Bronson sent a message to O. Bruton Smith Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Automotive Email Address that said:
Good Morning Sir,
My wife Yolanda and I recently purchase a pre-certified used Mercedes 2013, C250 from your Mercedes Benz of Nashville Dealership. I would like to say that our salesman, Jim Sheridan did his job well. The only thing we had an issue with was the windshield that had a couple of dings that I had noticed. My wife stated a few times that she did not want to drive the car everyday and notice the dings in the windshield. We were informed that an independent vendor would have to look at the windshield because that is not something the dealership does, and if the vendor determined that the windshield was not repairable, the windshield would be replaced for sure.
I met the independent windshield repair guy at your dealership on March 2nd and after the guy inspected the windshield, he said that the windshield had been repaired before and that he could repair it but, he would suggest replacing the whole windshield and proceeded to explain to me that the seal on the windshield would have to be broken and may cause problems in the future. The repair guy informed me that me that the dings would still be visible as to which my wife had previously stated, she did not want to see the dings in the windshield. I then called my wife for him to explain our options and she wanted to go ahead and replace the windshield.
Not to mention I was at your dealership way over two hours trying to resolve this issue that was a total waste of time, I then get the runaround from Johnston Cooper Hopkins that he would not be replacing the windshield after I had informed him that the windshield repair guy said the windshield needed to replaced because of previous repairs.
Cooper proceeded to inform me that he was going to pull a âwe oweâ form that my wife and I had signed when we closed the deal. While I understand the form and the way the repair was written, we truly believe that if the independent vendor suggested the windshield be replaced, there would be no issue at all.
Cooper went outside to discuss the issue with the repair guy and returned later to get me to go outside and guess what the repair guy had already repaired the dings in the windshield and he had a totally different tone about the windshield after speaking with Cooper. Cooper informed me that once the repair was complete, he would have the car pulled around for me. I waited and waited and finally, I went outside to the back of your building and the repair appeared to be complete. I went back inside to let Cooper know that the windshield was repaired and I needed my keys so, that I could get to work and it became total chaos because he could not find my key and proceeded to run around the building with no success. Cooper disappeared for awhile, and then I saw the service valet guy that had asked for my keys to move the car walked by and I asked if he had my key and he proceeded to a cabinet to retrieve my key and I went to the car and left, not happy with the whole experience at all.
I believe if the dealership is going to use an independent vendor, please allow them be independent and if they make a professional decision, abide by it to make the customer be totally satisfied with your dealership.
This is our fourth Mercedes and the second one we have purchased from this dealership, and there was a reason for that.
While, Cooper will say that he would never say that he informed me that I could return the vehicle or trade the vehicle for another one, that is his word against mine and I believe in the heat of things, he said something that he did not mean to say.
I emailed Cooper this morning and asked if he had spoken to Jim and what was the process to return the car and he never answered the question, that he spoke to Jim but, did say that he did not say that we could return the car. Cooper suggested I call him after I requested to know who his boss was, and Cooper provided his cell phone number and I did call him, only to hear how fair he is and that we could only trade the vehicle and of course depreciation for the vehicle we just purchased would come into play.
The reason we were looking for a new vehicle, is because a semi-truck ran my wife off the road and slammed the car into a bridge, which totaled the car completely. She is still shook up from the accident and that is why this windshield replacement is a big deal, although it may seem minimal to others.
My wife just called me during her lunch hour to inform me that the dings on the windshield actually look worse than they did before the repair on March 2nd.
Sir, I say all of this just to ask that you make us totally satisfied with our experience with the Sonic Automotive brand that would allow us to share our satisfaction to our family, friends, and coworkers alike.
Thanks for your time and consideration to this matter.
Bronson
