Our new yeti has arrived... With the wrong wheels and roof colour!

[joiner andy]

After a long wait our new 170 elegance in jungle green has arrived at dealers . After the long wait my wife and I couldn't wait to see what the yeti looked like in jungle green so I asked the dealer for some photos. When I opened them it thought it was the wrong car as it had anapuras instead of matterhorns and a green roof instead of black! I immediately phoned the dealer to inform him it had the wrong wheels to which he said I'll go check!?

A day and a half later after a sleepless night a rather sheepish dealer phoned to say there had been a mix up during the order process and as we already knew our new car came with wrong wheels and roof . He spoke to his manager and they have decided it is my fault .

After verbally confirming my relatively simple order of 170 elegance in jungle green with black roof and matterhorns verbally over the phone with the young sales executive some time later an order form was emailed to sign and scan from the manager listing jungle green and onyx leather. I signed and scanned the document assuming as all the info had been passed on to the manager .

Last night I got a phone call saying "we can cover the cost of the tyres but not the wheels" . Hold on I said the tyres will just be swapped over but I'm not paying£750 for wheels! I accepted that both we are all partly to blame as it's just a mistake and said I can live without the black roof but must have the matterhorns!

Now it's a stale mate so I am going to contact Skoda uk. Surely a new set can be ordered and we split the courrier cost to send wheels back? All in all an awful experience to what should be an enjoyable experience ! What happened to customer service!?

Thinking about cancelling and losing £750 deposit. Better than paying 750 for 2nd set of alloys! Sorry for the long drawn out post any advice would be much appreciated ! Had anyone experienced a similar situation? Thanks for reading my rant!

[Banjobach]

In this situation, I would agree that I could live without the black roof, but the dealer should come to the party with the wheels. Who can you trust these days? All must be in writing and signed, which is the way the dealers work. Wishing you the best of luck!

[joiner andy]

Thanks for your reply banjobach! How's the weather down under far I ask? This is our third yeti and never had any issues in the past. I honestly thought they would order the wheels and say "it's all taken care of sorry about the roof "but instead I'm being made the scapegoat and told u signed the form so it's my fault. The manager doesn't seem to want to talk to me so I'm hoping Skoda uk will help restore my faith in the great Skoda service!

[Neily03]

If all the options weren't listed on the order form then you should never have signed it.....

[Brockysuperb]

I've seen OEM alloys go through eBay for £500 for folks swapping to a winter tyre. May offer a route which ultimately will cost £250. Bit of a risk...but they always make good money esp. brand new.

[joiner andy]

But the wheels didn't cost any extra so how did we no it was an extra. The list didn't mention wheel type so we assumed that that was taken care of

[joiner andy]

That's a shout never thought of eBay ! I think what went wrong was that 2 managers and a sales exucutive were involved in the sale and the info wasn't relayed. We did accept part responsibility so hopefully the issue will get resolved

[muddyboots]

You'll be able to sell a brand new set of alloys and tyres for a good price - so you wouldn't be out of pocket by £750.

Or sell the tyres, and keep the wheels as a winter set.

 

Whichever - cancelling the order and losing £750 seems a little OTT to me after waiting a long time for it.

[BossFox]

I bought a brand new set of Annapurnas a few weeks back... :(

 

Put those up for sale, you might get a good price as they are brand new.

[Guy Incognito]

I cannot offer any practical help although a roof wrap would be around £100 or so for gloss black and can look good if professionally done.  Looks like flogging the wheels on eBay might be the way ahead but make very clear that you will be taking your business to another Skoda dealer due to the way you have been treated.  They may make a quick turn around as it looks like you would be a valued customer!

[BossFox]

Personally I think wrapping a roof is better than ordering a different colour.

Because you can change your mind and also sell it all the same colour if fancy roofs don't appeal to the new buyer.

[Neily03]

But the wheels didn't cost any extra so how did we no it was an extra. The list didn't mention wheel type so we assumed that that was taken care of

 

If it's an option, no cost or not it should be listed on the order form.  You do the deal with the salesmen and sign the order form but it's then usually passed on to someone else who actually places the order so anything verbal is likely to get lost.....

