Recently bought a skoda dog guard for my Octavia Estate.

Fitted it as per the instructions, but I noticed that the nuts that screw down onto the arms that go behind the seats did not sit flush to the guard. However all seemed well as there were no rattles.

When I came to remove the dog guard I unscrewed the nuts and due to the incorrect angle between the guard and the fixing arm as the guard slid up and damaged the thread on the both fixing arm to the point that I can no longer screw the nuts onto the arms making the whole thing useless..... (I hope that makes sense).

Some may think that this would need a lot of stress to destroy the threads, but I only tightened the nuts up just enough to stop it rattling (there's no point in going any further that).

I took the dog guard back to my local dealer hoping for a refund as the item was clearly manufactured incorrectly and was told "Sorry nothing we can do as we didn't fit it for you". They didn't even want to have a look at the guard in situ

1. I was NOT offered a fitting service.

2. I was NOT told that NOT having it fitted by them would invalidate the warranty of the dog guard.

3. Does this mean that every time I need to move something that needs the seats down and the dog guard out that I have to phone Skoda to get them to remove and re fit the guard... please they're having a laugh...

All they told me was that I could try to phone Skoda customer service.

I've done this and they told me the same thing... So I'm now in the process of complaining in writing to the higher echelons of Skoda customer service as I am not a happy camper..

yeh the one on my dads car (vrs estate) was the same to fit - a pain in the ****! its never been taken out since installed though so touch wood we dont have your problem... it does rattle every now and then though but i encouranged him to buy it as it looks a lot better than an aftermarket one and means you can still use the roller-blind over the boot... i would complain too in your position!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks there a pain in the ****....

Yea I could have got one form Halfords, for a fraction of the price and a fraction of the heart ache if I needed to take it back but the manufacturers custom fit ones usually fit so much better that in the long run they worth the extra...

Oh well you live and learn...

I would interested to know who the higher people are at Skoda Auto UK Customer Service. I have an ongoing engine problem with my Octavia and have wrote to Customer Service on many occassions, but have not had a sensible response todate. I even sent a letter addressed to the Director of Customer Service, but this ended up landing on the desk of the same person who replied to all my previous letters. Good luck with your letter

If you don't get any satisfaction from Skoda, it should be possible to recut the threads with a tap and die set.

Dude, let's be real. As much as I feel your pain, you cannot claim anything from them. Yes, I agree they should have offered to fit it for you, but it din't happen.

It's like fitting lowering springs really. You get the springs and do it yourself, you invalidate the warranty. If you take it to Skoda, they would fit it fro you and the warranty would still be valid.

I hope you don't take it personally. ZTry and understand it from a third person's point of view. Peace man, sorry about the dog guard.

yellowmehari,

I went for the manager of customer services, it was purely a shot in the dark though and have no idea if it'll work or not (probably not)....

Maybe we should try the Managing Director, .

Cheers for your support and good luck with your problem.

DGW, yea I will be re-cutting the threads and bending the fixing points of the guard so that I no longer have this odd angle, hey the warranty has gone now anyway , but as you say only if I get no joy with the refund.

Fabia 2.0RS, don't worry I don't take your point personally but I do feel that fitting a set of lowering springs is a tad more serious than a dog guard that my granny should be able to remove and replace at will .

I don't see why car dealers should be immune from the Sale of Goods act 1979 which states "traders must sell goods that are as described and of satisfactory quality. If consumers discover that products do not meet these requirements they can reject them and ask for their money back"

Sorry to get all heavy but I still feel I have a case.... whether anything comes of it is still to be seen.

Hope you have more joy with Customer Service than I have had so far.

Cheers,

It's just anoying as one of my resons for choosing a Skoda was all the glowing reports of how good their customer service is.

Oh well another case off same **** different shoe.....

I am the same. One of the reasons I bought a Skoda was because of the 'great' customer service that they were supposed to offer. To be honest the customer service I have encountered to date has been very poor. Far worse than any other manufacturer. Hope you get the guard sorted

Recently bought a skoda dog guard for my Octavia Estate.

Fitted it as per the instructions' date=' but I noticed that the nuts that screw down onto the arms that go behind the seats did not sit flush to the guard. However all seemed well as there were no rattles.

