Vinny's Westie Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 About a year ago I had a problem with my Range Rover Sport in that the dealer damaged it and would not agree to repair it, they disagreed between the cost of an estimate £300 and £500 on a quote so I took them to court and won. Cheque turned up today after the Judge awarded me full costs and £50 for turning up. The £200 difference has resulted in a bill £400 more than it would have been if they had paid the quote. Good to see the Court understand the difference between an estimate and a quote. Why oh Why did they take this attitude, did they really think I was going to go away, anyone any thoughts Quote
echoz Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Customer service is a thing of the past mate Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Customer service is a thing of the past mate Utter b*****k There's always been bad service, probably always will. Thankgoodness we've got fantastic ways of exposing it these days; and good on you Vinnie for taking on the challenge, many wouldn't, which I guess is how they get away with it. Sorry Echoz, nothing personal, but its those sort of glib comments tarring all of us in service industries with the same brush, that boil my p**s. Usually when I'm sat in a clients office in the early hours of a Saturday morning fixing a problem so that they don't have any business hours downtime. Or when I drive for an hour to a clients on a bank holiday cause the satelite isn't working properly and they wanted to watch the match. There are lots of good companies in most fields of business, it's just a sad fact of life that you will never see or hear as many complimentary comments as complaints. Quote
RedditchJay Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 well done..... I had my previous car so badly damaged at a Ford Dealership they had to buy it off my at the purchase price I paid 12 months before..........took 3 months to sort out though but stayed away from the courts..... did get a bit messy at one stage..... muppets Quote
DerekJ Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Good for you! My local Stratstone Jag dealer is rubbish (IMHO). Their service charge seems to be calculated on some ratio of the average distance from here to the center of the galaxy. The service manager is so full of BS that it makes me weep. Service before last, they tried to tell me that my rear brake shoes needed changing 'cos there were only 6mm of pad left. Last service it did not even get a mention. Main Stealers ..... Arrrrgggggg I just wish I'd had the first report from them in writing Sorry for the rant, but if more people took action then they may take notice. Well done DerekJ Quote
housebeautician Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 . There are lots of good companies in most fields of business, it's just a sad fact of life that you will never see or hear as many complimentary comments as complaints. spot on. All my business is by word of mouth. I would not last long without customer service. The customer is always right even if he is off his trolley.......... Quote
jerryhzx12 Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 A few years back, my wife noticed a small oily drip on the drive, where my car normally stood. It was a merc, a yeer or so out of warranty. I took it to the Merc dealers and asked them to take a look at it. A few hours later they rang me at work to tell me there was leak on the intake manifold gasket, the drip ont he drive was in fatc diesel. I asked them to do the necessary, and turned up to pick the car up thst evening expecting a pretty ehfty bill - must heve been a few hours in the job I reckoned. When I got to the service desk, I was handed the keys - no bill, just the comment "it shouldn't have ahppened, so we won't charge for repair". they has also done a thorough in and out valet on the car for free......AND I hadn't even bought he car from that dealership ...All the Merc dealers I have dealt with have been of a similar quality, but I have have found Mercedes themselves totally unhelpful to deal with - an enquiry as to why my catalytic convertor failed at only 80K (at a cost of nearly a grand) was originally responded to by a bloke in Maastricht to tell me there was (his words) "no goodwill" from Mercedes. Further enquiries to mercedes UK and a demand for an explanation of the cat failure resulted in a letter that basically said it broke because it broke...So, despite superb service from dealers, this will be my last Merc, all that good customer service let down by the manufaturer...shame.... Quote
windy Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Customer service is a thing of the past mate It is probably not so much service, its more to do with competence. In my experience they just can't do the job properly. Based on many visits to different sites, I have learnt to stay away from dealerships just like many other people. If you want things done properly do it yourself. Current car bought from new is now nearly 4 years old and has never been to a dealership for servicing in its entire life. A lot of my work colleagues are of the same opinion too. They have many unsuprising stories to tell. Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Had a couple of new Audi's from their dealer in Macclesfield over the years. The dealer service was never short of exceptional. Always above and beyond the call of duty. Am now in the hands of the Landrover network; staff on an exchage program from Hades I suspect. Quote
slater Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 QUOTE All my business is by word of mouth. I would not last long without customer service. The customer is always right even if he is off his trolley....... I am the same although we do have a line on our federation advertising, roofers especially get bad press all the time so customer service has to be a priority. lewis Quote
Norman Verona Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Totally agree with Gadgetman. I once drove from London to Cardiff to insert a floppy disk in the drive the correct way up as the dealer didn't seem to be able to follow my instructions. Mind you he still caused us a lot of problems and costs by blaming his bankruptcy on the system. Eventually got a 100% favourable report from an independant accounting firm. Working with dealers of all franchises and all over the country I consider a lot of the poor service is due to manufacturer interference. Quote
Vinny's Westie Posted February 18, 2011 Author Posted February 18, 2011 Totally agree with Gadgetman. I once drove from London to Cardiff to insert a floppy disk in the drive the correct way up as the dealer didn't seem to be able to follow my instructions. Mind you he still caused us a lot of problems and costs by blaming his bankruptcy on the system. Eventually got a 100% favourable report from an independant accounting firm. Working with dealers of all franchises and all over the country I consider a lot of the poor service is due to manufacturer interference. Land Rover UK put considerable pressure to get the dealer to settle, but admitted they were powerless to force them to pay. A good result for me but at a lot of expense and unnecessary hassle, people will tell, on average, about 5people when they have good service and about 30 when they have bad, that is so true. Quote
mikef Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Windy, "If you want things done properly do it yourself. Current car bought from new is now nearly 4 years old and has never been to a dealership for servicing in its entire life". I understand your sentiment about doing it yourself but where do you stand with the manufacturer's warranty? They usually insist on dealer servicing. Quote
windy Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Windy,"If you want things done properly do it yourself. Current car bought from new is now nearly 4 years old and has never been to a dealership for servicing in its entire life". I understand your sentiment about doing it yourself but where do you stand with the manufacturer's warranty? They usually insist on dealer servicing. Most manufacture warranties worth anything are usually 12 months. Cars will only have reached their first service towards the end of this period. Anything that is likely to go wrong will do so before it gets to the dealership so service history is irrelevant. Longer warranties I'd suggest you read the small print. Most "wear and tear" items aren't covered so you'll be footing the bill for the majority of parts on the car yourself anyway. Service history from a dealer is only worth anything if you intend to sell on, but getting it serviced at a dealer is an expense in itself. Pays your money, takes your choice I guess. The car I have will be run into the ground so resale value is irrelevant. The fact that it was bought new eliminates previous owners likelihood of abuse which might later cause parts to fail. Quote
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