prefers to nickel and dime you for them. Again, thanks but no thanks. I’ll take my car elsewhere from now on and avoid Niello’s piss poor customer no-service attitude.
And yes, I intend to post this to Google reviews and Audiworld as well.
***Update**** as of 11/4/2008 - So last week I sent a copy of the email to Audi USA. On 11/4/08, I received a call from Audi USA notifying me that they had received my email and would be forwarding it to the regional customer service manager and the service manager at the dealership itself. Within a couple hours I also received a call from Mitch Kudler, the service manager, who apologized for what happened and offered to "make things right". I explained there wasn't really anything to do, as I had already fixed the issue myself. In any case, he offered to pay for the bulbs I had purchased if I showed him the receipt.
Needless to say, I'm slightly surprised that emailing Audi USA proved to be worthwhile and resulted in action being taken. I plan on taking up the service manager's offer and will meet with him next Monday to discuss the matter. I'll post another update in regards to the outcome. To be continued...
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). And the second time...well, you guys saw my first post.
for rector here.
Originally Posted by SeKKeY
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