GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: p3asa on 05 May 2016, 15:23
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I'm not having much luck with dealers just now. This is a different dealer / problem to my wife's GTI with the swirly paint on collection.
Some background info: a few years ago while getting my MK6 serviced, the dealer offered to sort my 2 slow punctures free of charge. I got the wheels back with no weights, so obviously said to them. They got it sorted but the alloys came back with the faces all scratched as if they had been laid face down and to add insult to injury they washed the car despite me telling them not to and my tailgate was all marked probably from the hose rubbing against it. They denied it all and said the most they would do is machine the tailgate. Anyway I machined the alloys and tailgate myself. I then moved to an Audi car so never went back.
Fast forward to me getting the Mk7. I took my car back to that dealer for a service and all went well. Given my previous problems with them I asked the advisor to look round with me beforehand and thankfully it came back the same way. So I've continued this practice ever since.
I then needed warranty work done for the water coming in my boot. Again I got the advisor to look round the car and he agreed there wasn't a mark on it. I picked the car up a week later and quickly walked round it. It seemed ok. I drove out and parked round the corner just to have a closer inspection. I found my paint was chipped on the bonnet and the trim down the side of my windscreen was gouged. I immediately drove back and they agreed to do a smart repair if I wanted and also replace the trim. I declined the smart repair but agreed to the trim being replaced. After the service adviser agreeing the damage hadn't been there when I dropped the car off and agreeing to the work above, he changed his story when I phoned to book it in. "Maybe it was there and I just didn't look properly" was what he was now saying. But anyway they agreed to sort it.
(http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad28/p3asa1/GTD/bonnet_zpscninwg8a.jpg)
(http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad28/p3asa1/GTD/bonnet%202_zpskw5vxvgl.jpg)
So last week it went in to have its 2nd service and have the trim replaced they previously damaged. I spent the whole day before cleaning it so it was in pristine condition. It was agreed that a master technician and the service adviser would check it over. So they spent about 15 minutes going round it with a fine tooth comb. They even noticed the slightest of dings in my drivers door. I could see it after they pointed it out but since then I've never been able to spot it again. That is how vigilant he was.
So my car was left for a few hours and then I went to collect it. The service advisor walked me to the car. Given that I had highlighted my concerns I didn't think for a minute there would be any damage. I'm not one for making a big deal about anything so quickly walked round the car looking at the wheels as it was on a test drive and told the adviser that everything looked ok. It wasn't until later that day (after they had closed) that I was bending down looking at something on my daughters car that I thought the sill didn't run quite straight. On closer inspection it has a gouge out it. Just where the arms of the lift would go.
(http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad28/p3asa1/GTD/20160427_195948_zpsal8ryio9.jpg)
(http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad28/p3asa1/GTD/20160427_200216_zpsgyolt42o.jpg)
I emailed the dealer straight away with pictures but got no reply. So I spoke with customer services who just put me through to the service manager. He had obviously seen my pictures as he knew what I was talking about. He basically said given that I never pointed it out to them at the time, then I was satisfied with the way the car was returned. He also claimed it might have been like this previously but nobody noticed and it wasn't until I was down low looking at my daughters car that I noticed it.
So I spoke with customer services again and was advised to send them my pictures. I also sent them a picture I had taken the day before after I had washed the car with no damage in that area.
I received an email back yesterday saying "As a final response to this complaint we are unable to assist you any further as you had checked over your vehicle with a manager and was happy with its condition before you removed it from the branch."
So that is where I'm at just now. I wish now I had spent the same 15 minutes going over the car that they had in the morning but I didn't for one minute expect there to be any damage at all and like I say I'm not one for causing a fuss. All I wanted was my car to come back in the same condition I left it in. That's hardly a crime?
Is there any route or suggestion or am I as well just giving up?
Thanks for reading.
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don't give up with them keep phoning them and write a complaint to head office :sad:
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I'm going to phone and ask to speak to one of the managers in the customer services but I just know it will be a waste of time.