When I came to remove the dog guard I unscrewed the nuts and due to the incorrect angle between the guard and the fixing arm as the guard slid up and damaged the thread on the both fixing arm to the point that I can no longer screw the nuts onto the arms making the whole thing useless..... (I hope that makes sense).

Some may think that this would need a lot of stress to destroy the threads, but I only tightened the nuts up just enough to stop it rattling (there's no point in going any further that).

I took the dog guard back to my local dealer hoping for a refund as the item was clearly manufactured incorrectly and was told "Sorry nothing we can do as we didn't fit it for you". They didn't even want to have a look at the guard in situ

1. I was [b']NOT[/b] offered a fitting service.

2. I was NOT told that NOT having it fitted by them would invalidate the warranty of the dog guard.

3. Does this mean that every time I need to move something that needs the seats down and the dog guard out that I have to phone Skoda to get them to remove and re fit the guard... please they're having a laugh...

All they told me was that I could try to phone Skoda customer service.

I've done this and they told me the same thing... So I'm now in the process of complaining in writing to the higher echelons of Skoda customer service as I am not a happy camper..

inform them of the sale of goods act requiring a product to do the job it is designed to do or by advertising that it fits the octavia and it does not. by not fitting properly the dog gaurd does not do this. therefore you have have a right to your money back. not being fitted by them is a poor excuse. if they do not offer a refund on this basis then contact your local trading standard office and they will help

Cheers vibrio,

If it comes to it I'll do that.

I have just this minute got of the phone from Customer Services and they wanted me to take the dog guard down to the local dealer and they'll re thread it for me, at a price.... :( .

To which I said that I can do that myself but it will not solve the problem of the parts not being flush.

They then said that they would contact their accessories department to see if they can get me some replacement bolts... OK fair enough at least, they're trying now.

Then right at the end of the phone call they happened to mention that the boot on the Vrs and 4X4 estate are different from the normal estate. Not sure if this is true... any ideas out there?????????

But this does mean that they have sold me the wrong bit as they knew I had a Vrs....

I can feel another letter to customer service coming on.....

I'd not pay them to rethread. the item should fit when bought if it doesn't then you take it back. don;t take any crap from them.

Then right at the end of the phone call they happened to mention that the boot on the Vrs and 4X4 estate are different from the normal estate.

Well it sounds like they may be admitting that they got you the wong part.

Are all their conversations recorded like they are when you phone the bank?

Yea that's exactly what I was thinking, but last night I compared the measurements from Skoda's website for the boot of a standard estate and guess what they are the same as for the vRS. So I have no idea what they were on about...

the only thing different is the 2 small metal bars behind the seats on the VRs

The boot of the 4X4 Estate is different to that of the FWD Estate in that the latter's is deeper. The small metal bars mentioned above - called backrests - are extra bracing fitted to the vRS hatch.

Cheers for your help peeps...

I know I'm clutching at straws now as to why this dog guard won't fit right.....

No hang on a minute I think I know..... it's just badly made

(Still no sign of getting my money back :( )

Go back to the seller and advise them that under the Sale of Goods Act (see below) they are required by law to either repair the goods FOC or replace

them as they are clearly not of satisfactory quality.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Cheers, DGW

I've been looking at that very same page a lot this week and I will certainly be reminding them of it.

If its faulty, its faulty - The bit of kit is supposed to be fit for the purpose and it doesn't matter who fitted it. Citizens advice might be able to help.

I too had a look at the Sale of Goods Act, very handy. When I told Skoda Customer Service that I had read it and was considering rejecting my car (due to six month saga of engine problem), it certainly speeded up the response.

I've finally had a result on the refund front.

After a few phone calls to and from customer service they finally realised that the threaded screws were the symptom and not the actual fault (incorrect angle on guard itself).

So they requested that I took the guard to the dealer and let them inspect it. As soon as the technicians saw it they said "ohh that's not right" and I've now got a letter from Skoda UK authorising the dealer to give me a full refund. Which I will be doing this weekend.

Which is a result but it's a shame that the technicians didn't just come and look at it a month ago when I originally took it back to the dealer.

The sales of goods act is a very handy thing as it normally scares retailers rigid