The worst experience ever. On September 15th, 2020 I bought a car from Carmatch. The owner said there were no issues with the car whatsoever. The car came with an inspection report and a one-month warranty. On September 24th, 2020 (1 week later) I messaged Hugo about an issue with the transmission. The issue was present from the day I bought it, it was most noticeable when the car was cold. Hugo then sent me to Alpha 1 in Burnaby. Their mechanic (Alpha 1) checked the issue and said there was nothing wrong with the transmission. Upon leaving Alpha 1 I told Hugo that the issue was still present. A transmission service was done during that appointment, and it did NOT fix the issue. Hugo did not offer to fix the issue during the warranty period at all.
Without a response from Hugo, I had to leave the country for 3 months. The car was parked and moved around the block on a weekly basis only while I was away. Upon my return to Canada, after quarantine, I told Hugo the transmission issue was still there, and he agreed for me to get an inspection (which he would pay for). I took the car to a reputable shop that specializes in Volkswagen's (the make of my car) and the owner told me there was definitely something wrong with the transmission. The owner told me to take the car to a shop that specializes in transmissions.
Two days later, my car is at the transmission specialist. Hugo was in the loop this whole time by text messages. He acknowledged every step of the way. For the record, he tried to send me to his mechanic again (Alpha 1). I respectfully declined because he failed to recognize the issue the first time he had the car. The car was with Alpha 1 for the whole day back in September.
The very first day of the car being in the shop (a Monday), the specialist got back to me saying it needed a new part. The total was close to $3000 including taxes including the part, labour, and fluids. I forwarded the email quote to Hugo and that's where everything went south. Hugo said they were not going to pay for the repair. He offered to "find a shop that could do it cheaper". I mentioned that the issue was there since day 1, and he never fixed it. Hugo then goes on to say that he remembered that "we helped you fix it under 30 days warranty". That was not true..... he ignored me once I mentioned the issue was not fixed under warranty.
At 7:30 am I got a call from the specialist transmission shop saying they tested the car on a hill and the clutch disengaged and it rolled forward. If there was a car in front, it would have hit it. The owner of the transmission shop told me the car was unsafe to use. This issue had to be dealt with in person, therefore I went to Carmatch with my mother and girlfriend. My mother talked to Hugo, and we all came to the agreement that Hugo was going to find a place that could fix the transmission for cheaper and PAY for the repair. Hugo also said that he would pay for the tow truck from where my car was right now to where it was going to be fixed. There were three witnesses, my mother, girlfriend and I. That seemed like a reasonable way to fix the issue, so we agreed. Hugo said that in one to two hours he would text me.
4 hours later Hugo got back to me saying "waiting for the quotes, I'll keep you updated". The next morning, I messaged Hugo asking if he had any updates. No response. I called him, straight to voicemail. Later on that day, I called Hugo again.... straight to voicemail again. Finally, the next morning he got back to me. Hugo said his mechanic was slightly cheaper but not much. He then said it would be easier to just "use my shop" (aka. the transmission specialist where my car is still sitting at). I messaged him confirming that Carmatch was going to pay and sent the email quote again to make sure nothing gets missed. His response baffled all of us... that he was not going to pay for the repair.
On Wednesday, February 10th Hugo had told my girlfriend, my mother and I that he would pay for the repair. We couldn't believe he went back on his word. After thinking of what should be done next, we decided to go talk to him in person again. This is the worst part yet.
February 13th, 2020. My father, mother, and I went to Carmatch again. We walked in, and started talking to Hugo. None of us have ever been humiliated, talked down to, disrespected, and yelled at the way we were at Carmatch. Hugo went back on his word and told us he never promised to pay for the repair. After going back and forth, Neil Vines got involved. He was extremely rude and started yelling at us. I had to ask him to calm down and not talk to my mother that way. Hugo then proceeded to hit the table with both hands, shaking everything on his desk, and kicking us out of "his place".
Everything mentioned above is factual with text messages and documents to support it. Not only would I not recommend even stepping foot in Carmatch, the level of professionalism shown by both Hugo and Neil was astonishing. My read more