VW Cock-up (advice needed please)

[domrees]

Having slept on my predicament I'm very, very close to cancelling my order.

Three things spring to mind:

1) I feel I've been made a fool of and treated appallingly (waited 2 months in good faith only to learn my order never was)
2) They, my supplying dealer & online broker, have never apologised for this f*ck up
3) I still enjoy driving my lovely Scirocco so do I really, really need and new GTD?

I'm going to think it through over the weekend and make my decision on Monday morning.

Thanks for your support folks - it helps

I bet you won't be using an online broker any time soon. Personally I would steer well clear. Negotiate hard with your local dealer is the only way to go.

Dealers live on profit, and when you enter into an arrangement where the profit is eroded considerably, it is not surprising that they are not too worried when things go wrong.

It is the same in every trade/business.  Push a builder hard on his prices, and when something goes wrong, what happens?  He pays lip service to the problem.

I'm not suggesting that we should all pay through the nose for our cars, but there has to be enough skin in the game to cover the bases when/if things go wrong.

Good luck with it all, if I were in your position I would withdraw my order, tell them all to get stuffed and enjoy my scirocco.

[Jimble]

I know some people have had good service from online brokers but if you have a read through some of the early mk6 threads it seems it's nothing new for people to get screwed over by them, I seem to remember a lot of false promises when it came to allocation?!

I've never used one myself as I don't really like middle men!

[joet]

I know some people have had good service from online brokers but if you have a read through some of the early mk6 threads it seems it's nothing new for people to get screwed over by them, I seem to remember a lot of false promises when it came to allocation?!

I've never used one myself as I don't really like middle men!

But they are only middle men for a matter of a couple of days. I used Drive the Deal and within two days a dealer had contacted me and all my contact since then has been with the dealer. He's kept me informed all along and I've got a confirmed build week of 25. So using a broker isn't all that bad.

[DougL]

I've never used one myself as I don't really like middle men!

I'm sure my order could go pear-shaped too, but it never felt like there was a middle man. Within a  day of placing the order, drivethedeal basically said goodbye and all further dealings have been with the dealer.

[Jimble]

I know some people have had good service from online brokers but if you have a read through some of the early mk6 threads it seems it's nothing new for people to get screwed over by them, I seem to remember a lot of false promises when it came to allocation?!

I've never used one myself as I don't really like middle men!

But they are only middle men for a matter of a couple of days. I used Drive the Deal and within two days a dealer had contacted me and all my contact since then has been with the dealer. He's kept me informed all along and I've got a confirmed build week of 25. So using a broker isn't all that bad.

I refer you to my previous comment! 

[GolfTi]

I too remember the mk6 GTI problems.
Brokers were offering massive discounts when they didn't have any allocation and no hope of getting any.

Many disappointed potential customers back then. It works for some pretty well but seems to be a big gamble.
Why would VW sell GTIs via brokers when they have a 6 month waiting list already?

[DougL]

Why would VW sell GTIs via brokers when they have a 6 month waiting list already?

Because they are fleet sales and not retail sales. Who knows whether they have a retail sales allocation and a fleet allocation. I doubt whether retail are even bothered about what fleet do and vice-versa. And to be honest, I couldn't care wheteher my car arrives on Wk 37 or in January next year. 

[Bill_the_Bear]

I thought fleet sold to companies, retail to us normal people.  Why would sales via brokers be fleet?  I know nothing, can anyone explain!

[GolfTi]

No, I don't quite understand it either.
Someone will be along soon to clarify I hope.

[DougL]

Brokers buy cars from dealers with whom they have a contract in huge numbers. They get a fleet discount, hence the discount to the buyer. The sales are handled by the fleet arm of the dealership and not the sales team who deal with the public.