The following letter was send to Honda Motor Company with a copy to Holmes. There was token response from Honda and no response from Holmes. Any reading of my experience would lead to the conclusion that Holmes policy is at a minimum unethical and probably dishonest -
Dear Sir or Madame;
Re Complaint Hohmes Honda/Shreveport, LA
I'd like to register a complaint against the service department at Holmes Honda in Shreveport. Some background:
I own two Hondas a 1998 Accord V6 with 116,000 miles and a 2002 S with 38,000 miles. I purchased the Accord new at Holmes and S new at a dealer in Monroe, Louisiana (Ss were selling at a premium and it was $1000 cheaper than Holmes).
From the moment of purchase, both cars have been serviced at authorized Honda dealers. Except for maybe 3 times (while traveling), Holmes has preformed that service. Following the Honda recommended service schedule, the cars were seen and serviced by a dealer at least every 4-5,000 miles.
I do not live in Shreveport. It is a 40 miles and 50 minute drive to Holmes for service. I wait for any service to be completed. I make this extra effort because I trusted Honda and Holmes to treat me right and provide fair and honest service.
On a recent trip to Lynchburg, Virginia to visit kids, I had the Accord serviced at another Honda dealer a simple oil change. While servicing the car they identified a transmission seal leak and estimated a $100 repair. Being on the road and not knowing them, I opted to return home to have the repair made at Holmes who I felt I knew and trusted.
Within days (5) of returning home, I scheduled the repair at Holmes.
To my surprise and displeasure, the repair cost was $318. The service technician explained that they replaced both seals and flushed the transmission. When I questioned the tech about the need to replace both seals, we had an animated discussion during which he volunteered, one seal was definitely leaking. Left unsaid was whether the second seal actually leaked.
Knowing that Holmes pays their service techs on commission (and is this normal for the industry?), I feel pretty confident that replacement of the second seal and probably the flush were unnecessary! I'm disappointed and feel cheated! I feel the policy at Holmes of paying tech on commission is flawed and the ethics of the tech are questionable.
As noted above, the Accord has 116,000 miles. I plan to replace it early next year. As you might imagine, with my trust violated and with questions on the honesty of Holmes and their employees, I'm going to think long and hard before I purchase another Holmes Honda!
One other small irritation when I made the appointment with the Holmes service department, I asked the tech how much time the repair would take. He estimated 2 hours. To facilitate the effort, I was up at 6 AM and at their shop before they opened their doors at 7:30 AM first in line. It was 12:30 PM before the car was returned to me with the repairs complete.
As you can see from the letter, I'm disappointed! I don't have a lot of options for Hondas (which I love) and Honda service from this small rural east Texas town. I have to go elsewhere, but I can buy and service new GM, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota cars locally. For Honda, I break my pledge to the Chamber of Commerce to buy locally.
As a retired plant manager of a chemical plant who knows the importance of happy customers, I'd want to hear about this situation.
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