Some of you may remember that I had issues with my new car? Well here are the details - I didn't want to divulge any info until things were resolved.

If you look in the May 2014 brochure for the Rapid (the one that both my local dealers and the supplying dealer had on the shelf) it clearly states in the rear pages that the 'sport' should have Climatronic as standard but they don't. The brochure also clearly shows a double page centre spread of the Sport with the side stripe and on another page, the rear stripe - neither of the pictures state 'car is not UK spec' down at the bottom.

End result is that after discussions with SUK and dealer I get the £300 back that the Climate would have cost and the stripes are ordered and will be fitted at my local Audi body shop in the new year completely FOC.

Sadly, my car was also not valeted before delivery with every panel being marked in the remains of the sticky protective travel film, badly placed sticky pads for the number plates and a couple of bumper chips that hadn't been spotted by me at handover due to location, lack of light, car being wet etc.

Result is a £65 cheque for the cost of the valet that I'm getting on 27th locally to rectify and a candy white touch up pen being sent to me.

On the subject of the handover - there wasn't one with the words 'you've had plenty of Skodas so you should be alright, yeah?'. The customer service was appalling and I'm only getting results as I've gone through SUK who have been quite the opposite and fantastic.

This is the tenth new skoda from me and my family since March and they were reminded of this politely but strongly!

Perseverance pays off!

I think I would have still rejected the car, just to make a point. Not seen the brochure about climate but heard about stripes not being on UK cars, still misleading surely.

The days of the small local family run do anything to help Skoda dealer have sadly long gone. That's not to say there are no decent dealers left but they are few and far between, find myself travelling to a dealer over 70 miles away to get our cars serviced.

 

Pleased to hear though you are getting some compensation for the poor service/experiance and SUK are being proactive in trying to help.

 

 

TP

Likewise, pleased to hear you are getting some response from Skoda UK about the issues with your car. I'm sadly getting nowhere with both Skoda UK (who have stopped responding, won't return calls etc) and the idiot dealership I bought my car from.

Some of you may remember that I had issues with my new car? Well here are the details - I didn't want to divulge any info until things were resolved.

If you look in the May 2014 brochure for the Rapid (the one that both my local dealers and the supplying dealer had on the shelf) it clearly states in the rear pages that the 'sport' should have Climatronic as standard but they don't. The brochure also clearly shows a double page centre spread of the Sport with the side stripe and on another page, the rear stripe - neither of the pictures state 'car is not UK spec' down at the bottom.

End result is that after discussions with SUK and dealer I get the £300 back that the Climate would have cost and the stripes are ordered and will be fitted at my local Audi body shop in the new year completely FOC.

Sadly, my car was also not valeted before delivery with every panel being marked in the remains of the sticky protective travel film, badly placed sticky pads for the number plates and a couple of bumper chips that hadn't been spotted by me at handover due to location, lack of light, car being wet etc.

Result is a £65 cheque for the cost of the valet that I'm getting on 27th locally to rectify and a candy white touch up pen being sent to me.

On the subject of the handover - there wasn't one with the words 'you've had plenty of Skodas so you should be alright, yeah?'. The customer service was appalling and I'm only getting results as I've gone through SUK who have been quite the opposite and fantastic.

This is the tenth new skoda from me and my family since March and they were reminded of this politely but strongly!

Perseverance pays off!

 

Does this mean everyone with a white rapid sport can now claim a SUK £300 climatronic refund?

 

-  just in time for Xmas

I was thinking this too [emoji4]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You certainly could have a go I would guess. Think you'd be hard pushed to get them to agree since you've taken delivery already ;-)

No sense in even trying to reject. Frankly I don't want to. I got £4750 more for my part ex than anywhere else and got the sport for 13k not 15600k retail. I'd be daft to try as 1) I love the car and 2) I'm quids in especially with the cash back as part of the deal and the eventual service I've been given.

Roll on the 16th of January - springs and vinyl getting done.

2 days time, the car gets the full winter treatment from my local valeters too - courtesy of SUK!

Merry Christmas everyone !

Chris Green - what problems are you having?

Does this mean everyone with a white rapid sport can now claim a SUK £300 climatronic refund?

 

-  just in time for Xmas 

 

I think that depends, if you have been genuinely misled, then fair dos and I am very pleased the OP has managed to get a resolution that is satisfactory to all three parties.   If, however, you were aware that some features would not be included for the UK market, thewn pursuing a claim for retrofit or "compen-say-shun" would be dishonest IMO.   Don't forget, if Skoda were forced to pay too much retrospectively, it could affect peoples' livelihoods and their jobs:

 

In my circumstances, when I bought my Rapid Sport in June, I was aware that the smart black line along the bottom of the car as well as the centre armrest shown in the brochure was not UK spec as the on-line brochure I viewed did have the disclaimer.   As a personal thing, I prefer manual air-con anyway and the centre "notch" on the standard V.A.G. heater controls and position 1 on the fan seem to work for me during the winter months once the initial heat boost has been achieved.

