If they had done it properly they wouldn't have destroyed the chrome grill at all as it's easy to pop out when the bumper has been removed. They should do it this way so there is less risk of damaging the clips in the grill and they can supply you with the original surround after the new one is fitted :-)

Cant be guaranteed that no damage would occur....also bumper removal....thats a considerable amount of bodyshop labour to replace a grille trim.

Im not suggesting its not wrong theyve done this and sold it to the OP as a black pack replacement but given the risk and associated costs with doing this I can kind of understand why they might have gone this route.

Probably would have been better if they'd just said they didnt want to do it due to the laboir cost to themselves and risk of damage to (a brand new) car that they'd have ended up footing had it gone wrong.

I know what you mean but a garage should be able to remove a bumper and refit it without much risk of damage. I managed it on my drive in just over an hour to remove and refit and I was alone and being cautious :-)

Well despite being promised it would be fixed the saturday after I went in or the following saturday...it didn't happen...and I hadn't heard a thing since despite being promised a call within 2 days to confirm. Felt the only thing I could do other than more phone calls was write to both the group director and Skoda UK and give them 14 days to sort this out which I did on Tuesday.

 

I got a call the day after posting the letter from the group director who was mortified. He apologised for everything (which is all I wanted, along with the correct part being fitted) and has arranged for my car to be collected from my office Monday and returned by the end of the day with the correct grille fitted. The stupid thing is they have had the grille sitting in their workshop for over a week and just haven't bothered phoning. So hopefully by Monday evening (fingers crossed) I will be driving the car with the parts I paid for at last.

Edited 25 July, 201411 yr by JamesVRSmk3

Well I thought this saga was over....

They picked the car up as promised and replaced the painted grille with the correct one and said they've fixed it........BUT.......

Guess what colour stone chips I've just found on my "black" mirrors.........yep you've guessed it......GREEN!

Get them to wrap the grill and mirrors in vinyl instead

I find hard to believe ANY main dealer would try cut cut corners with a brand new warrantied car.But obviously THIS dealer proves it wrong.Makes you wonder what other tricks they play. It could give the whole Skoda brand a bad name if these issues are noticed in a public car park. On an older model, people could say, mister "boy" racers been at it again.

Well I thought this saga was over....

They picked the car up as promised and replaced the painted grille with the correct one and said they've fixed it........BUT.......

Guess what colour stone chips I've just found on my "black" mirrors.........yep you've guessed it......GREEN!

I was about to ask to see the wing mirrors too as they might had pained them too.

I had my wing mirrors replaced and the dealer returned the ones came with the car.

Ask for compensation this time..

About time the dealer was named and shamed for pulling a fast one

Ask for compensation this time..

This time I will be arguing for this.

The car will have (when/if it's finally put right) done over 110 miles backwards and forwards to the garage to get "fixed" all at my expense. I've made countless phone calls, again at my expense, and this latest episode has wound me up something chronic.

I just can't understand their thought process....

"Oh damn he found out about the grille and wasn't happy....shall we tell him about the mirrors? Or even just put them right and not tell him so at least he has what he's paid for?.......nah let's leave them and see if he notices......"

I'd be making a complaint to SUK now.

This time I will be arguing for this.

The car will have (when/if it's finally put right) done over 110 miles backwards and forwards to the garage to get "fixed" all at my expense. I've made countless phone calls, again at my expense, and this latest episode has wound me up something chronic.

I just can't understand their thought process....

"Oh damn he found out about the grille and wasn't happy....shall we tell him about the mirrors? Or even just put them right and not tell him so at least he has what he's paid for?.......nah let's leave them and see if he notices......"

Unfortunately for Skoda a lot of dealers have this attitude. Imagine if they had taken a chunk out of your alloy and denied it - hence why I shall never be going back to any dealer that currently runs a Fabia rally car and has 2 garages in the North West. Oh, and they also badly stick fake carbon to the roof of a vRS and call it a limited edition.

