Hello from VW Sheffield

[shaunvwsheffield]

Good evening all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Shaun Deakin and I have recently started working at VW Van Centre Sheffield in the sales department. I have been involved with the VW brand and California's for the last 3 years previously working for a Transporter specialist who also rented California's out. I have been a Transporter owner for the last 6 years (Sadly I dont own my own anymore) and share in your passion for the brand and the product!

I understand from reading through this forum that some of you have had a slightly less than ideal experience with VW Sheffield and we as a team are looking to change that. We have had a full change of management over the last 9 months with new Head of Business, Sales Manager and Aftersales Manager. We are all very keen to build our reputation back up as a California specialist dealer and are very much open for business.

I have met with the guys from the California Club personally on a couple of occasions now and we are all keen to build an ongoing relationship to help each other and members of this group. We have some very exciting ideas including looking at running joint events in the future so please look out for this and also looking at putting some exclusive offers together for you on both sales and aftersales, so if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see please let me know.

If you have any questions or If you need any help please don't hesitate to drop me a message, i'm not very technical so i'm afraid I cant offer too much help here although I can ask for advice within the workshop but I do have a decent level of product knowledge on the Cali. I will endeavour to reply to any queries in the quickest time possible.

We have also just taken delivery of our Grand California demonstrator so if anyone is wanting any further information on this or are looking to arrange a demonstration please let me know.

Thank you for taking the time to read this

All the best

Shaun

 

[calikev]

Welcome shaun

 

[An-j]

Hi shaun

We are within travelling distance, would be really interested in anything that makes servicing/repairs easier. Easy parking, while you wait time slots for small jobs and good availability for urgent repairs are something I’d travel for!

 

[2into1]

Good start. Welcome. From over the hill in Glossop

 

[Myrtille]

Hello Shaun, Thanks for your introduction. Sheffield is my local Van Centre (Bakewell) So I will be using you for servicing etc.
In November I purchased an used VW Van Centre 2019 Ocean. So far i have only one problem with it, the r/h wing mirror will not fold. Is this something Sheffield can help me with? (Van purchased from SMG Tonbridge)
Best of luck with your work at Sheffield. Tom.

 

[Christine Kirk]

Good to hear your comments Shaun.
How about producing a service plan dedicated to California's that "services" ALL the running gear, gearbox and transmission, fluid changes and servicing the air-con instead of using your current plan which is suitable for the more basic 'caddy'. These are complex high end vehicles we are buying. Are you going to be able to look after the rest of the equipment on board with an appropriate transparent pricing schedule ie pop up roof, check out roof drainage at service, do you check for carbon monoxide, gas safety and the water system. ie a habitation service? Do you have the technicians in place who understand all of the extra stuff? We look forward to a better synergy than we have had so far with you!!! Not being able to get through on the phone, vehicle being booked into the wrong garage, service being just a video and engine oil change and then having to wait 5 weeks for what was described as an 'urgent' job. We will try you again with FINGERS CROSSED and then decide.

 

[sapto]

Welcome here and nice to read how you are going to change and how willing you are to change! Very nice! Wish you all the best! And happy camping!

 

[shaunvwsheffield]

Good morning guys, thank you for your feedback and kind welcome. I’ll look forward to meeting some of you at future events and maybe in the dealership.

There are certain things we can change immediately and others that will take us some time. We are fully aware with the issues we have with relation to parking and service booking lead times. We are very close to solving the parking issue with some offsite parking round the corner for some of our stock vehicles so to make space for customer parking. With regard to the service lead times we have recently added a shift system to our workshop to try to reduce this but it is still an issue so our senior management are now looking for alternative sites to build an additional service facility on to effectively double our capacity. Unfortunately this is going to take a while to sort but the wheels are certainly in motion. With regards to waiting slots I’m sure this is something we offer but I will double check that.

@Myrtille yes I’m sure this is something we can help with. If you give our service team a call on 0114 2427900 they should be able to get you booked in.

@Christine Kirk fixed pricing is something the guys from the Cali club have discussed with me and I have fed this back to our management to put in place. Once I have some answers I will post the detail up.

thanks again for your warm welcome!

 

[shaunvwsheffield]

Hi shaun

We are within travelling distance, would be really interested in anything that makes servicing/repairs easier. Easy parking, while you wait time slots for small jobs and good availability for urgent repairs are something I’d travel for!

