64 replies to this topic

[DGW]

White Dove
Hadfield Road
Cardiff
CF11 8WD


02920 642999



New Car Sales
Authorised Repairer
Business Sales Centre
Approved Used Car Sales

[DGW]

Originally posted by CIVI - Wed Sep 14, 2005

Bought Octavia 2.0 Ambient Estate from White Dove in February 2005 with £14k on the clock.


I was umming and ahhing which style to buy (over about 3 weekends in all). Members of staff were freindly. There was no pressure from the sales teams. we eventually decided on the estate.


Car picked up all valeted and ready to go.


Lovely drive. Had car a few weeks noticed drivers footwell was damp - nowing it was not the filter problem (left side of car) I was concerned.


Car booked in 4 weeks later for a complete stripdown of the interior. Three days later car picked up all well. Fault was a seal behind the dashboard which had not been sealed correctly during manufacture. Garage sealed this seam and re-installed interior of car.


Problem solved.


Used to have a Nissan Almera which I bought from Wessex in Newport, never again both car and dealer were suspect!


Due to the distance from my home I now use Capitol Skoda in Newport. Please see my post for Capitol Skoda.


CIVI

[CupraR-Rog]

Have used White Dove since they started dealing in SEAT's early last year...

...let's say, overall not a great result!!

Massive waits to book a car in - we're talking about 2 months for warranty work or servicing!!  Also, no courtesy cars for warranty work!  I frequently get e-mails and PM's from people on the SEAT forums asking me if I can help things along a bit, as I have a bit of a rappor going on with the guys after having bought so many parts from them for my ICE install at the beginning of the year!

Cars aren't cleaned at service, and make sure you ask what oil they're using - they insist on telling me that my AMK 210bhp engine is fine on boggo standard 15W40 mineral oil!!!  Erm...  no!
They are OK with you supplying your own oil tho!

Guys on the parts and service desks are ok, and will generally do their best for you!!

However, last time my car was in for warranty work, it came back with covers missing, turbo hoses loose, fault codes I don't want to repeat, flat tyre, and a scratch on a freshly painted wing to name but a few problems!!

The garage is over worked, and the jobs rushed!  This shows when you get a car back with more faults than it went in with!

I go there because, with the next SEAT dealer being a 100+ mile round trip to Swansea, there really isn't much option.  However, I always make sure I work my way around the car following any work being done by them, just to finish them off properly!

I'd say, go there if you have to - if you speak to the service desk guys (Matt, Craig and Carl), they will admit to having cars queuing to get on the ramps!!

Oh, any body repairs are carried out by a company called TST - they have no in-house body shop.

Finally, the sales team have been eyeing up my car for ages, but when I offered it to them, they said "we don't touch cars that we know are, or have been modified" - so why tell me for so long that you'd happily do me a deal on a new car then??  OK, that is the SEAT sales team, but be wary of the Skoda team!

[chris12345]

Bought an 04 plate Octavia Classic off White Dove 2 weeks ago, I actually purchased the car three weeks prior but asked for a few jobs to be done,it took them three weeks to do a service, change the cam belt and get the seats repaired by a company L V V .Com and a full valet.Oh and to change the Battery (big job that is)  Lol.. Which to me and i think others will agree, 3 weeks to do that amount of work is a bit ridiculous to say the least!!! Sales team where great whilst i was looking at the car and deciding whether to buy,  but once i said i wanted the car they were next to useless, I could never get hold of the sales guy on the phone, I left endless messages with little or no replies,it was only after threatening them with get the car done in three days or i dont want it, that they eventually came through, I picked the car up and STILL it hadn`t had a valet, So all i can say is really ` BE WARY `on purchases from this company...

[leighharris]

Bought my Ibiza from the SEAT arm of White Dove - truely shocking service - the car was missing badges and screw covers from delivery, I had to wait between 4-8 weeks for warrenty work to be carried out, had to demand courtesy cars and the car came back with a scratch one time.  Furthermore they repeatedly failed to fix the problems and I now use FRF Seat in Swansea, who are very good, but don't sell Skodas as far as i know.

[Fred_Bristol]

Hi folks,
I'm just buying a used Octavia Ambiente 1.9 DSG estate from White Dove because they are the only ones within 100 miles of me offering what I want.  Not my local dealer.  Mean on part exchange.  Hope I don't regret it looking at previous comments about them!

