Again, I’m sorry this is so lengthy. This was initially an email for Emanuel Jones, the owner of Legacy (Cadillac dealership) in Columbus, GA but he NEVER responded and I sent this like three times. So I had to take even higher action and print and mail this. So I hope this reaches someone who cares and has so sympathy as to what I've been through... Thanks for listening. And in the end, I HOPE I’m contacted like I stated in the first page, just saying someone has read this and my concerns aren’t just going down the drain. I’ve been through so much as it is and have put a lot of time and effort to get my experiences across to that right person, preferably Cadillac in general.
Initial email: Good evening Mr. Emanuel Jones,
We've never met in person I don't believe but I'm writing you because I knew you were the owner of Legacy (& was higher up than the general manager) and just wanted to share my disappointing experiences I've had with legacy with you. Just a little background, my husband and I bought a new 2010 black Cadillac Cts-V Sedan in September 2010 when you guys were still in the older building in the back. The car was considered 'new' but still had 5,000 miles when we bought it. We put $20,000 CASH down for the car and are financing the rest. (We have ALL documentation) It came from out of state and they said one of the salesmen was the one driving it for those 5,000 miles. We loved the car up until the services and experiences I have had with legacy recently. Just to let you know, Ive ONLY had my car serviced and worked on with you guys, no one else. I have ALL my invoices to prove that. I've kept up with the car very nicely and had scheduled oil/tune ups when it was needed. So, this past June (mileage on the car now, about 32,000) one morning my cars engine was making a knocking noise. I drove it right back home until the day I took it in for legacy to look at it. This is where the problems begin to start. When I took it in and dropped it off, the service member said they would call me and let me know what they find out. A few days had passed and heard nothing, I had to call them and check the status!! No one ever called me, not once! I was the one to always call and check what was going on. I called the day after i dropped it off because they were going to give me a rental, the service member I was dealing with was not there, so I asked if someone could give him a message to call me in the morning to get a rental car situated. The lady said sure, ill write him a note and leave it on his desk to call you in the morning. Next morning came around, he did not call! So I went up there because no one would call me or return my messages, to get the rental. That was another pain in itself and a whole other issue. So about two weeks had passed, I guess they were still trying to figure out what the problem was. In those two weeks though, NOT ONCE did Cadillac/legacy call and give me an update; I continuously called up there to check on my car and the update of it. I know and understand that things take awhile to diagnose a car and what not, that wasn't an issue, the issue was the lack or NO communication!! I was not very happy. So once they found the problem, which was the cam shaft and lifters were broke and had to be replaced. I guess the mechanic working on it found bigger problems as he was fixing the cam shafts. The metal rods were scrapped and I guess that was something that couldn't be replaced. I asked the service people, as well as the mechanic as to why this all happened to my car and what might have caused it to do all this and they had no explanation at all; couldn’t give me a reason. I guess maybe my car had a defect. So they said a new engine has to be put in and ordered from GM in Michigan. That took awhile which again, I understand because I wanted them to do a good job in putting my car back together. At this point, I had stressed my issues with the manager of the service dept and the general manager. Now, with the engine replaced and everything took about 5/6 weeks. Which was fine because I knew that it was a lengthy project. I got my car back about 2 weeks ago from today. I was so excited to have my car back, you have no idea. Until, the day after when i was washing my car, I found scratches and dings that wasn't put there by me! I picked up my car on a Friday, washed it Saturday and when I found those things, I called legacy right away but Scott nor the service guy who was assigned to me was there. So Monday I bring my car to them and showed them. Here are some pictures enclosed that I took... So someone obviously placed something on top of the roof of the car, moved it around and scratched it up pretty bad!! The rocker on the passenger side was dented in two areas, which was obviously from the lift when they put the engine in from underneath. My brake caliper as you can see is dented!! Like I mentioned previously, my car has only been worked on here, nowhere else and neither I nor my husband has done anything to it. We're not specialized to know what we’re doing, to do any type of work to it anyway. So yeah, pretty darn upset that this happened to my car while it was in Legacy's hands/care. I know you guys probably have people all the time that come in and say oh you guys did this and that to my car but I'm not like that. This was the truth and I'm a very truthful person, that's why I brought it in right away. And I told them, yeah I have a nice 2010 car but even if I were driving a 1980 car and I didn't scratch it or dent it and you guys did while it was in your hands, I'd still be mad. Because I take care of my things and I guess some people just don't care about others stuff because one, its not there's (so who cares) and two, its not their money. So at the moment, they are replacing the rocker, going to attempt to buff out the scratches on the roof (which they said MAY OR MAY NOT come out. But another thing in which I'm a bit furious about it, Scott said that my tires were never taken off to put the engine in from underneath which I find weird because you have to take the axles off to put the engine in. So he just disregards that because like I said he said they never took the tires off. I was completely shocked because I didn't dent those myself, there's nothing on the road while I drive that could do that. Its on the inside, its like someone took a screwdriver and dented it pretty bad. And as you may or may not know, the V series has the V logo on the caliper and they dented it on the logo and it looks terrible. So he said nothing more about that but is fixing the other two problems. I was just so beyond frustrated at this point. With all the lack of communication issues, them destroying my car while in the process, and them saying oh, were going to fix everything and make sure your happy. I feel that's so fake and far off. I also had one of the service people call Mr. Scott to see where he was at one point, I was standing right in front of them and they finally get a hold of him and was like I wanted to call you and see if i needed to get you an ambulance because Mrs. Smith is here?! What was that supposed to mean, thinking in my head... That I've so called caused so much problems that I'm coming back again, and that its going to be bad again. I found that so rude, for someone to say in front of me. Not professional at all and just very disrespectful! Not at all was I trying to rat or complain about the service or specific people I was dealing with but I felt that they needed to know how I felt and that I was so disappointed in this whole experience... Not only have I had these problems, so has my mother, my friends, and now my recent friends will not come here. Cadillac is supposed to be this five star, awesome service/experience, etc. and it’s not. They always want us to give them awesome scores on the surveys, etc. but no. I feel that someone needed to let you know Mr. Emanuel that things aren't like that here. I almost just let this all go but it only seemed to get worse. I will not refer legacy and its service(s) to anyone and I nor my husband will by another Cadillac or GM car again just because of this whole experience. It was just terrible. I wish there was another place or a specialized tech that could work on my specific vehicle in town because I would go there but there's not. So now, that I've brought these issues to their attention over there, I'm going to feel bad and everyone is going to hold something bad against me when I get my oil changes there. But its really close to a possibility of me driving to the next Cadillac dealership just to have my car serviced from here on out. Whether that be all the way to Atlanta... ughhhh! I’ve just been pretty upset with all of this; I just hope when I get my car back tomorrow that nothing else comes to be a problem or damaged.