Just to confirm we do offer whilst you wait slots for servicing etc. Diagnostics can be a little different as it can become quite involved and we cannot put a definite time on how long it will take.

I hope that helps

thanks,

Shaun

 

[AlisonF]

I don’t know your outfit personally, or the experiences others have had. However, based on my own experiences with my local dealer I find it totally refreshing to see a dealership admit there have been issues and wanting to work with customers to improve things moving forward. If I was local, I would certainly be wanting to give you the ‘benefit of the doubt’.
Good luck.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Hi shaun

We are within travelling distance, would be really interested in anything that makes servicing/repairs easier. Easy parking, while you wait time slots for small jobs and good availability for urgent repairs are something I’d travel for!

Yes, us too. I’ll be looking out for reviews regarding your customer service & performance levels, so go for it guys and hope to see you in the future.

 

[Elfie]

We are booked in with you at the end of February for an MOT and a warranty issue. Will report back here!

 

[Calimatt88]

Having just got my van back from Sheffield i won’t be returning. Sent in for warranty work (kitchen tap, roof leak, stiff locker above parcel shelf). van booked in for one day, got it back after 3 with only the tap being fixed and that’s after I had to lean on them to do it after they wanted me to collect and rebook it back in even after they told me it was a quick job. Everything felt like a slog with Sheffield, I was just after some half decent service, and didn’t get any. It’s a shame the das velt warranty is treat the same as a 3rd party AA\RAC warranty, they didn’t let me know that in Cardiff when I bought it!

I won’t be returning, they won’t be bothered but hey ho you have to vote with your feet don’t you.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Having just got my van back from Sheffield i won’t be returning. Sent in for warranty work (kitchen tap, roof leak, stiff locker above parcel shelf). van booked in for one day, got it back after 3 with only the tap being fixed and that’s after I had to lean on them to do it after they wanted me to collect and rebook it back in even after they told me it was a quick job. Everything felt like a slog with Sheffield, I was just after some half decent service, and didn’t get any. It’s a shame the das velt warranty is treat the same as a 3rd party AA\RAC warranty, they didn’t let me know that in Cardiff when I bought it!

I won’t be returning, they won’t be bothered but hey ho you have to vote with your feet don’t you.

Not good at all and seems to be quite a common story.
When I worked in the IT Industry, companies like Cisco insisted that we had a number of suitably qualified salespeople and engineers for ALL of their products (Voice; Data; Video; Wireless; Data Centre; Network Management; etc; etc). If we didn’t meet their strict criteria we would lose our partner status along with preferential discount levels, volume rebates, etc. From reading this forum and all the poor experiences of Cali owners I suspect that Van Centres don’t seem to have such rigour applied to them re’ the Cali product line. The required change needs to be driven by management in VW.DE in my opinion.

 

[shaunvwsheffield]

Having just got my van back from Sheffield i won’t be returning. Sent in for warranty work (kitchen tap, roof leak, stiff locker above parcel shelf). van booked in for one day, got it back after 3 with only the tap being fixed and that’s after I had to lean on them to do it after they wanted me to collect and rebook it back in even after they told me it was a quick job. Everything felt like a slog with Sheffield, I was just after some half decent service, and didn’t get any. It’s a shame the das velt warranty is treat the same as a 3rd party AA\RAC warranty, they didn’t let me know that in Cardiff when I bought it!

I won’t be returning, they won’t be bothered but hey ho you have to vote with your feet don’t you.

Hi, Im really sorry about your poor experience. Would you be so kind to pm me your contact details and registration number and I will discuss the situation with my aftersales manager and hopefully get it resolved.

Apologies again, thanks Shaun

 

[shaunvwsheffield]

Not good at all and seems to be quite a common story.
When I worked in the IT Industry, companies like Cisco insisted that we had a number of suitably qualified salespeople and engineers for ALL of their products (Voice; Data; Video; Wireless; Data Centre; Network Management; etc; etc). If we didn’t meet their strict criteria we would lose our partner status along with preferential discount levels, volume rebates, etc. From reading this forum and all the poor experiences of Cali owners I suspect that Van Centres don’t seem to have such rigour applied to them re’ the Cali product line. The required change needs to be driven by management in VW.DE in my opinion.

Each California specialist dealer has to have at least one after sales California specialist (Technician) and one sales specialist, this is a prerequisite set by VW. Our particular California specialist Technician is also our master tech and has been here since the foundations were laid. He is a very knowledgeable chap and there isn't much he doesn't know about California's.

