I lost my only ignition key for my 2002 Buick Century. I contacted Profile to get a new key made. I was told to bring proof of ownership, ID and VIN for the car and they would make a key for $30 -$40. When I called back to confirm this they person looked up the key blank and said that there were 15 codes and that she didn't know which one it was and that she would have to research it further. This should have been my clue to go elsewhere but I thought a person can not know everything! Finally she called back and said she had the right code (To their credit they did have the correct key code that GM Buick supplied). They would have to order the key. Nest day I went in to pick up key and was charged $83 for 2 keys (had only requested one but figure in the end this would save me). Keys did not work! Called dealer and was told that they would have to "reprogram" keys and that I would have to have the car towed in. Arrived at dealership with car and was told they could not "reprogram" the keys because it could take 45 min a key and sometimes failed the first time. The next day I was told that I needed a new ignition! This would cost $397 for the part alone! Then it could still be more money to program plus I would still need to purchase the keys! I was dumbstruck! I agreed initially and again to their credit they did give me a car to use. But after I had a chance to think about it and do some research I refused to do it! I found out that the key for this car does not have to be programmed at all! To make a very long story short --. When I went into the service dept to tell them I had a locksmith there the service/parts person who I had been dealing with all along said she did not know how he would be able to do this as only dealers had access to these codes and had the needed equipment! I told her she was wrong--this model and year did not have to be programmed. She persisted! I then told her exactly how the key and the ignition on this car worked! Also they had been trying to convince me that the original ignition had been changed out --that was why the keys did not work. But there was only one owner before me and no evidence that this had been done. I also repeatedly asked the dealer if there was another way around what they were insisting I do--no they kept saying. The end result was I paid the locksmith $125. It took him about 35 mins and he had a new key made. The locksmith had over 20 years experience and assured me that this was the original ignition--that all the original clips were present. He said that in rare instances he has seen this happen where the car manufacturer has the wrong key code. So for what should have cost $32 and taken less than 10 min--I had spent almost $300 and was without the use of my car for over a week while I tried to sort out this problem! Had I followed what the dealership said I would have been out approx $600 or more!
I called and wrote both the dealership and the Buick division o GM. So far it has been over 2 months and I still have not received any satisfaction. I believe that someone should return anything I had to pay over what it should have cost to have the key made. IThe customer service at GM Buick was one of the worst I have ever had to deal with. The people I have dealt with so far have been very ill trained and did not have any idea what they were talking about.I feel that this dealership tried to scam me into a very expensive repair. I do not fault them for the wrong key code but I do fault them for not knowing what they were talking about as far as "programming" and I blame them for the fact that they did not offer an alternative that they should have been aware of --the locksmith. And that they tried to do a very unnecessary expensive job.. In stark contrast a couple of years before the same car was having major transmission problems I thought. I took it to a local service station who diagnosed the problem and said it was something that should still be covered by the warranty for longer than the usual warranty. They towed it to the same dealership and only charged me $50--which included the tow!!! I obviously did not understand that parts of a normal warranty extended beyond the usual mileage or time. They could have probably gotten away without telling me this information and they would have made over $1000! But they were knowledgeable and HONEST! That is the way to do business and KEEP business!