[Fred_Bristol]

Fred_Bristol said:

Hi folks,
I'm just buying a used Octavia Ambiente 1.9 DSG estate from White Dove because they are the only ones within 100 miles of me offering what I want. Not my local dealer. Mean on part exchange. Hope I don't regret it looking at previous comments about them!

Just to add to my own message: the 1.9 DSG advertised turned out to be a 2.0 DSG when we got down to log book and VIN detail. Apparently I should have realised this because it has a red I on the TDI. I'm too new to Skoda to know a detail like that.

Anyway I'm a bit more "Brisk" than I thought I would be.

Sales guy Marc was very patient and helpful even after I had parted with the money. No pressure.

Haven't tried their service department yet of course.

[bobx]

In response to some of the above comments about the company, I woud like to add mine.
I have recently purchased an Octavia estate and the service I received during the deal was probably the best, most responsive and court'eous in my experience of car dealers.
I would like to especially recommend the services of Neil Robinson in sales, with whom I dealt, and who really worked to ensure a smooth transaction.
So if you are looking for a Skoda in the South Wales area, I strongly suggest you talk to them.

[suboilbib]

I too would recommend Neil Robinson. He let me view a car that had come in the morning I went up, even though it was in a disgusting state and had several broken bits inside. He got the car valeted and washed quickly so that I could look at it properly. He kept the car for a couple of weeks while got money ready even though I didn't have a full deposit. Oh, and when I went to pick the car up and didn't have all my documents for finance the finance bloke offered to follow me home to collect the documents as he had originally told me I didn't need them. I bought my 54 plate Octy Elegance from Neil and he was extremely helpful and even now when I go in he remembers my name and asks about the car (and my fathers Roomi that he also bought from him). I found a couple of problems in the first few weeks and have had a courtesy car each time I have taken the car in to the service department - great service. Can't fault them!


Not yet anyway!:thumbup:

[tippo1983]

Had my rear door seals done 28/02/07 at white dove and was very happy with the service polite and heplful. would happily recommend

[capeldewi]

Recently had the misfortune of owning a pug 307 and needed to re-kindle my joy of motoring so, after reading lots of mags and revievs on the internet decided to go for a Skoda Octavia PDI DSG Estate.
I found the staff at White Dove very helpful and friendly during my purchase and have even offerd a curtesy car whenever I may need to take the car for servicing or repairs.

Capeldewi :thumbup:

[jeffers]

I used white dove when my car broke down a while back to get the keys coded, they tried charging me an hours labour aftertelling me taht it would only cost half an hours, and one of the keys i gave to them wasnt even coded correctly.

A friend of mine refuses to go to white dove either becuase of terriable service

[4x4t]

I wouldnt hold your breath if they say they are going to phone you back.I have been waiting 3 days for them to phone.Cant wait to go to wales and pop in and see them:mad::mad: and tell them what i think of there customer care.

Posted 18-01-2008, 14:55

Phoned again and i am waiting for the manager to phone back.He was meant to phone me yesterday and didnt.I phoned them today and he is not there today:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: i am not a happy customer at the moment.

Posted 22-012-2008, 23:05

Still havent phoned:mad::mad::mad::mad:.They can expect a call from me tommorow and i am not happy.I spoke to neil robinson when i phoned them last week

Posted 30-03-2008, 19:58

:mad::mad::mad:Dont buy any car from them because there after care customer service is the worst of any company i have dealt with:mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Paul2867]

I've just ordered my white Octavia vRS from Neil Robinson. My wife had a black Fabia vRS but the miles were racking up so she wanted a new one in January. Obviously there's no new Fabia vRS's out there but Neil managed to source a 9 month old yellow one with full leather and only 1,000 miles on the clock. Neil's a top man and I would highly recommend buying a car from him.

