Flow Honda in Winston Salem

Reviews 3

KA

Karie Knott

Update on first review: I was contacted by Marie Furches who had seen my review on Facebook, which was my last resort to get attention. She is in an administrative position there, and had a lengthy phone conversation with me about my concerns. She then contacted the service manager and had him call me. He was very apologetic about not having called me back and admitted that, even though he thought the tech who worked on my car would have called me, he should have made sure that it was done. That tech has since left the business and gone to another dealership. Kelly Moore (service manager) went over with me all my concerns and asked me if I would give him the opportunity to make it right. He bent over backwards, having my car detailed as if it were being put back on the lot, filling my gas tank, checking out my rattling seat, etc. They found that the hub caps were not able to be cleaned due to what the prior tech had used on them, and gave me a full set of brand new wheels. The car was immaculate! I believe that this was case of a tech who had planned to leave and just didnt do his job since he was leaving. It doesnt excuse that no one called me back...or that no one reads the website e-mails...or the Google reviews, but I venture to guess in the future, there may be someone looking at public media. My old review was a one star and follows. I reserve the right to keep it up to prompt the company to insist all customer contacts are followed up: I purchased a 2011 CRV at this dealership at the start of this year, and it took 5 1/2 hours at the dealership to do the paperwork and get off the lot with my car. I recently took it in for the first oil change (though my car had only been driven 1000 miles- as I was getting ready for a long trip)- on a Sunday night and did the night time drop off, filling out the form with what I wanted done ( oil and filter change, oil additive program, if they had one, wash and wax, apply headlight covers, and repair back seat headrest that the dealership had broken on a prior visit to find out how to remove the headrest for doggie seat covers I had ordered). On the form, I specified that I wanted price quotes, but I was never called. They had my car from Sunday night through Wednesday near closing time. When I arrived to pick up my car, there was one man in the repair shop and no other customers present. When he finished whatever he was doing, he asked what name and who had worked on my vehicle, and I told him, and it took nearly twenty minutes for him and another man to find my car. My paperwork had another persons name on it- another local residents name, but it was my bill. My headlight covers were not put on properly and had bubbles under them, meaning they are ruined and need replacing. Worse yet, I was charged $110 dollars to put them on. The $89 car wash/wax was shoddy as my wheels were filthy. No one was there to talk to about my paperworks being messed up or the botched detail or headlights, so I called both the man who did the detail and the service director over the next couple of days and left messages to each to please call me. No one ever has. I went to the website online to find the contact area and wrote there, too, but I have never received a response. I do not intend to continue to get service at this dealership and hope to find the one on the north side of town more caring toward their customers.

JA

Jarrett Oliveri

Blown away by the excuses, hypocrisy and bullshit! Preface: This ain’t my first rodeo! Ive purchased several vehicles over the years through dealerships that embrace the age-old tradition of negotiating. Nowadays dealerships have gotten “smart” and decided to adopt the “Carmax” pricing structure that tells the consumer, “We care about you and want to take the intimidation and hassle out of car buying.” All you have to do is fork up a few thousand dollars extra for that convenience and perceived peace-of-mind. But wait, I thought “pre-certified” vehicles were supposed to give me assurance that the car is in solid condition. Now I have to pay a premium for that and so I don’t have to negotiate? Wow, what a privilege! Please… just take my money! Anyhow, I visited the Flow Honda dealership today with intentions of purchasing a 2015 Civic Si. Upon arrival I was offered to test-drive a 2013 Civic Si. Both were nice, but of course the 2013 was more affordable… or so it seemed. We did the dance of test drives and then got down to brass taxes about price. Heres how the cars stacked up: 2015 Civic Si – new, 0 mi, @ $ doesn’t matter, not relevant, 2013 Civic Si - Certified Pre-owned, 46,386 mi @ $18,995 Dealerships love to play hardball and so do I, but beaning the batter is just plain wrong! When I asked them to offer me a better price on the 2013 Civic Si they threw their best fastball by explaining, "We have fixed pricing on our used cars. It’s basically an average price based on what models with similar specs are valued. Therefore, lowering the price is out of our control." Well we both know that’s a bunch of crap because almost 1 year ago you dropped the price on my wifes car by $1,500 because “it has been on the lot for 45 days". And this is where the plot thickens... While in negotiation I confronted the salesman about a 2014 Civic Si on their lot with the following specs: 2014 Civic Si - Certified Pre-owned, 15,700 mi @ $20,906! When inquiring as to why the 2014 was 1 year newer, $1,900 more, but ~30k less miles, I was told "Well we price our vehicles based on what we bring them in at on trade." Again… another large shovel full of crap and exactly how of this bullshit are you expecting me to eat in one sitting? Just earlier you told me that used car prices were based on the average market price of a make & model with similar specs and condition. But wait, it gets better… To top it all off he finishes with “Well just buy the other one since it has less miles if it’s only $2k more”. WTF? Are you kidding me? Who talks to their customers with such flagrant disregard? At this point I had heard enough and left the dealership. Needless to say, Im never purchasing another vehicle from this dealership again. If Flow Motors had any appreciation of the cost in customer retention versus gaining new customers they would have been more flexible in their selling price. As a rule in marketing a customer having a bad experience with a business will, on average, tell 10 of their friends. A customer having a great experience is likely to tell 0-2 people. Being in Marketing expect me to reach my 10-person quota and many more.

AB

Abhishek Bose

So this was my experience with the Flow dealership in Winston Salem. I will refer to the salesperson by his initials since I have no interest in maligning him in on a public forum. On my first visit we test drove a Honda Odyssey 2018 Touring edition as part of our minivan shopping. AT our salesperson was polite and cordial but was interested in knowing our purchase price. Since we were undecided we did not quote one and decided to test other minivans. After we checked out other similar minivans in the segment we narrowed it down to either the Odyssey or Pacifica. We decided to get a quote for both and then make a decision. We visited Flow again but as soon as we started talking price, AT’s body language and demeanor took a complete 180*. He came across as pushy and speaking from a position of power. He kept asking us a “Fair Price” for the car. I had already researched True Car and other websites and quoted a price $ 1000 less than True Car to start the negotiating process. He pressed me as to how I came up with this price. Since I had researched KBB, Edmunds etc. I mentioned KBB. It was my mistake that I did not follow his reference to “Fair Purchasing Price” on KBB as I was going by my True Car numbers. In the interim AT kept browsing or typing something on his computer screen which I could not see. He also remarked in a very condescending manner “You want me to take 4K of my price and not commit to buying today” to which I replied “Yes” as we wanted a quote for the Pacifica as well. He had a single Touring left in his lot which was not a color we were keen on but were willing to compromise if we got a good price. The Sales manager arrived next and started talking about the “Fair Purchase Price” as well. He explained since the 2018 models are new a fair price has not been determined. At that very moment AT turned the computer screen towards me to show me the value of the car on KBB and the fact that a "Fair price" does not exist. I’m sure it was his attempt at a “Gotcha” moment; pin me down and show me that my starting price was completely wrong. All along AT was browsing KBB on his computer screen and his goal was to shame me. The Sales manager flat out refused to consider my price. Since AT’s signature move to disrespect a customer had already got my blood boiling, I did not bother negotiating any further and left. The impression I got is that this dealership feels entitled being the only Honda dealership in the Winston area. I would advise people to check out other competing dealerships in the Triad area. I was able to negotiate a price at a competing dealership which was very close to what I initially quoted at Flow. The difference is the competing dealership was willing to listen and not be out to disrespect a customer. I am never going back to this place and would not recommend them to anybody.