With the exception of possibly the drain plug, this was all in unrelated work. I bought the car on 11/1/19 with 19,251 miles on the clock. The original dealer always did retty good work and I kept going back for oil changes as they were competitive and a dealer service history can mean a few extra bucks when the car is sold.




The original serpentine belt tensioner was replaced on 8/20/23 at 73,295 miles. The belts looked okay but the tensioner was leaking oil. Since I was in there, both belts were replaced along with a Mazda tensioner I got from the dealer along with Mazda belts. 11 months later, the belt failed as it was chewed up by the pulley that had 7,000 miles on it. The tensioner was not leaking oil, even though the oil change guy said it was. All these problems cropped up after a new owner took over the dealership.

When the wheels almost fell off, I had a talk with the service writer when I got back into town. I managed to not scream or curse, but the GF was with me. I'm not about to put her at risk. The tech was fired and the writer said it was hard to get help at what they pay. The new owner has a high turn over in the shop. I was about fed up when they more than doubled what they charge for an oil change. A friend has an oil change place and he now puts information into CarFax so I still have a record. He also charges $75 for full service oil change compared to $138 at the dealer.

I keep a maintenance record for all the work done on my car. Maybe not wiper replacement, but anything requiring a tool gets put in the book.I take care of my equipment and while my car is 9 years old, it looks just like newer cars albeit with different styling cues. I'm done with this dealer. If I decide to buy a newer Mazda, I'll go used or travel to another dealer out of town.

As or a law suit, proving it might be difficult as what they tore up wasn't what they were supposed to work on.

 

Ok well nice to show the parts but its only your response or one side of the story??
parts that failed or were damage is not in any way prof of bad dealer service?

When there is a reluctance for a member posting so negatively against a dealer and I ask for the actual service information it seldom if ever gets posted. I WONDER WHY? ...

Frea not there is at least one member that may come to your defense about me requesting to see a service report.

 

Grouch:
You getting a bad tech terminated is the main thing here and I applaud you for it.
I've managed to do that twice in my life to two totally incompetent technicians and it changed the employment habits of one of shops that hired them.
While it didn't save you or I the trouble and aggravation of having do so, it just may have saved someone else's life down the road.
Good dealers and shops will address issues when they are calmly presented by customers.
Even some of the best businesses can get the occasional "bad apple", especially when unemployment is low, and they need another hire.

 

Yes true except the degree and how many problem the OP claimed from the dealership and as I read it was no all at the same visits??
In the shop which I manage it is a 2 step inspection on all work before it is signed off and the final service bill printed. Even as simple as checking for proper psi in the tires. As well on larger jobs like any brake work several pictures are taken before and after the work. ALL parts are shown to the customers and as long as the parts are not warranty replacements are offered in and nice bag or box should the customer wish to take them. many dealership across the US now do similar service inspections. While this in other shops does not totally illuminate a service employee from doing bad or poor work it does minimize.
BTW there are 3 main Mazda in and around the area the OP shows to be his home town checking the BBB only 1 has a minor complaint. What does that tell you?
I think there is 2 sides to this story and apparently we are are only going to read the one? However looking a little into the OP posting history tells us something as well.

Member's on forums always blame the service work without giving all the details and while some read to be conclusive towards bad service work many don't, at least how I read into them.



So where is the final service work orders?

 

For sure Cali most of today's shops are nothing like we experienced "back in the day" when anyone could open one.
Many are now much better run with qualified technicians, service writers and office staff.
Mostly brought about by our litigious society and not the kind hearts of the businessman, of which there are a few still about.
But even now there are local shops I would not take a vehicle to that are somehow still operating.
I would agree we haven't seen both sides of Grouch's issues presented but if a tech was indeed fired, that tells me something was certainly amiss at the shop.
All that said, even in today's world "door bolts" still get missed on inspection

 

IDK I think back and customers and how customers (customer service ) were treated maybe in the pre 80 was the first thought to any business? Or at least that's what all them sales seminars I attended stressed. You welcomed customers with a pleasant greeting listened to them completely before you spoke and made notes of concerns (pocket note pad and always carried a pen/pencell).
That started to go the way of the DODO Bird around the mid to late 90's?.
Dealership in general have always had that stigma likely dating back to the 60's. It seems to have passed on from one customer to another assuming that to which was not universal by any means regarding dealerships as a whole. But I wont go off on that subject. LOL

The word "libel" comes to mind with the thousand currently on the books waiting to be settled from claims made like this OP in this thread. They seldom (source a lawyer that deals in libel suits) see an actual courtroom and are generally settled using a court appointed arbitrator. So we never really know who was right or "wronged" in most cases.
My friends shop that I manage has in his 25 years of ownership only complaint was cost of parts or labor. Which is funny because the parts are billed exactly what the auto parts sell them for and the labor is less then the area average hourly rate .LOL Someone always has to complain.

