Very disappointing experience at Mountain View Tire & Auto Service. I scheduled a 9:30 AM…read moresit-and-wait appointment online for routine preventative maintenance and an oil change. When I arrived, Stephanie at the front desk immediately told me that I would have to either leave my vehicle for the day or come back another day because there were only two technicians working and they had "pretty big jobs."
At that point, I questioned why I was able to schedule a sit-and-wait appointment for 9:30 AM if the shop was not actually able to accommodate it. Her response and overall attitude were extremely rude and dismissive, as though my appointment was an inconvenience to her.
She then told me that because my vehicle is a Wheels vehicle, it would take even longer because they needed to get approval. I explained that I have brought this same vehicle in for preventative maintenance before and there has never been an issue with an approval process. These are scheduled maintenance services, so I was confused about what exactly needed approval. When I asked her about it, she said everything had to go through an "AI system" and that this was simply "the process at this store." This made even less sense considering I had taken my vehicle in for the same type of preventative maintenance just four months ago and everything was completed without any issue or approval process.
I then asked how long the service would take. She told me it would be until the end of the day, which she said meant 7 PM. I asked her, "How is it going to take until 7 PM if I have an appointment at 9:30 AM?" She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and simply said, "There's other appointments."
This is exactly what I find so frustrating about this experience. Having an appointment at this location seems to be treated like an inconvenience to the store, when the entire purpose of an appointment is to schedule a service at a specific time and the customer is literally paying the store for that service. If the location is so understaffed or overbooked that they cannot honor scheduled appointments, why not call customers ahead of time and let them know? Instead, customers are left to drive to the store, rearrange their schedules, and waste their time only to be told that their appointment essentially means nothing. That is incredibly frustrating and, quite honestly, insulting.
I completely understand that a shop can get busy and that unexpected delays happen. What I do not understand is accepting a 9:30 AM sit-and-wait appointment when you already know you cannot reasonably accommodate it, and then treating the customer poorly for asking questions about it.
What made this experience even worse was Stephanie's attitude throughout the entire interaction. She was rude, dismissive, spoke to me in a very loud and condescending manner, and made me feel as though I was inconveniencing her by asking completely reasonable questions about an appointment I had scheduled.
Because of this experience, I called the Norco location to see if they could accommodate me instead. The difference in customer service was honestly night and day. The staff there were much nicer, more helpful, and actually honored the appointment. I was able to bring my vehicle in for the same preventative maintenance and oil change and was in and out in about an hour and 20 minutes the same day. So clearly, it is possible to provide good customer service and properly manage scheduled appointments.
At the Mountain View location, after I told Stephanie I was going somewhere else, she looked at me, rolled her eyes again, grabbed my keys, and continued to act completely dismissive. I asked for her name, and she smiled and said, "Stephanie." This entire interaction happened in front of other customers in the lobby, which made the situation even more uncomfortable.
I have no problem with a shop being busy. What I do have a problem with is accepting appointments that you clearly cannot accommodate and then treating customers poorly when they question it. If you cannot honor the appointments you offer, then stop offering them or, at the very least, have the courtesy to call customers ahead of time.
I would not recommend this location based on my experience. The customer service was extremely poor, the communication was unacceptable, and the way I was treated was completely unnecessary and unprofessional. After this experience, I will be taking my vehicle to the Norco location instead.