Hi All,

I've had Skoda's for years and used the same dealer. Betweeen my dad and I we have puchased new an Estelle, Rapid, Favorite, Felicia and Octavia.

When I was looking for a replacement for the Felicia I finally purchased a nearly new Fabia TDi from a local supermarket.

The Fabia is a full UK dealer supplied car and has been serviced by the dealer I wish to complain to Skoda UK about.

Over the last two days the Fabia has been in for some work and my wife has received extremely poor service.

On complaining to the Service manager he stated she couldn't expect the same service as someone who had bought a car from a main dealer. He went onto say that supermarket cars were blocking up there service department.

Now although he may have an issue with cars bought from supermarkets I'm a loyal Skoda buyer and my cars are have all been UK cars and are serviced in the dealer network.

I expect to be treated the same when I take my car in, my dads or my wifes.

So can anyone give me contact details of someone at Skoda UK so I can get this sorted before this stupid service manager can put off any more loyal Skoda buyers.

Cheers

Lee

tbh if you buy from a supermarket you should take it back there.. I dont see why the dealer should want to work on the cars.. Dealers get paid very little for warranty work and I suspect Skoda UK will be as interested as your dealer.

I know this doesnt help.... but thats why supermarkets are cheaper.

All cars supplied by the UK dealer network carry a three year Skoda Warranty.

Skoda put the warranty on the car and it's upto the dealer network to sort out any problems.

Wherever you buy a Skoda from, if it's under three years old then it's the responsibility of the Skoda network to sort it out not the supplying garage.

Remember the car could have been purchased from the supermarket two years ago.

Lee

personally i would go to a diff local dealer who doesnt know you... say you have just moved to area... have 2 x skodas and can you book in for some warranty work... whilst pretending to be interested in new octy as a "soon" purchase......

I buy a new Skoda from a main dealer at least every three years and usually run one second hand one as well.

I may well swap dealers but we shouldn't just let poor service go.

Cheers

Lee

All cars supplied by the UK dealer network carry a three year Skoda Warranty.

Skoda put the warranty on the car and it's upto the dealer network to sort out any problems.

Wherever you buy a Skoda from' date=' if it's under three years old then it's the responsibility of the Skoda network to sort it out not the supplying garage.

Remember the car could have been purchased from the supermarket two years ago.

Lee[/quote']

You are just underlining why most of us choose to not buy from a supermarket.. i am not saying skoda are right.

Hi All' date='

I've had Skoda's for years and used the same dealer. Betweeen my dad and I we have puchased new an Estelle, Rapid, Favorite, Felicia and Octavia.

When I was looking for a replacement for the Felicia I finally purchased a nearly new Fabia TDi from a local supermarket.

The Fabia is a full UK dealer supplied car and has been serviced by the dealer I wish to complain to Skoda UK about.

Over the last two days the Fabia has been in for some work and my wife has received extremely poor service.

On complaining to the Service manager he stated she couldn't expect the same service as someone who had bought a car from a main dealer. He went onto say that supermarket cars were blocking up there service department.

Now although he may have an issue with cars bought from supermarkets I'm a loyal Skoda buyer and my cars are have all been UK cars and are serviced in the dealer network.

I expect to be treated the same when I take my car in, my dads or my wifes.

So can anyone give me contact details of someone at Skoda UK so I can get this sorted before this stupid service manager can put off any more loyal Skoda buyers.

Cheers

Lee[/quote']

Can you tell us who that Skoda dealer was. I for one would like to avoid this dealership.

You are just underlining why most of us choose to not buy from a supermarket.. i am not saying skoda are right.

Why?

What difference does it make where you buy a car from as long as it's a UK car and in it's warranty period? It is illegal for dealers to offer different service depending on where you got your UK car from and is also against Skoda UK policy.

If you buy a six month old car there is no difference in it's warranty whether it's from a main dealer, a third party dealer, a supermarket or private sale.

The Skoda dealership has a reputation to uphold, if they were as bad as Alfa/Fiat then our second hand values would fall like a stone.

Oh and one more thing, I didn't say the car was booked in for warranty work anyway. The job they were doing was for a paying customer.

