Disgraceful "customer care" from Kia Dealer Principal - Kabelo Tlailane

To: Kia South Africa

To whom it may concern

I would like to voice my complete dissatisfaction with the service and experience I had with the dealer principal, Kabelo Tlailane, at Kia the Glen.

My frustration with Kia the Glen started as follow:

Initially, on the 14th of June, we drove to Kia to view a vehicle we were interested in. When we arrived there, Wilton Gordon assisted us as we looked at several vehicles on your showroom floor. We identified a vehicle that we liked, a Kia Picanto X-line, and was taken to a lady upstairs that assisted us with completing the purchase contract and finance application. She gave us several interest financing options, with different interest rates, and we selected the financing offer from WesBank.

There were a few things that needed to be fixed on the Picanto and we agreed to return to Kia on the following Tuesday at 12pm, to sign the contract and collect our vehicle. We were made to wait for an hour just to be met by a different lady from finance, who then presented us with a new contract from a different financing company, with a higher interest rate and instalment than what was initially agreed on. We were stunned to realize that they did not even consult us before making the changes to the initial agreement. We told her we were unhappy with that and can not sign and decided to leave.

Back downstairs, Wilton approached us with the key and a big smile, just to be informed that changes were made to the contract without our knowledge or consent. Wilton agreed that this was unacceptable, and he would contact MFC to try and assist. We told him that we will contact our bank directly to apply for finance ourselves.

Whilst at our bank, Wilton called to say he spoke with MFC and can offer us a better interest rate. This interest rate was even better than the original financing offer we agreed on. This is the kind of passion and service we expected from Kia. We returned to Kia to sign the new finance offer and collect our vehicle.

On the 25th of July we received a text message from Kia the Glen to inform us that the Picanto is due for a service. We called and informed the lady that answered that the car has only 80 000km’s on the odometer, and as we understood, was only due for service at 90 000 km’s. She insisted that it was due for its annual service and that we must make a booking. We repeated the fact that it had only 80 000 km on the odometer 3 times, but she still insisted the service must be done now.

We then made an appointment for the next day to drop the car between 7 – 7:30am. We drove from Lambton, Germiston to Kia the Glen with 2 vehicles, in peak traffic, to drop off the Picanto and have transport back home. We received a call at about 10am to say we should collect the vehicle, as it is NOT due for a service.

Obviously, I was livid. We now had to drive back from Lambton, Germiston to The Glen to collect the car that was not serviced!

On arrival, I approached a group of staff that stood outside, chatting. A young man asked me if he may assist, and I told him that I want to see the manager. I was, understandably, fuming at this stage.

Kabelo was pointed out as the manager, and he approached me. I told him I was upset (although I think it was evident that I was upset). Instead of trying to calm me down and defuse the situation, I could not believe my ears when he said to me, and I quote: “Why don’t you take a swing at me?”!

I was flabbergasted. My reply to him was that, surely, this is not how you handle an obviously unhappy customer. He repeated himself, and I quote again: “Take a swing at me”.

I had to restrain myself and again said, this is not how you treat a customer. For the third time he said: “Seriously, take a swing at me”. (I cringe to think what the outcome would have been if I took the bait.) If it weren’t for the mechanic, Allen van den Berg, that came to fasten a loose panel on my bumper, things might have escalated. Allen came and stood between me and Kabelo and then guided me back to my car.

By then, I was blind with anger and disgust and asked for my keys and left.

On arriving back home, I discovered that there is no service history book in the car. (Part of the sales pitch was that the vehicle comes with a full-service history.)

After several frustratingly unsuccessful attempts at getting hold of customer service, I finally managed to speak to Chaco, at ***. She tried her best to calm me down and insisted that it will be dealt with.

The next day, Saturday the 27th, I received an email from Kabelo. I am thoroughly disappointed and dissatisfied with his feeble attempt at an apology. I would like to think that there would be much harsher consequences for such unprofessional, arrogant and inappropriate behavior. It boggles my mind to think that this person is a Kia dealer principal and is allowed to deal with customers. I imagine he would not even treat his employees with any respect! His phrase: “We are a people centered business and customers should always be prioritized”, rings false.

This experience has left me utterly disappointed in your brand. It is not as if I purchased a toaster from you! I spent close to a quarter of a million Rand. Every time I look at my new Picanto, I am bitter and angry - the total opposite emotion of what I initially had with the purchase of my beautiful little car.

I am wondering to myself, if by the casual way in which Kabelo tried to provoke me, repeatedly, whether this is standard practice for him. I would expect decisive and deliberate disciplinary action against this employee.

Eagerly awaiting your feedback.

Yours sincerely, André Smit