CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Lake Charles woman says Kia dealership used her car parts to fix another customer’s vehicle
LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – A Lake Charles woman says a local Kia dealership used parts from her vehicle to service another customer’s car without her knowledge or permission, and she caught it all on camera.
Shirley Poullard brought her SUV to Kia of Lake Charles on June 17 after a tire blowout on the interstate. She says her vehicle sat at the dealership for more than a month with little communication from the service department.
When she went in person to check on her vehicle, she found out much more than she bargained for.
When Poullard arrived at the dealership, she noticed the hood of her vehicle was up. She began filming.
She repeatedly asked why her engine had been taken apart. On camera, the Kia service manager admitted they had been using parts from her vehicle to service another customer’s car without her knowledge or permission.
Poullard says the service manager told her multiple times that no one had touched her vehicle before finally admitting what had happened.
“Taking something without permission is stealing. Which is what y’all were doing is stealing,” Poullard said. “Because had I not come up there, I wouldn’t have known. Y’all would have just threw my car back together and expected me to drive it. And later down the line when something went wrong, I would’ve been the person they tried to say was at fault.”
Poullard posted the video to social media, where it quickly spread across the Lake Charles community. The footage shows the confrontation with the service manager inside the dealership’s service bay.
7NEWS visited Kia of Lake Charles and spoke with the owner about the situation.
In a statement, the dealership said:
“We took your feedback seriously and immediately began an internal review. Following that review, the Service Manager is no longer employed with our company. Our team is held to a high standard of customer care, professionalism, respect, and honesty. Every customer deserves to be treated with dignity, and we sincerely apologize to the customer involved.”
Poullard has her vehicle back but says she still feels uneasy driving it. She is actively seeking legal representation and hopes her story serves as a warning to other Kia of Lake Charles customers.
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