Simple fact:

1. I can buy a car where I want, from who I want. It could be second-hand or even 'more'-hand. If it is under Skoda UK warranty it therefore should be possible to get warranty work done at a Skoda approved garage. This therefore includes Skoda dealers.

2. I forced the price down at the dealers to nearly match an online price. I bought it from the dealer. Not because I was fearing bad service, but because they deserved to win my money. If a supermarket had offered a better deal I would have bought it there.

3. Good dealers will service ANY Skodas, not just the ones purchased from another Skoda dealership. Bad ones - they'll get found out and people will avoid them.

Yes the money isn't great perhaps but that's NOT the owner's problem.

At the end of the day I'm not gonna get emotional about it - I will give any dealership a fair chance, don't get me wrong, which may include getting annoyed at some stage, but that's not what I mean - if you get angry to that extent just change to a different garage. Complain to Skoda UK by all means, perhaps they can 'come down from the top' and get this sorted, but I still wouldn't trust that dealership any longer. Grudges can be held

Simple fact:

. Grudges can be held

Definately hence never buying Ford

Vauxhall

VW

Audi

Peugot(and that was just from a test drive.foolish salesman)

EVER, ever again.However good your car is,dealers and dealerships are far more important and one of the highest influencing factors in my car buying process.Look after me,be nice and you can have my money.Be a rude and unhelpful and you wont.Further I will tell all my family,friends,colleagues,and possibly post on the internet

Remember dealers.Bad behaviour is relayed not just to 5,50 or 500 people but possibly thousands of potential buyers of your cars

Definately hence never buying Ford

Vauxhall

VW

Audi

Peugot(and that was just from a test drive.foolish salesman)

Crikey

That doesnt leave many brands of car for you to choose from, if you now find Skoda peeeee you off.

Keep going and you could be left to the mercies of public transport or a bike

I tend to work on the principle, If I get BAD service I will go elswhere and the business will suffer ( I bought bedroom fruniture from Courts about 5 years ago, got BAD service and never went into 1 of their stores again, they obviously repeated this process many many times, RESULT they went bust )

a major thread in this has been MONEY TALKS.

Steve

Crikey

That doesnt leave many brands of car for you to choose from' date=' if you now find Skoda peeeee you off.

Keep going and you could be left to the mercies of public transport or a bike

[/quote']

mind you,I havn't tried porshe,ferrari,aston martin,koeigsegg,pagani etc

The world is my oyster

If we both book our cars in to, say, your dealer and both are happy paying

Loyalty imho has nothing to do with it from an expected level of service point of view. It does have an impact on the dealer going 'beyond the call of duty' or being more helpful than they are supposed to be from a minimal acceptable level of service perspective, granted.

If the car is imported and not under Skoda UK warranty then fair enough dealers will not be too keen on those. But if it has been bought under Skoda UK warranty any dealer should do their job.

Quite agreed - the service manager should have kept his mouth firmly shut on what he thinks about Supermarket cars. It has nothing to do with him or his job as such.

If I pay massive sums hourly rate for someone to do a job I expect excellence, nothing short thereof. I don't expect to have to go back to complain or whatever.

This is not just Skoda dealers either, it must be noted. I've had a Renault dealer 'repair' my car to then find it going totally wrong within weeks. Strangely some faults were on there after the repair which were not there when it went in... Suffice to say no-one I know ever goes there ever again.

In this case I have not seen that level of behaviour going on, and you are probably better off trying to resolve it with the dealership involved if at all possible.

If the car is imported and not under Skoda UK warranty then fair enough dealers will not be too keen on those. But if it has been bought under Skoda UK warranty any dealer should do their job.

Although they don't *have* to do the work...they can't refuse to do work under warranty (ie. they can't do the work and then charge for it), but they are allowed to say "we don't want to work on the car", be that because they don't like the fact it came from a supermarket, or because they don't know what they're doing with it, or any other possible reason.

I'd imagine it is possible for Skoda UK to force dealers to do warranty work if needs be, but if there's a good reason for the dealer refusing to do the work, I'd be surprised if they'd force the issue with them...

Rob.