What is it with people nowadays not giving a dam about others property.
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After my dad's old mk2 needed bodywork doing below one of the rear lights above the bumper, he took it in and it took weeks to get it looking right, my dad must have gone to fetch it about 4 times but he only brought it home the last time, they couldn't get the paint to match, and my dad is a perfectionist with cars generally, keep pestering. They'll get sick of you, and do it too get rid of you pestering them. That worked 15 or so years ago anyway.
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Try social media if they don't play ball, vwuk would/should get involved then
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Twitter usually works miracles, especially with a photo attached....
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Whilst I have every sympathy, the fact you've driven away & later spotted the damage puts you in a somewhat weaker position given you'd done a walk round with the service advisor & hadn't spotted it...
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Sadly (and I also have a lot of sympathy), you have lost your ground by accepting the vehicle back after inspecting it.
I'm actually astonished you would leave a car in the care of a dealer who has previous form regarding damage to your cars. I would not cross their threshold again.
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Sadly (and I also have a lot of sympathy), you have lost your ground by accepting the vehicle back after inspecting it.
I'm actually astonished you would leave a car in the care of a dealer who has previous form regarding damage to your cars. I would not cross their threshold again.
I had to as they were repairing the previous damage.
I do agree with folk that by doing a walk round if you can call it that, I accepted the car the way it was. However they are being arsey about the whole thing so by the same token I never signed anything to say everything was ok and also does that mean that everyone that leaves the dealership has got not recourse as soon as they accept the keys and drive out?
Like I said above I could have been a real nob and spent 20 minutes going over absolutely everything the way they did, but didn't want to come across as being like that.
Edit: Spelling
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Sadly (and I also have a lot of sympathy), you have lost your ground by accepting the vehicle back after inspecting it.
I'm actually astonished you would leave a car in the care of a dealer who has previous form regarding damage to your cars. I would not cross their threshold again.
I had to as they were repairing the previous damage.
I do agree with folk that by doing a walk round if you can call it that, I accepted the car the way it was. However they are being arsey about the whole thing so by the same token I never signed anything to say everything was ok and also does that mean that everyone that leaves the dealerish has got not recourse as soon as they accept the keys and drive out?
Like I said above I could have been a real nob and spent 20 minutes going over absolutely everything the way they did, but didn't want to come across as being like that.
I think that's totally understandable tbh, in a 30 second quick walk around the car you're very likely to miss something and like you say, you don't want to be a complete knob about it either.
Too late for you now obviously, but what I tend to do is have a good look at the car before I even go into the Service desk reception to get the keys back - i.e. have a good look at the car first all on your own without the service guy standing next to you rushing you along... which is exactly what I did about 6 months ago when I left my car in for warranty work - and luckily I did because of course I found a door ding. Fortunately the dealers were good about it and sorted it for me. If I had left the forecourt and reported the damage later I think I'd have had a pretty weak case tbh.
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Yeah good advice. There is nothing I can disagree with and I know I should have checked it before hand but I still can't see how they can just wash their hands of it.
I've put some aerospace trim restorer on it and it isn't as noticeable.
I've also watched my dashcam footage and while you can't see the arms of the lift being used or swung into place you can see them being used on other cars and it is definitely the corner of one of these that has been swung into my cill. Its just frustrating how they can damage folks property and not be accountable.
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You can ask to have your car put back on the same ramp and see if any of the lifting apparatus aligns up with your damage.If the dealer has nothing to hide they can hardly refuse.
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Stevie, you may not have the strongest of cases having not picked up the damage before collection, but I would persist with the various avenues and generally make a nuisance of yourself if necessary. It can pay off. Seems to becoming a more and more frequent occurrence that a car goes in to the dealer and comes out in worse condition than it went in, which is sadly ironic considering they are going in to be improved in some way, be it warranty work or service. Trouble is so many people don't really care so let these things go, dealerships become complacent and then go into denial mode when a discerning customer such as yourself decides to pursue the matter (as you should).
