Blade Skoda - Bristol

[DGW]

Blade Skoda

99-101 Feeder Road

Bristol

BS2 0UB

Tel: 08442 098093

Services: New, Used, Repair

[Timmyboy]

I got the necessary parts for my retro jumbo box install from here a few months back - very good service, sat me down with a schematic to find what I'd need etc etc.

Anyway, though I'd give them a go for my Octy's 2nd annual service - didn't bother phoning around as the price seemed reasonable at £168 and the other 2 dealers near me are a bit of a trek.

Pleasantly surprised to learn that they do a 'collect and drop off service', picking up the car from outside my house and dropping it off when done.

Received a phone call during the day to say that as the car was 2 years old, it required a brake fluid change for £50 as it needs doing every 2 years. Accepted this - checked the service history that night (which they had at the time) only to find it had been done the previous year.

Decided to write a complaining email in my lunch break the next day, disappointed that the experience was going a bit sour - received a call on my mobile 2 hours later from one of the managers, couldn't be more apologetic at the mistake and refunded £50 to my credit card on the spot.

Actually felt slightly guilty as I had the fluid changed for free

So, all in all very impressed and will be going back in the future.

Just goes to show what decent customer service gets you - a returning customer and a plug on a busy forum

[topcat2006]

Went in to look at a 2nd hand Octavia L+K estate they had. Spoke to Gareth and he could not have been more helpful. Gareth and Mark very keen to sell the car, plenty of cups of tea and donuts too. Good price for my p/x and good deal done on 18 month old car.

Could not reccomend them enough and a complete contrast to dealing with ***************.

TC

Edited 28 November, 2009 by DGW
Inappropriate mention of another Dealer.

[VRSDEISEL]

Dealer has changed hands this week - now owned by Blade VW & Audi from Gloucester who have a good reputation.

Mod's Note: TY for this useful heads-up. The Dealer Principal has changed but the dealership is otherwise the same and previous feedback remains relevant.

[johnnyp]

I've had appauling service here so far, just trying to speak to anyone there on the telephone is impossible!

I've lost count of the number of times I''ve tried to call and speak to the parts department only to be told their not available, no-one answers their extension or that they will pass my number to them and then low and behold, never, ever get a call back!

Its not much better when i've visited in desperation, no-one availbe to see me and they will take my number which obviously goes straight in the bin.

**************************************

Edited 19 April, 2010 by DGW
Inappropriate inclusion of comment on another dealer deleted.

[APJ]

Walked into the dealership one Saturday afternoon to enquire about a new Octy vRS. Made for a chap sitting behind a desk reading a magazine, as he was the only one around. Only after standing there for what seemed like ages did he lift his eyes from the magazine and acknowledged my presence. He then had to go and find a sales person which seemed to take a while. Sales person was full of the usual flannel. After talking down my part ex, they offered 1/3rd what I'd been offered elsewhere,

Had great satisfaction in telling them they were way off the mark and I'd be purchasing from the other dealership.

[The Ships Cat]

Had the 36k service carried out on my car this week , booked in for a waiting service, they had it serviced and washed by ten o'clock , kept me updated during service and advised of a software update , advised of nail in tyre and also noted that handbrake was sticking and have ordered a piece of trim to fix this, I am very happy with the service from them. Only problem , the "background" music in the showroom is too loud.

[DaveHarries]

This dealership is now operating under a new name. I went there last week to ask about wires for connecting iPods to AUX socket on my Fabia. A number of cars on the Seat side were displaying "Blade Seat" and, similarly, a number of cars on the Skoda side displayed Blade Skoda. The sign outside on the road still said "Bristol (Skoda)" but the dealership has renamed and the contact details are unchanged.

There is a website confirming the change of name, and very nice site it is too:

http://www.bladegroupskoda.co.uk/

HTH,

Dave

Edited 23 August, 2010 by DGW
Dealer name changed in first post. TY. :)

[SilverBall]

Did not have a happy time with this dealer. Walked into the showroom on a Saturday afternoon ( admittedly they were busy ) looked around - no demo Fabia VRS - so mooched around a bit more - drooled at the VRS brochure etc. Man in a suit ( the only one not sat at a desk talking to folk)walked past me to talk to a couple who were also looking around ( they came in after me but not by much - no big deal) Another couple walk in and he pounces on them immediately. I hear them say that they are just looking so I try to attract his attention - he takes one look at me and mumbles something about having to talk to one of his staff and excuses himself. 5 mins later I have had enough and walk out of the showroom. Drive to another dealer where I spent my money. I suspect that there may be a moral to this story somewhere.

[geverard]

They were 'acceptable' on a number of occassions but nothing special. They seem to beat ****************** on price every time, but the service is no where near as good in my opinion. After the last service, I noticed a change in the sound of the climate control and I found they had replaced my activated charcoal pollen & odour filter with a (cheaper) pollen filter, but had charged me the full price. The old one was grey, the replacement white, so I don't believe the technician simply made a mistake! They agreed to replace it but there was no apology or comment in any way, and I had to wait over an hour for what I know to be a 5 minute job they could have done in the carpark. I'm afraid the feeling of being cheated (albeit in a very small way) put me off using them again.

