Has this happened to anyone else?

My wife and I were in the market for a second A6 so we call "Mike" at Thelen's and tell him what we want. He calls back 2 weeks later and says he has a 2001 Certified A6. He called on a Monday and I tell him we will pick the car up on Friday. I figure that will give them plenty of time to get the car ready. Audi says they have one of the toughest certification progams in the auto industry. Each vehicle must pass a 300 point inspection.

As I'm driving home with the car(they let me take the car overnight) I notice it's very dusty. Upon closer inspection, there is dirt and grime everwhere. The trunk is just filthy not to mention a broken latch which made it very difficult to open. Even worse, I take the car to my local mechanic and he points out a leaking rear axle seal and the rotors have to be replaced on all four corners. He finds these things within 5 minutes of the car being on the hoist and he isn't even a certified Audi technician.

I take the car back on Saturday and ask to see which technician signed off on the certification report. "Mike" says its Saturday and they cannot locate the report. He also goes on to say the technician is new and therefor that is why he missed some of those things. I could tell he was sweating!

My opinion is they never inspected the car and tried to sell it to me as a Certified A6. This makes sense because it happended two years earlier on our first A6 and I didn't realize it. Within 1 week of taking possession of our car, we had to take it in for a leaking seal and of course they charged me the $50 deductible. I fell for it once but I won't fall for it again!

Shame on you Thelen Auto! You lost a returning customer and I will no longer be sending friends and family to your dealership.

 

James I assure you we follow Audi inspection procudures. If we missed something we would be happy to pay for it. We have been a dealer for 33 years and take pride in our honesty, please contact me and we will resolve any issues. I would be happy to provide you with a copy of the inspection, Mike would not have access to the service files on a Saturday. Joe Thelen

 

Joe,

1st off, let me say how IMPRESSED *I* am that a dealership (and, it seems the *owner(?)*, even) would stop by our boards to address a dissatisfied customers' bad experiences.

Kudos to you for that!

Now, I'm not involved, and I have no vested interest other than my deep-seeded love for all things AWD, especially Audi (BTW, can you tell me what font is used in the Audi logo? I can seen to be able to find it anywhere). But, here is where I see as you mught be chasing a lost cause: What james described were fundamental checks. Easy stuff. Low-hanging fruit. James seems to feel as if he were taken advantage of, as a potential customer.

If you want him back, as a customer, you're GONNA HAFTA go that extra mile. Toss in some perks (free maint./year, upgrade him to some nicer rims (I hate the term rims but, if I said "wheels" you might misunderstand, so...), invite to the office x-mas party... that sorta thing).

Audi dealers tend to have a rep as being snobbish-d!<&s. BREAK the chain, Joe! MAKE your service reps LEARN about the cars they sell!!! Not JUST the break/fix stuff, the reason WHY AUdi owners CHOOSE Audi when there are cheaper, more reliable alternatives readily available. Make them NEED to EARN the customers return business (times is tight, Joe, EVERYbody's fighting for recovery, but everybody seems to think it's gonna fall in their laps. It ain't! Ya gotta hustle to get it!). As overpriced as Audi parts & maintainance is, people gtta WANT to come back for the friendly, customer oriented service, and a relationship based on TRUST, or it ain't gonna happen.

What happened with James BROKE that trust, Joe. You want him back you GOTTA go that extra mile. You wanna not lose any more, like him, you gotta change your people's attitudes about the customers. They don't exist simply to provide YOU with a revenue stream. YOU exist to provide THEM with a product and a service. If your people don't understand that then you (as the owner) have not only failed the customer by not instilling that mentality in your employees but, you've failed your employees, too! If THEY fail, YOU fail, and everybody loses.

They call me Jazz. Next time I'm up near Bay City (rare, but it could happen, again), I'll stop by.

</leadership soapbox)

Joe, honestly, I am SERIOUSLY impressed that a Stealership would go through the trouble of stopping by, creating an access account, and actually addressing a lost customers complaint. I wish MORE Stealers had that mind-set. Stick around. Check out some of the other areas. We have lots of places where you (and some of your employees) could learn some things, and lots of placer where you could share some of what YOU know, with us.

I have a challenge, for you, MAKE your sales & service reps open an account on ANY of the Audi forums (doesn't HAVE to be ours, but, since YOU already have one...). Suggest it might just improve their knowledge and sale-ability to be able to talk with Audi owners outside of the sales/service arena.

Good luck winning James back, BTW, his post was from 2005!

 

I relize its an old post but I just found your site as for the font here is my Audi advertising reps # call and maybe they can answer the question if thy ask for a name its Thelen Audi dealer 800-819-7709 tell them your my Ad Agency good luck

 

Hey! THANKS!!!

Say, Thelen isn't exactly a "common" name, les so when you narrow it down to a single state.

I vaguely remember a Captain (eventually Major) Thelen, assigned to either the 7th Army Reserve Command outta Sweitzingen (nee Heidelberg), Germany; or, possibly HQ USEUCOM outta Stuttgart, Germany (maybe both). Actually, the Thelens were a married Army couple, if memory serves, and one or the other, or maybe both were from Michigan (as am I). There almost certainly is a connection. Any chance?!?!? If so, PM me.

 

Thelen Audi is in Bay City Mi, my family was originally from the Westphalia Mi, area which is outside of Lansing Mi, I know my grandfather fought on the American side. I'll do some checking with my Father Thanks

 

Yeah, this was, like, maybe a decade ago. I do not remember what their 1st name were, or where in Michigan one or the other, or both were from, but Lansing may ring a bell. Anyway, one was an Active-Duty Army (I think the wife), and the other was an Army Reservist. Both were officers.

 

I bought my 98 A4 last year from Thelen! I was really impressed with them, I bought the car from Anthony, it was his first week and he really worked to get me a good deal, and I appreciated it. Tell him thanks! I'm sure I'll be back when I'm out of college. The service department is amazing as well, I took my car there after a small collision this past spring. I had about 2 days before I had to go back to school. Not only did they have the car completely done in TWO DAYS for me, it looked brand new and they even gave the car a full cleaning and detail. I was really impressed.

I actually just traded that car this week for one with Quattro, I was dying in the Upper Peninsula snow with the FWD.