>>Can anyone suggest anything other than unlawful wounding which might get them to improve?
Yep, next time you ring up and they can't get you through to the right department and/or they don't return your calls, ask to speak to the Dealer Principle and let him/her know your thoughts...
|
|
Agreed, the mention of "Dealer Principle" seems to put the fear of something into dealer staff.
|
|
Sorry to be pedantic, but it's 'principal' :))
|
|
sorry to be doubly pedantic, but it's ' Existence '
|
sorry to be doubly pedantic but it's ' Existence '
Perhaps your "sorry" needs a capital letter at the start? A full stop at the end of the sentence? No spaces between your quotation marks and "Existence"? Use the correct quotation marks maybe?
Dearie me. If you're going to pick people up on typos, you really ought to make sure your own house isn't made of glass. :-)
|
|
|
Sorry to have to moderate, but can we drop the pedantry? There's enough off topic stuff without unnecessary remarks like this.
Thanks
smokie, Moderator
|
Sorry smokie, that was my way of trying top put a stop to it. It's hard not to respond to such blatant hypocrisy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Agreed the mention of "Dealer Principle" seems to put the fear of something into dealer staff.
The Dealer Principal's card, complete with direct telephone number, was in the handbook pack for our MX-5 when we collected it from the dealer, alongside the salesman's, and the service manager's. We were told to call him if we had any concerns or issues at all at any time.
Needless to say their service during the buying and ownership period was truly exemplary. I have put quite a lot of business their way since (they have sold two Mazda 6's and three MX-5's from my referrals over the past four years), so this approach does have real commercial merit.
The contrast between the attitude and approach of this dealer, and those of the various company owned Fords and Peugeots I've had is just remarkable. I can't believe a manufacturer will spend billions designing, building and marketing a product, only to have a laissez-faire attitude to the people providing the actual customer interface. I've had dealerships lose locking wheelnut keys, leave drain plugs loose, replace parts (mostly brakes) which are perfectly OK, and mess me around over bookings. Apart from two positive experiences (with Mazda and Renault, believe it or not), I couldn't recommend the services of a single main dealer that I've used. Poor workmanship, unable to fix simple faults, and an indifferent attitude to the customer. All for £100 an hour!
|
...Poor workmanship, unable to fix simple faults, and an indifferent attitude to the customer. All for £100 an hour!...
I don't have much faith in the dealer network, either.
But I do have some faith in the reliability of the product, in my case a Ford.
If it continues to be reliable, I can limit my exposure to the dealer to an annual visit for a £200 oil change.
|
But I do have some faith in the reliability of the product in my case a Ford.
No complaints with the product at all either, ifithelps. In the case of the Peugeot though which did have reliability issues, it was like pulling teeth getting anything fixed. Eleven visits to cure a stalling problem being one that springs to mind, but if you took it in there with a problem, you could almost guarantee a bill for £300-£400 (thankfully which I wasn't paying) and the car back with the fault still present. It was truly shocking. The service receptionist was gorgeous though, and extremely friendly (i.e. almost impossible to get angry with / shout at). She probably kept their service department going. :-)
I remember a friend telling me that a BMW dealership he used to use would, on request, hand him a box with all the old parts inside. A technician would be happy to spend a few minutes with him showing him why the parts had been changed. Thought that was a nice touch. The car in question was an E46 M3, and when this suffered a major mechanical failure, their service was amazing. He had a replacement car within four hours, a new engine in a crate from Germany within 24, and the car back to him with a full tank of fuel, valeted, and with the next service "on BMW" within 48.
Edited by DP on 22/11/2009 at 10:29
|
>>I remember a friend telling me that a BMW dealership he used to use would, on request, hand him a box with all the old parts inside. A technician would be happy to spend a few minutes with him showing him why the parts had been changed. Thought that was a nice touch
>>
It is standard procedure for my Indie to either leave all the old parts in the passenger foot well or have them displayed for inspection. Four disks and sets of pads were there on the workshop floor when I collected sons Focus.
|
Four disks and sets of pads were there on the workshop floor when I collected sons Focus. >>
I wonder how many times they have got that lot out over the years ;-)
|
|
|
|
I remember a friend telling me that a BMW dealership
If you spend any time reading the BMW forums then you will find that your friend's experience was pretty unique.
I had a loan BMW company car for a couple of months which developed a fault - the experience with the dealership was enough to determine that I'll never buy a BMW.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I had a similar experience at our local Fiat/Mazda/Hyundai dealer when trying to book our 1 year old Punto in for its first service.
I should have known better after it needed a small warranty repair after a few months and after getting to the garage they had no courtesy cars and no parts - so come back next week. Great thanks - only a 25 mile round trip!!
When they tried to rip me off with a service I told them they had quoted me incorrectly due to long life servicing due to mileage - they soon changed their minds and dropped the price but I told them to get lost and used another dealer instead.
The offending dealer is a large chain dealing with multiple manufacturers and my new found dealer is a local family run affair and are fantastic - its a shame they couldnt offer the same deal on the car when buying it new but will stick with them for the services in the coming few years.
My experience of large dealerships is they couldnt give a monkeys about their customers and have no idea how they survive (oh yes, we have bailed them out with silly scrappage allowances - another story maybe!)
Sorry for the rant but feel much better now :-)
|
The future Mrs L covers quite a large annual mileage...currently 90k on her '07 Passat Tdi. However, one of her colleagues covers even more miles, and his Mondeo required a new clutch after 2 years and 123k miles. It was duly booked in, and he was promised a 'similar' sized vehicle to satisfy his business requirements...he carries lots of samples. Come the day, all they have is a Ka! Come the evening, he arrives main dealer to collect his car. Off he trots, but they have given him the wrong key. Transpires they have given his car an oil & filter change, and changed somebody else's clutch. Back to the Ka.
How he laughed......
|
|
|
|
|
I'm most amazed that a VW dealer will service a Touran for £150!
First service on a 2.0 TDi PD Touran is essentially an oil change on time and distance regimes. So £150 is a bit OTT really, as you would expect.
|
First service on a 2.0 TDi PD Touran is essentially an oil change on time and distance regimes. So £150 is a bit OTT really as you would expect.
That's all it is on most cars. Imagine my surprise when a Mitsubishi dealer asked for £200 for the same service on daugher's Colt. And the cheapest a Honda dealer would go to was £160 for our old Jazz (although that did include a years Honda breakdown cover).
On my Merc it's £260, £100 of which is for the oil (but the dealers will cheerfully let you supply your own).
|
|
|
|
|
