If you don’t know Servco Auto Leeward, then I can tell you that this is the car dealer where Michelle bought her Toyota Matrix S last wednesday. Servco Auto Leeward is a dealer of Toyota, Suzuki and Chevrolet in Waipahu, Hawaii, and is part of Servco Auto Centers, a group dealers which is spread all over Hawai’i. They used to be called ‘Waipahu Auto’.

Normally I would not easily write a post about bad service, but in this case I will make an exception for Servco Auto Leeward because both Michelle and I think that we received some bad service here, especially when you think about it that we spend thousands of dollars last week. And it wouldn’t be so bad, if someone just apologized to us for the bad service at Servco Auto Leeward during the last few days, but that did not even happen. I hope that, with a bit of luck, I can prevent some people from making the same mistake as we did.

So what happened? Well, as I wrote in my previous post about Michelle’s new Toyota Matrix S, the dealer, Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu, would tint the windows, and they would install a car alarm. So they called us last Friday for an appointment, and they asked us if we could bring the car on Monday morning so they could do the window tinting and install the car alarm on that day into the Toyota Matrix S.

However, because I also had to bring our BMW X5 to some bodyshop (because of some minor damage earlier), and because Michelle had to work that day, we told them that this would be a bad timing for us. Tuesday wouldn’t be a good idea either for Servco Auto Leeward, so we decided that we would bring the car on Sunday already. It had to be done around 2 pm in the afternoon.. why this had to be at 2 pm remains unknown to us, they’re open until 6 pm. Oh well, we did as they asked us to do.

We didn’t hear anything from Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu on Monday, so we decided on tuesday, around noon, to call ourselves as we thought it was taking a bit longer than expected (I will tell you a bit below why we thought this). They told us that nothing had been done yet at that moment, and that they did not know when the car would be done, they would call us. This is something they told Michelle, so I called directly back again to ask some questions about it, because why did we had to bring our car on Monday already if they wouldn’t do anything? The man to whom I spoke at that moment told me that the car was scheduled for that afternoon and that it should be done at around 5 pm. About an hour later we received a call that we could pick up the car at around six pm. The feeling of service started to become quite low at that time, as you can imagine.

Right, at around 6.15 pm, we arrived at Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu, and we received the keys to the Toyota Matrix S again. When we were inside the car, we started to inspect a few things as we wanted to know if the tint was done nicely and that kind of things…

Well, I can tell you, there were bubbles everywhere. There are a couple of small bubbles but also some pretty big ones. When we asked about this, they told us that it should be looking ok in a few days. Ok, that’s possible, but when we had a few small (really small) bubbles at the BMW after tinting, they told us the same. But after a week they were still there, and they had to redo it again. And while that was only minor, this is pretty big, so I will be surprised if we don’t have to go back.

So we went back again to the car, a bit unsatisfied with the answer but willing to wait a couple of days. When we came to our car again, we noticed that one of the panels of the interior was not closed by the one who, we think, installed the alarm into the Toyota Matrix S at Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu. So we could go back inside again because I couldn’t get the panel back on again, and I didn’t want to have the risk of damaging the car already, I rather have them do it.

When we showed them the open panel, they (some salesmen of Servco Auto Leeward) tried to reattach the panel to the car again, but they were not able to manage this either. They then told us that it would be best that we left the car another day, so they could show it to those responsible and that they could reattach the panel again. We went back home again, very unsatisfied about the service at that moment (you might expect that they would fix something like that right away) and without the Toyota Matrix S.

This morning, however, there was the well known ‘last straw’. We received a call from someone at Servco Auto Leeward, and he told us dead serious that he could not see/find the panel and that we had to call him back (he spoke into our voicemail). I called him at around 10 am this morning and told him where the panel was (I bet he just looked at one panel, because it was very easily visible). At that time I really didn’t feel like arguing about it again, so I just left it at that. He told me that it would probably be done somewhere today but did not know when. I don’t know why he didn’t just say “We’ll fix it right away”, which is something you might expect. Anyways, after a while we received another call from Servco Auto Leeward, telling us the car was ready for pickup.

Finally.

