Complaint Review: Bill Heard Chevrolet - Sanford Florida

I went to Bill Heard for service on my HHR, which had a water leak on the passenger side. The passenger floorboard would get flooded during heavy rains and the AC blower resistor would short out. The result was a wet floorboard and an AC fan that only blows on high. The car was still under warranty. I researched online and learned there was a service advisory out on the drain tubes for the AC system and that the resistor shorting out was a common side-effect. I also needed service on a recall of the braces for the roof of the car, which were deemed to weak in the event of a roll-over.

Upon arrival, I dealt with a new service advisor named Tim, who looked in their system and agreed there were documented issues with both situations. He had me sign an agreement to pay a diagnostic fee of $100, he said in case the warranty didn't cover it or I decided not to complete the service.

About an hour later, Tim called me and confirmed that the issue was warranty-covered (I had an extended warranty from GM that was bumper-to-bumper for 60K miles, the car was at 59,700 miles so I needed it taken care of quickly). He stated they would begin work and that it was all "covered". He said that Chevrolet had released a thicker drain tube that wouldn't clog so easily and that there was a recall or service advisory on the first model year of the HHR for this problem (mine is a 2006, the first model year).

About two hours after that, Tim called me and said that they found a rubber toy alligator blocking the drain tube and that was the cause of my water leak, that the AC evaporator couldn't drain properly and that shorted out the resistor and flooded my car. I retorted that the flooding ONLY happened after a heavy rain, I could run the AC for days and never ONCE had a leak. He told me it would be 10 hours of labor to repair, at $100 per hour, that I would owe them $1000.

I replied that they just needed to throw whatever parts they had already removed into the back of the car and I would pick it up, there was no way I was letting them do another thing to the car. The service manager called me back and said he'd complete the job for the $200 he said I signed for (I disagreed, that I only signed for ONE service item, but he said it was $100 per issue and that the leak and the blower were two issues). I agreed, to save myself the headache of putting the car back together, and was told I would be shown pictures of the alligator blocking the drain and bla bla bla.

I picked up my car after Tim had left, coincidentally that day it rained like mad. Lo and behold, my car was ONCE AGAIN flooded on the passenger side. It was also FILTHY, the technician never used paper on the carpet or seats and they were covered in grease, as was the headliner and the plastic risers on the roof columns where they installed the parts for the recall of the roof braces.

I had to go around the showroom floor, since no one was left in service, and complain LOUDLY about the way they ruined my car, the receptionist was kind enough to set me up with the detailing guys, who were shocked to see the condition of the car and spent a good 45 minutes cleaning it up for me.

The next morning, I brough the car back in and showed TIM the still-wet floor, they took it back in and discovered that indeed, the car was leaking and they had to replace seams and take the dashboard apart again.

In my opinion, their only goal was to trick me into paying for warranty service and I am out the $275 they charged me in order to release my car. I am taking this to GM management if they don't call me within the week. I have left messages for their service manager and their new general manager as well, no one has called me bac,

Moral of this story: NEVER GO TO BILL HEARD CHEVROLET! I wish I had seen this web site before I went there, as there a NUMEROUS complaints about their service department.

Mike Vain

Deltona, Florida

U.S.A.

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