I had a deeply frustrating and disappointing experience - Ari
I had a deeply frustrating and disappointing experience with the service department at Ricart Kia.
I scheduled an online appointment detailing the exact, urgent issues my car was experiencing: frequent problems starting, and a highly dangerous sudden loss of acceleration while driving on highways. Because of this critical safety concern, I rushed out to make the appointment, not realizing until I was en route that this location was 30 minutes away from my home rather than my local dealership.
Unfortunately, my experience only went downhill from there:
Complete Lack of Listening & Misdiagnosis: The service advisor did not listen attentively or confirm the reason for my visit (which apparently wasn't passed along from the online scheduling system). The final report claimed my concern was a "constantly on check engine light"—which was absolutely not the case.
Poor Communication: They kept my car overnight. The next day, instead of calling me with an update or explanation, they simply sent a text message with a list of recommended services. When I called my advisor, Brittney Ball, to ask if any of these recommendations actually addressed the dangerous stalling and starting issues I brought it in for, she said no, claiming they couldn't replicate the problem. I only accepted some of the unrelated services so the 30-minute trip wouldn't feel like a total waste of time.
No Accommodation: Because I live 30 minutes away, I was told I was outside their service area and was denied a shuttle. I had to pay for incredibly expensive Ubers both ways.
Terrible Vehicle Return Condition: To top it all off, the car didn't receive even a basic complimentary cleaning, and it was returned to me with a powerful, overwhelming smell of gasoline inside the cabin that I still cannot get rid of.
Between the breakdown in basic communication, the complete disregard for the dangerous performance issues I reported, the lack of transportation flexibility, and the condition my car was returned in, this was an incredibly poor customer experience. I will not be returning to this dealership.
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