Progress Skoda (Northampton)

[DGW]

Progress Skoda (Northampton)

Bedford Road

Northampton

NN1 5NS

Phone: 01604 795444

Fax: 01604 795448

Services: New, Used, Repair

[Chris Hooper]

Progress Skoda (Northampton)

Edited 22 January, 2011 by Chris Hooper

[Chris Hooper]

I ordered a Fabia greenline II this afternoon with no problems.

The sales process with Phil , Paul and Rob was painless.

The car should arrive mid April.

The showroom seemed very busy even mid week so that's a good sign.

[PowerMalc]

Thanks to Gav to getting to bottom of problem with updating my Bolero. Although a new Skoda dealership and they were a bit unsure, they investigated how to get the update done by talking to Briskoda and another dealer and now all completed.

Also thanks to David for his help

[Andymod]

Thanks to Gav to getting to bottom of problem with updating my Bolero. Although a new Skoda dealership and they were a bit unsure, they investigated how to get the update done by talking to Briskoda and another dealer and now all completed.

Also thanks to David for his help

Agree nice blokes they spoke to me for advice which i was more than happy to give

[scoff]

Purely skoda or all vag?

[PowerMalc]

Purely skoda or all vag?

They are Skoda only as are there other 2 sites in Bedford and Letchworth

[gadgetman]

Progress did my Cambelt & pump, as well as a long life service.

David, service manager, my dad has known for many years from when he worked at various Mazda dealers in town, and previously Autohaus Mazda/Skoda at Riverside.

SWMBO actually took the car in, and she was very happy with the service and friendliness.

[cable101]

Went to Progress (Northampton) to buy a Skoda as they are cheaper than and just as good as VW’s.

However, I felling the service in the sales section to be extremely poor.I had to deal with some arrogant and condescending sales executive, who felt he knew everything. He quite clearly didn’t know anything about customer satisfaction. I wasn’t offered a seat, cup of tea or anything! Simple and pointless things I know, but they are all part of making you feel valued as a customer. Something he didn’t

He was completely unhelpfully and when I tried to stick it out to get a Skoda, he just seemed to become unhelpful. It was like he didn’t want to sell me a car! However, he was more than eager to take my money to get his commission. But as to getting a car, well according to him “it may be built sometime this year”

I have decided that Progress Skoda can go swivel if they think their getting my money now. I will gladly pay the extra at VW to get some decent service.

I recommend if you truly want a Skoda, then you should go somewhere else. Because Progress Skoda clearly only view you as pound notes walking about and unfortunately seem to think no effort, kindness or even being spoken too politely is needed.

[robruss]

Went to Progress (Northampton) to buy a Skoda as they are cheaper than and just as good as VW’s.

However, I felling the service in the sales section to be extremely poor.I had to deal with some arrogant and condescending sales executive, who felt he knew everything. He quite clearly didn’t know anything about customer satisfaction. I wasn’t offered a seat, cup of tea or anything! Simple and pointless things I know, but they are all part of making you feel valued as a customer. Something he didn’t

He was completely unhelpfully and when I tried to stick it out to get a Skoda, he just seemed to become unhelpful. It was like he didn’t want to sell me a car! However, he was more than eager to take my money to get his commission. But as to getting a car, well according to him “it may be built sometime this year”

I have decided that Progress Skoda can go swivel if they think their getting my money now. I will gladly pay the extra at VW to get some decent service.

I recommend if you truly want a Skoda, then you should go somewhere else. Because Progress Skoda clearly only view you as pound notes walking about and unfortunately seem to think no effort, kindness or even being spoken too politely is needed.

[robruss]

Thank you for your comments as the Franchise Manager for the Progress Northampton Branch I am quite concerned about the comments you have raised and would welcome the opportunity to discuss what you feel has been a poor level of service from my sales department. If you would like to contact me at the branch please feel free to do so.

As an organisation we take customer service very seriously and your comments I have to say are very unlike any others we have received since opening in January 2011.

It is true to say that delivery times are currently an issue with the Skoda Brand due to the popularity of our product. I can only assume that the sales person concerned has conveyed this point to you prior to placing an order.

As a company we like to inform our customers in a transparent way as to how long the wait for a new Skoda is likely to be. This would appear to have been taken on this occasion out of context and deemed as obstructive. Please believe me when I say that if we could get you a car immediately we would! We are also of the opinion that it is better to be open with the customer and tell them a realistic build time rather than as you put it take their money on the assumption their car might turn up sometime soon!