Personally, I'd just vote with your feet. My car was sourced from an independent garage (traded in when it reached 3 years old) but is a full UK spec car. I've had it serviced at two different Skoda dealers in my area and neither of them seemed bothered that I hadn't bought it from them, and I even managed to haggle over service prices with one of them

A garage relies on it's customer base - just find another garage which wants your custom

Chris

Well... Firstly I'm amazed and to be honest disappointed in the two Board Moderators attitude.. Who basically state that if you want good overall service from a Skoda dealer then you must buy from that dealer...

where they would then expect as a 'loyal customer' to jump the queue for servicing and loan cars, and to receive a service way above all us non purchasing fools!!! How dare you purchase from elsewhere and expect the SAME service! as me!!! What a narrow minded attitude!.. God help us if any of you are working in a customer facing role....

This site was created to provide a community for Skoda owners ( or potential owners )Some of which will have purchased from other than an authorised UK dealer..

This site has a dealer review section where we as customers can post our purchase/service or whatever experiences... It also has guides on getting the best possible deals on new/used cars, parts ... even IMPORTs...

This is for the benefit of US the owners/customers not Skoda UK or its dealers.. As moderators you would have say or helped in the content and design of this site.. You obviously don't agree with the design of this site..

We as customers when getting service from any dealer want that dealer to

provide those services as best as it can above a minimum defined level.

Skoda dealers operate in competition with each other and some will offer this incentive and that incentive...

It is also irrelevant from where I've bought the car... I might have spent

Dazz...are you actually reading my posts? :confused:

Rob.

Dazz...are you actually reading my posts? :confused:

Rob.

I think the problem is that you are not reading anyone else's. I'm curious - Do you work in a customer facing role?

Cra

I think the problem is that you are not reading anyone else's. I'm curious - Do you work in a customer facing role?

:confused:

Of course I'm reading everyone else's and there have been some very valid points made. However, Dazz seems intent on telling me what I'm saying, which apparently is that is you buy a car from elsewhere other than a dealer you should get bad service - WHICH AT NO POINT HAVE I EVER SAID.

And yes, I do work in a customer facing role. And yes, I do treat my loyal customers better than my disloyal customers - they spend more money with me, therefore they are of more use in business.

Rob.

:confused:

Of course I'm reading everyone else's and there have been some very valid points made. However' date=' Dazz seems intent on telling me what I'm saying, which apparently is that is you buy a car from elsewhere other than a dealer you should get bad service - WHICH AT NO POINT HAVE I EVER SAID.

And yes, I do work in a customer facing role. And yes, I do treat my loyal customers better than my disloyal customers - they spend more money with me, therefore they are of more use in business.

Rob.[/quote']

Rob

I am having real difficulty understanding your logic behind this. Can you give me an exmaple of how you give a diffeent level of service to both a loyal and a disloyal customer?

Thanks

Cra

:confused:

Of course I'm reading everyone else's and there have been some very valid points made. However' date=' Dazz seems intent on telling me what I'm saying, which apparently is that is you buy a car from elsewhere other than a dealer you should get bad service - WHICH AT NO POINT HAVE I EVER SAID.

[b']And yes, I do work in a customer facing role. And yes, I do treat my loyal customers better than my disloyal customers - they spend more money with me, therefore they are of more use in business.[/b]

Rob.

Yes I have read you posts and YET AGAIN you are exactly stating what I totally disagree with you on... And YOU ARE saying that some are not entitiled to the same level of service than others....

You are giving a two tier service to your customers... I don't know in what line of business you are in .. But in mine an SLA covers all equipment from the cheapest component upgrade to a full multi million pound install..

The same deliverable SLA applys... This is ALL I expect from any service I receive.. Its not about how much money has been spent....

So I would expect a similar service for a brake pad change as I would a complete engine or gearbox change....

If I was a customer of yours and you treated me differently to anyone esle

then I would not be happy about it and I would complain ......

In Lee's instance as stated many time previously he recieved SUB-STANDARD service.. Which you seem to think is justified because he purchased his car elsewhere...

Dazz

I am having real difficulty understanding your logic behind this. Can you give me an exmaple of how you give a diffeent level of service to both a loyal and a disloyal customer?

A loyal customer I am more likely to do better deals for, their problems will be dealt with as a priority, and I am willing to be much more flexible in working to their needs.

