I would like to report here an obvious fraud with proofs from Willowdale Nissan Infiniti Dealership Service Center which happened this spring.
I came to the dealership in March 2010 for an oil change and regular inspection. Service advisor was Sanj Verma. After inspection he provided me with a big list of what needed to be fixed. I’m describing here only one item, which was intentional cheating. However, I have many more complaints on Sanj Verma and Infiniti of Willowdale (I’ll summarize everything in another post).
Sanj told me that rear stabilizer links have to be replaced because they worn out. However, I did not hear anything from the rear suspension, and did not complain to the service advisor. I was very curious why it could happen. Sanj answered that everything wears out from time to time. Then I reminded him about FCPP protection plan (third-party extended warranty) that I had. He answered that for sure they knew about my plan because it was on my file, but rear stabilizer links were not covered by the plan. I did not have FCPP contract on hand, so I authorized them to replace links because I usually trust to what I hear from licensed certified advisors. Sanj also convinced me in the mean way that it was safety issue, and I had to replace links as soon as possible. I drove away on the loaner car to work and picked FCPP contract from home on my way. It happened that rear stabilizer links are covered by the plan:
Well. I went back to the dealership, found Sanj, and showed him my warranty contract. He told that anyway he was not going to claim it with FCPP because if the part worn out, warranty could not be applied. Ok, I trusted him again. This is invoice for links replacement I got at checkout:
+ tax. So it cost me $330.
But what does the warranty mean? Always when some part breaks down, it is caused by wearing out if it is not an accident. Therefore rear stabilizer links must be covered by FCPP protection plan if links were indeed worn out as Sanj Verma concluded after inspection.
Then I’ve tried to escalate this issue (and many others) to Steve Zehr – Director of Service and Parts Operations Willowdale Nissan Infiniti. He was able to resolve only this one and issued refund for the links replacement after successful claiming it to FCPP because it was absolutely proven fraud.
Receipt for refund tells the following:
“Customer was charged for stab links – covered under FCPP warranty”
In spite of resolution of this issue by the Director of Service, I still want to warn other people NOT to deal with liar Sanj Verma anywhere anytime and Willowdale Nissan Infiniti, because they allowed such an outrageous incident to happen and because of other complaints.
Along with refund I got another invoice from Willowdale Nissan Infiniti:
This is the invoice which Sanj Verma had to create in the very beginning. So I had to pay $56.50 deductible instead of $330.
But let’s take a look at it. It shows “Report on creaking noises from rear of vehicle”! However initial invoice did not have it. Probably Willowdale Nissan guys decided just to replace links, no matter they are fine? Moreover, it shows different prices for parts and labor:
They claimed to FCPP $164.96, but charged me $289.60 + tax for absolutely the same job!
How can it be? Why Willowdale Nissan Infiniti overcharges customers with double price?
Be aware of this dealership! Don’t go there if you respect your time. I’ve spent too much on this issue: one day hustle between home, work, and dealership, and a week to escalate the problem.
I’m glad you posted the scam with proofs. I went to this dealership only because it was convenience, I usually go to the one in Markham, Village Nissan. It was the first and would be the last time in Willowdale Nissan Infiniti. I receive a really bad service from the service advisor Nicholas Chau. Very disrespectful. Never comming back there.
There is only one sales person in the world who I would recommend to sell anyone an Infiniti, that person is Michael Dastranj. Michael treated as if I was family to him. He made my experience to Infiniti unforgettable and special. What I admire about his work ethics is, he makes you feel calm and not overwhelmed. I had a budget of a certain amount and Michael helped me find the appropriate vehicle for my $. Michael went out of his way to accommodate all my needs. As a first time buyer to the Infiniti line, I am well pleased with the service that I’ve recived. I know in the future, I will be purchasing my next vehicle from Infiniti of Willowdale and only from Michael Dastranj. I also recommended that you do not deal with the used car sales rep, Phil. This guy is rude and stuck-up to certain customers. Seems more of a racial problem he’s got. Stay far from him. Go to Michael he’s the best guy to deal with at Willowdale Infiniti.
