So I picked up my lovely black vRS today, have been eagerly awaiting this day for 12 weeks... Unfortunately it did not go as well as I had hoped.

First the good - the car looks great, feels great and goes really nicely. I did about 60 miles in it today, the engine does feel a little tight, but I was treating her gently so it's a bit difficult to tell how she fully performs just yet. But the ride is good, the gearbox is a dream and I'm very happy with the options i specced and the combo of black paintwork with black wheels and red interior.

So, the bad. The handover today at the dealership was terrible. I had been in on Friday to sign the paperwork, sort out the tax etc and that was all fine. Today was a different story.

The dealer had the car out front, so i had a good look around it whilst the limited number of staff did their best to deal with a number of customers.

This gave me time to realise the car had been barely washed, never mind valeted. The car was covered in dust, transport wax on the lower panels and marks where the plastic wrap had been removed. Worst of all though was the collection of deep scratches over the drivers rear door on the side of the roof panel.

This wasn't all. The list of complaints that I will be sending to Skoda UK is:

• Scratch above RHS rear door
  
• Car not valeted (dirty, transport wax not removed, marks at edge of plastic wrap)
  
• No handbooks/service book supplied
  
• No USB cable for MDI
  
• GAP Insurance not arranged (despite being specced/ordered)
  
• Car mats not supplied (despite being specced/ordered)
  
• Car not fuelled
  
• Extended warranty more expensive than promised (was told it was VAT-free as per offer, turns out it isn't)
  
• No warning of car delivery (not informed when car had been built so little time to prepare/sell old car)
  
• No spare oil supplied
  
• No PDI checklist supplied or discussed
  

Took the shine off the day a bit. The guy in charge was apologetic and did fuel the car (well, paid for me to do it) and promised to order/sort the other things in the coming week. They said they 'have been having trouble with the valeters for a while' and did not at all seem surprised - they had me write a complaint about them there and then, so I don't think this is the first time this has happened. I'm just glad I didn't take the G3 protection as it is the same people that would have done that too.They blamed the mix up with spec and insurance etc on a sales man who they have now 'moved' to their Ford dealership (unlucky Ford!) due to poor performance.

Doesn't instil much confidence in the dealership for future servicing etc.

I'm just ticked off. This is a day I had been waiting for a long time to see and it was not a good day in the end.

I think i will be putting pretty much is written above into an email to Skoda and see what they say.

Edited 19 May, 201313 yr by zouche

Sorry to hear that.

As to the PDI,

how many miles were on the the mileage.

Personally i would not have taken it away.

I would want to see the Service Manual Stamped and Signed by one of their employees/technicians.

In my opinion i would doubt the mechanical Pre Delivery Inspection which often includes the drive to put fuel in.

The Sales Person obviously has not done a Pre Hand Over inspection.

If the Sales Manager or even the Company Director can not be bothered to step in and do that menial

task,

i would ask to take home their Company Car until they dealt with my new purchase and got someone to do it..

george

Thanks for the reply George. There was 9 miles on the car.

The salesman said the car was intentionally not fuelled as I had 'chosen' not to pay the admin fee. This was totally untrue and I was told when ordering that the car would be fully fuelled, valeted etc as part of the preparation process. Pretty annoying.

Well mine was never fulled and never came with any spare oil.

I think if you want customer service do what my dad just did and left skoda after 6years and went to mercedes

I expect 15 litres of fuel in as a minimum. Obviously more if i have paid for it.

The Car Preparation is just part of the OTR price paid.

The Owners Manual, Completed Service Manual, Keys etc should all be ready and complete obviously.

The standard should be to the highest, or the car should be rejected until it is perfect.

I would get your Email off too Skoda UK Customer Services and link this post on it.

Same to the Dealership, & any Group Directors Emails you can find.

george

You also need to confirm you have not been overcharged for the extended warranty....mine was Vat free,part of the Offer that was on last year and is still on,as far as I'm aware.

I got 1/3 of a tank... was superguarded (paid for) and with oil... but again I wasn't impressed with the sales team.... they cocked up the finance (their fault) and said I couldn't have the car when THEY said I could, when I turned up (after swithching my insurance) had SWMBO come to take me home as I couldn't drive mine (no insurance) told them I was A) taking the new car now, or they give me my deposite back , and I pull out of the deal, and get my old car the next day when I switch my insurance back again!

needless to saythey gave me the car.... It was prepared properly, but their incompetence messed up the handover.... luckily their service dept is good, they looked after the old one for 50k and it was perfect....

maybe next time I buy from drive the deal and service there......

edit: sorry to hear of your woes... make the complaint, but dont let it spoil your enjoyment of your new car

Yes, I do think I have been overcharged for the warranty.

Just wrote out a lengthy email to Skoda UK but unable to send it through the website as it will only accept 2500 characters

Have sent a brief email asking for an email address to send a full complaint to.

Not the way I was hoping to spend today!

Edited 19 May, 201313 yr by zouche

Well mine was never fulled and never came with any spare oil.