To add on to the list of horrible things that have happened... after about a week of picking up my car again from the scratches being buffed out, rocker replaced, etc. I was driving one day to Atlanta (on the highway) and heard noises, thinking it was the high winds and not my car. I noticed in my rear view mirror that something big and black (looked like plastic) flew from the back of my car. I thought to myself, there was nothing in front of me, so did that piece come from my car?! But to double check I got off the highway and pulled into a gas station. Sure enough it was my car. I'm going to try my best to explain it. But the plastic piece under the engine came completely off and that’s what flew from underneath my car on the highway. The rest of the plastic was ripped off and my tires where grinding into the plastic that was hanging. I enclosed two more pictures to show that. So yeah, going highway speed with that plastic torn down, messed up my tires pretty bad. Not only that, my air intakes where completely hanging there. So I took them both and put them in my back seat. This man saw me and helped me out. He had duct tape which he taped the hanging plastic that was nearly attached and rubbing on tires back, so that I could drive back to Columbus to have this fixed. I so much hated that I had freaking duct tape on my car, you have no idea! So I cancelled my plans from in the process of going to Atlanta and drove straight back to Columbus to have this fixed right away. So I made it just in time before they closed that day. They had the nerve to ask me what I ran over?! I was like nothing and I can’t believe you guys think this is from me?! I had my car back but a week. The engine was replaced and obviously the plastic piece was not put on correctly or one part wasn’t and it lead to the whole thing coming off. Just driving on the high way, that shouldn’t just happen where the plastic comes completely off and my air intakes are just hanging. That doesn’t just happen without something not being properly put back on. So I guess we both disagreed that it was neither of our faults. So I was pretty frustrated. They decided to go ahead and replace the plastic part but not my tires!! As you can see the outside of my tires are darn there completely bald from that plastic ripping them apart at high way speeds. And my tires were fairly new (and bought in August 2011 from legacy; all four brand new) I have documentation of getting new tires, as well as everything thats been done/serviced to my car. So yeah, since it ruined my tires as well, I was like I said pretty frustrated because those weren't replaced due to the fact of lack of properly putting my car back together. By this point, after picking up my car from them replacing the plastic; I was NEVER again going to them and I'm going to Lynch Cadillac in Auburn, AL due to very poor & rude customer service and my car not properly taking care of while in their hands.
Ha!! Yet another thing at the moment, wrong with my car go figure. I'm not saying it has to do with the engine being put in and all the other things that had to be moved around and tightened up, etc. But I do drive the car like its suppose to but something’s just not right. And I feel its because something was tightened too tight or not enough, or not even all the other components was put together right along with the engine. When I turn my car, especially when its cold out and the car is cold, it makes a rubbing sound. I'm in the process of getting it up to lynch to look at it and figure out what the problem is. But like I said I'm not blaming it on the engine being put back in which caused something else not to work right but I just feel that things keep happening to my car ever since my car was worked on and such a major part of the car was altered. My car just reached 39,000 miles and I feel things just keep happening as a domino effect like I said since it was majorly altered with the engine replacement. I really hate that I've had to go through such an experience(s) with this car and I feel its gotten worse and is continuing to get worse. Just because of the poor service and buying a GM car alone, I don’t think I’d ever buy another Cadillac again, let alone a GM car. My family and I have had plenty of Cadillac cars in our family. I love Cadillac’s and I loved this cts-V up until all this that I’ve been through. And I believe with a car costing this much, and the standards Cadillac is setting out there, I shouldn’t have gone through all this. At this point, I want to trade in my car because I feel problems are only worsening with a good quality car too fast. To add to that point, when my husband and I pay off our car and try to sell it, it’s going to be even less of value because of the engine replacement and all the problems it’s had to it. Again, with Cadillac’s standard “service and quality”, I shouldn't be going through this and all that I've gone through. I can’t express enough how deeply disappointed, frustrated, and upset I am with all that has happened and is continuing to happen. Thanks for reading this in-depth letter/email and I would love for Cadillac to contact me, as I mentioned; just letting me know they got this, read it, and is aware of a very dissatisfied customer. I will continue to get this out until it reaches someone who cares enough to take more action then what the dealership did.
thank you for listening & my contact information is:
Veronika Smith
[email protected]
(706) 580-7854
3300 stadium dr apt 708 Phenix City, AL 36867
