I've been a customer at Mazda of Olympia for many years. Last weekend I brought my 2002 miata in because I was having an issue with my car alarm going off all the time. There was also a problem with my FOB not working. I told the person in Service, Pete that I suspected there was a problem with my car and not the FOB however my FOB had recently died as well. When my alarm would go off, it would continue until it timed out because my FOB wasn't working to shut it off. We asked if there was a way to test my car to see if something was wrong with the alarm system. We were told that we would need to replace the FOB first in order to test. However, after my husband spoke a little more to Pete, he went in the back to the mechanics and had a mechanic named Larry test my car. Larry indicated that my car checked out so I went ahead and ordered the FOB thinking this would resolve the issues. We also asked if the car alarm could be disarmed because I really don't need it. We were told that could not be done. Today the FOB came in. I happily went to retrieve it thinking this would solve my issues with the car alarm. When Larry programmed it to my car and tested it the same thing happened with the car alarm going off continually. He then noticed that my door lock was sticking on the drivers side and came in to tell me about this. I immediately said that I wondered if that could be the problem with my car alarm going off all the time to which he replied that it very well could be. I wonder why he didn't notice this before?
My issue with the dealership at this point is this: Larry then stated to me that on the day he tested out my car "nobody told me the alarm was going off". To which I replied that we had told Pete about it and that it was the whole reason we brought the car in to them in the first place. We thought that was why Larry was testing the car. Now the dealership is telling me that I will need to spend another $300 to get the door part fixed. Larry also indicated this was "probably" the problem, although to be sure he would need to spend some time with the car to diagnose it for sure. That of course would be another $100 for him just to do that. I don't have the $300 or $400 to do that right now so I won't be doing it. My primary issue is with the attitudes of both Pete and Larry. I felt them (esp. Larry) getting defensive about the issue. I did not dispute that I needed the FOB but only that I probably could have gotten by without it had I just been able to get the door lock fixed in the first place. Now I have a shiny new FOB to the tune of $250 that does me no good because my car alarm still goes off whenever I lock my vehicle.
I'm frustrated and hope that I'm able to find another place to do business with that will not try to nickel and dime me to death. I also hope to find someone whose focus is on the customer instead of the almighty dollar. That's all.
Sandy Ledesma
Olympia, WA
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