Edited 6 March, 2011 by DGW
Inappropriate mention of another dealer deleted.

[Nicky boy]

I walked in to enquire about how much I could get a brand new VRS for and left them my details to call me back which never happened (my guess is because on the day I was looking scruffy). Went back in a month later and ordered the car from someone else in the building who on the order form twice got my name and address wrong which has made it difficult when calling SUK to find out on the progress of my car. I also had to tell them the price of the car to work out my qoute plus had to tell them what options it came with! When I test drove the DSG I didnt get explained the manual part of it, only the D and S modes. This meant I didnt get the full view of the DSG and went with manual. After some research I found out what the DSG can actually do and decided to change my order. So far not amused . . . . .

Blade Skoda told me that changing to DSG would mean I would have to cancel my order and replce it meaning I would lose my build week of 13 and probably push the car back by a couple of months. After having consulted people on this forum I spoke with SUK customer care who advised me that I can change my order all the dealer would have to do is change an option code. The dealer couldnt understand this and I had to have a 3 way convo to put the dealer right. The result was that I had to give Blade Skoda the phone number for Skoda UK because they didnt know who to call!!!!!!! Tis has now been resolved and now I have build week 10 which I had to find out myself because when I asked the dealer they said it would be build week 13 still!

Now I am wanting to take off lifeshine and GAP because its a rip off from the dealer and apparently they are too busy to sort it right now, however when I go in there they are all doing very little except chatting and looking very relazed on their comfy chairs.

I havent got the car yet but when I do I shall be writing a letter to their head office with my above thoughts outlined to them. I will not mention any names on here, makes me wonder how much these guys get paid to provide their non-existent customer services. So far NOT a good experience for me for my first ever brand new car, I wont be buyng from these guys again.

[Nicky boy]

One more thing to add:

I went in there to try and chat with my salesperson, about part ex of a car, who happened to be away (fair enough) and I ended up trying hard to get help from another person. It seemed to me and my girlfriend that we were a massive inconvenience and we felt really awkward. I got a slight response when I said I had already purchased a 20K car and then suddenly we were friends when I said I needed to pay them some money.

I sent my above post to SUK and blade group headoffice and yesterday I had a pleasant response from the dealer and my requests were actioned striaght away. Maybe a co-incidence, maybe not, either way I was finally pleased with something.

[The Ships Cat]

I had very good service from Blades again today , the exhaust control system light came on last night (Friday) , I was concerned as we are going to London today (Saturday), Went to the garage at 0820hrs, explained the problem and they had a look at it straight away , Drove out at 0930hrs all sorted, very happy with the service from Blades.

[simonhutton1]

Happy enough with the service so far, I have signed for an 06 Golf on finance. I dealt with a man called Adrian there. Pleasant enough, he even drove out to my address to collect a document. Phoning ahead and making an appointment will always greater your chances. I feel these places are awkward at the best of times, luckily for me the salesman was efficient and informative enough. The whole procedure was very swift indeed. I'll keep you updated on the progress as I have a 1 year warranty with them.

[pullover]

Had a Blade Bristol service and they tried to sell me two unnecessary tyres, reporting them as illegal (tread depth) and dangerous (due to deep cuts to cord) on both tyres.

I used their 'collect and deliver' service, so I wasn't physically present at the garage.

I was suprised when I got a call from them during the service as I usually keep half an eye on the tyres. I didn't get them replaced then and there over the phone as I wanted to see for myself first (even though they made it sound like a death trap...)

I couldn't see anything wrong when I got the car back. I gave Blade the benefit of the doubt and the next day had them checked at an independant tyre place. They were both safe and legal. Bit dissapointed by that.

[DaveHarries]

Went here on Saturday (04th May to get some floor mats for the Octy. Carl (the parts bloke) wasn't around but the salesman took my details and said I would get a call back. I had done a mile on my way home when I got the callback which I was driving and so couldn't take. Carl left a voicemail advising they had what I wanted in stock so I went back and picked up the mats for £50. Good customer service.

Dave

[philbes]

Visited in early June to see a ex-demo Sept 2012 Octavia vRS that they had on sale.  Was given the keys to have a look (couldn't steal it as it was surrounded by other cars!).  Decided to buy the car subject to a test drive.  Went back to the salesman, who was talking to another customer.  He held his hand out for the keys and said, "call me if you have any questions", didn't give me a card and then totally ignored me.  I walked out.

 

Went back a few days later and spoke to another salesman and had a test drive.  When trying to sort out a deal noticed that the salesman had added £45 for floor mats to price.  I pointed out that floor mats were standard on the vRS.  "but there aren't any in the car", he said.  I was adamant that I wasn't going to pay extra for a standard item that was missing from an ex-demo car (so lost by the dealer?) but he refused to take the cost off the quote.  Again, I walked out.

