This morning's Cape Times (Broadsheet) has a half-page advert "Open letter to Landrover South Africa" from a disgruntled owner of a rangey...
14 point type, red ink.
It turns out this blokes 2003 Rangerover with 40 000 ks on the clock packed up about 3 weeks back, and has been stuck in the dealer since.
He lists every call he has made, and all the clowns he has spoken to, all the lies he has been told ("the parts are on order" becomes, "the parts have to be ordered" becomes "we still have to work out what parts to order") , and points out that NOT ONE of them have phoned him back as promised. Not even the Customer Care department.
He writes that he has no alternative BUT to print the advert, as continued calls to LRSA have yielded nothing but untruths, failure to return calls, and general slapdash attitude.
I foresee LRSA taking a bit of a kicking on this one!
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Well, anything with "Rover" on it has to be a problem in the making. Never heard anyone say a good word about 'em. Poor chap should have bought a Nissan Patrol or a Ford Expedition.....
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I suspect this may just have reached Solihull by now. Everybody who read it said the same thing: "OUCH!"
OPEN LETTER TO THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF LAND ROVER SOUTH AFRICA
I own a Range Rover TD6 bought new in April 2003. The registration number is CA 499408. It has done some 44 000 km, it is an expensive and obviously high-end vehicle and is still relatively new. Whenever the vehicle has a problem I am amazed anew by the disinclination of Land Rover South Africa to communicate in any way.
The vehicle was initially delivered with a major steering defect that caused the whole vehicle to vibrate heavily when being turned on a camber. I was informed by Land Rover employees that the problem was common with the Range Rover which prevented the vehicle being replaced, It took a dozen aggravating workshop visits and a calendar year for Land Rover to eventually repair the vehicle. The indifference and lack of communication shown by Land Rover SA was appalling and only by threatening to go public did I eventually get someone to speak to me and explain what was being done.
And now?.
Friday 25th February 2005. Vehicle breaks down near Victoria West with what appeared to be front transmission problem. Vehicle remains under full warranty. Land Rover Assist arranges for vehicle to be towed to Beaufort West {120 odd kms - ian) and advises me that it will be sent to the nearest dealership, George {~ 150kms - ian), within two days, for repair. Tow truck employee volunteers that this is the umpteenth Land Rover product they have recovered to Beaufort West since Christmas. I?m tempted to believe him.
Monday 28th February. I telephoned Land Rover at George. They have no knowledge of my Vehicle. I eventually locate it in Oudtshoorn {about 25 from george - ian). Someone might have had the common courtesy to tell me. I now contact the Oudtshoorn dealer but only get Hermien who confirms that they have it. I advise her of other defects which need attention at the same time as the breakdown causes and fax this list to her. My machine reports no errors in the fax transmission.
Thursday 3rd March. Nothing heard from Land Rover so I phone Oudtshoorn and I am put through to the Workshop manager whose names escapes me (Martin?), dealer principal not there. This gentleman tells me that he needs spares but has no idea when they will arrive. I then ask him about the list of other defects/work that I had sent. He mentions the oil services that I listed but seems bemused by anything else and giggles when I mention the burnt-out navigation system.
I now phone Land Rover Customer Care and get put through to Nadine. I indicate my irritation with Land Rover and my inability to get any form of a straight answer either now or in the past ? I explain that I seek answers regarding the repairs to my vehicle as I will shortly be going overseas for several weeks and need to know both when and how my vehicle is to be repaired so that I can make the necessary arrangements. She promises to find out and call me back that afternoon. But she does not.
Friday 4th March. I have another crack at Land Rover Outdshoorn. This time I get the Parts Manager, Mr. Botha, dealer principal not there. He talks about needing to send a quote to Land Rover and is somewhat unconvincing in his claim to have ordered all the spare parts required.
Phone Land Rover Customer Care. Get stuck with Nadine again. I tell her that I cannot get sense out of anyone on a simple problem. When and how is my vehicle to be fixed? You have had it for a week but not one call and no one is telling me anything when I ask. It will be very irritating if the breakdown cause is fixed and the remaining defects/work have to be done elsewhere wich is where I suspect I am being led if anywhere at all. Asks for a copy of the fax that I had sent to Hermien. This done. She will get back to me on all this. I now know that she will not and I am not disappointed.
Late that afternoon I get a call from Hermien from Oudtshoorn. Wow! My very first call from anyone at Land Rover. But it?s dull. Claims she never got the fax that I have twice spoken to them about. Unlikely. Suggests she gets a copy from Nadine
Monday 7th March. Surely someone is now going to show interest at Land Rover and speak to me, But no such luck. At 4.30 pm I phone ?er, who shall I phone? Well the vehicle is allegedly at Oudtshoorn so let me phone them before they close. No dealer principal again, maybe he?s a golfer, This time I get Mr van Zyl, the Financial manager. Very helpful. I?ll go and find out right now and call you back in ten minutes. Another graduate of the Land Rover management training program who must have passed with flying colours as he is never heard from again.
