I purchased my 2007 CX-9 Grand Touring edition in March 2007 from Scanlon Mazda (Fort Myers, FL) and had previously purchased a 2003 Mazda 6 from them. The service was top notch, probably in part due to their sister Lexus dealership and the spill over effect to their service advisors.

I recently had my CX-9 into Sam Galloway Ford for warranty work and here is a recount of my first impression (NOT GOOD);

I arrived at 7:30am (Service Department supposedly opens at 7:00am) and nobody was around and I mean nobody. I went looking for somebody and found an employee who said he would find an advisor.

At about 8am, I finally met someone and described the problem (did I mention that the advisor seem to had a late night). He said that it should be an easy fix and somebody would call me when its ready.

No calls by 2pm (Service Department closed at 4PM)

so I called the dealership and was switched around three times before being told that the car was ready but since the tech was on break that he needed to confirm the vehicle was indeed ready.

Fast forward to 3pm, so I called back and was again switched around before finally speaking with Victor (I won't get into who Victor is but if you search around this site enough, Victor has quit the following, but not the good kind). Yes, the vehicle was ready.

Here is the good part, when I went into pick up the vehicle, the cashier was all smiles and friendly when she asked for $29.13. I, with a smile and firm voice asked $29.13 for what. "Oh, we changed your oil for you" I replied, "thats nice, glad you did it for FREE", of course she didn't get the humor in my joke. So between a few words describing my first impression of the dealership, I asked to speak with my service advisor, who subsequently had gone home sick (remeber the late night mentioned earlier). So Victor pops up and says to not charge me for the oil change (but I got the feeling that it was in part due to the 25 customers standing behind me waiting to pick up their cars.

The moral of the story is if you don't like Sam Galloway's operation, at least on the Mazda side, then call Mazda North America at 1-800-222-5500 and tell them about your experience. Be sure to mention that Galloway Ford recently purchased the Mazda dealership from Scanlon. All dealerships must maintain a certain level of service or jeopardize their status with the automaker.

Remember its a business that needs customers, so try Naples Mazda or Palm Mazda in Punta Gorda.