 

Bought a car from Jewsons in Oxford the same day.  Much, much better dealer.

[jme808]

I visited them when I was looking to buy my Fabia - didn't really felt as though they were treating me seriously.  They didn't have what I wanted (which isn't their fault), so the sales woman said she would take my details and get in touch if anything came in.  She wandered off - after 2 minutes of sitting there realising she was chatting to another customer I walked out - ended up buying from Capitol Newport who were decent.

 

Visited again recently when I had a warranty fault - they did sort the fault without problems, but then told me that if I tried to fit a fuel filter (that I had bought when there) myself I would blow up the engine, and that it would be a Skoda only job at £85+VAT per hour.  I'm fairly sure this is dishonest. 

[morganic]

I have used Blades Skoda for 4 years. Prior to that I bought two cars from them in Gloucester.Very happy with service. Good deals on servicing and they have fitted me same day twice when problem discovered. Always explain any work needed and cost. Very often I can wait whilst they do work.Not cheap but what main dealer is these days. They will try to price match as well.

A lot more customer friendly than the nearby VW dealership.

[Paladine]

Went back a few days later and spoke to another salesman and had a test drive.  When trying to sort out a deal noticed that the salesman had added £45 for floor mats to price.  I pointed out that floor mats were standard on the vRS.  "but there aren't any in the car", he said.  I was adamant that I wasn't going to pay extra for a standard item that was missing from an ex-demo car (so lost by the dealer?) but he refused to take the cost off the quote.  Again, I walked out.

 

I recently bought a year-old Octavia Elegance from a Skoda dealer and commented that the material floor mats were missing (standard equipment from new). The salesman's comment was that, when a car was PXed, one of the first things to be done was to remove any mats, as the next purchaser would pay out for new ones!  (The sales manager's policy, not his.)

 

My view is that if something is standard equipment it should be there. I got him to include a full set of rubber mats in the deal (easier to clean than the material ones).

[morganic]

I have used Blades Skoda for 4 years. Prior to that I bought two cars from them in Gloucester.Very happy with service. Good deals on servicing and they have fitted me same day twice when problem discovered. Always explain any work needed and cost. Very often I can wait whilst they do work.Not cheap but what main dealer is these days. They will try to price match as well.

A lot more customer friendly than the nearby VW dealership.

 

I have to say though that my experience is of Service dept. Sales -well one salesman was more interested in eating his sandwiches than dealing with a query I  had about new stock. Hes gone! I didnt buy my car there- travelled 60 miles to SMC Skoda in Exeter. Speak as you find!

[SpiderA1]

Visited to look at citigo for daughter it was a lot of effort for sales guy to show us around car

When we started to go through figures I told him I had some prices from brokers to which he replied

"I don't do deals the asking price is what you pay " so we got up and left

[Pyro]

Not very impressed.

 

Whilst the Senior Salesman was very friendly and helpful we then got handed off to another salesman (Simon) who didn't appear to really know the vehicle or the finance products available.  Rather than admitting he didn't know the answer to some questions he appeared to just take a guess and guessed wrongly at times, giving out incorrect information.  There is no excuse for that, I'd much rather he was honest and said he didn't know but he'd find out and get back to me.

 

I won't be buying from Blade!  

[BriskodaJeff]

This received during the week (my car is in for its second service on 3rd June).

 

Over the coming weeks you may notice some changes happening at your local Blade retailer.

 

Most noticeable is they will be changing their name to Heritage Automotive, and I wanted to personally write to you to introduce ourselves, who we are and what we stand for.   We have been in business since 1996 and represent some of the best-known automotive brands in the world. Since then we have flourished into an award-winning organisation, and as of this moment in time, we are excited to be going through a period of growth, adding the Blade Motor Group retailers to our existing line-up.   We are proud to be an independently owned group, with the foundations of our success being the people we choose to work for us, and you, our valuable customers who are at the very heart of what we do.   At Heritage, we employ the type of person who is brimming with professionalism, integrity and passion, who will deliver outstanding levels of customer service.   We plan to invest in each retailer along with the current and new staff, so we see a bright future ahead for our business and customers alike.   We want you to be a part of it.   In the meantime, visit us online at www.heritageautomotive.co.uk or pop down to your nearest showroom for a chat with one of our friendly members of staff for more information. My team and I look forward to welcoming you back very soon.   Yours sincerely,   Paul Hrachovec Managing Director Heritage Automotive

I'll post an update afterwards on how it went.

[DaveHarries]

Thanks Jeff for the Heads-up on the impending name change. Good to find another Bristolian on this forum too.

 

I work not far from Blade Skoda (as it currently is) so when my car needs servicing I tend to drop it in. Couldn't think where I had heard of Heritage before but I think they have a VW dealership about a mile away (as the bird flies). I have never purchased from this dealership but hopefully the service that I have had from them in the past will remain good.

 

Dave