02/12/09

Great service at Boardwalk Auto!

by nl1954

I bought my 2002 PT Cruiser in late 2001 and have always taken it to Boardwalk Auto Center for any problems. They have always done everything possible to solve the problem...even when I had to take the car back in a couple of times, they rented a car for me and really bent over backwards to make things as easy as possible for me. Rick Arslanian heads a great service department and I've gotten great help from Rome Souza, Rick Castillo and Michael Polonsky. Everyone is very helpful...when I'm standing in the valet area, every employee who walks by me asks if I've been helped. Recently, I had a problem that couldn't be identified. After my extended warranty had expired, it was still going on and I brought it in. They found the problem and still honored the already expired warranty. Can't get much better than that!

11/08/08

Great Service, fixed problem first time. Been coming back since.

by Chrisrwc

This place is friendly and took care of me the first time. I didnt go to an independent shop because I was worried it may not be fixed right as you never know with the side shops, how they can possibly afford all the expensive equipment (computers, special tools, information, etc) and dont have access to all the repair bulletins dealers have. So I decided to pay a little more and it was worth it. They fixed my problem in 1/2 a day and got my car back to me. Havent had any issues since.

I would recommended this place especially with all the stores closing this place still seems busy. That tells me they must be taking care of their customers in such a tough time for everyone. I'll never go anywhere else for service. By the way I have a chevy and get all my oil changes done there. I had no idea they were cheaper than most the oil changing chains around!!! I was surprised!

02/19/08

Horribe customer service in the finance office; would not go back

by krysleigh

"The whole process took five trips to the dealership - FIVE trips when I knew what I wanted on the first day. FIVE trips of 30 miles each way from my home in San Francisco.

That said, I got a great deal on a Nissan Altima. My sales guy Dave was this awesome, kindly Hawaiian guy new to the neighborhood. Mike and Jason who helped with me deal were also nice and professional.

HOWEVER, then you get to financing it and have to deal with the a$$ Bruce, and it almost makes you want to turn the car back over to them right then and there. Bruce was completely rude to me (I tried to use choice words here to convey how terrible he was, but lo and behold you can't even use jer k on Citysearch), my boyfriend, and my dad, and he was even worse when I went back alone (which makes me conclude he is extremely sexist), blaming problems the dealership had with the financing on me, making derogatory marks, just being all around unprofessional. In a customer service-oriented field, I found it a little hard to believe that someone who deals with people on a daily basis to be so overall wretched. I find it even harder to believe Boardwalk Auto has repeat customers, after going through Bruce.

However, the final day I went back, I dealt with Steve Simon, who was cordial and made the whole process go quite smoothly. If you absolutely decide you have to get a car here, ask for Dave the sales guy, then to see Steve in finance. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, see Bruce."

• Pros: good deals
• Cons: BAD service, horrible finance office

01/25/08

Great

by JohnCohen

got the price I wanted in an email, and went in to see the car. I brought the email printout just in case (not my first car, heh), but they didn't play any games with price. they guy we worked with danny, let us drive the 300 around for over half an hour to see if my wife's back would feel good on her commute. It did, and we took it home in like an hour.

• Pros: excellent price, super coffee, no games
• Cons: None!

01/01/08

Outrageous Service Prices

by paolo256

I cannot recommend Boardwalk Volkswagen..certainly for any work that is out of warranty. The bottom line is, they are extremely over-priced and my past experience is their service is spotty, at best. Before you have any non-warranty work done, do yourself a favor and call one or two independents and get a quote for the same job.

Boardwalk attempted to charge me $1257.00 for a job that three independent service shops bid at $520 - $580.

I realize every company has to make a profit and a dealership's overhead is higher, etc, but I personally will never buy another VW nor will I ever take any vehicle back to Boardwalk for servicing - there are too many other quality choices in the Bay Area, both vehicle manufactures and/or competent, fairly-priced service departments.

09/18/07

Total frustration! Don't go! I would not give any star if I could...

by andreayang

My experience with this place was frustration, frustration, frustration.

The service was terrible. I dropped my car there for more than 2 weeks but they never fixed anything and they never told me when they'd fix it. I made a couple of calls but they never told me when I could get my car back. I had no car for weeks, which was really inconvenient. When I finally decided to take my car back without any further waiting, they would not let me leave and charged my credit card a few hundred bucks without providing any service.

When I called a few days later asking when they'd finally get the parts and fix my car, the guy answering the phone refused to help and still said they would not know anything.

One thing I know for sure now if I will never go back to that place. All they know is how to cheat customers. To this day I still haven't received the parts I paid for or got any service. I am really disappointed. They should really learn how to treat their customer and run business.

06/22/07

Had some issues...

by bmd280

mostly around the time taken to complete the needed repairs, but management is trying to level things out after I submitted a sub-par feedback review.

08/30/06

Major Dissappointment

by jkkuehne

Couldn't believe, after all of the times I have taken my '97 Jeep Cherokee to these guys and spent tons of money, that they would come up with policies that totally take advantage of a customers trust. A transmission problem that took 5 minutes to diagnose (by another shop) and left me without the use of my car for a full day, cost me $125 and was told that I had to take the car somewhere else. Why you ask? Because I told them from the beginning that I was not going to pay for a new transmission when the problem only required a $170 part. My experience was totally frustrating. Will never darken their doors again. Needless to say that I never got a response from their online survey.

08/26/06

Car repair at Boardwalk VW not recommended -- poor customer service

by ellen_b

Car repairs are never fun, but can at least be made decent by good customer service. If you HAVE to have repairs done there (as I found myself), a few tips: 1) DON'T bother leaving messages in voicemail, apparently they don't have time to check their voicemail 2) DO follow- up frequently if parts need to be ordered -- they totally dropped the ball with my order and what was supposed to be 2 weeks on parts (which were paid for in advance) turned into 6 weeks of waiting 3) DO walk around your car with an advisor to note any damage on your car prior to leaving your vehicle, both times I had to go there scratches were left on my door 4) DO read any invoice or estimate line by line thoroughly -- I realized later that I was charged IN ADVANCE for a paint job that was noted on the estimate only as a "possible" charge when the part arrived, in case it needed to be painted. It was such a bad experience, all around. If the customer service people are too busy to bother spending more than a minute on the phone with their customers, then there is a real problem with how this business is handled.

07/03/06

Great experience

by cutiekatie

I bought my first new car, a 2006 VW Jetta, from Boardwalk and would buy my next from there as well. I was helped right away, with fast and friendly but never pushy assistance. I knew what kind of car I wanted from the start, but my sales associate helped me pick out all the options. Their stock of cars is great, and I had a ton of colors and packages to choose from. I was able to strike a pretty good deal as well. I love my car!

• Pros: Great service, selection, expertise
• Cons: Not Much