How good is your Dealer?

[fordyski100]

Ok , if anyone has read my post in "Steering Knock" , you will know i had booked my 2012 California in for a few issues.

List of works requiring attention

1, Paint Blistering on roof front panel......…dealer has known about this for about 2-3 months now and still awaiting exactly what they are going to do about it!
2, Steering knock
3,Water Pump from main tank not working
4,Roof blind works its way open when travelling
5, Drivers door rattle when window down
6,Illuminated Aluminium California sign by side door gone black
7,Table rattles when travelling
8,Waste water digital display not working


Ok , so the vehicle was booked in for the above to be attended to (except blistering paint which we all now know is in the hands of VW customer service to finally make a descision on how they are going to proceed). My Cali was booked in for Thursday 31st October and Friday 1st November . I was advised that the parts were to be there ready to carry out the works as they speculatively ordered and can return if incorrect.
This all sounded just like the service i expect when dealing with a £50k vehicle , much like i have received from the car dealerships .
However on the friday i was informed that
1, They have now ordered Drive shafts for the steering and they would not be in until Monday
2 They had not looked at the water pump and was i aware that the waste tank only displays full when it is full(YES I WAS AND THATS WHY I HAD REPORTED IT)
3 They were ordering a roof blind
4 They cannot find a rattle in the door ….This was despite the fact that when i had originally taken vehicle in to dealer to show them the problems they had the vehicle technician look over the vehicle and tapped the door skin and confirmed he could hear the rattle and new exactly what the problem was.
5 Illuminated sign would be ordered
6 The Table had been sorted by re positioning the securing bracket.

So in the two days that i had expected my vehicle to be returned all they had done was tighten a bracket!

Ok i can live without the Cali for the weekend , but expected it back latest tuesday 5th November.

But ….No on the tueday i had a call to say
1, They could not find anything wrong with the steering (Despite the fact that i had advised that if you go around a roundabout slowly you will feel the fault through the steering) so they would not be fitting drive shafts.
2 Water pump had been replaced but they were not sure about what was happening about waste water
3 Roof blind was fitted but now they needed to order the track that it sits in!
4 They would have another look at door rattle

On Wedneday 6TH november i was advised that the vehicle would be finished on Thursday 7th , but they had still not found fault with the steering ( ) but not to worry as the service manager would be taking it out in the morning and they have all the parts in stock to fix whatever the fault is.

Ok , so i arrive today (Thursday PM ) to collect the vehicle all fixed .

WRONG

1, I am advised they have felt a slight knock and will be ordering a steering column (top end ) and not to worry as it wont break or anything and how i might as well wait until they do the paint repair which is still under discussion with VW Customer Service at head office ( and we all know will not be carried out until 2014 !!!!)
2 , They now cannot find any rattle in window when its down!
3, But heh, they have fixed the water pump and fitted a waste sensor , changed step light and replaced blind

Now is it me or is this a joke? Thats 6 ½ working days they had on my vehicle when , and they have still not done the one thing i was seriously concerned about (the steering).

On top of this i was leant a courtesy car (which had a service light on when i picked it up! ) and i was advised that "this is normally charged out at £15 per day Sir "and what agreement did i make ?
(Needless to say i advised in my opinion i will not be paying for the courtesy car for 8 days(total time they had my vehicle) and i will be receiving a call regarding this tomorrow.(look forward to this)

Please tell me ……..
Am i being i being too harsh ?
Am i expecting too much?
Has any one else experienced this kind of service?
Should i name and shame?

Sorry for the long rant , but i just feel that after the extremely poor service we are receiving from VW with regard to waiting until "They can decide how to proceed with the roof paint repair " (Which will definetly be in 2014 my dealer has advised) , that my whole experience with VW has been very 2nd rate . Almost as if ……dare i say …..its just a commercial vehicle and as such we will be treated in that way??

I really loved the Berghaus when i purhased it…….But now thanks to VW customer service / attitude i am thinking ….did i make the right choice or should i have saved my money and purchased something else?

 

[Rich Corrado]

This is an absolutely disgusting level of customer service!

If I were you I would be sending that email to the dealer principle at the dealership and inform him that you will be sending a complaint to vw customer services and watchdog.

I am potentially looking at buying a brand new Cali and if I was treated this way I would be going nuts!

Please name and shame, or at least say the rough location.

Oh and as for paying for a rental car........tell them to jog on!

