The Collection — Local services in Coral Gables

My experiences at The Collection has usually been seamless in the past years. Yesterday I had a much different experience because of employee Camille Daley. She put her hands on me without my permission, continuously harassed me and spoke to me in such a condescending way she almost brought me to tears. I felt so uncomfortable and humiliated by her.

After dropping my car off in the service department. I decided to order food at the cafe before ordering my ride home with the receptionist. While at the cafe counter I wanted to throw something away but couldn’t spot a garbage bin near. After a bit of searching a woman sort of appeared over my shoulder and then was in my face. I asked if she worked there & she said yes I do (this was Camille Daley). I asked if she knew where I could throw this(cup) away. Camille instructed me to leave the garbage on the cafe counter, tapping the counter simultaneously showing me where to place it. I paused for a bit and she repeated herself in words and gesture. So I placed the cup on the counter. As I was about to turn to walk towards the tables near the cafe Camille puts her hands on me and pushed me towards the door while saying “let me show you, if you’re ever looking for the Garbage again it’s right over there”. She said something else but I was in my thoughts puzzled by the way she was speaking to me and that she put her hands on me. I told her “okay, thank you” and walked to the tables near the cafe to have a seat. Remembering I needed to order my ride home, I went to the reception counter. And out of no where Camille says to the receptionist, so loud for the entire room to hear “Alexandria is having a bad day so take good care of her because we want her to have a good day, okay.” I was shocked and confused by the statement because I hadn’t been rude and said very few words to her or anyone else for the matter. The receptionist paused to listen to her and I looked at Camille with pure confusion on my face and she said to me “yes I just want him to take care, good care of you because you’re having a bad day and I want you to have a good day.” I just stood quiet. I was filled with emotion from shock, confusion & embarrassment. She was saying these very unreasonable, false statements, very loudly. After that I went to sit back down near the cafe. Camille then calls my name, while walking towards me & hands me a ticket(a ticket I did not need) She then forced a very uncomfortable conversation on me. Camille Repeatedly asked me if I had been to the collection before, saying she’d never seen me before. I mostly answered her with one word responses hoping she’d see I wasn’t engaging with her and leave me alone. But she continued to make, what I considered a rude and unwanted conversation saying“ It is always nice to see people of “culture” in here and that she knows it can be “intimidating” for some to be here(the collection)”. The statement “the people of culture” had me stunned & the only word I could utter was “what”. I then asked Camille “and intimidating, for who? You or the clients?” Camille answered “the clients”. She kept on talking and I stopped responding and she eventually walked away. A little after that interaction w/ Camille I went outside to speak w/ my advisor about my car. After speaking with my advisor I went back inside of the building to the receptionist to check on the status of my ride & AGAIN before I could say a word Camille starts approaching me while calling my name. I, irritatedly answered Camille “yes, how can I help you?”. After she finished talking, I asked the receptionist if my ride was there and he told me yes and gestured to where my ride was. Camille insisted on walking me to my ride, I declined her offer, she insisted again & followed anyway. Then said “ I saw you walking from the offices(outside), you looked lost so I just wanted to make sure you found your ride”. Frustrated from all of her harassment I asked for her last name. Camille Daley will be the sole reason why I don’t go back to...

My husband and I have bought 3 Audis at The Collection, and this was the most exceptional experience to date. I went to The Collection to look around, not expecting to buy a car that day. A bright blue 2017 Audi S3 in the showroom with a special lease deal caught my eye.

Martin Velazquez politely asked if he could be of assistance. I said I was interested in the S3. Without delay he confirmed the sale special without restrictions. I was impressed that he was willing to be straightforward regarding pricing without any haggling, which is refreshing. He offered to take me on a test drive in the S3, but I didn't want him to have to go through the trouble. However, he promptly went to move the car out of the showroom.

The S3 drove even better than I had hoped. This car really books. Martin was very knowledgeable and explained the features of the car. As I was finishing the test drive I told Martin that I liked the car a lot, but that I wanted my husband to be able to test drive it as well before I made a final decision. He asked where I lived, and said we should drive it over. I was amazed that he would take the extra time to drive to my house just to let my husband look at the car. Surprising to say the least!

My husband was also surprised when I showed up with a brand new, bright blue S3. So much for just looking! Martin quickly introduced himself, and put my husband at ease immediately. Martin insisted that my husband test the cargo space to make sure his surfboards would fit. Even the biggest one fit like a glove. Martin didn't even mind a little sand. I was amazed at how accommodating he was being. My husband also liked the car but noted it didn't have the upgraded sound, or technology package, which he knew I would want. Martin was very transparent and said it would be quite a bit more than the lease special, but that we should go listen to the other system to make sure I liked it.