And is it all ok now? I doubt it… there are still some big bubbles in the tint of the windows (it is some form of film) and I highly doubt these will be gone in a few days (actually tomorrow already, like they said). We will wait until the weekend, but then we might have to call Servco Auto Leeward again. I expected it will happen.

The reason, by the way, why we thought they took their sweet time, was because when we left our BMW X5 at the dealership for tinting and all that, it all went a lot quicker. They did it in a few hours, and it looked a lot better than at Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu. I’ve also seen the installation of a car alarm a couple of times, and this goes a lot faster also, it does not take days.

No, when you have an appointment for something, then you can also expect them to make the car on the same day as they tell you they will do. If they don’t do this, by whatever reason, they should at least call you to inform you about it. And when something is not done right, they should’ve just fixed it right away if that was possible (and I just know it was possible in our case). It really feels like ‘asskissing during sale, but not giving in after the deal has been closed’. The service feels bad for us, and it is the last time we will spent our money there, or that we will redirect someone to Servco Auto Leeward (this is something Michelle’s mother used to do, they sold a lot of cars there thanks to her, but this wont happen either anymore).

Today something funny happened, though: Michelle had to wait outside for a bit at Servco Auto Leeward, while I was inside, and a potential customer asked Michelle how the sale and service went. Michelle told them the story and before I was outside again, the potential customer had left the terrain. So this joke might already have cost them a customer. Sorry, but it seems to me this is their own fault for it all.

You know what is the worst thing of it all? That they did not once apologized to us. I think that this bothers me most of all. That no-one tried to undo the mistakes right away and apologized for it. This is not something a customer, who pays a lot of money, should be treated. If they want me to speak good about them again, they really have to try hard.

So, if you’re thinking about buying a car at Servco Auto Leeward in Waipahu, Hawai’i, I can only say: don’t do it. The sale goes nice and all, but the service, as we experienced it, is just bad. I would not recommend it.

Michelle bought a new Toyota Matrix S, like I also said in my previous messages.. well, actually we bought it together as my name is also in the papers, but ok, Michelle is the only one driving it hehe.

Like I also wrote in those messages, I would still show some pictures of the car, so here they are:

looks like a nice car, right? Michelle wanted a bit smaller car, and the Toyota Matrix is a bit smaller, especially when compared to the average car over here. I have to say, for me it is a bit too small, it is still a Japanese car I guess. I can not get my legs in the car right and the seat is also a bit too small for me. But oh well, like I said, Michelle has to drive in it, and she is small than I am

As the car looks in these pictures, it will probably not look the next time you see it. It’s currently at the dealership because they’re tinting the windows and installing a car alarm. I think this car, the Toyota Matrix, looks pretty sporty and Michelle seems to think the same, she is currently talking about adding a spoiler, drop the suspension a bit and add a different exhaust under the car. I looked a bit around on the internet, and there are a lot of nicely modded Toyota Matrix’s, and Michelle’s Toyota Matrix S will probably also be modded later on. We’ll see, I’m ok with all of it

We see and hear every night a lot of fireworks ever since Thanksgiving and the closer we get at the end of the year, the more it basically is. Officially this isn’t allowed, of course, and is it only allowed to light the fireworks between 9pm and 1am on New Years Eve (there are more days on which it is allowed, though, such as Independence Day and during Chinese New Year). Whenever men lights fireworks outside of these hours, they have the risk to receive a fine of 2,000 and 20,000 dollar or even receive jail time.

The fireworks that we hear and so see much are mostly rockets and other aerials. Unfortunately it is not legal to have this fireworks and is it not allowed to be lighted by the normal consumers.. there are more rules that are different than in the Netherlands by the way and while I can understand some of them, I do not feel all of these rules as some are just contradictionary…

As said, it is illegal to light aerials. They made it illegal because of the densely populated areas and of the fires that may come because of these fireworks. I can imagine this rule being enforces, everything can be really dry and if it is not the buildings, then it is at least the nature that can be destroyed. I really do not like this rule but I do understand where they come from.

Something else which I find quite strange is that you need a permit for certain fireworks. I can imagine the concept of a permit or license to light fireworks but the way they enforce it here, it is just to get money from the residents.

