Any VW owners out there notice a shocking fall in service standards lately?
I have been using the same VW garage for 15 years. Bought 3 cars off them. They have always been decent (servicing), finger on pulse, courtesy car, do what they say they will, when they will.
It has been geting worse since the fuel consumption fiddle fiasco, however. I made an appointment on Tuesday to bring the car in at 8 to get the air con fixed. They told me it would be ready at 4. I phoned at 2, and was told they had just started the job (eh?). They would call back in 30 minutes. They called back an hour and a half later to tell me the 'good news'. The courtesy health check had found no serious issues with brakes and tyres etc.
Er, what about the air con. 'Let me check' . . . there followed a long load of waffle followed by 'let me check if we have all the parts' . . . .'no we need to order one part'. . . . . 'Let me see, it should be ready . . . next Thursday' . . . .'Courtesy car? Let me check' . . . .'No sorry it is being used by another customer' . . . .'Why did we ask you to bring in the car at eight and not start the job till two, or ask if you would need a courtesy car? Let me check' . . . .'I'm sorry I am not sure, it may be because we have no idea what we are doing' (actually I made the last bit up - but he didn't know).
At that point I asked to speak to a senior manager. It took 5 minutes before I was able to get through to him. He said he would look into it and call back . . . . . Ten minutes later, I lost the plot, and felt it appropriate to explain why I thought they were a useless bunch of uninformed clowns, left hands and right hands both disconnected from one another and the central nervous system. This seemed to jolt a loose bit of brain-bone back in the right part of his mind tank. 'We will work on it tonight and tomorrow morning and it should be ready by noon', he ejaculated (correct use of word, check out an old Billy Bunter book).
So they have miraculously rustled up the part, and have brought somone in to finish the job tomorrow, even though the service department doesn't even open on a Saturday. . . . . . . And if I were a timid old biddy, who needed her car in order to collect regular vital medical supplies and had take all the original bullshit, rather than a stroppy gobshite who flies off the handle at the slightest provocation, I'd be spending the next several days in a blue funk. This can't be right, can it?
I'll be looking forward to explaining to them why I won't be buying my new car (due in a year, as a reward for not losing my licence by the time the first 3 of my 9 points come off) - from them, in due course. Trouble is, they seem to be so institutionally ****ed at the moment, I doubt anyone who works there will actually care.
The cheeky bugger I spoke to the other day actually told me (someone who has put several tens of thousands of quid through their tills over the years), that I would be liable to a hundered quid charge, that would later come off my bill, in case I decided after the diagnosis to take the car elsewhere. A bit like the Albion asking me, an ST holder for donkey's years, to pay a deposit for my next season ticket in case I change my mind in late August and opt for a Palace one instead. The cheeky little feck.
I am interested in other folks' experience, but must admit I mostly felt like having a massive rant about this. Earlier, Mrs Tackle feigned 'a bad connection' 5 minutes into my phone rant
At least I didn't lose it with VW so badly that I felt the need to remind them who it was who won the war . . . . .
I have been using the same VW garage for 15 years. Bought 3 cars off them. They have always been decent (servicing), finger on pulse, courtesy car, do what they say they will, when they will.
It has been geting worse since the fuel consumption fiddle fiasco, however. I made an appointment on Tuesday to bring the car in at 8 to get the air con fixed. They told me it would be ready at 4. I phoned at 2, and was told they had just started the job (eh?). They would call back in 30 minutes. They called back an hour and a half later to tell me the 'good news'. The courtesy health check had found no serious issues with brakes and tyres etc.
Er, what about the air con. 'Let me check' . . . there followed a long load of waffle followed by 'let me check if we have all the parts' . . . .'no we need to order one part'. . . . . 'Let me see, it should be ready . . . next Thursday' . . . .'Courtesy car? Let me check' . . . .'No sorry it is being used by another customer' . . . .'Why did we ask you to bring in the car at eight and not start the job till two, or ask if you would need a courtesy car? Let me check' . . . .'I'm sorry I am not sure, it may be because we have no idea what we are doing' (actually I made the last bit up - but he didn't know).
At that point I asked to speak to a senior manager. It took 5 minutes before I was able to get through to him. He said he would look into it and call back . . . . . Ten minutes later, I lost the plot, and felt it appropriate to explain why I thought they were a useless bunch of uninformed clowns, left hands and right hands both disconnected from one another and the central nervous system. This seemed to jolt a loose bit of brain-bone back in the right part of his mind tank. 'We will work on it tonight and tomorrow morning and it should be ready by noon', he ejaculated (correct use of word, check out an old Billy Bunter book).
So they have miraculously rustled up the part, and have brought somone in to finish the job tomorrow, even though the service department doesn't even open on a Saturday. . . . . . . And if I were a timid old biddy, who needed her car in order to collect regular vital medical supplies and had take all the original bullshit, rather than a stroppy gobshite who flies off the handle at the slightest provocation, I'd be spending the next several days in a blue funk. This can't be right, can it?
I'll be looking forward to explaining to them why I won't be buying my new car (due in a year, as a reward for not losing my licence by the time the first 3 of my 9 points come off) - from them, in due course. Trouble is, they seem to be so institutionally ****ed at the moment, I doubt anyone who works there will actually care.
The cheeky bugger I spoke to the other day actually told me (someone who has put several tens of thousands of quid through their tills over the years), that I would be liable to a hundered quid charge, that would later come off my bill, in case I decided after the diagnosis to take the car elsewhere. A bit like the Albion asking me, an ST holder for donkey's years, to pay a deposit for my next season ticket in case I change my mind in late August and opt for a Palace one instead. The cheeky little feck.
I am interested in other folks' experience, but must admit I mostly felt like having a massive rant about this. Earlier, Mrs Tackle feigned 'a bad connection' 5 minutes into my phone rant
At least I didn't lose it with VW so badly that I felt the need to remind them who it was who won the war . . . . .
