Horid after service from Skoda

[Yeti-RS]

This is about Taiwan but im sure its just as important for Skoda than any other country.

Putting aside my feeling to the mods/politics of this forum, i really need advise and additional input on this, so please do not remove or delete this thread

There are 2 issues, first is my servicing and 2nd is my warranty.

So i have had my Yeti since october last year, wonderful car etc etc.

First service is now due and i haggled free servicing into the deal when i bought the car new.

Problem is that i have moved quite far away from my original dealer and also i am using the car for work every day racking up 100kms a day doing deliverys around the city.

So finding time to get it serviced is next to impossible, my work is random and i never know what i am doing from one day to the next so its nearly impossible to book a time to get it done.

But i was able to get a window for today and booked it in to my nearest dealer (not the same place i bought the car from, but same company) so i turn up and was about to pass the keys over when they just wanted to confirm how much this was going to cost me!.

I dug up my documents showing them that the next 3 services (1st, 2nd major and 3rd minor service) are payed for, all stamped and signed by Skoda and they then told me that all of their service centers are run seperately from one another and politely told me there was nothing to be done, i have to go back to the original service center (which is further away and a pain).

Did a bit of research and it turns out that all of the dealers and service centers are registered seperatly from one another with different company names and numbers, even though its all the same company really.... how dodgy is that, in Taiwan this is a common practice for tax dodging, but thats another story.

So thats my first problem, 2nd one is actually far worse than this.

Skoda Taiwan have extended their warranty from 2 years to 4, about 4 times now a sales person has called me asking if i want to extend my warranty for the price of £800!!!!!!

Hang on a fricking minute, i was well aware Skoda Taiwan was going to change the warranty this year and i was led to believe when buying the car that i would have mine bumped to 4 years for free when it became official!.

I have emailed Skoda Taiwan about the warranty issue, politely saying there must be a mistake, but for over a week i have had no reply..... funny, since the day before i was getting instant replys when asking about when the VRS would be in stock

I am understandbly upset about this, not to mention about how i was treated before i even bought the car (link about that here: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/168547-my-ordering-woes/ )

All in all buying and owning a Skoda has left a very sour taste in my mouth, even if the warranty and servicing things were sorted out i would still hesistate about buying ever again, this is actually quite serious as i was going to buy a 2nd car and on the top of the list was another Skoda...... not looking likely now.

Edited 3 May, 2011 by pending-change

[CJJE]

This is about Taiwan but im sure its just as important for Skoda than any other country.

Putting aside my feeling to the mods/politics of this forum, i really need advise and additional input on this, so please do not remove or delete this thread

There are 2 issues, first is my servicing and 2nd is my warranty.

So i have had my Yeti since october last year, wonderful car etc etc.

First service is now due and i haggled free servicing into the deal when i bought the car new.

Problem is that i have moved quite far away from my original dealer and also i am using the car for work every day racking up 100kms a day doing deliverys around the city.

So finding time to get it serviced is next to impossible, my work is random and i never know what i am doing from one day to the next so its nearly impossible to book a time to get it done.

But i was able to get a window for today and booked it in to my nearest dealer (not the same place i bought the car from, but same company) so i turn up and was about to pass the keys over when they just wanted to confirm how much this was going to cost me!.

I dug up my documents showing them that the next 3 services (1st, 2nd major and 3rd minor service) are payed for, all stamped and signed by Skoda and they then told me that all of their service centers are run seperately from one another and politely told me there was nothing to be done, i have to go back to the original service center (which is further away and a pain).

Did a bit of research and it turns out that all of the dealers and service centers are registered seperatly from one another with different company names and numbers, even though its all the same company really.... how dodgy is that, in Taiwan this is a common practice for tax dodging, but thats another story.

So thats my first problem, 2nd one is actually far worse than this.

Skoda Taiwan have extended their warranty from 2 years to 4, about 4 times now a sales person has called me asking if i want to extend my warranty for the price of £800!!!!!!

Hang on a fricking minute, i was well aware Skoda Taiwan was going to change the warranty this year and i was led to believe when buying the car that i would have mine bumped to 4 years for free when it became official!.

I have emailed Skoda Taiwan about the warranty issue, politely saying there must be a mistake, but for over a week i have had no reply..... funny, since the day before i was getting instant replys when asking about when the VRS would be in stock

I am understandbly upset about this, not to mention about how i was treated before i even bought the car (link about that here: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/168547-my-ordering-woes/ )

All in all buying and owning a Skoda has left a very sour taste in my mouth, even if the warranty and servicing things were sorted out i would still hesistate about buying ever again, this is actually quite serious as i was going to buy a 2nd car and on the top of the list was another Skoda...... not looking likely now.

I am no expert on Taiwanese law, but under English law your contract was with the dealer you bought your car from and not Skoda Taiwan. So only the original dealer is obliged to honour the extra promises you obtained. I would presume that your local laws will be similar??

Chris

[Llanigraham]

1/ As above. Stop moaning about Skoda Tiawan and moan about the dealer you have dealt with.