You need, for example, a permit for every 5000 firecrackers, also for some other fireworks by the way but this is an easier example. A small box of firecrackers already exists of that amount and the costs of these are about 5 to 10 bucks, depending where you buy it. I assume this price is about the same in the Netherlands. However, you need 1 permit for this which costs an additional 25 dollar.. that makes the whole thing a lot more expensive all the sudden! And what to think about a bit more fair amount such as abox of 20,000 firecrackers? You will need four permits.. that is 100 dollars. Last year I had a string of 50,000 firecrackers.. you can calculate what it would ave cost me in permits alone if I was to buy that here.

What do you say? A maximum number of permits? No.. there isn’t any, everyone can buy as much permits as he or she likes as long as the buyers are 18 years or older. I recently read that someone had 64 permits for fireworks.. ummm.. 64 times 25 dollar is still 1,600 dollar.. ka-ching!

And speaking of the cash register, they sure know how to fill the one of the state, last year they sold about 290,000 dollar in permits alone. What they used the money for? I have no clue.

By the way, these permits really make illegality happen. I received a pricelist, through people who Michelle knows, of ‘illegal’ fireworks. That means, fireworks which can be sold through the stores but without a permit. 3 strings with 20,000 firecrackers would cost 165 dollar… hmm that is 55 dollar per 20,000 firecrackers and 13.75 dollar per 5,000 firecrackers.. if you would do it legal, it would be 25 dollar per 5,000 firecrackers and 300 dollar in permits alone for the whole amount. No wonder people are finding their stuff elsewhere.

Michelle and I only bought fireworks which doesn’t need any permits and we bought in the stores, by the way. We bought some paperless crackers (I doubt it’ll be any good but they are legal) and some fountains. I really believe you need fireworks when it is New Year but I think it will be better not to spend hundreds of dollars for a minimum of fun, no thanks.

One last remark, by the way.. in the Netherlands we are used to name the fireworks on a list, you give it to a store associate who then will retrieve the fireworks for you from a concrete bunker or something similar. Here, in Hawaii, it is completely different. Lots of fireworks, and I mean really a lot of pounds, of fireworks are just in the middle of the stores. You just go there with your cart and put whatever you want inside your cart… it is, of course, much easier, but is it also safer? I don’t think they ever experienced what we have experienced in Enschede (Google on ‘Enschede Firework Disaster‘). I think it is quite unbelievable that they have such hard rules while, at the same time, they have such insecure storage locations for the fireworks (but oh well, I know some more examples of those things haha).

Anyways, if you are to be lighting fireworks this year, do it safely.. We wish you a happy New Year!

I said yesterday that we saw snow in town and I promised to write a bit more about it, so here goes.

Yesterday we went towards Ala Moana Center (a big mall) in the afternoon to get some food and to do some shopping (I got myself a new Aloha shirt and pants, unfortunately we didn’t find anything for Michelle). And a bit after 5 PM we went to the center of Ala Moana Center (lol) where, at 6 PM, would start a musical called ‘The Christmas Gift of Aloha’.

I was unsure what to expect of it, at first I didn’t even know it was a musical haha, but oh well, it didn’t matter, I enjoyed it a lot, it was really nicely done. The duration of the show was about 30 minutes.

The story is about a newly trained Christmas elf named ‘Merry’, who fell out of Santa’s sleigh above Hawaii and fell right into a ‘Menehune’ village (Menehune are the mythological Hawaiian elves). He was dismayed since he did not find any snow, reindeers or something else which reminded him even a bit about Christmas.

But with the help of Mele Menehune he founds out that Christmas really lives on Hawaii and he discovers the miracles of a Christmas on Hawaii.

He is introduced with the workshop of the Menehune, who have a workshop just like Santa has one on the North Pole. This means good luck for him because he lost all the presents for the kids when he fell out of the sleigh and the Menehune tell him that he can use the Menehune presents so that all kids get a present after all. Merry also learns that the presents are in the Candy Cane Train and as soon as he sees this train, he wants to drive it.. he is told to be careful but unfortunately, he didn’t listen and the train crashes and demolishes all presents.

The Menehune children give him their own toys and this is one of the reason how he learns that Christmas is so much more than just receiving toys.