I bought my truck from Alta Nissan and find them to be complete idiots… i now service it at willowdale Nissan and i deal directly with the service manager Steve Seck… He has been great and i have no issues… its good to know somebody at a dealership…
Interesting post, I just serviced my car at a Honda dealership and was price shopping and got 3 different prices on exhaust repairs. One almost 3 times the first one. It pays to shop around, and seek the advice of more than one shop. Markham Honda the highest price of them all. Will not go there anymore. Sisley is more fairly priced.
This post was shared by a friend that used to work with sanj and myself at Markham Honda. I was laughing because this guy sanj got fired for stealing cars. A future customer told me his old service advisor’s name is sanj and his Honda civic was stolen during the time he was servicing at Markham honda. I told him that makes sense but couldnt comment. Dont be fooled by the positive comments on this feed I wouldnt put it past him that he is posting the positive comments ad you can see the time frames are not that far apart and it could be an effort to repair reputation. I no longer work for dealers based on you dont get paif hourly. When u are sitting all day waiting your turn to work on a car they expect you to sell 8 hours of work to anyone that walks through the door. If mechanics were paid hourly and advisors were not on small salary plus commission customers would be treated honestly. Its dog eat dog at the dealer and the customer is the prey.
Find a small shop. They rely on repeat business and relationships. Word of mouth is only spread with good experiences. I used to give away free light bulbs to my customers to earn trust. Its a long term relationship. Sanj is a human being with a good heart. I think dealers in general make the pay so that you must sell a laundry list to make your income. Picture whack a mole at chuckey cheese. Thats a customer coming to the dealer. I hope this helps. Give sanj an opportunity to repair his reputation if you see him at a dealer. Tell him u will give him a chance to earn your trust, that u know his reputation. If not avoid the stealership completely!!!!!!!
George Watson “deserves an applause” as well!
It should be a different “Willowdale Nissan”, not in Toronto. There are multiple proofs showing that they conduct very unethical business to get money from the customers by all means…
Regards,
Trueler
Willowdale Nissan is a great place… been dealing with them for years… all the staff deserve an applause! I’ve dealt with Aaron, Peter, Sanj, and Robert, they are all great people. I have purchased three cars from them, and looking forward to a new one next year…the service there makes me go back…always give my car back super clean!
George Watson
Probably the worst car purchase experience I have ever had to date. To make matters worse after getting in to a minor fender bender I took it to Willowdale to repair. Had I known what a disaster that would turn in to I would have stayed far away! After about a month or so waiting for them to complete the repair, eventually I was absolutely shocked to see the quality of their work. Its appalling that a dealership can release products like that and call them Inifiniti service. 4 visits back to fix various issues, and things are still not right. Emailing the management, the owner of the dealership, pretty much whoever you want gets no results. There is absolutely no interest from anyone to do anything for you, in the end I just gave up. I consider my experience the perfect example for why car manufacturers should sell cars right to the consumer. Eventually the negligence of the dealer alienates the consumer from the brand, while providing inadequate service and charging a premium for it.
