Disheartening Experience at Madza Suzuki Foton & Proton Clearwater

I am writing to express my profound dissatisfaction with the service I received at Madza Suzuki Foton & Proton Clearwater today. Throughout my life, I have never encountered such degrading treatment, and I feel compelled to share my experience.

Upon attempting to access my cubbyhole to retrieve my wallet—containing important items such as bank cards and my driver's license—I found that the compartment would not open. After several unsuccessful attempts, panic set in as it became clear that it was completely locked.

I contacted the service center to explain my predicament. The representative advised me to bring the car in for inspection. When I inquired about potential charges, she stated that she could not provide a price estimate until they assessed the issue with the cubbyhole. This seemed reasonable, so I agreed to wait since it would prevent any liability for lost items.

Upon arriving at the service center this morning, I was informed that if the issue was not covered under warranty, I might incur a maximum charge of R1500. After about an hour, a technician entered with information regarding my car and communicated with another staff member in Afrikaans. Shortly after, a lady casually gestured for me to approach her as if I were insignificant. She presented me with an invoice showing handwritten totals: R1035 for service and R793 for a part that needed ordering.

When I asked if they had managed to open the cubbyhole, she rep**** that they had not and would need to order the part instead. At this point, feeling frustrated and wanting to leave without further delay, I requested to exit; however, she informed me that since my vehicle remained in their workshop, I was still obligated to pay R1035.

After reiterating that my primary concern was retrieving my wallet from the locked cubbyhole, she suggested breaking it open as a solution. Reluctantly agreeing due to lack of alternatives—and already incurring costs—I allowed them to proceed. Once they reversed my car out of the workshop and accompanied me to retrieve my wallet, she inquired about ordering the part again. In response, I suggested they fix what they had broken since time was being wasted on inadequate service.

After completing payment for both services and parts—despite feeling dissatisfied—I requested proof of payment. With sarcasm, she asked if I had time since it would take an additional five minutes for documentation. Upon receiving it, she casually mentioned that the quoted price for the part was merely an estimate—having already paid for it left me questioning its fairness.

I now seek answers regarding several concerns:

1. What exactly occurred with regard to opening the cubbyhole? Were there specific findings? Given wear and tear is often cited as a reason for issues like this one—how frequently should one expect a cubbyhole’s mechanism to operate without failure?

2. What criteria classify an issue as wear and tear?

3. Why did I receive no updates during this process? Is it unreasonable for me as a customer to anticipate communication?

4. Shouldn't customers receive some form of receipt upon making payments? Must one explicitly request proof of payment?

5. Lastly, despite being promised a call later today regarding when the part will arrive—no such call has been received.

While it is common practice for customers facing unresolved issues at service centers like this one to voice their concerns directly on-site—I felt too disheartened by how poorly treated I had been throughout this experience.

To add insult to injury: after all customers had left the office, an Indian consultant proceeded to pick up her vape device and casually started vaping—was everyone else treated respectfully except me?

This entire ordeal has left me feeling deeply disrespected and disappointed by your establishment's approach towards customer care.