Am I being unreasonable?

[ferret99]

So I was due to pick up my California today. The date had been suggested by the dealer after it arrived from port. The dealer knows that I leave about 1h20 drive away. I spoke to him yesterday at almost the close of business to confirm what documents I needed to bring. It was arranged that I would come for mid-morning. So, about 9.30 we set off, my wife, 4yr old old son (very excited) and I. When we get there he mentions almost straight away that there is an IT problem (and has been since mid-afternoon yesterday) that means they can't register it with the DVLA. So, in the hope it sorts itself out, we do the handover, go for lunch, then come back. No luck. My boy is getting fed up, so my wife takes him home. I wait till 5pm without luck. THis means that when we spoke yesterday and presumably at the start of business today there was a problem which would prevent vehicles being collected.

Should we have been told before wasting a day that we might not be able to collect it, despite even paying for it? *feels cheated*

 

[BerndRos]

If the dealer is telling the truth then your being unreasonable, and must realise you are being so. It's called one of life's events. Chill, and don't even mention the 'C' word as it's hardly applicable in your case.

 

[GrannyJen]

If they knew the problem existed then the least they could have done is contact you.

My sympathies. You must feel very deflated.

 

[ferret99]

My view is that if it broke today, then absolutely fine. However letting us drive for more than an hour when at that point when we couldn't take a vehicle is unacceptable. I don't want any compensation, just to know whether I am justified in being annnoyed. I'm sure most salespeople wish everyone was like @BerndRos!

 

[WelshGas]

So I was due to pick up my California today. The date had been suggested by the dealer after it arrived from port. The dealer knows that I leave about 1h20 drive away. I spoke to him yesterday at almost the close of business to confirm what documents I needed to bring. It was arranged that I would come for mid-morning. So, about 9.30 we set off, my wife, 4yr old old son (very excited) and I. When we get there he mentions almost straight away that there is an IT problem (and has been since mid-afternoon yesterday) that means they can't register it with the DVLA. So, in the hope it sorts itself out, we do the handover, go for lunch, then come back. No luck. My boy is getting fed up, so my wife takes him home. I wait till 5pm without luck. THis means that when we spoke yesterday and presumably at the start of business today there was a problem which would prevent vehicles being collected.

Should we have been told before wasting a day that we might not be able to collect it, despite even paying for it? *feels cheated*

I'm not sure from your posting, who had the IT problem. The Dealership or the DVLA?
If the DVLA then very little the Dealership could do as it could have been fixed at anytime.
If it was the Dealership then I do not see why they could not have gone to any working internet computer and register the vehicle, even if they took an iPad to the local Starbucks.

 

[ferret99]

I don't know where the problem lies (maybe they don't), but it might not be that easy. I use software at work for "official" submissions, which can't just be run on any machine.

 

[Chris Greaves]

Just out of interest, which dealership was it?

 

[GrannyJen]

In some ways this is deja-vu for me. When I was due to collect my vehicle the dealer had "computer problems" but at least called me to advise.

I have some sympathy if the problem the day before was forecast to be fixed by "mid-morning" but if they had good warning that it was to be a protracted problem then as happened to me "we are having problems, it may be fixed tomorrow, may not, do you want to leave it for a day or two".

 

[ferret99]

I think @GrannyJen has it. Surely with an unknown, the polite thing would hav been to advise of the risk before a journey and wasted time.

 

[WelshGas]

I don't know where the problem lies (maybe they don't), but it might not be that easy. I use software at work for "official" submissions, which can't just be run on any machine.

If it is the Dealership that had the IT problem and no backup plan for dealing with such a problem the they are at fault and should have informed the customer before he set off. They have failed their customer big time .
If it had been me I would have been very courteous and just sat and read my book until they had fixed the problem. After all the vehicle was paid for, and if they wished to close up to go home then there would have had to be a pretty good inducement for me to leave my vehicle in their hands overnight.

 

[SprintGT]

So I was due to pick up my California today. The date had been suggested by the dealer after it arrived from port. The dealer knows that I leave about 1h20 drive away. I spoke to him yesterday at almost the close of business to confirm what documents I needed to bring. It was arranged that I would come for mid-morning. So, about 9.30 we set off, my wife, 4yr old old son (very excited) and I. When we get there he mentions almost straight away that there is an IT problem (and has been since mid-afternoon yesterday) that means they can't register it with the DVLA. So, in the hope it sorts itself out, we do the handover, go for lunch, then come back. No luck. My boy is getting fed up, so my wife takes him home. I wait till 5pm without luck. THis means that when we spoke yesterday and presumably at the start of business today there was a problem which would prevent vehicles being collected.

Should we have been told before wasting a day that we might not be able to collect it, despite even paying for it? *feels cheated*

You have my sympathy but it is quite possible that the dealer you spoke with may not have been aware there was an IT problem affecting DVLA registration until the morning of your collection. In my view, once he did know and assuming this was in time to warn you, he should have tried to contact you to explain the situation and give you the choice of deferring your journey. Anyway I would hope that he apologised profusely for circumstances beyond his control. I hope the situation is resolved for tomorrow.

 

[ferret99]

Problem acknowledged as existing yesterday. I do have a rather c@rappy Jetta as a swap!

 

[Trailertrash]

I do not think the salesman is working as a team with the people in his head. He should not be allowed to breed...You have spent a fortune with them and they treat you like this! I would not pay them in rusty washers and I definately would cut all ties with them when you have completed the sale.

 

[Loz]

The salesman is probably one of those people that have trouble giving bad news so was banking on the system being back up in time to "save the day" but he failed...

 

[ferret99]

Oh well, today is another day... fingers crossed.

 

[Meoncoast]

I hope they paid for lunch

get them to bring it to you

 

[Jay586]

It's all about managing expectations.

If you're told there might be a problem, then you can adjust accordingly. No or little information when we have so many ways to communicate is just poor, IMO.

People only have limited holiday days, if the SE had to give up a day of holiday because of a customer, they would act differently.

 

[zoki]

We had a very similar problem, ours was dealer fit options had not been fitted when we arrived ( 3 hour journey to the dealer) , they ended up delivering it to us the next afternoon on a low loader to my home and there was a bottle of champagne and flowers in the drawer under the bench which made up for the cock up. We then drove back over to them in our own time for the official handover.

 

[ferret99]

Well, its now 11am and I still haven't heard from the dealer, so they are obviously maintaining their customer communication record. Now in the realms of wee wee poor service!

 

[zoki]

Waiting for call backs is so frustrating, I would rather them call with bad news than not call at all, which dealer is it?

 

[zoki]

When you speak to them, I would demand they deliver it to you like they did for me?

 

[Meoncoast]

Well, its now 11am and I still haven't heard from the dealer, so they are obviously maintaining their customer communication record. Now in the realms of **** poor service!

I think they are messing you around big time you are about to hand over a large amount of funds to complete and they do not even have the skills to provide basic service to you.
I would say they should bring the van to you in day light and hand it over at your home.
I hope there is another dealer in reach for your servicing needs as I would take it to them.

 

[ferret99]

They have offered to deliver it and I have a Jetta courtesy car for now. It seems the problem is VW group wide and is affecting registering VW, Audi, Seat. Still poor comms though.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Hope you'll be enjoying Calidom very soon and then the birthing pains will quickly fade!

 

[VW Cali]

Did you get to the car?

Is it "IT problems" or some other problem. I would have asked to see both the van, and the actual IT problem.