Royal Moore Subaru

Upon arriving at Royal Moore to pay for and pick up a vehicle I had previously made a $500 deposit on, my salesman met me as he was finishing a cigarette. He led me to my car and to my dismay, proceeded to casually sit in the passenger’s seat and show me how to connect my phone to the audio system. Distracted, I was stunned and frustrated that the guy who had just finished a cigarette was now sitting in my $24,000+ brand new car. This was my first brand new vehicle and I wanted to do everything I could to keep that “fresh and clean” smell long as possible. All I could think about was how I was going to get the “cigarette smell” out of my car. I politely let him finish his explanation and quickly exited the vehicle. Hoping to test-drive my new car, I was informed that the salesman (the same one who had been smoking) needed to at least just “sit” in the backseat. Irritated at the thought of inviting more cigarette smell into my car, I skipped the driving test. As the sale progressed, the same salesman wanted to return to the car and explain some more of the features. Normally, I would have welcomed the clarifications, but the last thing I wanted was more cigarette smoke lingering in my car. I politely declined his offer, figuring I could do my best to learn it all from the manual. I understand that smoking is an employee’s personal choice, but I feel it is very unprofessional and incredibly insensitive to have a smoking employee assist a non-smoking customer in their brand new car. Why should the paying customer have to endure and be left to clean out the pungent cigarette smell of a smoking employee? Overall, for customer service incidents such as this, I was disappointed in my experience with Royal Moore and will not return in the future or recommend this dealership to friends or co-workers. Customer service is an integral part of building loyalty for any company and I believe employees’ actions, especially salesmen, directly reflect the values of their business—both good and bad. If my car were available at another dealer in the area, I would have taken back my deposit and left. ***The general manager of Royal Moore has since graciously reached out and apologized for my negative experience. Hopefully, positive changes will be made to benefit future potential buyers. ***Also, do your homework on the “Lifetime Powertrain Warranty.” I had a very difficult time finding positive reviews from customers of other dealerships who have dealt with “Fidelity Warranty Services,” who handles the warranty claims. ***On a positive note, would like to give shout-outs to the 2 outstanding employees who were the highlights of my otherwise poor experience at Royal Moore. DAN BEAUPAIN and MANNY NETTLES were not my main salesmen, but thoroughly answered questions and treated me very respectfully during my 5 visits. I cannot say enough good things about them and only wish I could have worked exclusively with them from the beginning. If you choose to visit this dealership, ask for them.