I think if you want customer service do what my dad just did and left skoda after 6years and went to mercedes

Thats not always the case I had some good and some truly awful service from Mercedes , the poor service from the dealers is why I came to Skoda , unfortunately I think Skoda dealers in the main aren't as good as they used to be

No complaints about my handover, apart from the fact that the rear number plate was not on square. However, in all my 37 years of motoring, Mercedes are by far the worst company I've ever dealt with. Back in 2003 I bought a Smart Roadster off them and on delivery it had no less than 14, yes 14!! faults! These were eventually fixed after many heated discussions, but even the mighty 'M' get it wrong.

Sorry to hear of your issues - it realy is poor service, and something which the dealer ought to be familiar with, after all it is what they are in business for. It's not rocket science to get everything in place prior to a customer arriving. Things like having a handbook missing are basic tasks which would make me nervous.

Hope you can get a complaint over to SUK and they act decisively with the dealer concerned.

No excuse for the car being dirty and no handbook , that's shocking service!

Wrong rims on my car, only phone-call I got was when the car arrived at the stealers (not when built or anything), no extra-oil, no mdi-cable, supplied with 5 litres off 95-octane fuel.

The same stealer who claimed that a turbo with less then 30000 km on it was supposed to break down... Warranty was only for 2 years, not 2 years and 11 days ^^.

EDIT : needless to say, the will loose customers. They have already lost 3 (made sure that the one who backed out off their affairs with them sent my regards) x).

Edited 20 May, 201313 yr by Confide

Zouche, get some pics up of the new motor. Try and enjoy it too despite the poor service.

So to update on the situation, I heard back by phone from the dealer today who told me how 'aggrieved' and 'disappointed' he was that I had sent an account of my experience to Skoda UK.

He went on to explain that my actions would cause financial implications for the dealership and salesperson involved in the deal.

The explanation provided mainly revolved around the fact that they do not routinely do Sunday handovers as the admin staff/managers are not in to deal with any issues.

This did not do much to lessen my frustration!!!

Anyway, he promised to sort out the issues I have had, but repeatedly told me that he wished I hadn't emailed Skoda UK.

I'm going in on Wednesday evening to meet with the (sales?) manager to start the process of getting all the issues ironed out.

Now, I'm not a fan of the 'compensation culture' we have now in this country, but i do feel that some redress is in order. The dealer says he wants to make me 'a happy customer' again, so what should I do?

What would you guys be looking for in this situation? Just that all the problems get solved or some recompense is also offered? If so, of what type?

Zouche, get some pics up of the new motor. Try and enjoy it too despite the poor service.

Grapo, I do love the car (just as well really!) and I will get some pics up here asap! I just wish the experience was better and until that is sorted, it will be a hassle. BUT - the car is awesome and I am very glad to have it

I was surprised you were going for a Sunday Hand over, but you said you did the paperwork on the Friday, and i would have expected that to be the Deal/Payment day, and the Sunday to be a straightforward Collection of the car.

As much as 'he' might be upset about things,

He needs to sort his staff out.

The Car Preparation Sub Contractors, and his Sales team. Actually maybe he is the Problem needing sorting out, funny how often Managers fail to see that its their Management that is lacking.

Lesson learned for him.

george

I'm just glad I didn't take the G3 protection as it is the same people that would have done that too.

Exactly why I would NEVER take paint protection from a dealer unless they used a known external contractor

He went on to explain that my actions would cause financial implications for the dealership and salesperson involved in the deal.

Simple response to that would be why should the salesman be getting any bonus when he's not doing his job properly

George, I had no idea that Sunday handovers were an issue - if it is such a problem they should have said they couldn't and done it on Monday instead...

I think you make an excellent point about where the problems may lie... How will anything improve if there are never any consequences. It makes me wonder just how many issues have been deflected from SUK without them ever knowing about them.

An excellent point from Rob too. I hadn't thought about it that way regarding bonus etc.

Given the amount of money you are spending, you have every right to expect a decent experience. If the dealer suffers at the hands of Skoda UK, then that's tough. They should have made sure everything was OK in the first place. That kind of dealer attitude has no place as far as I am concerned.

I would concentrate on getting the problems put right first and for the rectification work to be done right first time. Repeated visits to the dealer are unnecessary unless they have to order a part or something like that. Then ask yourself 'what would it take for me to have confidence in this dealer again?' That probably isn't possible now so look at what it has cost you in time and trouble. Then go for an equivalent monetary value such as a couple of free services, free fuel and suchlike. Best of luck.

I agree with ^^ the dealer attitude to his "woe" on you contacting skoda Uk is a bit rich......

Perhaps the dealer already has a couple of black marks from SUK? Sorry - but his tough luck. Skoda (as a brand) keep citing customer satisfaction as a big selling point so perhaps it doesn't take much for a dealer to get a ticking off?

The correct attitude to dealers is always difficult.You may want to retain goodwill because you may want to use them in the future,say for the sake of convenience because they are nearby,on the other hand you can't let them walk all over you.

There is no doubt that the service was really bad,but,this also illustrates how it's somtimes best to reflect a little before you act.

...so perhaps it would have been better to merely have drafted the email to SUK,copied it to the dealer and given him 48 hours to come up with a substantial compensation package,under the threat that otherwise it would be sent.

^^^ agree with this. Would be a good argument for giving the dealer a chance to put things right before launching the complaint. Tricky tightrope to walk.

I would read the dealers comments as this might not be the first complaint Skoda have had?