[Truthseeker]

I would be gutted, especially as like you I ordered  a Jungle Green Elegance with Matterhorns (since cancelled for different reasons).

 

In your shoes, I would take delivery, but before doing so, negotiate a mutually agreeable discount on a set of Matterhorns. Tell the Dealer he can keep the Anapuras as he will be better placed to sell on. 

 

How about having the Anapuras powder coated black/silver at around £60 per wheel - then at least you would have a unique OEM set of alloys

 

As has been stated, sell on ebay. Genuine OEM Skoda Yeti alloys (unused) should make £500, but still get at least a 50% discount from the dealer on the Matterhorns - then you make a profit.

 

Or, buy a quality aftermarket set (some lovely looking wheels available), for around £400, sell the stock ones, or keep them and put some winter tyres on, and keep the new ones nice ans shiny for the summer.

 

But whatever you do don't cancel as you will regret it.

 

Moral of the story - always check the paperwork before signing and if doing over the phone confirm everything to dealer in writing/email, and get them to acknowledge.

 

"Trust No One"!

[drum]

Wasn't Arnold Clark by any chance ?

[Brimma]

I suppose it's the inherent danger of arranging anything by phone, unless you record the conversation you have no proof of what was said

It also proves that you can't take anything for granted and assume that the written order sent out for signature is correct without reading it word for word

We live and learn I'm afraid

[bilun777]

Personally I think wrapping a roof is better than ordering a different colour.

Because you can change your mind and also sell it all the same colour if fancy roofs don't appeal to the new buyer.

+1 on the roof wrap.

Why can't the dealer order their next Yeti with Matterhorns and then swap them with yours?

Oh..and never cross the dealers doorstep again.

[jonceebee]

I don't know what has gone wrong with Skoda dealers attitude. My recent experience with them over a new car was atrocious, a lack of initial interest, could not get me the model I wanted to try out offering me the same model as I already have. Never got back with a trade in offer or final price of the new car despite two reminders and gave the opinion of we have enough business at present we'll come back when WE are interested.

 

We looked at the Qashqai, said I would like try both diesel and petrol and two days later they phoned to arrange a time to try both cars. We negotiated a trade in, delivery date etc. and all was confirmed in writing the next morning. I was advised a delivery date and the car arrived on time, arranged a collection date / time and this will be this Saturday. I have literally had on average a phone call from their sales team every week since the order, updating me on the progress and the transfer of my cherished plates which was all done for free.

On Tuesday this week I got a call saying I could go down and view the car at the PDI depot after the SuperGuard has been applied to see if I was happy. I cheekily said I have three genuine Nissan chrome exterior parts could I pay for your PDI chaps to fit them as the weather is not warm enough to fit myself yet. They phoned back 10 minutes later saying take them down and we will fit them for you free of charge, now that is service 

[JCP]

The dealer should help resolving this-fault isn't the issue resolution is. Find out how much your chosen wheel is at cost-that is the starting point not 750 which includes their margin. SUK may wish to intervene. I bought a set of new Annapurnas for about 500-showing they can be sold at a profit for less than their opening shot!

[AlleyCat`]

I don't know what has gone wrong with Skoda dealers attitude. My recent experience with them over a new car was atrocious, a lack of initial interest, could not get me the model I wanted to try out offering me the same model as I already have. Never got back with a trade in offer or final price of the new car despite two reminders and gave the opinion of we have enough business at present we'll come back when WE are interested.

 

We looked at the Qashqai, said I would like try both diesel and petrol and two days later they phoned to arrange a time to try both cars. We negotiated a trade in, delivery date etc. and all was confirmed in writing the next morning. I was advised a delivery date and the car arrived on time, arranged a collection date / time and this will be this Saturday. I have literally had on average a phone call from their sales team every week since the order, updating me on the progress and the transfer of my cherished plates which was all done for free.

On Tuesday this week I got a call saying I could go down and view the car at the PDI depot after the SuperGuard has been applied to see if I was happy. I cheekily said I have three genuine Nissan chrome exterior parts could I pay for your PDI chaps to fit them as the weather is not warm enough to fit myself yet. They phoned back 10 minutes later saying take them down and we will fit them for you free of charge, now that is service 

 

It isn't unique to skoda but it seems to be somewhat of a trend.