Cheers

Lee

It is illegal for dealers to offer different service depending on where you got your UK car from

Is it? Surely this would make most loyalty schemes illegal? Don't most places give a higher priority to people who are loyal customers, than to those who aren't?

Rob.

surely an ex scooby owner should know about dealers who "choose" who their customers are. Skoda uk has an obligation to you.. the dealer does not.

i was talking about this to my parents there full of it saying buy one from a supermarket you get same warrenty you take to a dealer blar blar.....well im sorry but if you expect the same service as if you brought it from them you are mistaken if i was a dealer servicing and dealing with supermarket cars all the time i have not profitted from or had any part in selling id be cheesed off!

before anyone says dealer to dealer services i tihnk you should expect the same service in that instance...eg i buy in peterborough but get it serviced in leicester...but not from a supermarket

dealers as representatives of skoda uk and do carry the resopsiblity of services and warrenty work....but how they inforce it is up to them...if its with out a smile its with out a smile...

Joel

Crap dealer attitude... ALL Skoda's regardless of source have a 2 year warranty that has to be honoured at any Skoda Dealer..

Skoda pay the dealer for any warranty work. and considering the

majority of work a workshop does is either PDI, warranty or servicing the

dealer must recoup its costs through the manufacturer...

I would contact Skoda CS and open a case with them on this issue...

cheers

Dazz

Crap dealer attitude... ALL Skoda's regardless of source have a 2 year warranty that has to be honoured at any Skoda Dealer..

But Lee already pointed out that he wasn't having warranty work done?

Rob.

ok buy your motherspride bread from sainsburys... then complain about it at motherspride facotry shop.....

people who buy from supermarkets deserve what they get. they paid for less service so why should they freeload through dealers that the rest of us paid for.

Is it? Surely this would make most loyalty schemes illegal? Don't most places give a higher priority to people who are loyal customers' date=' than to those who aren't?

Rob.[/quote']

Thats a great way to encourage new customers Customers are the lifeblood of a business and new ones the most expensive to acquire so those who walk in off the street are not to be treated as second class citizens. Sure, you sometimes get a customer you rather wouldn't have but thats thats inevitable no matter how you acquire a customer. Its a fact of life and a minor buiness risk. Mis-treated customers are a potential liability as they will tell others about bad treatment and thats a much bigger risk to the business.

Customers are the lifeblood of a business and new ones the most expensive to acquire so those who walk in off the street are not to be treated as second class citizens.

But who gets higher priority - a customer who bought your product and is returning for service on it, or someone who bought the same product from a company who is constantly undermining your sales and then has brought it in because it turned out to be a bit shonky?

Though I'm not saying that is the case here, as Lee was getting paid-for work done, but he hasn't been especially explicit as to what he thinks consitutes "poor service"...

Rob.

But Lee already pointed out that he wasn't having warranty work done?

Rob.

Its irrelevant ... Even worse if he was paying for it himself.. The Dealer is there to provide a service, it does not matter where the car was originally purchased from...

Imagine if you bought a Sony product from a local Electrical store who then closed, Its the Manufacturer that the warranty is with not the retailer....!!

He should call Skoda CS and complain...!

cheers

Dazz

He should call Skoda CS and complain...!

Now...how much do Skoda gain in income from having a franchise service their car? I'd wager it's not a lot, hence they're franchises rather departments of Skoda. They *can* make their own policies on which customers they want to deal with, and schedule their service books accordingly.

Wouldn't it be much better to complain to the dealers? Or vote with your feet and find another dealer who does offer good service...this leaves those who do receive good service from this particular dealer to continue enjoying this good service, and those who don't to find somewhere that does...

Rob.

But who gets higher priority - a customer who bought your product and is returning for service on it' date=' or someone who bought the same product from a company who is constantly undermining your sales and then has brought it in because it turned out to be a bit shonky?

Though I'm not saying that is the case here, as Lee was getting paid-for work done, but he hasn't been especially explicit as to what he thinks consitutes "poor service"...