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Shame it hasn't gone as well as you would have hoped it to. If you have an awning I would look at that as we have had quite a few California's come into us with a rattle from the offside front door area with the window down and the awning was making the noise every time.

The steering knock can be difficult as we find that a lot of people report about it when the vehicle has not been used for a while, and then using it the noise goes away. It is difficult to diagnose a noise if the noise is not present. Did they offer to take you out in the vehicle so you could demonstrate it to them? If not, you could always offer to take them out and show them what noise you are talking about and go from there.

We are still waiting to find out what the roof repair will involve, how long it will take etc...

cheers

 

[fordyski100]

Thanks for the replies Rich and Alex.
Rich , don't let me put you off purchasing a Cali , they are fantastic . There are problems with them as I seem to be experiencing , but it's the way problems are dealt with that is the main issue and when , as in my case , both the dealership and VW themselves (with regard to the blistering paint issue ) treat you in such a poor way , you loose faith and start questioning if the large outlay on such a vehicle is really worth it ?
I will be contacting VW customer services , as to watchdog , probably not unless a large amount of other owners were to advise they feel the same and have also received poor customer service.
I won't name the individual dealer yet as I don't feel it appropriate yet , but hopefully they also read these forums !

Alex , appreciate your comments and I can advise I had already tightened blind as this has been mentioned on this forum and it was not that .I was in daily contact with the customer service department and I even offered to come over and show the steering problem which incidentally is a 100 mile round trip for me to my closest California specialist ,but I was advised that they would find the fault (I was advised this 3 times) .Only on the 8th day of having my vehicle was it diagnosed as a top steering column ,but I was not advised and told to take it away and it would be fixed when the paint repair is done ! That's what I am unhappy about.

Anyway thanks for comments guys and I don't want this to become a slagging off VW forum as deep down I love the Berghaus .....for me it's all about the customer service issue!

 

[Rich Corrado]

Don't worry, your not going to put me off owning a Cali but as you say it's all about the customer service and how they deal with a problem when there is one.

Trust me when I say this level of customer service is disgusting.

 

[fordyski100]

(Needless to say i advised in my opinion i will not be paying for the courtesy car for 8 days(total time they had my vehicle) and i will be receiving a call regarding this tomorrow.(look forward to this)

Latest update on the quality of service i have received and how good is my dealer……...

As i previously mentioned i collected my California on Thursday 7th November and was advised i would receive a phone call the following day (Friday 8th November) from the dealerships customer service advisor whom had been dealing with my vehicle , to discuss
1, when the new top steering column would be fitted (i had advised i will not wait until 2014 as suggested !)
2 The cost for the "loan car " which i had to have for 8 days as the dealership had not organised the parts for replacement in advance of booking the vehicle in and due to the fact that they also could not find the obvious fault on the steering column until the 8th day (strange as it was immediately there again as i drove out of there forecourt)

Well the latest update 6 days later is ………..NO PHONE CALL OR EMAIL FROM ANYONE AT *** (Curently still trying not to name and shame , but maybe i'll re-consider soon).
I cannot say i am surprised (Obviously i have no intention of paying anything for the loan car but as parts are available to them next day i would have expected a call to book in the fitting of the steering column).

One other thing that has made me laugh about this whole episode (if only it was funny ) , is that whilst i was being advised that the vehicle had not had anything carried out to the steering after the 8 days of investigations , which as you might guess i was not very happy about !, i was asked what vouchers i would like?? I was shocked by this and advised i dont want vouchers "i want my vehicle fit for purpose (including the blistering paint") to which i was again asked what vouchers i would like? I was then told "its obvious you have lost confidence in VW so we would like to offer some vouchers for your wife to spend in John Lewis " . I advised that this really isn't the point . I was advised that they would immediately send out some vouchers anyway .( No monetary value was mentioned). Well my point is ……….. The vouchers have not arrived either and i doubt if they ever will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Was it just a ploy to calm me down????) Time will tell!!!!!!

In my earlier post i mentioned how i feel as if we are treated by VW as just" Commercial van customers" (despite the vehicles costing in excess of £50k) and some of the vans are in excess of £30k and i had been considering one of these for my company as well(fine chance at the moment!). Well ,i think i'm right ,as yesterday the sister company to VW (AUDI) of which i also own a vehicle invited me to an Audi RS experience day at Brands Hatch . What a fantastic day and i must say i have only had good experiences with Audi customer service with my car (which has had no faults). So if they can do it , why can't VW ??????