2/ No company will retrospectively offer old customers any new offer/deal they have brought in, even if the sale was made one day before it started.

3/ So because you got a carp deal from one seller you will now not buy another of their products. Do you apply the same logic to everything you buy?

[Yeti-RS]

1/ As above. Stop moaning about Skoda Tiawan and moan about the dealer you have dealt with.

2/ No company will retrospectively offer old customers any new offer/deal they have brought in, even if the sale was made one day before it started.

3/ So because you got a carp deal from one seller you will now not buy another of their products. Do you apply the same logic to everything you buy?

1) Yes it IS Skoda Taiwan as the man i dealt with is actually the head of all sales in Taiwan, hes the only one that speaks english.....

2) I was told that skoda was bringing out new terms for the warranty early the following year, i have only owned the car 6 months and now i am being told that if i want the new warranty i have to pay

3) I think this is logical is it not, the company here in Taiwan has dubious ways of doing business, i put up with this to buy the car and i am now starting to regret it.

[Llanigraham]

1/ I very much doubt you bought your Yeti from the importer, as I have never known that to happen. You bought it from a DEALER, therefore your arguement is with them.

2/ So you buy a product and then 6 months later you expect the manufacturer of that product to offer you, at no cost, a new and different warranty that they have just introduced? Sorry, but no-one will do that for nothing.

3/ Sorry I don't see anything dubious in the way you have been dealt with. What I do see is potentially a non-local, who doesn't speak the local patois, who now realises that he hasn't received what others might have been able to negotiate locally, and is trying to make an excuse and blame someone.

Harsh possibly, sorry, but it happens all over the world. I could probably find similar stories from non-locals from here in Wales right around the world to Australia.

[Yeti-RS]

1/ I very much doubt you bought your Yeti from the importer, as I have never known that to happen. You bought it from a DEALER, therefore your arguement is with them.

2/ So you buy a product and then 6 months later you expect the manufacturer of that product to offer you, at no cost, a new and different warranty that they have just introduced? Sorry, but no-one will do that for nothing.

3/ Sorry I don't see anything dubious in the way you have been dealt with. What I do see is potentially a non-local, who doesn't speak the local patois, who now realises that he hasn't received what others might have been able to negotiate locally, and is trying to make an excuse and blame someone.

Harsh possibly, sorry, but it happens all over the world. I could probably find similar stories from non-locals from here in Wales right around the world to Australia.

NO i contacted the importer directly months before the release and was dealt with by the head of sales for Taiwan as he spoke english, i picked up the car from a dealer.

Also i was told that the warranty was going to change and if warranty terms were to change for the better while a car was still under warranty i would strongly believe it would be bumped for free.

I am very upto date with things in Taiwan, its a **** hole with assholes everywhere...... but thats besides the point.

This is a country where the last president is now in jail for stealing billions of pounds from his own country

[Totally Square]

Verbal agreements only? Or did you get any of these promises in writing?

[bilun777]

There seems to be a lot of....."I was told"..... "I was led to believe".

Unfortunately you don't appear to have anything in writing.

It took me a very long time to learn that lesson.

As for the servicing.I see no alternative . Take it back to the dealer you have the agreement with.(Hopefully in writing.)

[Llanigraham]

NO i contacted the importer directly months before the release and was dealt with by the head of sales for Taiwan as he spoke english, i picked up the car from a dealer.

Also i was told that the warranty was going to change and if warranty terms were to change for the better while a car was still under warranty i would strongly believe it would be bumped for free.

I am very upto date with things in Taiwan, its a **** hole with assholes everywhere...... but thats besides the point.

This is a country where the last president is now in jail for stealing billions of pounds from his own country

See the comments in red.

And I think your penultimate sentence answers it all!

[Yeti-RS]

The servicing thing i will just have to swallow.

But the warranty thing angers me, it angers me more that i have sales people calling me asking if i want to spend more money to extend my warranty when i still have 1.5 years left anyway....

1) wouldnt i extend it just before my existing warranty was to expire, wouldnt make sense to extend it earlier when i might not even keep the car (warrantys stay with owners not cars here).

2) it was verbally agreed that the warranty would be bumped, no writing, they told me it hasnt happened yet but when it does etc.

Though my description of events arent great, it really is a shady operation over here, go back to my old thread linked in my first post.

They tried to get me to pay over £100 to register my car for me when doing this is free, it took alot of arguing to get that sorted out.

Little things like the glove box not closing without pulling the button out, they straight away dismissed it as normal when indeed it wasnt.

Also (havent posted about this) my car used enough oil in the space of 900kms to go from full to the engine light coming on, when i went in to the service place they again dismissed this as VERY normal and asked me to pay for oil.

They also said that the correct way to measure the oil is when the engine was cold......

Im terrible are putting things into writing, if i could just speak about the turn of events from last year till now you would understand why im complaining :'(

[Llanigraham]

Also (havent posted about this) my car used enough oil in the space of 900kms to go from full to the engine light coming on, when i went in to the service place they again dismissed this as VERY normal and asked me to pay for oil.