 

The dealer from which I bought my car, Colbornes of Peasmarsh, near Guildford has an outstanding reputation and is part of the Lookers Group.   As a customer, I am completely independent of Skoda, Colbornes or Lookers but would wholeheartedly recommend them and that recommendation is completely unsolicited.   I couldn't be more delighted with "Roger Rapid" - he brings a lot of happiness to me every day and, whilst I would like black stripes and a centre armrest, I like him just the way he is!  

Edited 24 December, 201411 yr by bealine

Chris Green - what problems are you having?

Been battling with Skoda UK and the dealership I bought the Rapid from since September over a number of issues including a botched mod of the rear door seals after massive water retention issues. Rear doors &'speakers still haven't been sorted & seals were just hacked at with a Stanley knife.

Car didn't go through any of the Approved Skoda Used checks, and was handed over with other items broken including the drivers seat & heated rear window. Now fixed but took 2 months to get resolved.

There are other issues (all previously posted about), but suffice to say Skoda UK has been an absolute joke to deal with, never returns calls, and when they do bother to get in touch, it's always with the same line of "we haven't been able to speak to the service manager at the dealership about your complaint".

Was last promised a call back nearly a month ago by Skoda UK - still waiting (and have chased twice in the meantime by email with no reply).

Skoda UK is, in my own experience, even worse than Citroen when it comes to complaints about dealerships and the cars they are selling as Skoda approved used, and that bar was already pretty low.

Did you not think to reject the car in the first place instead of going through all that hassle?

Did you not think to reject the car in the first place instead of going through all that hassle?

Not that straightforward with a used car - plus most issues were not visible at handover.

Strange, that some of you are having SUK issues, - I have  thread going in Yeti Section - Creaking Door.

 

I have had call back from SUK as promised though not always on the days promised, my local dealer WAS a small ' one man band' till Sept this year ( 2014) when Skoda did not want them , they only want large dealers who have glass house expensive buildings who will shift volume.

 

My relationship with the dealer / SUK, has been purely business & as dealer & i know how reluctant manufacturers are to take responsibility for defects, everything has been done by their book of rules. So if this attempt to resolve my issue fails then both dealer & SUK are aware that I will reject my cars ( which is now only 7 months old & had issue since it was 3 months old.)

 

It does seem to have some weight with SUK if you have been with the brand for a while, this is my 6th Skoda & held each one for 3 - 4 years.

 

I agree with the OP, you have to be persistent & polite, as if they believe you will not go away they will do something.

just to add to this thread...In the May 2014 Rapid brochure that I have, it says on page 31, Climate Control is a ''Factory Fitted Optional Extra'' on the sport, which would have to be ordered before the car is built! 

 

On the back cover of the brochure it says the information given is not binding and some vehicles illustrated are left hand drive models

with standard and optional equipment fitted... that's the get out, which is annoying when you want your car to look as it's depicted.

 

So I think you did well to have the £300 re-fund and stripes done FOC.. I had my stripes done by a local vehicle graphics shop in the end as

my dealer couldn't get the ''Decorative Foils'' from Skoda who said not available to order for the UK !!!

Edited 9 January, 201511 yr by charles

Been battling with Skoda UK and the dealership I bought the Rapid from since September over a number of issues including a botched mod of the rear door seals after massive water retention issues. Rear doors &'speakers still haven't been sorted & seals were just hacked at with a Stanley knife.

Car didn't go through any of the Approved Skoda Used checks, and was handed over with other items broken including the drivers seat & heated rear window. Now fixed but took 2 months to get resolved.

There are other issues (all previously posted about), but suffice to say Skoda UK has been an absolute joke to deal with, never returns calls, and when they do bother to get in touch, it's always with the same line of "we haven't been able to speak to the service manager at the dealership about your complaint".

Was last promised a call back nearly a month ago by Skoda UK - still waiting (and have chased twice in the meantime by email with no reply).

Skoda UK is, in my own experience, even worse than Citroen when it comes to complaints about dealerships and the cars they are selling as Skoda approved used, and that bar was already pretty low.

get a solicitor to send them a letter with your requests neatly laid out and a reasonable timeframe to resolve all issues in. they will recognise how serious you are and perhaps up their resolution game accordingly