Rob.[/quote']

Rob you and Paul are basically telling anyone who buys a Skoda, privately or from a Supermarket has not got the same rights and should'nt expect the

same service at a Skoda dealer? If this is the case you amaze me...!!

the 2 year warranty is offered by Skoda.. Not by the dealer or by us who

might have purchased new from a official dealer... Also in no way should this

affect the service level that the Skoda dealer network provides for ALL its

customers...

Also attitudes from dealers like this will drive potential servicing, out of warranty work, and maybe future car sales away!!...

Dazz

There are lots of small garages around who are "Authorised Repairers" i.e. have lost their Skoda new car sales franchise. These guys won't have an axe to grind about not selling the car to you in the first place, so may be a better bet for servicing a 'visiting' car.

Rob you and Paul are basically telling anyone who buys a Skoda, privately or from a Supermarket has not got the same rights and should'nt expect the same service at a Skoda dealer? If this is the case you amaze me...!!

This is not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is, it costs money to provide a good service. Supermarkets are constantly eroding the cost of car purchases (mainly by not giving a c**p about quality or aftersales), which will impact the dealer - so if one of them turns out to not be happy about it, I wouldn't be overly surprised.

the 2 year warranty is offered by Skoda.. Not by the dealer

What has the warranty got to do with anything? LEE WASN'T HAVING WARRANTY WORK DONE. He was paying for a service, same as he would've at any other garage. Like any other garage, the dealership is allowed to choose how they schedule their service books, how much they charge people, whether they do a "free valet", if they hire a pretty receptionist, etc.

As such, the quality of their customer service is up to them. Bleating to Skoda UK about it is pretty pointless IMHO.

Rob.

Now...how much do Skoda gain in income from having a franchise service their car? I'd wager it's not a lot' date=' hence they're franchises rather departments of Skoda. They *can* make their own policies on which customers they want to deal with, and schedule their service books accordingly.

Wouldn't it be much better to complain to the dealers? Or vote with your feet and find another dealer who does offer good service...this leaves those who do receive good service from this particular dealer to continue enjoying this good service, and those who don't to find somewhere that does...

Rob.[/quote']

If any dealer acted this way, then it could have its franchise removed!

Also a dealer cannot have a policy that differs in the main point from the Skoda UK policy... As Skoda UK would inform the dealer to follow stated procedure!!

Also why should anyone who has there car under warranty then have to take there car to a dealer further away from there home etc...

Your attitude states that if I brought my car to your dealership.. I would be treated like a second class customer because I did not buy it from there

and you would expect preferential service over me? If this is the case

then would you be prepared to accept this yourself elsewhere I suspect not...

amazing...

:(

Dazz

I'm with the dealer on this one.

If you want a dealer to kiss your feet every time you go into the showroom, then buy your car from him.

Dazz / Lee

but if i ran a dealer i would not want you as a customer. You have not bought from me. I have no obigation to serve you in any capacity. Skoda UK is the only one with an obligation ref warranty. As lee's matter doesnt involve warranty then the dealer may serve who they choose.

A landlord has no obligation to take a tennant. Neither does a dealer.

Unless the dealer refuses to serve Lee on the grounds of Race or Sex etc they can do as they please.

Also a dealer cannot have a policy that differs in the main point from the Skoda UK policy... As Skoda UK would inform the dealer to follow stated procedure!!

:confused: Where is it differing from Skoda UK policy? I don't think we really have enough details of the "poor service" to decide this...

Also why should anyone who has there car under warranty then have to take there car to a dealer further away from there home etc...

What's with going on about the warranty again?

Your attitude states that if I brought my car to your dealership.. I would be treated like a second class customer because I did not buy it from there

and you would expect preferential service over me? If this is the case

then would you be prepared to accept this yourself elsewhere I suspect not...

That's not what I'm saying at all. How my local dealership schedules their work and treats their customers is entirely up to them. If I didn't like it, I'd go elsewhere.

That said, my dealership runs a "gold card" service...if you buy a car from them you get free MOTs on that car while you own it, you get discounts on parts and servicing, and other benefits also. So if you turned up out of the blue, you'd be discriminated against for buying elsewhere...are you going to phone up Skoda UK and complain about this practice?

Rob.