Individuals deserving special recognition:
John Gionnas jgionnas@willowdalenissan.com
Randy Watson rwatson@willowdalenissan.com
Steve Seck sseck@willowdalenissan.com
Was just there had some coolant leaking. I hit a raccoon about 3 years ago which caused some cosmetic damage to my AC condensor and a little crack in my bumper. The visual damage to the condensor was the size of a dime a few fins were bent, but no mechanical issues in the last 3 years. . Keep in mind this happens due to stones flying into it, never mind hitting a racoon. Net net they tell me the third party warranty won’t cover it cause I obviously hit something and the condensor and radiator are both leaking and to be replaced. Since its not covered on warranty the price would be $2400.00. I told them that they certified my car with the visual damage when I bought the warranty from them Purchasing the car off my lease. This doesn’t matter and I have to pay. I tell them to take the car off the lift and take it for a second opinion. I look at the car with a second mechanic and The radiator and condensor are not leaking the condensor has some cosmetic damage but is working perfectly. The radiator leak was because the clip that connected the radiator hose to the radiator was rusted and broke. So this 50 cent clip needed to be replaced and the radiator needed to be filled up again. I called back spoke with the supervisr Steve and asked for a refund for my inspection costs and they are refunding it. I know it’s my word agains theirs but can tell you the car is running perfectly and when a mechanic is testing a condensor there are methods to check for a leak. 1 obvious one is by turning on the AC. I. In this case mine is running perfectly. The same for a rad you can run a pressure test to spot leaks, they did a quick visual inspection at most. If its running hot you can test for leaks. These guys are scamming their customers. Too bad I love the car and the brand but Nissan needs to audit their dealers to ensure they are representing their brand. I’m in the market for a new car and this its a luxury automobile and they will not get my business. I just feel bad for all the others that might have gotten scammed by need guys. Buyer beware
I was wondering if someone could put a GPS on Sanj? We need to know where he is at all times. Personally I think he should run for being the next America’s Top model. Sanj sold me a bucket of Kentucky Fried chicken the other day and I was very satisfied with his service. He gave me extra ketchup and coleslaw that expired a week later. He smelled like beautiful spices and cologne from the 80’s. If anyone is going Sanj watching please let me know. I’d like to see what he’s doing next. I don’t know why MTV doesn’t make a reality show about Sanj.
Thanks
Sanj wannabee
@Paul: I’m wondering if “Omar R” will reply in the same way ;)
Trueler.com is based on the proven facts in most cases, like this one. I have some grounds to believe that the experience you refer to is imagined…
Thanks,
Trueler
Not here to help anyone, but I think that usually most people in life complain when an incident happens, but never to compliment one on a job well done. I not ruling out that Sanj did wrong, but he did well for me… and the service he provided me left me with a good impression. Why doesn’t your site report on positive feedback rather than just negative… I go to church every Sunday…and I believe that everyone has some good in them..People make mistakes, but where only human… one should learn from them and try to better themselves…
“Paul”/”Paul Smith”/”Omar R”/…, do you really believe it will help Sanj? All the proofs about rip offs he committed are in the article… I’m not sure about your identity and honesty as well…
Regards,
Trueler
Sanj was great…. help me out with my QX-4 recall, and although infiniti opted to buy my vehicle back and not fix the rusty strut towers, he informed me on the status all the way through, and even arranged a loaner vehicle. Excellent service from Sanj.
Just came back from Florida, Sanj at working there at a Honda dealer. Nice guy..help me reset my maintenance light after having serviced car at Jiffy Lube and the guys hadn’t a clue on how to do it.
I have called his collegues at Downtown Infiniti, apparently he has relocated to the USA. Wanted to wish he good luck. Keep up the good work, and don’t let the haters get in your way of superb customer service!
Paul
For those of you who are following up on all things Sanj, I can tell you he is no longer working at Downtown Infiniti. I can not figure out where he went.
I have dealt with Sanj at Downtown Infiniti myself in the past on a few occassions. He has been very curteous and professional. I am very shocked and don’t feel these review reflect his personality. He has actually save me money on an exhaust repair rather than replacment.
Paul
I went to the willowdale Nissan dealership on December 2012, and met with the service advisor Peter Gorrny. It was for a routine servicing. He recommended I do about $700 in maintenance, which included rear brake servicing, injector flush, and a cabin filter change.
I refused the repairs, as the cost seemed steep. I brought my car in to a trustworthy autoshop that my friend goes to, and the mechanic looked at my car. I asked him how much it would be for the suggested repairs.
He said the rear brakes didn’t need to be serviced for another 5000km, but he could to the other changes. The final total? $34 bucks. Yes, $34 bucks, while Peter Gorny from willowdale Nissan was asking for 700 bucks.
The other thing that is really sketchy about willowdale Nissan is you can’t see what they’re actually doing with the car, and they don’t show you physically what the problem is. I’d highly recommend going to a mechanic where you can actually see what they’re doing.
Avoid this place like the plague!!