 

[slowcoach65]

Be wary of accepting the vouchers. They may later claim this was compensation for your dissatisfaction, limiting future claims.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[sebking]

Write a nice letter to VWCS. They are actually pretty sane.
Seb

 

[gatvol]

You have my sympathies here. I have experienced very similar problems to you, with VW/ Audi under warranty over the past 5 years namely

1. Appalling vehicle build quality
2. Shoddy main dealer service - and I have tried a few

I have had so many of the issues you mention of parts not in/ service dep't not returning calls/ shoddy work that needed re-doing/ required parts being on back order/ people in the dealership contradicting you and each other/ being left with a courtesy vehicle for ages.

Calis are beautifully and thoughtfully designed but the build quality is 1970s fiat. This means that frequent trips for repairs and maintenance are an integral part of the Cali ownership story

Cali dealers effectively enjoy local monopolies so competition is severely stifled and this shows. No matter how bad they are it is very difficult for many customers to go elsewhere and they and their people know this. When you go to modern VW/ Audi dealers they are like palaces of the car. The money that goes into building them, fitting them out, buying all the marque specific tooling is huge ....... Yet so many people who work in them don't do a decent job. Maybe they are too thinly stretched or are incompetent, I do not know

When you get to "the sticks" like I am, how bad does a dealer need to be before you will drive 2h to get to the next one ?. A 2h journey to drop your Cali off for an overnight job is actually 8h of dead, precious time

When skill is rationed, you need to be smart yourself to actually secure it. Be that through persistence/ rigour/ research. I am sorry to say, but I think we would all be naïve to think that the fact that someone works at a VW franchise means they will do you a good job

In my experience the best bet is to get a recommendation from someone whose opinion you trust. I have so far dealt with two VW van franchises and both have let me down

Failing that, go to a large urban area like Greater Manchester as if Manchester Audi lets you down, Stockport Audi/ Macclesfield Audi/ Bolton Audi/ Warrington Audi are not that far away so do actually generate a degree of competition. I thought Manchester Audi was poor, but they were superheroes compared to Audi Lincoln

I think people need to change mindset with VW/ Audi dealers. That they have a nice building does not make them good mechanics. Do not think about them as premium service providers or what they were like in the 1970s/ 80s/ 90s. But rather think of them as plumbers, or builders, or people who tarmac your drive

Some of these folk are honest and skilled. These guys are often booked up well in advance
Some are bluffers just toying with it to make a bit of money until something else comes along
Some got fired from the local council last week and wanted a job, any job
Some are trainees who benefitted from a Tony Blair education so can't read or write
Some are little better than criminals who actually do more harm than good
Some are criminals

So you either cut your losses and sell it or through trial and error/ word of mouth happen upon those rare but special places that give a damn and can actually fix the problems

Good luck

 

[Ambler]

I think there is a fair amount of luck in owning any modern vehicle.
We have owned both Vw and audi cars in the past.
As it happens the Vw ones have been fine, ditto dealers.
The Audis suffered from major component failure and the dealer was useless, even to the point of refusing to help in any way.

I have not owned an Audi since (nor ever will) but having looked at several conversions the Cali. Is the only kid on the block and as you say we are stuck with the dealers.

I got the feeling they will not undercut each other. When you phone one they ask, where did you see the Cali, where did you drive one? Once I had been quoted, none of the others I asked came near the original price. Just my gut feeling, having been around the business arena for many years.

 

[Hammer]

unfortunately I have had very similar service from my local dealer in Peterborough, I posted over a year ago the issues I faced with van returned with greasy hand prints and broken glass everywhere (they changed one of the windows). At the time I gave them a second chance and over the last 12 months have had nothing but issues. The biggest was my inverter failed and they clearly couldn't fix it even after 3 or 4 visits, but even small jobs were fitted incorrectly or they damaged other trim whilst fixing issues etc

In the end I called VW Uk and complained and the recommendation was to take to another dealer! They did tell me on the phone that VW are looking at introducing Life Style Centres in key locations around the UK that will only look after the campers. Sounds like this is some way off but will certainly be a welcome addition.

In the end of pulled my Van from Peterborough and took it to Leicester, they fixed the inverter is less than a day and have been very good with a few other issues I had (including the sliding roof which Peterborough just kept sticking more felt tape on!)

unfortunately I have to now do a 1 1/2hr round trip to Leicester to get the correct level of service but its worth it and if I were you would seriously look at other dealers.

Good luck on getting you Cali sorted.