My wife has had no probs getting either of her Fabia's serviced either. The windscreen wiper motor fuse went on the black one, RAC couldn't fix it at the roadside. A chap called Tim at White Dove pulled all the stops out to get it sorted on a Saturday morning. We really can't fault White Dove

[Katregag]

Oh dear, first post .. moan. Buying my Roomster from White Dove was pure delight. And so it should have been. Sadly though, they did seem to take every advantage of adding extra charges where possible. Still, I was excited about my new car and I let these minor irritations go by. (A side issue - my trade in still had 6 months to run on the tax disc which they were reluctant to return to me. My new (used) Skoda had no tax disc included in the purchase.)
Ah ha, servicing is another issue. I found my radio only worked in Cardiff and nowhere else. I 'phoned Sales the next day and was told to "pop the car in and it would be fixed". I popped the car in the next day (100 mile round trip) only to be told by Service that popping doesn't work - booking does. Tsk, silly me. I booked for the earliest possible slot - two week wait for this. The job would take all day, so I hired a car - they charged for this! There was just enough petrol in it to get me to the filling station next door. When I returned to pick up my car I found shopping bags missing from the boot and radio still not working. (Another side issue, what do they do with the extra fuel they syphon out of the hire car before hiring again empty?) They had also done a service which cost me over £300 for work that would have cost half that much in my trusted local garage. I was told that as the radio works in Cardiff (I know that!) then I would have to keep returning the car until a fault was located and then they MIGHT be able to get it replaced. Hey, I've only just bought the car and it's still on warranty. I didn't break the d***** thing, it was sold to me broken.
To add insult to injury the service was brusk and unpleasant. Staff were rushed and tripping over each other. People in the queue were getting snappy and, the thing that shocked me most was the photocopied personal car hire details (+ photo and licence) of a previous customer on the desk for everyone to read whilst waiting for service.
Needless to say I haven't been back since.. and still no radio but I'm learning to sing!

[billy2981]

Been here a few times for warranty work last year and when the centre bracket broke on the zorst, took them 2 week to get back to me to say it was covered(too late already had the custom zorst put on) and tried charging me for the rad adjustment when I wanted it fixing properly under warranty.  

needless to say they didnt get ne money.

also said I was a lier when I complained about the zorst knocking, so I took the head dik out and proved that there was something wrong!

Again, NEVER GOING THERE AGAIN!

Cowboys

[Baba]

Bought my Octavia vrs from white dove hadfield road, the deal went quickly and smoothly sold the thursday, picked it up on the saturday.
Done little trip down to Pendine Sands after leaving showroom only to find the low oil warning light on when I arrived  O_O
Checked the oil only to find trace on the end of the dipstick, topped up to the tune of £31.51
Was a bit of a disappointment, fair play to White Dove they re-embursed me for the oil and an apology letter and a £25 voucher, however on reading the letter and noting the statement "our records found no low oil levels" threw me a bit as I am a D.e.t with Fiat Alfa romeo so I do know what a low oil reading looks like, bleh .

I have'nt expieranced the service department yet so cannot comment , however perhaps Ian in the sales team needs to smile a little more , nothing worse than feeling like a burden to someone, so far thrilled with my car :)

[Baba]

Well the dreaded eng management light came on :(
Turns out common fault heater plugs , only thing it had a TSB last year for the same problem.
Also darn thing now idles at 1000 rpm 98% of the time.
Thus far service dept up to scratch, in a hire car provided by Skoda, lets hope they cure the beast

[billy2981]

as said previouse, Never going in there with the car!

went in on monday to order the 2 covers on either side of the zorst channel that cover the front seat rails.  both on order nice bloke, and for a change I got a call later on sayin that one of them is a back order so would be a bit longer.  nice.

wont take the car in there again to. only use to get parts.

billy

BABA hope it gets sorted mate

Update 18/09/09:  Called them as its been 4 days, still not RX the other part.


Update 21/09/09:  Still not heard anything.  they did say it would either be the Sat or then the Tues so Ill wait till tomoz

Edited by claytarget_god, 21 September 2009 - 12:15.
Update

[Baba]

Thanxs claytarget_gold, my car is still there and they now say it's batttery problem and its on charge? this has taken two weeks?
The "problem" is it's not being charged properly, surely an alternator is the next thing to look at and they must have a diagnostic menu on the vag lappie to check the alternator?
It beggers belief :(

Edited by Baba, 22 September 2009 - 18:39.

[Baba]

I got my car back today , performed okay on the way home, thought I'd do a little quality control, to my horror discovered my engine under tray missing, screws n all, rang then straight away , response, they will ask the tech who worked on it, total lack of urgency , also car dirty after being in their workshops for two weeks, not even washed !!!