I have had two years of Land Rover SA now. Every step is an effort rather like wading through deep molasses. Nobody seems to really know what they are doing. Nobody keeps you informed. Nobody follows up. Junior staff seem to be left to carry the can. Nobody EVER phones you back.
All I want to know is:
Does Land Rover have necessary spares in stock to repair this unreliable and very expensive vehicle of mine?
If not what are they doing about is?
Will the repairs to the cause of the breakdown and the other defects/work be dealt with at the same time as I require?
When does Land Rover expect this vehicle to be roadworthy again?
Why does nobody follow-up and phone you back ?
Why is it too difficult to answer these simple questions ?
Andy Gray
Cape Town
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What the legal position on something like this?
i.e. Mr Gray is making claims (libellous?) against LRSA and as I understand it, other than his broken down RR which I suppose can't be disputed, there is nothing else to actually prove the dealings between him and LRSA.
....just wondering, thats all
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If he is lying, I am sure LRSA have the legal might to go after him. If he is not, then they would be digging themselves in a deeper hole if they tried to silence him.
How do Watchdog and other such "investigative" bodies get away with naming and shaming large corporations?.
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How do Watchdog and other such "investigative" bodies get away with naming and shaming large corporations?.
If you listen carefully two what they say, all their stories are well vetted and researched, and the companies in question know this, and the companies are given a right to reply so both sides of the story are put.
Personally I would suggest that the aggrieved RR owner contacts some of the Land Rover Mags and puts his side to them. They are much more interested in the honest journalistic side to this.
I think it would be unlikely that LRSA would be taking him to court. It would do their image no good in a market where there is adequate choice. After all they don't want to appear to sell carp cars then sue disgruntled owners over letters etc.
H
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"How do Watchdog and other such 'investigative' bodies get away with naming and shaming large corporations?"
Remember, organisations like national newspapers and broadcasters e.g,. the Beeb, have large legal depts and deep pockets (paid for by us in the Beeb's case) to deter many potential litigants. Yes, they do their research and occasionally slip up, but you gotta be wealthy to risk suing.
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From the Cape Times...
Land Rover South Africa on Thursday admitted it deserved having a poor after-sales reputation, after the disgruntled owner of a Range Rover accused the company of poor service in an open letter published in the Cape Times on Thursday.
"We admit we have had some serious problems with our customer care department and after-sales services," Land Rover SA head of customer services Mike Dawson said on Thursday.
He blamed the company's poor service on the fact that it has "changed hands too many times in the last few years", but said efficiency has been improving since BMW sold the company to Ford in 2000.
Since 1988 Land Rover has been owned by British Aerospace/Honda, BMW and Ford.
The response came after retired founder of Gray Security, Andy Gray, publishing a damning half-page letter to Land Rover's management, after receiving a piffling response from Land Rover's customer care to various serious complaints about his vehicle.
The last straw was the breakdown of Gray's two-year-old "unreliable and very expensive vehicle" outside Victoria West.
The vehicle, which was under full warranty, was first sent to Beaufort West, then to George, where-after it was kept at Land Rover Oudtshoorn for more than a week without being repaired.
During this time Gray contacted Land Rover Oudtshoorn and Land Rover SA's customer care repeatedly to find out if and how his car would be fixed, but got no response.
Eventually Gray notified customer care that he would go to the extreme measure of publishing a complaint in the media unless his demands were met within a few days.
When he received no response, he proceeded to publish.
In his letter Gray wrote: "Whenever the vehicle has a problem I am amazed anew by the disinclination of Land Rover South Africa to communicate with me in any way. No one seems to take responsibility.
"No one seems to really know what they are doing. No one keeps you informed. No one follows up. No one EVER phones you back."
In response, Dawson acknowledged on Thursday that "nothing in Gray's letter is untrue, unfortunately".
"Unfortunately this is what happened. The future of the Oudtshoorn dealership is under review," he said.
Dawson confirmed receiving Gray's warning to publish "well in advance", but said the company neglected to respond within a reasonable time.
"Mr Gray did warn us and we should have responded. We regret to say we have been wrong. This should not have happened to him or to anyone else," he said.
Meanwhile, the vehicle was transported to Gray's original dealer, Land Rover Stellenbosch.
Dawson said he had personally organised the transportation of the vehicle, but this statement was met by disbelief by Gray's personal assistant, who said Gray had made all the arrangements himself.
"It's strange that he should take credit for it," she said.
According to Dawson, Land Rover SA paid for the transport.
Dawson said all the parts needed to repair Gray's Range Rover had been couriered to Stellenbosch. He added that the manager of Land Rover Stellenbosch, Herman Marks, would have Gray's vehicle ready later on Friday.
"We got a list of problems from Oudtshoorn and then ordered the right parts.
"I sent Mr Gray an SMS to notify him."
Dawson added that he would give "Gray or anyone else who requests it, a written response" and said his company hoped to maintain a good relationship with Gray.
Gray was on a flight to India on Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
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