I think the damage is such that it can only have been caused by the lifting apparatus, both the deep nick in the trim (which is not easily marked) and perhaps more tellingly the way the trim has been pushed up. So as AndyG suggests maybe asking to see your car on the ramp is the route to take to show them that it would result in exactly this kind of damage.
I really hope you can get a satisfactory outcome. But after repeated instances of careless damage to your car and their attitude I would find somewhere else to have your cars serviced. It may be less convenient but hopefully in the long run it will preserve your car, and save you a huge amount of time and hassle having to sort out the after effects of total and utter dealer incompetence.
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Did you have a good look under the car too? Might be worth checking if the actual sills themselves are damaged and that would definitely point towards careless lifting. The sills on these cars are quite soft and will bend / crush easily if the car isn't lifted at the correct points.
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That's a good shout Andy at least it would put the matter to bed once and for all. Although I don't know how I'd handle walking into the workshop with 20 odd mechanics all turning round and staring at me. I'm 100% it happened in their care and not knowing how these lifts work I'm sure they would do their hardest to prove it never happened there so would set it up so the arm couldn't swing that way. Yeah call me paranoid :grin:
Yeah Bec I do think its happening more and more. I know it's accidental so its just carelessness that's causing it. I never used to bother about putting my car into these places but my last couple of cars have been an eye opener. Folk can say what they like about Audi but my local Audi walk round the car taking pictures of it when you drop it off. That in itself has made me look at the S3 a bit more closely. Don't worry I won't be using this dealer any more. I'll wait and see how my wife's car gets on at another VW dealership failing that it will be an 80 mile round trip to a VW dealership that isn't in the same group.
I've not looked under it Joe crazy at it sounds but I will now.
Thanks
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So I phoned customer services back to say why don't you put the car back on the ramp and if the damage doesn't marry up to the arms of the ramp lifts then I'll agree it didn't happen while in your dealership.
I got told no. The matter is now finished!!! They refused point blank.
The service manager also refused to tell me who his manager was as the matter was now finished!!!
Unbelievable.
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That's piss poor, name and shame them, and everyone on this and other forums can avoid them like the plague. I'd also take to Twitter & post about the bad customer service you've received
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So I phoned customer services back to say why don't you put the car back on the ramp and if the damage doesn't marry up to the arms of the ramp lifts then I'll agree it didn't happen while in your dealership.
I got told no. The matter is now finished!!! They refused point blank.
The service manager also refused to tell me who his manager was as the matter was now finished!!!
Unbelievable.
Time to name and I think, I think a few of us on here would gladly share our thoughts on their tweeter account and the like.
As some of you I was rearended in my CC in March, after taking ages to get it repaired it wasn't done right. Got a quote to sort it out and fix some damage they did while the car was there. Oryx white paint is a little pricey to say the least.
(http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r579/Yeah-it-is-me/image_zpsyorrg6rn.png) (http://s1172.photobucket.com/user/Yeah-it-is-me/media/image_zpsyorrg6rn.png.html)
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MK7-GTD that was always my concern when looking at those fancy whites or metallic whites, how much to repair and...............can they get a good match?
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MK7-GTD that was always my concern when looking at those fancy whites or metallic whites, how much to repair and...............can they get a good match?
Well by law I have to let them try once to rectify the problems. It is gone back to them now and as a sweetener I asked them to refurbish all my wheels(19" Luganos) and when they sent them off to be repaired they all had flat spots. I knew this beforehand so I had them put in writing that they would sort the wheels out to new condition. They have a policy of not repairing damaged wheels which I also knew about. They tried to do the hole sorry but we can't do anything but with a little persuasion they agreed that they had an agreement with me so 5 new alloys were ordered for me yesterday. Result :whistle:
Back to Stevie's problem, I would certainly be outing them and I would not stop.
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Sounds like it is time to get on Volkswagen's social media sites to test their customer services skills. No company likes bad press !!
Good luck !!