I can assure all the people who read this forum that good customer service at Progress since opening our business in 2006 has always and still is a priority. I would invite all of you who have read the above post to take the opportunity to visit any of our business and experience the passion we have for the Skoda product and more importantly customer care.

Thanks to Brisk Skoda for being given the opportunity to reply.

Robert Russell

Franchise Manager

Progress Northampton

[RS939]

They have done a few items on my Fabia sport, very good service normally the aftercare at some places is really bad. Not this time

[soupafly]

I searched for a particular spec DSG demonstrator and Northampton came up as my nearest dealer, although it was a 160 mile round trip. I made an appointment in 10 days time to test drive te vehicle. I had already tested many other vehicles but the Yeti was on of the last to try. I called the day before just out of courtesy to let them know I was still coming.

I arrived, ready to go but had to wait for the salesman I was dealing with to return from a test drive. Staff did ask what car I would be driving and they returned a funny look with grumblings of, well he must know something we don't!

I had to wait 20mins beyond our appointment scheduled time. If I did this in my workplace, this would be considered unprofessional without what happened next.

He said 'Oh we sold our demonstrator a few days ago....... I would have contacted you but didn't have your contact details', to which I replied, 'You have got my contact details because you returned my calls when we originally booked the appointment'. I expressed my disappointment (in front of a couple who were collecting t heir new Yeti and some other customers in the waiting area) and laid it on thick about taking a day off work and expense in getting there. He shrugged his shoulders and hid.

I left, for good.

Well, I got to try the vehicle, and am awaiting delivery of my new Yeti and it was not from these muppets.................. now that's Progress!

[vRSAnt]

I finally got a chance to check them out directly so revising my comments here.

5 1/2 hrs waiting for a service and mot, seemed quite slow to me and also enquired about a possible sale, seemed a slight bit slow so could be interpreted as disinterested however I did get information I was looking for, to be honest so guess you can't argue.

Would have been nice if our expectations on how long the service actually was realistically likely to take, if we'd taken the suggestion it would take about 2 hours that is less than half what it actually take.

Good job we didn't have any appointments to go to.

Although whenever I've actually been in a position of waiting for a service at any skoda dealers, In many cases its been slow and it may have been busy there,

So maybe a lesson for Skoda on the whole rather than any specific dealer.

I think we would stick to dropping a car off in future (if we use dealer for servicing) as they seem to work at a different rate to other car servicing garages.

The service and mot itself seemed pretty good though

Edited 15 August, 2012 by dominorising

[jbyrnes82]

I purchased my first Octavia from Progress in Bedford and was very pleased with the car although having to chase the Bedford salesmen for information on delivery every few weeks as it took 16+ weeks to arrive did get on my nerves a bit.

Luckily Progress Northampton opened a few months later, found the service department very friendly and helpful, and due to this along with the excellent offers and sales service we purchased a new Fabia for my wife there last September and I have just collected my new Octavia VRS from Wayne who was excellent.

[RS939]

I have just purchased another car from them same salesman as before who even said to me that you won't like the Fabia VRS due to the fuel, I smiled as he was upfront with what the car is like to live with as we already had bought the Octy VRS tdi from him and wanted to make sure we knew all the facts.

He sorted out a great deal for us and I have since found a few things that need to be address and he has dealt with them straight away, I would recommend them to anyone.

[Chris Hooper]

Well I bought another one......

I popped in to see Phill and see if there was some way of reducing my monthly payment and walked out with a new Citigo.It was pre ordered and arrived in a week.

No Issues yet........................ well except there coffee is an aquired taste (no its terrable realy sorry.)

Thanks to Phill in sales and David in service.

[RS939]

It's good to see, they have been excellent with us I will use them again.

BTW Stick to the Hot Chocolate

[spencem]

I have to say I really like their coffee

I've brought our last 3 cars from their Letchworth branch, but since they have opened in Northampton have been using them for service and this last weekend went in to talk about replacing my Superb with one of their ex-demonstrators. Spent a long time and several coffees talking to Wayne, who looked at the deals he could do on a particular 2,000 mile Elegance TDi 170 and then compared that to a new car. After a bit of a haggle and some help from his boss I walked out having put a deposit on an L&K twin door Tdi140 DSG they had ordered for the showroom and is sitting in Emden waiting for a boat. It has a few extras on that I would not have wanted to pay for, so they have discounted them off.

There was no hard sell at all, in fact he pointed out a couple of time that I was supposed to be saving myself some money not spending more!

Excellent service so far, just waiting to see how long it takes to get here with the Christmas break in the way.

[RS939]

Just had both my cars serviced by Progress Skoda Northampton and as expected excellent aftersales service the treatment is first class.