 

Skoda didn't want to know.

Kia didn't want to know.

I guess i didn't look like the right kind of customer.

 

Hyundai were somewhat interested but not enough to do a deal anywhere near what i could get via a broker.

VW were about the same as Hyundai but at least both gave me the time of day.

 

Mazda were very nice but ultimateley the distance to any dealer has put me off (all are over 40 miles away).

 

The general attitude seems to be, with the exception of who i've purchased from, that they didn't want or need my money.

Obviously times are very good but i know who won't be getting my money next go around.

Edited 27 February, 2014 by AlleyCat`

[BossFox]

It isn't unique to skoda but it seems to be somewhat of a trend.

 

Skoda didn't want to know.

Kia didn't want to know.

I guess i didn't look like the right kind of customer.

 

But it's clearly area or dealer specific.

My local Skoda dealer is great and if I ask Kia they'll lend me a car for a few days to play with.

 

You have to wonder if overall the huge boom in Skoda sales in recent years is starting to cause an attitude shift in some dealers.

Ford are generally like this.

Take it or leave it, there are plenty of other customers coming through the door.

[Huskoda]

I was at a Subaru dealer recently. They matched the carfile price straight away and said they can beat it by adding accessories for free. I asked for a demo car and they registered the one I wanted for me and gave it to me for the whole day to play with, then didn't ever try and pressure me into buying. They may well get my business.

 

There are still some dealers out there that are decent.

[AlleyCat`]

But it's clearly area or dealer specific.

My local Skoda dealer is great and if I ask Kia they'll lend me a car for a few days to play with.

 

You have to wonder if overall the huge boom in Skoda sales in recent years is starting to cause an attitude shift in some dealers.

Ford are generally like this.

Take it or leave it, there are plenty of other customers coming through the door.

 

I guess that might be true.

I live "roughly" where Jon does, so my experience tallies very much with how he was treated as well.

 

Edit: Just to add, i think when stuff goes wrong is when you find out how good the dealer really is.

Edited 27 February, 2014 by AlleyCat`

[bigjim73]

But it's clearly area or dealer specific.

My local Skoda dealer is great and if I ask Kia they'll lend me a car for a few days to play with.

 

You have to wonder if overall the huge boom in Skoda sales in recent years is starting to cause an attitude shift in some dealers.

Ford are generally like this.

Take it or leave it, there are plenty of other customers coming through the door.

 

There's definitely been a shift in attitude for SOME Skoda dealers.

 

When I was ringing around for prices for my Superb two years ago only 1 in 10 dealers got back to me (yes I phoned most of them!!) and then only one of them would actually get anywhere near the internet prices.

 

Fortunately my local dealer (Motorline Skoda in Dartford) is pretty good, I went in there to buy a Yeti (which I pick up this Saturday  ) and came out with a good deal on a pre-reg. new Fabia VRs for SWMBO too!

 

The Fabia has had issues but the dealer has been good and pushed it up to SUK when they got no luck through supply chain.

[Truthseeker]

I was at a Subaru dealer recently. They matched the carfile price straight away and said they can beat it by adding accessories for free. I asked for a demo car and they registered the one I wanted for me and gave it to me for the whole day to play with, then didn't ever try and pressure me into buying. They may well get my business.

 

There are still some dealers out there that are decent.

Ditto that with Subaru dealers.

 

My local Sub dealer even got me a customer's car to test as they did not have an Auto in stock. 

 

Did not buy a Sub in the end though, although have owned a couple of Imprezas from them in the past, and the dealer (and cars) were faultless.

 

Agree that Skoda dealer's attitude (not all) are getting a bit Audi-sh ("oh no a customer to deal with - got to put my i-phone away").

[Guy Incognito]

We have been car shopping recently and I have been pretty happy with how I have been treated by Kia, Skoda, SEAT, Fiat and a couple of independent "nearly new" dealers.  All have been good and have called back etc.

 

I guess it may be one of those where if they have enough people going through the door they may not make the effort so much.