Top marks to SMG Tonbridge.

[Borris]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

 

[Sandyvan]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

Its made you happy Borris, so its a good thing Dude.

 

[Czmitche]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

We have just bought an Ocean from stock via Liverpool Van Centre - they also did a little video tour for us after they had fitted an awning in the dealership. I agree its a nice touch and not that difficult to do. Based on the feedback of Marshalls above it appears some dealers are much better than others. To be fair we have just had a tracker and webcam fitted by Marshalls in Reading and they were very good.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

Excellent news! Can breathe easy now as 31st October is till two weeks away........

 

[blondebier]

Is this video normal on factory orders?

We got a video presentation from Eurovans in Crawley in 2018. Nice touch.

We used to take our vans to Tonbridge for servicing, but a few poor visits made us try elsewhere. Their service team isn't what it used to be.

We go to SMG in Cowfold now.

 

[LemonDrop]

Exciting, can't wait to see pics of the 2-tone beauty (good choice Grand-kids).

No idea whether it's normal or just an SMG thing? Matt from SMG Tonbridge sent us a walk-around video of ours before we collected.

 

[Borris]

Excellent news! Can breathe easy now as 31st October is till two weeks away........

Yes, despite my reservations, it's all worked out very well indeed. We should be Cali owners again either this or more likely, next week.

 

[Borris]

We got a video presentation from Eurovans in Crawley in 2018. Nice touch.

We used to take our vans to Tonbridge for servicing, but a few poor visits made us try elsewhere. Their service team isn't what it used to be.

We go to SMG in Cowfold now.

I've found the service team to be OK. However, I have had several extended warranty issues, all of which were initially refused. After drawing their attention to VW's online blurb incl their T and Cs and referring these issues to VW Customer services, they were resolved in my favour. It seems to me that with any Factory Extended Warranty claim the first action seems to be to tell the customer it isn't covered!!! So it's best to argue.

 

[Borris]

Exciting, can't wait to see pics of the 2-tone beauty (good choice Grand-kids).

No idea whether it's normal or just an SMG thing? Matt from SMG Tonbridge sent us a walk-around video of ours before we collected.

Thanks.
We are keeping it as a surprise until then but as it's their half term break next week, we are planning to take them out on "an adventure" involving train ride to Tonbridge, a slap up lunch and the on to SMG to collect Moonlight, then home via McDs I suspect. Unfortunately that means we have got to go down there either this week or next and check it over, pay for it and kit it out with waterproof seat covers, booster seats etc etc.

 

[GillianC]

Martin from SMG Tonbridge sent me a video of the van after my telphone enquiry asking if they had received an Ocean Edition. Did the trick - put down a £500 deposit instantly and ended up spending lots of dosh

 

[Borris]

Martin from SMG Tonbridge sent me a video of the van after my telphone enquiry asking if they had received an Ocean Edition. Did the trick - put down a £500 deposit instantly and ended up spending lots of dosh

Sounds like a jolly good sales tool.

 

[blondebier]

I've found the service team to be OK. However, I have had several extended warranty issues, all of which were initially refused. After drawing their attention to VW's online blurb incl their T and Cs and referring these issues to VW Customer services, they were resolved in my favour. It seems to me that with any Factory Extended Warranty claim the first action seems to be to tell the customer it isn't covered!!! So it's best to argue.

They made a complete hash of a warranty job for us.

It's a commercial van centre with too many customers. It appears that anything other than routine servicing is a stretch. They don’t need to provide much of a service as they’ve got a constant stream of business customers that are getting their fleet serviced there.

There's rarely anywhere to park, no dedicated customer parking, and unless you've purchased your vehicle from here – with no real service to speak of at all.

It's a real shame as their sales team are pretty good. (We bought our first Beach from SMG)

 

[GrannyJen]

I was sent a video, almost a live feed, as my Cali was unloaded from the transporter into a very narrow and busy road before being squeezed into a quite overcrowded outdoor storage area.

My knuckles were white at the end,

 

[Sandyvan]

The nowhere to park sadly can be most dealers me thinks. I've had experiences with several van centres now and all suffer the same issue.

 

[Borris]

They made a complete hash of a warranty job for us.

It's a commercial van centre with too many customers. It appears that anything other than routine servicing is a stretch. They don’t need to provide much of a service as they’ve got a constant stream of business customers that are getting their fleet serviced there.

There's rarely anywhere to park, no dedicated customer parking, and unless you've purchased your vehicle from here – with no real service to speak of at all.

It's a real shame as their sales team are pretty good. (We bought our first Beach from SMG)

Well I don't know about their service load but I certainly agree about the parking. It's awful.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

+1 for SMG Tonbridge and I also got a video....
In fact mine is still up there on line I just took another look and all the excitement came flooding back.
Back when I first received the email with the link I achieved viral figures I reckon

 

[Amarillo]

They made a complete hash of a warranty job for us.

It's a commercial van centre with too many customers. It appears that anything other than routine servicing is a stretch. They don’t need to provide much of a service as they’ve got a constant stream of business customers that are getting their fleet serviced there.

There's rarely anywhere to park, no dedicated customer parking, and unless you've purchased your vehicle from here – with no real service to speak of at all.

It's a real shame as their sales team are pretty good. (We bought our first Beach from SMG)

I always go to SMG Tonbridge despite it being the 9th closest at 28 miles.

Apart from the lack of parking, I have confidence in their ability to take care of my van. Four warranty items without quibble, and one warranty refusal - the wind out awning canopy creasing. I'm not too surprised they rejected that: the canopy has two neat rows of evenly spaced punctures caused by me winding it in with sharp stones on top lobbed there by our then just three year old son.

 

[pjm-84]

Quite a common sales technique these days but it is well received. I had one for a JCW back in 2017 and it was so windy it made me laugh. You also have them for your vehicle health check.

I used SMG back in the summer and had numerous issues, front spoiler too low (raised and corrected by Moi), told me that they had done the roof tape (nope they hadn't), and a bent drop rod on the front suspension after the lowering. Actually threw the drop rod away the other day (the bend is outwards which is not possible in a normal day to day situation). Once bitten I'm afraid.

You know the thing that annoyed me the most. Removing the number plate, when raising the spoiler, to find one fixing broken and one not installed

 

[Ta51tac]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

We had a video from John at Liverpool. Oh and just got a box of biscuits too through the post which was also a lovely surprise.

 

[Borris]

I'll ask SMG where my biscuits are then.

 

[Ta51tac]

I'll ask SMG where my biscuits are then.

Oops. I have started something now! Could this be biscuitgate?

 

[JAPRACER]

Mine is back there at present having the paint protection redone as it wasn’t right first time around, should have it back this Friday.

 

[BeagleMum]

Having ordered a new Beach in August, I received an Email from the Sales Manager, Laine Watts at SMG Tonbridge last Thursday. His Email told us that it had arrived. He had also attached a walk round video of the vehicle in it's preprepared state. This was a lovely surprise after over two months of being Caliless.

Is this video normal on factory orders? I have owned lots of cars over the years but all of those that were new were either ex demo or off the peg from either dealer or national stock. This is the first vehicle we have ever factory ordered. OK it's only a small thing but I thought that it was excellent customer service.

Well done SMG Tonbridge and in particular, well done Laine Watts.

When we were searching for our Beach a couple of dealerships sent us walk around videos

 

[GillianC]

Oops. I have started something now! Could this be biscuitgate?

I got some flowers.

 

[Volkywagen]

+1 for video, pictures and updates via email prior to hand over. Biscuits and a few other bits followed the week after via post. Best in the country