[billy2981]

well I got a call off them yest afternoon to say the parts are in and I went to collect.  

to get parts they dont seem too bad but as been said DONT LET THEM LOOSE ON YOUR PRIDE AND JOY!

billy

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

Edited by DGW, 23 September 2009 - 21:40.
Chat deleted. please stick to first-hand feedback.

[Baba]

Update, my car is still going great, no problems and I do not have the high idle anymore, all is good :)))

[Baba]

Oh dear car problems again this time engine management light on, took it back to White Dove, they say it's the dpf, OMG a  dpf on my  vrs , now that is surely is not right!!

Turns out they are right, but.........I did not have the 3 so called warning lights on and that after a week, they tried to charge me £83 to carry out a forced regeneration although the car is just only in it's second year warranty.


Question I ask myself, how is a driver supposed to know what is wrong if only the engine management light is on????

Any way I refused to pay and the cheeky buggers said they'd do it as a goodwill, yeah right, I picked it up exactly 30mins after the regeneration and the engine was ice cold, blegh.


The very next day same story and I had to drive the car for a week whilst waiting for a courtesy car, strangely no dpf warning light on in all that time, I sneaked our fiat/alfa diagnostic lappie onto it before I took it in on the 23rd Dec and got codes for exhaust pressure, hmmm differential pressure sensor maybe or perhaps egr? nah no power loss so hardly egr.

I wait with interest for next Wednesday to see exactly what they found and what action was taken.

Also why are Skoda selling vrs dpf models for uk???? I was offered a new car well 6mnths newer, a vrs cr but wait for it with dpf again and no toys, mine is full house with cruise control the works , oppertunistic salesman maybe?
.

Edited by Baba, 26 December 2009 - 16:41.

[Babs]

Cars equiped with a DPF are sold to meet European emissions requirements.

[adamc260]

Review to be complete

Edited by adamc260, 06 August 2011 - 13:59.

[morris77]

White Dove took four attempts to fix the external trim on the rear pillar of my Octavia estate which was loose from new. On the third attempt they cut thtough the window seal. I was amazed at their incompetence. This was my brand new car they were cutting and wrecking!

After writing to the manager I got them to fix it properly, but noticed a month later that they had chipped some paint and damaged the internal lining in the roof and the rear parcel shelf casing.  

I am so peeved with White Dove Cardiff that I won't trust them to fix what they did wrong, as they only keep making it worse. Will never use them or recommend them again.  First service coming up, I'm off to Newport or Pontypridd.

[2867toby]

I'm on my second Octavia bought from White Dove. I was really happy with the first car, and equally so with my current one. I'll buy another one in the future, but what on earth's gone wrong at White Dove? They were magnificent with servicing and repairing my 09 reg, but they've gone to pieces with my 11 reg.

Here goes:

1. Car ordered in Dec 2010, delivered 25 weeks later, three months late. (OK, that's not White Dove's fault but I'm still waiting for my £150 M&S vouchers (I'm currently involved in vouchers complaint ping-pong with Skoda Head Office and White Dove - neither accepts responsibilty for this mess). Not all White Dove's fault, but no understaning of customer care from them.

2. Immediately on collecting my brand new car, salesman and I discovered the fuel cap had v small nick on it. Was assured they would remove this at their expense. Still waiting 5 months later.

3. My car received a relatively small scrape im June. Took it to them straightaway for a repair quote: they photographed the damage telling me they would get in touch. Had to remind them in August. Still waiting in late October.

4. Went in over a week ago with this list of moans and demanded an immediate repsonse. Promised a call the following day to sort it all out. Still waiting.

They also seem to have a high turnover of salespeople.

They've gone from being the best garage I've dealt with in 30 years to the worst. What can be done? Any suggestions, please? They won't be getting my custom next time round if they don't sort this whole mess out sharpish.

[Llanigraham]

Suggestions?
Yes, use Sinclair in Swansea, they are getting much better reports!

[morris77]

Its really sad that people in Cardiff have to go elsewhere. Newport (Capitol) were great with my recent service. They were shocked at the mess that White Dove had made of my window seal and say that a lot of their customers have similar horror stories from them.

Even the smallest task is beyond White Dove. I rang to order some touch up paint. Was told someone would ring me back. I rang again later that afternoon; told the same. They never rang back.  Customer service is shocking - I really hope that Skoda UK soon take notice as Cardiff deserves better.