Our sales specialist is an ok chap too - that's me

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Each California specialist dealer has to have at least one after sales California specialist (Technician) and one sales specialist, this is a prerequisite set by VW. Our particular California specialist Technician is also our master tech and has been here since the foundations were laid. He is a very knowledgeable chap and there isn't much he doesn't know about California's.

Our sales specialist is an ok chap too - that's me

That’s reassuring and your proactivity is great. Just a shame to hear of so many Cali owners poor experiences. Haven’t taken delivery of mine yet so no real life experience. Hopefully my local van centre will be good.

 

[Amarillo]

That’s reassuring and your proactivity is great. Just a shame to hear of so many Cali owners poor experiences. Haven’t taken delivery of mine yet so no real life experience. Hopefully my local van centre will be good.

There are California centres which get (almost) consistently good reports on this forum. Poole, SMG Tonbridge, Liverpool. So it is possible.

 

[AscotCali]

There are California centres which get (almost) consistently good reports on this forum. Poole, SMG Tonbridge, Liverpool. So it is possible.

I would agree completely. We travelled over 500 miles to use SMG Tonbridge who were fantastic from the very first tentative enquiry all the way through to the great handover a couple of weeks ago. They couldn't have done more. This was the complete opposite to our local dealer 30 miles away who really seemed disinterested and struggled to even give me a quote. If the service is good people will travel so it's in everyones interest for them to make the effort.

 

[Wogga]

Add Preston to be a centre to model on, the biggest complaint I have seen on here is the sales side poor response to queries of a Sales type And unbelievably not responding to quote requests! I know it is difficult for the sales team to respond quickly to most after sales queries I.e. repairs and quality, that is where the service manager and his team should pitch in And drive it.
My experience with Preston (Guy) he responds to emails within a few hours if not straight away if he is at his desk. He has been there 17 years which says a lot in such a fickle occupation. How many times have you heard “your only as good as last months numbers”.

Good luck Shaun, you have been responsive so far on here. Your biggest competitors is DtheD and Autobid.

 

[Meoncoast]

At the end of the day, the sales team can be the best ever but if they are not backed up by a top-notch service/repair team then they will never build a reputation to keep their customers once a purchase has been made.

 

[Elfie]

We had a real struggle with Sheffield too. Our van was originally booked in for three days to sort some warranty issues out, they ended up having it for weeks and we only ever got it back because we called them and moaned until we could speak to a manager eventually. They didn’t even fix the original problem booked in for so had to book it back in with them. Like has been said before, everything felt like a slog and each time we left (after having to take half a day off work every time), we vowed that we would drive wherever we needed to in future to make the process easier, even if that meant a lot more miles. We got everything done that was needed in the end but the stress, phone calls and time spent was ridiculous. I’m sad because after seeing Shaun’s comments on here, I really wanted to give them a go and be able to leave glowing reports. Sadly, not the case.

 

[Calimatt88]

Thanks for the reply Shaun, I read the comments on here too about management changes etc at Sheffield and was hopeful for positive experience. I bought the van from Cardiff and was impressed, the polar opposite of Sheffield.
The point I tried to get across to the ladies on the phone at Sheffield, is that dropping and leaving a van isn’t a convenient thing when working, to then have a W Sheffield have the van all day and not even look at it, let alone fix the basic warranty issues is frustrating.
The go to line is you can collect it if you want, you will just have to book It back in at a later date? This isn’t helpful! When it’s booked in, the expectation is you do the prep work and get the parts ready so it can be in and out as expected.
Also wasn’t happy to have £6 added to my bill for COVID PPE when I had declined it on the phone. As I said earlier, won’t be returning for service or sales in the future.

 

[Seaview]

I would agree completely. We travelled over 500 miles to use SMG Tonbridge who were fantastic from the very first tentative enquiry all the way through to the great handover a couple of weeks ago. They couldn't have done more. This was the complete opposite to our local dealer 30 miles away who really seemed disinterested and struggled to even give me a quote. If the service is good people will travel so it's in everyones interest for them to make the effort.

We had a very similar experience with our local dealer which I’m pretty sure is the same as yours (St Cyrus isn’t far away from us) and ended up travelling a few hundred miles for a much better service. It’s a shame we don’t have a good local dealer for purchasing and servicing.