COSTA MESA, Calif. -

Hyundai and its dealers revealed this week a new Web-based customer review service.

Through utilizing the public third-party SureCritic reviews site, the OEM explained it will publically feature owner-generated ratings and reviews of its dealership service experience.

The review sites will be unique to each dealership, and a link on www.hyundaiusa.com takes site visitors to www.surecritic.com/hyundai-dealer, where all participating dealers are listed.

Commenting on the news, Frank Ferrara, executive vice president of customer satisfaction at Hyundai Motor America, said, "This is a very exciting example of how we defy convention by being the first mainstream brand to publically communicate with consumers on a third-party website for anyone to see.

"This open, two-way communication will support and promote how our dealers delight customers on a daily basis. Accounts of each dealer's customer service will be public record for all to see. We think that transparency is motivating to our dealers and valuable information for our owners,” he continued.

This may not come as a surprise to the industry, as more than half of Hyundai dealers already use this program and share their customer feedback openly in the public domain, officials said.

If customers choose to post reviews, they can give their dealership visit an overall satisfaction rating between one and five stars, post a review and recommend the dealer to their social network.

The company explained that the move was made in part because customers tend to become frustrated with long-form reviews.

"Car owners tell us they have survey fatigue. Their input is incredibly valuable, but from their standpoint it's been a one-direction, closed communication channel, with little opportunity for feedback," said John Krafcik, president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America. "This web-based approach allows our owners to openly share their experiences, positive or negative, and gives Hyundai dealers the opportunity to demonstrate their dedication to delighting their customers."

Dealers can rest assured these reviews will be coming from actual customers, the company shared.

SureCritic works to validate that a posted review is from an actual customer, by verifying the customer's service information against actual repair order records from the dealership.

The service also offers a mobile version of its website to users.

"By giving every service customer the opportunity to write and share a rating and review in the public domain, Hyundai and its dealers provide consumers with an unprecedented level of transparency to the customer satisfaction equation," said David Brondstetter, chief executive officer, SureCritic Inc. "Because we validate customer status and do not delete negative reviews, Hyundai customers and prospects no longer have to visit multiple review sites and wonder which ones are real and for the model they own."

Hyundai also explained the service offers participating dealerships a few other perks, as well, including:

  • The ability for dealers to easily display testimonials and reviews on their own website
  • A social sharing application making it easy for dealership customers to share reviews with their social network
  • ReScore, a patent-pending concern resolution process designed to measure and display how effective dealership personnel are at resolving a customer's concern
  • Initial setup and training followed by monthly consultative outreach by a program representative
  • A full suite of reports including competitive benchmarks for key performance indicators.

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