I have had similar experiences with Sanj – both on items/cost for repair, and with him not seeming to remember that he told me to make arrangements to come back in to address some issues that were missed. When I came back, he was rude, and told me I would have to pay additional money if I wanted the issues addressed. The rudeness is troubling, but more troubling is the feeling that I do not trust him. I have had 2 bad experiences with him at Downtown Infiniti, and have decided that as he does not appear to value my business, I will take it elsewhere.
Sanj, the service advisor, now works for Downtown Infiniti. Called him for a service appointment for my 2009 M35x. When I went to the dealership, I met Sanj in person and he couldn’t remember talking to me.
I called for a service appointment on August 5th, 2012 and got a date for August 14, 2012 for 9:00am. I showed up and they didn’t have any records for me calling nor was my service appointment booked. I checked my cell phone records and I clearly see I called the dealership on August 5, 2012 at 11:17am and talked until 11:21am.
Long story short, Sanj, was rude and said that whenever he books for an appointment, he does right away. Service manager was of little help but did accomodate me for 1:30pm. Don’t deal with Sanj.
I had a really bad experience with Willowdale Nissan service too. The service manager, last time didn’t ask his name and agent Peter, they were so impatient, and cheating customer together. Don’t want to any diagnostics or check which is time consuming and no much profit for Willowdale Nissan Service. Don’t go there anyway.
oh and i forgot to add. as far was why it was more expensive to you than what they charged the extended warranty company.
when it comes to warranty work labour time is cut and a labour rate discount along with a parts discount is given to warranty companies. thats just the way it is. just like if it was an insurance company. they get a different rate.
generally warranty repair times are 65% of customer pay times.
worn links will usually create a knocking noise when worn. are they a safety issue? no not really. handling will be affected slightly but not noticable.
at the end the reason why the changed the invoice like that was so that the warranty company will pay them out and they will not loose out on the sale and have to cover the cost of the repair by themselves.
dealers are not allowed to upsell warranty work unless you the customer complain about it. this way the warranty company doesn’t get screwed out of work that doesn’t have to get done unless you the consumer complains about it and so the advisor and technician aren’t fishing for work.
so if you really wanted to call them out i would ask to see the original repair invoice that you signed and see if your signature is on it complaining of a creaking noise and say you never complained of such thing. but than again just pay the deductable and go on with it. they covered the parts so be happy.
i am a certified automotive technician in toronto and i know the ins and outs of a dealer.
I too have done a fair bit of business at Willowdale Nissian and the service and price has been excellent> You’re right there are two sides two every story and I think they are great and would deal there again.
Dean
In the same location at 18000KM my wife got service package for 24000.
All started when next service at 24000 I did in another location and they told me that somebody already did brake service and it was not done properly :(
Seams not big deal, but nobody could explain why manager came and told her that car required this service that cost few times the service she came for. Will verify invoices as well when come home today.
There are real proofs provided in this article.
I have leased two vehicles through Willowdale Nissan/Infiniti – A Infiniti and a Rogue. Prices have been good and service no problems. Have been excellent at both ends. THis was from 2003 to the present 2012. Not every dealer will be perfect and not every customer will be satisfied. i was. Posts like this need both sides of the story/ Bad and good experiences. I am at the moment working on my third dealing with them. That would indicate I have been happy. BTW all calls and e-mails always answered.
GOOD FOR YOU … GLAD YOU POSTED THE SCAMMER’S NAME TOO … WHO KNOWS, IF THEIR SYSTEM IS SET UP TO CHANGE INVOICES AT A DROP OF A HAT, MAYBE 2 INVOICES WERE MADE UP, ONE FOR YOU TO PAY DIRECTLY TO THEM WHEN YOU BELIEVED THAT IT WASN’T COVERED AND ONE THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SUBMIT TO FCPP … WHERE IS THE GOVERNMENT / LAW ON THIS … THIS IS OUTRIGHT FRAUD.
AGAIN, GOOD FOR YOU FOR CATCHING IT AND CALLING THEM OUT ON IT AND REPORTING IT HERE … TOO BAD THEY CAN’T BE CHARGED WITH FRAUD