I love Piazza Ardmore in VW. Not.

Like almost everyone I know, I have had a few experiences getting hosed at the car dealership. I bought a Jetta a few years ago and got the extended bumper-to-bumper warranty so I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about it for at least a few years.
I’m an idiot.
I know, but you don’t need to rub it in. These guys at Piazza Volkswagen are doing a great job of it for all of you. And its not just their pleasant demeanor, I’ve long ago gotten over the odd custom of being angry at people you’ve never even met and are supposed to be customer servicing. I can look past that.
But when things got ugly after a non-warranty repair that didn’t fix the problem, I thought I would go the extra mile to get things straightened out. I paid around 450 bucks to run fuel system cleaner through my engine because “excessive carbon build-up” in the throttle body was causing an odd vibration when I accelerated. There was some lovely creaking going on too, and that was going to be fixed by replacing the mid muffler bracket that was so rusted out it was “about to fall off.” Odd that should happen after just 43,000 miles, but hey, I figured I would just roll with it.
Roll out of the shop I did and oddly enough, the problems hadn’t changed at all. Turns out I needed two new front axles and new sway bar bushings. I was slightly perturbed so I thought I would talk to the service manager to see if I couldn’t get some explanation at least of the reason why I had to pay for their mistakes. Tony was cordial on the phone and promised he would look into it the next day as he was “closing out his month” at the time and just wouldn’t be able to get to it.
Oddly enough, he didn’t call me for a week. And then after waiting about ten days, he said he was looking at it right then and had been just about to call me. He said he would get back to me in a few minutes, but instead one of the technicians called me a few minutes later and said that they were going to appeal the mid muffler bracket as it ought to have been under warranty. Of course, I’d never asked for them to be under warranty, I just didn’t want to be paying for them completely botching the diagnosis on the car.
But hey, if that got me some money back, I would be satisfied. I never actually thought I would get any satisfaction, especially after it was apparent that Tony completely ignored what I asked him to do. Why expect anything better when you are only paying twenty some thousand bucks for the car. I am sure if it was a VW Phaeton I would have been treated differently, but I understand how that works.
So I waited for a credit to appear on my credit card, knowing it wouldn’t happen. Apparently a bolt in the hinge on my trunk was a bit upset about the matter and decided it was time to leave the car behind. So I needed to get that fixed, but I was on the way down to Nashville to visit my folks. I figured I could probably get it taken care of at the dealership down there since it was a warranty issue.
The folks there were as nice as could be (something we all sort of expect in the south), said they ordered the parts but they had to be painted, they’d be back in three business days. I had five business days to spare so I figured I was golden.
Too bad the hinges weren’t, they were bare metal and had to be blue to match the car. They didn’t take three days or even five. I called them and they said it was going to be seven, but not to worry. All I needed to do was have the dealership in Ardmore call them and have the part shipped up and they could slap it on there no problem
Big problem. The dealership in Ardmore is apparently incapable of basic tasks. I called and told the story to four separate people. The last person I spoke to was very angry that I would actually ask him to call a dealership in TN and get the part. After a few days of not hearing anything, I was a little mad at him but I knew revenge on the parts guy was not going to satisfy me so I called my pal Tony again.
Of course he said he would get on it right away and call me back. Another technician, perhaps it was Dave, called me back and told me it was a big snafu because the guy down there wouldn’t ship the part unless they paid for it. Makes sense, someone has to pay for it, and once they do they send off a form to VW and then get paid back. It’s a simple process.
Or not so simple. After waiting two weeks and hoping against hope for some result, I called down to Hallmark VW of Cool Springs to see what was happening, knowing that calling Ardmore would only leave me fuming. The parts guy down there was as helpful as could be, apparently the hinges were sitting right there, a nice blue color, but oddly enough, no one had ever called for them.
Now, perhaps Dave or Tony or somebody else called and talked to someone else, I assume they at least made a phone call. Apparently one strike and they were out.
So I dialed up the umpire to see about the rules. VW of America to the rescue. Sure they’ve never helped me with anything before besides supposedly forwarding complaints to the people that I’ve already complained to and been ignored, that’s obviously going to accomplish something. I spoke to a very nice lady who apologized profusely since I was not getting a nice experience and they were very sad about it. She said she would forward my complaints and give the dealership a chance to make up for it and correct the problem.
She obviously missed out on the memo about Ardmore Volkswagen. Nothing happened. So this time around I spoke to another guy at VW USA and sent an email as well. This fine young man promised to call Ardmore and get things taken care of and be back to me within two days.
Three days later and of course no one’s called.
So now what? I can’t use my trunk because it grinds on the rear windshield every time I open it now. I can’t use my radio since they forgot to put in the antenna last time they worked on the car. At least now the front wheels don’t wobble anymore, but I am looking for a bit more.
So here’s the best part. I spent the better part of an hour trying to find some way to write a letter to VW. They do not try to make this easy for you. Apparently a 250 word email has to be enough to satisfy you. Then they send you the form email back that reads:

Reference # 807103579

Dear Mr. Haglund,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding your frustration with your Volkswagen dealer while attempting to explain your concerns with your Jetta. I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing you, and can appreciate your dissatisfaction.

I have documented a complaint on your behalf, and can forward it to the Service Manager for his review. If you would like to discuss your dealer or vehicle concerns further, I would be more than happy to assist you.

As a member of the Volkswagen family, your level of satisfaction is important to me. Again, thank you for your e-mail. If I may be of further assistance regarding this, or any other matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me again by e-mail at www.vw.com, or through our Customer CARE Center at (800) 822-8987. If I am not available one of my colleagues will be able to assist you.

Sincerely,


Amanda Porter

Volkswagen Customer Advocate

Now I am quite sure that Amanda would be glad to help me and forward more complaints to whatever void they get forwarded to, and she would feel really bad about my feeling left out in the cold. And I appreciate that.
What I don’t appreciate is not being able to get any kind of satisfaction. I’m not looking for blood or a duel at high noon, but I would like someone to explain why they cannot accomplish simple tasks or perform services they are under contract to provide to me. I would like someone to tell me why I am paying for their mistakes. I would like someone to tell me that the people who are not doing their jobs are going to be in trouble for not doing their jobs.
So I spent some time searching around and finally found the address of their corporate center in Michigan. The problem is that I also found newspaper articles that mentioned them moving their corporate center, but I had to take a shot.
I took a shot and mailed a letter to Stefan Jacoby, the new head of VW USA. I explained my disgust and simply wished him luck fixing the problems that currently appear to be rather rampant in the customer service department of that fine company.
I am angry about the fact that apparently no one is accountable to anyone. At no point in time as a manager called me to apologize about the mistakes being made and the fact that I have had to pay for some of them with my time and my money. No one has called and apologized about anything. When I call them to try and get some answers, my phone calls are not returned. When I speak to VW USA in the hopes that they will resolve some concerns, they definitely feel really bad. I mean really bad, they must have apologized at least six to eight times in every phone call. Apparently they are also really bad at having an impact on the dealers when they call them. Again I mean really bad, because there’s apparently no impact.
What I find particularly interesting is the way that both Piazza VW of Ardmore and VW USA have insulated themselves from complaints from the public. It is impossible to find the owner’s name or phone number or the general manager’s name and number or anyone in charge at any one of the dealerships anywhere on their website. When you call to speak to a manager, they may or may not speak to you. They may or may not call you back. There is nothing you can do about this situation.
When you call VW USA, they will apologize profusely and offer to forward your complaints, but they cannot actually do anything about it. They can give you a reference number for when you call again after nothing happens and you can add to the file. That file will never be seen by anyone, but somewhere, there’s a file. This is apparently supposed to make you feel better.
If it doesn’t, you can email them through their webpage. Just look really closely at the bottom of the page at the link for “contact us.” Its pretty small so you have to look closely. But they can’t possibly be against you contacting them right? They are a company based on serving their customers and providing a great product and great service.
Maybe not. Once you get to the contact them section, they give you plenty of phone numbers where you can call and talk to any number of associates about anything you want. They are powerless, however, so don’t expect anything to come of it. You can also email them.
Of course to do this, you need your VIN number (which you obviously carry with you everywhere) and then you get a total of 250 characters to describe your problem. Obviously they REALLY want to hear what you have to say. Just don’t make it longer than 250 characters. Also, you cannot use a question mark in the inquiry. It can only be declarative, which is odd considering they call it an inquiry. Thankfully, you will get another reference number which will be useless to you, except that everyone loves numbers.
So don’t buy a Volkswagen, at least not from Piazza VW of Ardmore. Drive to Nashville and buy one, they were always really nice.

By the way, if you want to write to them for any reason, the address that they seem to want to hide is:

Stefan Jacoby
Volkswagen of American
Hills Corporate Center
3499 West Hamlin Road
Rochester Hills, MI 48309

Give them a shout, tell them I sent you.