Santa also arrives on Hawaii a bit later and then a few miracles happen.. Toys come to life and it even starts to snow on Hawaii.

Now you might think ‘yeah but that aint real snow’.. well, I don’t know.. I noticed that it was a lot cooler when the snow fell down…

When the snow fell, I had to pink a tear away.. The spirit of Aloha was probably there for real and there were probably some real wonders. Or was it because I missed the Netherlands for a bit? Who knows, it might have been both.

Here are some more pictures of the ending:

We went for a drive through town after this show, so we could take some pictures of lighted houses, I will make a post about that on a later time.

Also, if you are interested in what kind of music they played in this show, please click here.

Today was the day after thanksgiving and this is traditional the day that the shops in the US start with their Christmas sales, they also call it ‘black Friday’. And I can tell you it is indeed a bit of a black day in the US..

What a hassle today, haha. I am probably the sober Dutchman again but what a nonsense for a few percent off the prices.

To name something, at 6.30 AM, on the morning of thanksgiving day, there were dozens of people waiting in the line to get inside Best Buy.. Mind you: almost all stores were closed yesterday.. The purpose of this all is just to get as far as possible in the front of the line for a store that only opens at 5 AM the next day. And that’s another thing.. many stores were already open at 5 AM, or even at midnight, and at a lot of stores there were huge lines of people waiting. All just because those people have to shop.

It is possible that my mind sees it all too simple but isn’t it so that if the stores all open at 8 AM or 9 AM, that these people still have the same choice? I find it a bit ridiculous to open up that early, and it is a bit sad for the employees who have to get up really early, after a pretty big holiday, and get to work again.

Michelle already told me about black Friday and we said that we would go on the road around midnight to see if it would be indeed this busy. Michelle told me it would but, yah, how would I know.. I thought it wouldn’t be that bad… I guess I have to guess again.

We get outside and the first thing we see is a huge line of cars, it should have been several miles, waiting to get off the freeway and onto the parkinglots of the mall in our neighborhood (which they gave a special price of 5 dollar per parking instead of the free parking as it is normal)… Here’s a picture of those cars:

As you can see, as far as you can look there are cars.. it was exactly the same at the other side of the bridge. I am sorry to say but what a weirdlos… and I could imagine something like that if there were good deals but, really, I have seen the ads and there isn’t really all that much sales. Besides, there will be more days in this Christmas shopping season where they will give more (and maybe even better) deals since most stores want to try and get an extra profit at the end of the year.

Nah… it is not really my thing, I think this all is just a bit exaggerated.

We went also to that Best Buy store last night, we wanted to go there anyways but since a friend of Michelle was waiting in line (lol), we made sure we’d go. And indeed, there was over 300 people there.. What is it that got into these people.. it is really like camping haha.. Here are two pictures to give an impression:

The pictures are a bit vague but oh well, at least you can get an impression of how it was like. And the whole parking was actually like this, no less than 300 people were camping out. They were lucky to be in Hawaii with the nice weather and not the mainland where, as I read and heard, it was the same as here.

By the way, when we drove back home, we decided to take a bit of the freeway so we could film the line of cars, unfortunately about half of the cars was gone or the video would have been a lot longer but oh well, it still came out as a 2.5 minute recording… if you want to see the short video, you should click this link.

And this all was not even that bad, some terrible things actually happened. I heard today (and read about it later on a few news sites) that an employee of Walmart in Long Island, New York, died because, when the doors of the store opened, a huge mass of people entered the doors and literally ran over him. The man died because of his injuries because of it all.

Now that I am thinking a little bit about it (and I think many Americans will disagree with me but that’s ok, everyone is entitled on his/her own opinion), then I do think that they should get rid of the whole black Friday concept.

I think it is seriously bad, especially when there are people dying because of it all and I can only wonder what they were thinking. If you think about it, it just ridiculous to stay up all night and stand in line for just a few bucks (or worse: 22.5 hours like those people about whom I spoke earlier in this post).

Nah, after about an hour we went back home and we slept nicely in our own bed.

I will write some more tomorrow as some more things have happened last week. Some nice things and unfortunately also some not-so-nice things but ok, I want to go to bed on time so I will tell about that later.

See ya tomorrow!