Oakville Mazda Dealer Principal

[QEWmazdaPrez]

Hi all,

I thought I'd introduce myself to the boards. I'm the new Dealer Principal at Oakville Mazda.

I'm here because I'm interested in your feedback and would like to know what we're doing well and what we could do better. I don't know how many other Dealer Principals (D.P.) check the boards or provide contact information for their customers, but I am very focused on making the car buying experience a fantastic one.

We took over the dealership about 18 months ago and have invested a significant amount of time and money into the facility and the people. We still have a ways to go, but we're definitely making some great progress. For example: 18 months ago, we were ranked near the bottom for our Customer Retail Satisfaction (translate: Customer Service Survey for anybody who buys a new car). We are now ranked #6 out of 156 dealers in Canada (#2 in Ontario and #1 in our Territory).

I know we're not going to make everybody happy all the time. Sometimes it's the Dealership's fault, and sometimes not. If it's our fault, let me know so I can fix it. If it's not, I can still try. We are striving to be the BEST in Canada.

Some other exciting news: We're going to relocate next year to a new facility. The new place is focused on the customer and making things easy for everybody. We'll let everybody know when things have firmed up a bit more.

Anyway, I am providing my contact information (below) so if any of you have had an experience at Oakville Mazda that you would like to share, please let me know. I welcome any suggestions and if you have questions about Mazda or Dealers, please feel free to email me.

Oh, lastly and most importantly: Thanks for buying a Mazda! Having a great group of people who love their cars is Awesome!

Jason Guttman

[ptfire]

It sure is strange to have the President of Oakville Mazda on a Mazda forum trying to defend his dealership for their neglect and lack of concern for their customers. When you had the chance to make things right with the customers you simply took the common "steelership" approach.
I took my car to Oakville Mazda for the engine mount recall only to have the car returned with clips missing and a scratch on the door. I didn't notice the scratch until I got back home. I called the dealer (Oakville Mazda) right away, spoke with the service manager and brought the car back to them. At this time the dealer accepted responsibility for the scratch and even tried to wet sand the door to correct the problem.
I took up my concerns with the President (OakvilleMazdaDP) who assured me my car would be fixed to my satisfaction. After about one week he informed me that he couldn't guarantee the fix would be 100%. So I decided perhaps they could install an engine block heater in lieu of the scratch that his dealership had caused to my car which was only 4 days old. To this J.Guttman, the Pesident of Oakville Mazda agreed that we could go halfs on the cost of the block heater. At that time I agreed, I then found out that they were going to charge me almost twice as much as Mazda of Toronto was charging for the same job. I then asked Oakville Mazda to cover then entire cost of the engine block heater. Now this is where all of a sudden the President now declines responsibility for the scratch saying it could have happened anywhere. So to this day I not recieved anything from them for the damage done to my car.
As for the pushpins, they did not need to be cut, the so called technician should have just squeezed the back of them to remove them. Nothing was said to me about them being missing when I picked up the car and also the "new pushpins" that were sent to me came from a car they had on the lot because these pushpins could not be ordered without the wiring harness. I feel sorry for the owner of that raped car. It is strange and "possitively different" that for $135 (the cost of the block heater installed at Mazda of Toronto) that the President of Oakville Mazda would turn away a potential long standing customer who has only had his cars serviced at the dealer.Really it shouldn't surprise me. He was more concerned why I didn't buy the car from them. I did go to them first but they wanted to charge me full list for a 2007 Mazdaspeed3 even though the 2008s were on the lot. I ended getting the car about three weeks later Scarboro Mazda for $6000.00 less.
Car salespeople (and Presidents of Dealerships) give themselves their more than tarnished reputation. I just can't fell sorry for them, lawyers and tow truck drivers have more use than them.
I can't wait for his reply to try and dig himself out of this one. For those of you that cherish your car, I would recommend going elsewhere to purchase or service your car.

[doughboyr6]

i've rarely set foot in oakville mazda.

When i first debated on getting my 3 (in 2005) i went to several dealerships to get some prices. I test drove the Mazdaspeed Protege too at the time as they were blowing them out. I was quoted for my 3 about 3-4K more than two other dealerships.

What i wasn't too impressed with was the salesperson, who gave me the impression 'take it or leave it' feel.

[QEWmazdaPrez]

doughboy, thanks for the feedback. When we took over the dealership in Oct. 2007, we changed most of the staff and the philosophy of the dealership. We have a relaxed environment. If you come into the facility now and have feedback on a specific individual, please free to email me.

As far as the other comment,


I can't wait for his reply to try and dig himself out of this one.

We have acheived #6 in Canada for Customer Service because of great customer service. Sometimes you come across people who you can never make happy no matter what you say or do.

[b]

As far as the other comment, We have acheived #6 in Canada for Customer Service because of great customer service. Sometimes you come across people who you can never make happy no matter what you say or do.

All I can say to your # 6 is... So far you are 3/3 with unhappy customers. Even if you gave me $500 bucks in free service I wouldn't go back and I always tell people to stay away.


I would recommend going elsewhere to purchase or service your car.

I second that. I would recomend everyone stay away from Oakville Mazda. I too have been ripped off huge.

[Cardinal Fang]

Welcome to the board OakvilleMazdaDP. As you can see you have taken your lumps early because of the poor service some of our members have received through the previous ownership. You have a hill to climb to win over and in some cases win back some of the members here. I applaud you for coming here with your candor.

You have a bit of a hill to climb here but if you continue to contribute to the discussions on this board you will find that you may change some of the members minds. As with everything this will take time. Please keep in mind that although we do allow dealerships to post here we draw the line at openly soliciting members for sales. We do allow members to recommend a dealership and/or sales person.

[ptfire]

doughboy, thanks for the feedback. When we took over the dealership in Oct. 2007, we changed most of the staff and the philosophy of the dealership. We have a relaxed environment. If you come into the facility now and have feedback on a specific individual, please free to email me.

As far as the other comment,


We have acheived #6 in Canada for Customer Service because of great customer service. Sometimes you come across people who you can never make happy no matter what you say or do.


It looks as if your dealership is a little too "relaxed", is that another way of saying you don't care? Saying is one thing and doing is another. As a resident of Oakville you lost a sale, repairs for my car and it's 7 year warranty as well as routine maintanance. All for the small cost of a block heater, now I understand why your slogan is: Oakville Mazda "Possitively Different".
If you are so happy about your dealershipship's turn araound since you took it over in October 2007 why are you on a public forum trying to drum up business? Don't pretend you even care about cars and their owners, it is nothing more than a money matter for you. Too bad you can't see further than the tip of your nose.

[TheProfessor]

I really hate to 'gang up' on an individual, but on my brother's behalf I have to chime in. He purchased a Mazdaspeed6 which he loves, but it had a few minor problems that were all to be repaired under warranty. Since he lives in Oakville he took it there (though the car was purchased elsewhere) and of the four items he needed fixing, they fixed only one and turned him away for the other three. I told my brother to go to a different dealer based on positive feedback from this forum and that dealership fixed the remaining three problems no questions asked.

Needless to say he won't service either of his Mazda's at Oakville Mazda ever again. He wasn't talked to in an inappropriate manner or anything, just that they claimed the three items were not covered under warranty when other dealers told us they were.

All of the above took place in about September/October of 2007, so I'm not even sure if the OP had control of the dealer at that time (hopefully not).

[ptfire]

My car was there October 24, 2007, and I know I won't be going back to Oakville Mazda.