I recommend anyone to use them for their servicing.

[Hedges]

Have just collected a new skoda fabia Monte Carlo, great service from ordering to collection. Wayne in sales was helpful and informative without being pushy. Only took 4 weeks from ordering to collection, and very pleased with the car so far. Everyone in progress I came across where friendly and helpful, shame not all garages are like this one.

[damianscott71]

I've purchased 3 cars from Progress Skoda now (all from the Letchworth branch) and have found them to be mostly very good.

My initial purchase of a 2008 Octavia vRS was made whilst living in Bedford, and after a failed attempt to buy a car from a sales person in Bedford (wanting to shake hands on a deal before I'd even test driven the car), I happily purchased a car from the Letchworth branch some months later. However I used the Bedford branch to service the car and was always very happy with the level of service and feedback that I received there.

My second car was a 2010 Octavia vRS, again purchased from Letchworth (but bizarrely was the demonstrator of the Bedford salesman that I'd failed to gel with on the previous occasion), again a very pleasant transaction and exclusively serviced by the Northampton branch. Sam & David on the service reception were always very personable and chatty, keeping me up to date with any information that I required. Also Gavin in the workshop was always happy to help out. I also found them to be very competitively priced on consumables like tyres, so I chose to have these fitted by the workshop whenever new rubber was needed.

Then just over a week ago, I bought my third vehicle from Progress, again in Letchworth. I'd accrued a bit of equity in my Octavia vRS and so p/x'd it for another demonstrator vehicle, this time a Yeti 2.0 CR TFI 170 4x4 in Elegance trim. The business manager Vikki did all the maths for me and worked out the best deal in advance, so when I arrived I just literally had a 20 minutes test drive with SWMBO, then sat in the office with Vik & Wayne and agreed the deal. All in, the whole buying process was quick and pleasant. The car was prepped and ready to collect in less than a week, and although I'm waiting for the 2nd key to materialise and my personal number plate to be transferred, I'm in no doubt that these will be sorted quickly.

I'll have the new car serviced in Northampton and although there have been a few changes there recently, I'm confident that an excellent level of service will prevail.

I think that in the past 4 years that I've been dealing with Progress that I've got to know the guys pretty well. My experience of Progress Skoda and the vehicles they supplied me has been overwhelmingly positive (not withstanding a shakey start with a salesman in Bedford, but you could put that down to a clash of personalities). Skoda cars have demonstrated peerless performance, as have the Progress dealerships and it's their good work that has helped to make me a long-term brand convert.

[kevberlin]

I recently purchased a used car from Progress in Northampton. The car preparation was poor in a number of areas and I do not believe the garage valued me as a customer. I could not recommend them. My local Skoda dealer, Savilles of Kidderminster, is far, far superior in my view.

[robeadie]

I searched for a particular spec DSG demonstrator and Northampton came up as my nearest dealer, although it was a 160 mile round trip. I made an appointment in 10 days time to test drive te vehicle. I had already tested many other vehicles but the Yeti was on of the last to try. I called the day before just out of courtesy to let them know I was still coming.

I arrived, ready to go but had to wait for the salesman I was dealing with to return from a test drive. Staff did ask what car I would be driving and they returned a funny look with grumblings of, well he must know something we don't!

I had to wait 20mins beyond our appointment scheduled time. If I did this in my workplace, this would be considered unprofessional without what happened next.

He said 'Oh we sold our demonstrator a few days ago....... I would have contacted you but didn't have your contact details', to which I replied, 'You have got my contact details because you returned my calls when we originally booked the appointment'. I expressed my disappointment (in front of a couple who were collecting t heir new Yeti and some other customers in the waiting area) and laid it on thick about taking a day off work and expense in getting there. He shrugged his shoulders and hid.

I left, for good.

Well, I got to try the vehicle, and am awaiting delivery of my new Yeti and it was not from these muppets.................. now that's Progress!

 

A similar thing happened to me. I had arranged a test drive of the Mk3 Octavia vRS. When I got there, the salesman, (probably the same one), was out with a customer and when he returned, he'd forgotten we had an appointment. That's why I ended up going to Jewsons in Oxford!

[simplesimon]

Can I just say that Danielle and especially gavin have been superb.my octy mk2 2007 vrs had been with them for 2 weeks to sort out mechanically,as she had been off the road since last july(so had I with major health issues) lots I wanted sorted .i have just picked her up and she goes like a rocket!!!! I can't fault the service I get there and you need to keep hold of gavin he's a diamond. Once again many thanks .simon crow.