This time I will be arguing for this.

The car will have (when/if it's finally put right) done over 110 miles backwards and forwards to the garage to get "fixed" all at my expense. I've made countless phone calls, again at my expense, and this latest episode has wound me up something chronic.

I just can't understand their thought process....

"Oh damn he found out about the grille and wasn't happy....shall we tell him about the mirrors? Or even just put them right and not tell him so at least he has what he's paid for?.......nah let's leave them and see if he notices......"

Call SUK and escalate the issue to the customer relations team. They are very good. They had my car rejection accepted in no time and on top of that I received a cheque of £500.

Tweet and put it on Facebook, you'll be heard soon.

I'd be making a complaint to SUK now.

Registered the complaint with SUK first thing this morning and they are calling back later today.

My original complaint to SUK never made it to them...good old Royal Mail. Checked the tracking number on the letter a while ago and was still showing as undelivered.

Emails are best,then you can copy the dealer as a recipient also, makes them sit up. just remember to select the request read recipt bit. I always have a job finding it.....

I've got a case number and SUK will contact me again Wednesday. SUK have also made contact with the dealership aswell so they know already. I've got to say the SUK customer services have been great so far in at least calling back when they say they will. Thats twice they've updated me today already.

 

The dealership have just been in touch saying they have ordered the correct parts and will give me a call when they are in to book the car in to replace the painted mirror covers.

Emails are best,then you can copy the dealer as a recipient also, makes them sit up. just remember to select the request read recipt bit. I always have a job finding it.....

 

Read receipts aren't worth TCP/IP packet they sit on. It's a client side technology that can easily be disabled or overridden by the user so it's no guarantee that the message has been read or not.

Has anybody had problems with paint chipping especially on the bonnet? I have had to ring skoda customer services today about it.I have got 3 chips In the paint on the bonnet already.It's vrs race blue with 1600 miles on the clock. my old Panzer Tank (Passatt) i had absolutely  no problems with paint chipping like this in all the 6 years i owned it!! have to take my car down to the dealer for them to look at it. Although she wouldn't say officially but the woman from skoda care said they have had certain models with the issue!

Has anybody had problems with paint chipping especially on the bonnet? I have had to ring skoda customer services today about it.I have got 3 chips In the paint on the bonnet already.It's vrs race blue with 1600 miles on the clock. my old Panzer Tank (Passatt) i had absolutely  no problems with paint chipping like this in all the 6 years i owned it!! have to take my car down to the dealer for them to look at it. Although she wouldn't say officially but the woman from skoda care said they have had certain models with the issue!

 

Yes, on my race blue Elegance... have about 5 chips that I need to sort out!

I've found the paintwork on my VRS scratches, scuffs and chips very easily. Shame.

It is a shame it's one thing  i would say that seriously lets the car down.  :( 

@JamesVRSmk3

 

Not to make it worse but have you checked the window surroundings of your car? Standard is chrome but with black-pack they should be black.

Edited 3 September, 201411 yr by [email protected]

The black pack appears to be grille, mirror covers and roof bars on the estate but mines a hatch. Does anyone else know if thats correct?

Edited 3 September, 201411 yr by JamesVRSmk3

@JamesVRSmk3

 

Not to make it worse but have you checked the window surroundings of your car? Standard is chrome but with black-pack they should be black.

 

Which bit should be chrome. The window surrounds on the Standard are black, well the one's I've see are

Which bit should be chrome. The window surrounds on the Standard are black, well the one's I've see are

 

 

Yes I think you're right - I've just had a flick through all the cars in the "Post your mk3 Octavia photos" thread and all seem to have black door surrounds. Might be a Swedish thing as I know they vary models between countries.

Edited 3 September, 201411 yr by JamesVRSmk3

Chrome surrounds are a £150 option. So if you've got them on anything but an L&K you've done well!

 

(unless you hate chrome, like me)