I'm neutral on AutoNation at this point - hopeful that the guy (Kelly) they just brought in can sort out and fix their customer service issues. They continue to send me emails to leave a review - so here it is. I contacted AutoNation, where I have bought 4 vehicles over the past 15 years, to address a recall on my Ford Explorer. I was told "that part is on back-order. Call us back in about 6 weeks". What should have happened was I should have been assigned a service advisor, a work order written, parts ordered with a promise to call when they came it. I persisted with the girl at AutoNation but she insisted she "didn't have a list up here" and was not interested in helping me further. I contacted Ford directly to report the negative experience with AutoNation and suggested they were resisting honoring the recall notice. Ford recommended I call Walker Ford, which I did, and got the response I expected from AutoNation. I called back and left a message for the GM of the AutoNation store - telling him my experience (on a voice mail). To his credit, he called me back and personally followed up, ordered the parts, and invited me back in to get the recall resolved. When I showed up for my appointment, the service advisor had no idea why I was there. My transaction went all the way to the GM, and yet he had no idea why I was there. He should have been prepped - indeed he should have had my paperwork in his hand when he walked to my vehicle - he didn't. That's not a reflection on him as much as it is a reflection on the dealership's systems and practices (actually lack thereof) I found my service advisor to be unresponsive to simple requests, by text - which he preferred. Simple requests like "what is the status of my vehicle?" He simply would not respond. So I personally went there and was met with excuse after excuse as to why he failed to respond to my text messages. He failed, in my mind, the simplest of tasks - keeping me informed and continuing to set, or reset, my expectations. I was not happy and was made even less so by another person at the dealership who attempted to suggest I had no valid reason for being upset. I was then taken to Kelly, the new Service Manager, who de-escalated the situation and personally took it from there. From that point forward, my experience was as I had come to expect from years past dealing with that dealership. Point is - somewhere over the past couple of years I had noticed a huge decline in their customer service. But, after having a long discussion with Kelly, it seems AutoNation has recognized that and brought Kelly in to sort it out. I'm hopeful he'll get it sorted, but at this point I would not want to deal with them again.
William Brett Husselbaugh
Apr 2, 2021