There is already a thread here about high oil consumption initially with the 1.2, and it does appear to be normal.

They also said that the correct way to measure the oil is when the engine was cold......

Correct. That is the way I was taught to do it. If it is cold all the oil will have drained down into the sump.

[BossFox]

I'd suggest if you negotiate anything in future you get it in writing.

A verbal agreement, your beliefs or what you think should happen is pretty much irrelevent.

In the UK they'd be under no obligation at all to extend the warranty in this situation.

People that buy a car with the 4 year warranty get it, people that buy when a 2 year one was active get that...

Most of your frustration sounds more about the way things work in the country you are in, rather than actual problems with Skoda.

[dibujo]

Hmm, so you have to speak Welsh to get a good deal in Wales ? lol

[Llanigraham]

Hmm, so you have to speak Welsh to get a good deal in Wales ? lol

No, but it does help having the right accent!!

Areithi Cymraeg?

[Agerbundsen]

When in Rome, do as the Romans.

Spirited high temper and a bit of conforntational attitude is considered bad form in most Asian countries, including anywhere Chinese and Japan, Korea etc. I have sold a lot of equipment in Taiwan and more recently represented a Japanese compny here in Europe. The drect aproach to problem solving rarely works if done Western style.

Come to think of it, it does not works so well here either. I believe there is an old English proverb: " You catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar"

[oldstan]

Come to think of it, it does not works so well here either. I believe there is an old English proverb: " You catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar"

...... :yes: :clap:

[Freshacre]

Pending-change said...."Im terrible are putting things into writing, if i could just speak about the turn of events from last year till now you would understand why im complaining"

Hey, chap, I hope you're getting things sorted out now. You sound as if your blood pressure is being severely challenged by events beyond your control.

However - it put me in mind of a good definition of "STRESS" that is useful for understanding things, and also in presenting al opportunity to deal with it and to preventing it.

The definition is:- "STRESS equals the GAP between EXPECTATION and REALITY".

And that means that you have to ensure you have all the facts correct before it all starts!!!

anyhow - I hope you manage to get some satisfaction, calmly, peacefully, and soon. Let us know how it goes.

Edited 5 May, 2011 by Freshacre

[rwbaldwin]

I thought Taikoo Group supplied most Skoda dealers in Taiwan. Many dealers are franchised by Taikoo Group and not directly by Skoda. They are not owned or run by Taikoo Group or Skoda - even if the dealer has Taikoo or Skoda in the name.

Any deals you did with the supplying dealer are not transferable.

The cost of the 4 year warranty (which I think is going to be called Skoda Shield) is built into the price of the car. You wouldn't have got the same deal - the car would have cost you more if the 4 year warranty had been included. As you haven't paid for the 4 year warranty in the price of the car, why do think you should get it?

Sorry, it doesn't work the way you thought it did in any market.

[Yeti-RS]

I thought Taikoo Group supplied most Skoda dealers in Taiwan. Many dealers are franchised by Taikoo Group and not directly by Skoda. They are not owned or run by Taikoo Group or Skoda - even if the dealer has Taikoo or Skoda in the name.

Any deals you did with the supplying dealer are not transferable.

The cost of the 4 year warranty (which I think is going to be called Skoda Shield) is built into the price of the car. You wouldn't have got the same deal - the car would have cost you more if the 4 year warranty had been included. As you haven't paid for the 4 year warranty in the price of the car, why do think you should get it?

Sorry, it doesn't work the way you thought it did in any market.

So you know about taiwan and taikoo then

They lost their Audi dealership a few years ago due to a business practice that didnt please the germans.

Doing a quick chinese search in yahoo (the wife) brings up all sorts of alarming storys.

Read my old thread and im sure you will see why i got wound up so quickly, they really managed to rub me up the wrong way!.

Anyway i have just figured out that the price of the Yeti has risen dramatically from 868,000nt to 908,000nt without alloys (steel wheels!!!) alloys are a 20,000nt option so they arent giving a 2 year extension for free i guess.

Still thats really a bit naughty in my eye, like those ebay sellers advertising low prices with high shipping, it just doesnt sit well with me.

They will go back on what was said before i bought the car so i have been shafted so to speak, im not the kind of guy that likes to get shafted (back home anyway) but here i just have to sit and take it

[My_Yeti]

Is Taikoo the same as Swire?

I remember you have a Taikoo/Swire sticker on the back of your Yeti? I thought Taikoo was meant to be good, one of the largest trading companies, similar to Jardines Matheson!

[Yeti-RS]

Is Taikoo the same as Swire?

I remember you have a Taikoo/Swire sticker on the back of your Yeti? I thought Taikoo was meant to be good, one of the largest trading companies, similar to Jardines Matheson!

Damnit, you reminded me to have it removed, i keep forgetting!.

Well they have a bad reputation here in Taiwan.... (then again who doesnt over here) i had a very strange expeirence buying the car.

They use high pressure sales people, its like a league above anything back home, they will call you all the time and make up things... anything to get you to buy (again this is another story).