I am not a communist, and I firmly believe that the more you spend, the better you should be treated...

Rob.

In Lee's instance as stated many time previously he recieved SUB-STANDARD service.. Which you seem to think is justified because he purchased his car elsewhere...

Yes, that's why I said:

I'd like to reiterate again that I don't agree that Lee should have bad customer service...I don't think anyone should.

Which would suggest that you are not reading my posts...

Rob.

A loyal customer I am more likely to do better deals for' date=' their problems will be dealt with as a priority, and I am willing to be much more flexible in working to their needs.

I am not a communist, and I firmly believe that the more you spend, the better you should be treated...

Rob.[/quote']

Rob

But how can you possibly keep track of all of your customers buying habits so you know with absolute certainty they are buying everything from you (which I guess would meet your criteria of a loyal customer).

How do you differentiate between a small company spending 25k on widgets (and buying 20k from you) and a large multinational spending 5m on widgets (but only buying 2m from you).

Are you selling a product or a service or both?

Cra

I think you have to remember a customers potential in the future too Rob.

Always remember,however and wherever the person came across the product and bought it and arrived on your doorstep that person might be buying his next car from that garage if he likes what he sees and gets a good service the same as everyone else does

But how can you possibly keep track of all of your customers buying habits so you know with absolute certainty they are buying everything from you (which I guess would meet your criteria of a loyal customer).

Are you selling a product or a service or both?

Both.

I take your point, there's is no way with absolute certainty I can tell this...however, the way to usually tell is someone will request a quote, and then comes back to in two months asking for the cheaper version they bought elsewhere to be fixed.

Rob.

I think you have to remember a customers potential in the future too Rob.

This I know...which is why there is no excuse for bad customer service.

However, if you make it clear to customers that, if they stay loyal you will do them better prices and better service, there is more incentive for them to stay loyal. Treat everyone the same and you have customers who aren't bothered about being loyal...

Rob.

Both.

I take your point' date=' there's is no way with absolute certainty I can tell this...however, the way to usually tell is someone will request a quote, and then comes back to in two months asking for the cheaper version they bought elsewhere to be fixed.

Rob.[/quote']

Here is an idea. Next time that happens and you get a good feeling about the customer (or, put it another way, a customer who would like to convert to being a "loyal" customer ) then fit it FOC or if that isn't possible, then fix it at cost but with very little margin. See if that generates additional goodwill. That *might* generate an increase in future sales.

Sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate.

Cra

However' date=' if you make it clear to customers that, if they stay loyal you will do them better prices and better service, there is more incentive for them to stay loyal.

Rob.[/quote']

No. Provide outstanding customer service (even at a premium) and customers will stay loyal for life.

Cra

This I know...which is why there is no excuse for bad customer service.

However' date=' if you make it clear to customers that, if they stay loyal you will do them better prices and better service, there is more incentive for them to stay loyal. Treat everyone the same and you have customers who aren't bothered about being loyal...

Rob.[/quote']

Treat everyone like a king and the reputation of the company gets better and better

I might have someone come in with a 5 minute job that will earn

Here is an idea. Next time that happens and you get a good feeling about the customer (or, put it another way, a customer who would like to convert to being a "loyal" customer ) then fit it FOC or if that isn't possible, then fix it at cost but with very little margin. See if that generates additional goodwill. That *might* generate an increase in future sales.

I did this when I started out...all it generated were a bunch of customers who were happy to take freebies off me, and who then went elsewhere when it came to coughing up.

No. Provide outstanding customer service (even at a premium) and customers will stay loyal for life.

I understand what you're saying, but it doesn't apply to every industry - there are people who will only buy the cheapest of items. Such as those who would buy a car from a car supermarket rather than a dealer (because it's cheaper), and then spend loads of time getting the dealer to work on it for warranty (because the car was cheaper for a very good reason).

Rob.

(ps. Just in case anyone picks up on it and takes me out of context, that last sentence was not intended to be a reflection on the events Lee described, nor that people shouldn't be entitled to have warranty work done at any dealer regardless of source, nor that anyone should receive poor customer service).

I might have someone come in with a 5 minute job that will earn