I am also friends or professionally connected to a few dozen dealership in my area as well other states and they(we) all have the same stories about customers and their complaints. Most of which are seen when they post on social media like this forum and tell there side of the story but almost NEVER post supporting documentation??? It just cracks me up. I mean why would they want other to know that the possibility they were not a victim and wronged by the almighty service shop working on their vehcle?

Just an FYI on a couple forums about Auto stereo's it like reading the same complaints there. Over priced they damaged their vehcle in some way and the end result of the upgraded stereo was not what they expected or wanted for the results and shabby installation work. LOL
Its an endless cycle
Same on Motorcycle, Bick cycle, boat, RV etc. forums were there a r dealership and service departs at those dealerships were involved. LOL

 

Not all Dealerships and Service Departments are created equal. I have seen my share of horrible dealer service department work over the years! That said, I have also talked to many Owners that think they got ripped off by what a Dealership charged them for service work.......and to that I say, "How do you think that they can provide and pay for all of the buildings and tools and the qualified workers, if they charged the same amount as the single building, two-bay service garage on the corner?" There is a trade off. Plus, the neighborhood service garage uses parts they get from the local auto parts supply chains (usually made in China).......NOT the higher quality factory parts that a dealer's service garage will use.
Just like any business.......you are only as good as your employees, that are providing the service work to the customer. Just because that employee has certifications, that doesn't mean that the employee is a good, caring individual that produces excellent service work.

On a related lower ball joint issue.......the wife's 2018 Ford Escape SEL started to develop a rattle in the front end when driving over rough terrain/roads......traced it down to the driver's side lower ball joint.....it was dry and had play in it. I installed a new TRW ball joint after I removed the original one and saw how little grease was in the joint. This was at 28,000 miles! I have a few pictures of the total amount of factory applied grease that I scooped out of it. The factory unit had no Zerk fitting to apply grease, the TRW unit does.

 

Nice response MeB200




To add a little:

Dealerships are privately owned independent business with acontract by specific auto manufactures and are required to fulfill some standards of service in all the departments.
All service work performed on Mazda's ( other platforms) is logged on a nationwide program and become a permanent service history of what was done and who did the service.
Automotive factory trained service technician "must" (all platforms) have a good standing record of service with no verified/confirmed complaint of the quality of service or they chance losing their Certification and also the pay increase/wage that goes with having that certification. And in all platform it is a substantial difference between a general mechanic and Factory trained certified automotive technician.

None factory independent service shops.
Please all members reading this I choose my wording as to not be confused in any way with some "joe or Jane" hired off the street with no current certifications.
Generally speaking if they have any displayed ASE blue signs, they must have employed at least one ASE service person. That person's certification can vary but most shops will display that citification for their customers to see. Under ASE guidelines a shop cannot display a sign if they do not meet the requirement, or it is legally false advertisement.
To gain an ASE certification depending on which certification you must have a verified service history working in the auto service market and there can be NO negative information. When you test you must pass with 85% or 90% depending on the certification testing to acquire. You are assigned a number, and your service history is now available for service shop you allow them to access that information to consider your application and to hire you.
So naturally while we like to say there is always a bad, lazy apple with respect if in either case factory trained technician or ASE certification if the individual hold current information certification are very unlikely to do less then quality service.


As for the parts used mainly none auto dealership (but not always excluded) service shops. Depending on your area and also depending on what Retail chain auto parts store is close to that shop many shops have whole pricing and better shops will give the customer a choice in what that shop feels is Best, good, better or *inexpensive (cuzz, will say *the customer is on a serios budget) parts. This also goes along with the warranty. Warranty is important because not all parts manufacture will allow for a labor claim should the part fail under their warranty. States that in most all auto parts warranty. So choose wisely and or ask what brand name the parts are being used.
As for the orgin of manufacture this is not always as easy as it once was to simply rule out the part because it was manufactured in a specific country known for manufacturing garbage quality parts. Depending on who that manufacture was and the quality ones will state on the box you can look into that companies reputation as a worldwide distributor and may be very surprised about the quality.
I know a lot of work just to get a shop that employees good experienced people and will not just sell you The Dollar Store " parts. LOL

You all do realize that you can REQUEST at a dealership that a certified employee perform the work on your vehcle ... right? You may need to schedule a specific time because of the request but maybe a few of you that have had bad experiences may think about that the next time you must go to a dealer service department.