Without hesitation, Martin drove me to the other lot to listen to an S3 with the upgraded sound. Yup. I loved it. It was clear Martin was only interested in making sure he found the right car for me. He even hunted down a deep black one all the way at the end of the row with every feature I wanted. When we went back to “work the numbers" I was blown away again. No dog and pony show!

Martin immediately made a fair offer – no haggling, no back and forth, no uncomfortable moments whatsoever. Wow! I was stunned. This was just so easy. I asked if he could appraise my A3 to trade in. When we went to my car he noticed a big ding in my grill. I was shocked to see the damage and realized that someone must have backed into my car at a restaurant the night before. I was really bummed, but when Martin returned from the appraisal, he offered me a fair value for my vehicle as well! I now had a fair value for the new S3 and my trade. My husband thought it was fair as well and liked Martin so much he said he would have bought a garbage truck from him.

By this time The Collection was closing in 10 minutes, and since it was a Saturday and they were closed on Sunday, he offered to complete the transaction for us after closing, since my husband and I both had a hectic work week approaching. We didn't want to keep the dealership working on our account, but Martin insisted that it was no problem. Giuseppe Todisco, the Audi Sales Manager also came to personally thank us and was extremely gracious about working after hours.

An hour later I was saying my last goodbyes to my A3, and driving out with my brand new S3 with the stereo pumping. When I say that we had the most incredible shopping experience purchasing a car yet, I am not exaggerating. We were not asked by Martin or The Collection to share our story. I wrote this to share our incredible experience at The Collection, and with Martin. The entire time, Martin was courteous, knowledgeable and most importantly treated me with respect. If you are in the market for a new Audi I cannot recommend Martin or The...

Responding to Jonathan Whitt, general manager:

Dear Jonathan, admitting guilt doesn’t really help. How about you offer me here in public that you will cover what I spend repairing this vehicle a different Audi shop( $856 original parts and labor) on something that it was a recall and didn’t have to be charge by your organization?, I can show you the bill and obviously you have a record of how much I paid The Collection just for you diagnosing the issue which was $338.87…. your Repair bill to me was $2443.49 on top of the $338.87 that I had to pay for you to tell me what was needed to be done to the vehicle, it is really outrageous.

It is odd how things can change so quickly , here is my response to an email sent to me today August 01/2024 by the service staff on my recent experience at the collection:

Let me start by saying that my vehicle was not service at your place. I took it for the engine light on which was the same reason it was there the last time not too long ago then I learn that it was a water pump and a thermostat replacement which is a recall NHTSA #24V110 and after showing my service advisor Andres the information we obtain from Audi and online I still got a bill of almost $3000 including the service diagnosis which by the way my vehicle was there not too long ago for the same issue and never got fixed correctly, the engine light on, I asked him to escalate this to the service manager, and he was very reluctant, but I put some pressure and finally he talked to the service manager, and I got nowhere as well.

I was told this was a lawsuit in litigation and blah blah blah, and then I was told that you had a window for Repair the recall and that I missed the window, which to me is very strange because I never got any notification from my dealer, which is you which is where I purchased the vehicle .

What happened to customer loyalty appreciation ???, are you guys that hard up for money? This seems to me like not a lot of money after I took it to get repaired somewhere else for $800 labor and original parts. ( almost $3,000 with you ), the vehicle is perfect now.

Also at The return of the loaner vehicle no one could tell me how much gas they gave me on the loaner so it took me a while to get the service manager to figure it out and tell the other employees by researching that the vehicle was given to me with half a tank, you guys are really in need of money I see because I couldn’t even get the courtesy $15 from you that it took to bring it back with half a tank, again it was more inconvenient to go to the gas station than to spend $15, I see customer loyalty is not rewarded at your dealership on any level.

I am in the market for another vehicle for my other daughter, also possibly trading this Audi as well for one more Audi but I don’t think I’m gonna be picking The Collection for that, my other vehicles are Range Rovers from Warren Henry and I think I should stick with them after this fiasco, this is not really about the money but about the time wasted, the money is not the issue here. I am very well established but I just don’t like to feel ripped off or taken to the cleaners.

I will file the formal complaint , I also belong to Yelp Elite and will post my experience with The Collection on that platform.

I’m also in the board of advisors with Land Rover USA.

I am advising you escalate this to the highest level at The Collection.

I am also a Coral Gables resident by the way…. and yes, I am...