Blade SKODA Gloucester

[Jonny5ive]

Once again thumbs up for the Parts department. They had a replacement resistor pack on the shelf the other week.

I contacted them lastnight to order a replacement rear wiper motor and although they had none in stock he checked the stock at the nearby VW garage in Gloucester for me whilst I was on the phone, and then offered up the phone number for me to ring and reserve it.

First class

[Joolz_vRS]

Was back at Bamfords for the 100K mile service and (2nd) MOT on my trusty Furby. Excellent service as always - within minutes of me handing over the keys the car was in the MOT bay, a courtesy call a couple of hours later advised that the car was ready. :thumbup: I was given change from 300 quid :thumbup: - not bad I thought - and the Furby passed it's MOT without incident :thumbup:.

Had a pleasant chat with Mr Bamford himself - unusual for the owner of a main dealership to be chatting to customers I would think, but indicative of his own and his company's friendly approach to service. Had a more lengthy chat with Craig (Service Manager) who reassuringly is a genuine car enthusiast - about last weeks Wyedean rally. I'm really hoping the Mk 2 Furby vRS is worth the wait as I don't fancy swapping brands and getting cr*p service from a different main dealer.

[hunter0f2]

Yep Bamfords Ok Bought 2 Fabias & a Superb off Marcel the salesman. allways polite & knowlegable. I know Craig, good chap, We both used to work at the same Vauxhall dealers , years ago.Never had any problems with sales, service or parts. All work carried out promptly& to a high standard.

[radfordln]

Haven't been that impressed with Robert Bamford - bought new Fabia 1.4TDi in July 2008 and didn't hear from them again. No follow up "how is the car" which would've been a friendly thing to do.

Have also discovered that their service costs are high - paid �207 for 10k and �253 for 20k. Been quoted �130 (10k) and �180 (20k) by *************** so no prizes for guessing where the next service will be done.

Edited 21 December, 2010 by DGW
Inappropriate mention of another dealer edited.

[AwesomeSarah]

Well I have to say that Mark and myself have used this company a few times

Only for parts though

John the parts guy is always friendly and helpfull

Mark has been in touch with John a few times for advise and help to buy non standard parts for this pre facelift Octavia

He has always been jolly and always had the time for us

Thank you John , and if ever we ended up staying in Gloucester , then I would not hesitate to go to them for more parts

Had a roadtest in the new Fabia a while back , and was not hassled at all to buy it

But so far my experiences has been spot on

Sarah

[PhilwilliamsVRS]

Hi Guy's,i have never had a problem with Bamford, always seem niceon phone and so on. Although *********** offered better service price, A bit of a drive down to the forest but was worth the �100 saving on 3 year sevice for Fabia VRS.

Edited 21 December, 2010 by DGW
Inappropriate mention of another dealer.

[topcat2006]

Went in end of October to look at Octavia. Was not offered a test drive. They promised to ring me back the nxt day with prices for the car I wanted. They did not. I had to phone and chase the next day - the last day of the VAT free promotion. Got price and placed order. Was promised a call back Monday to confirm order had been placed. Had to 'phone them the following Monday as no calls back from them despite messages left from me. Asked for price of an extra set of wheels. Was promised a call back the next day. A week later still no return call so had to phone back and chase again. Promised a call back. Did not call so had to phone again and finally go price.

Was then told they would call with a delivery date w/c 23/11/09 and was told that it was likely that the car instead of being a December/January delivery date would be Feb/March even though delivery date of Dec/Jan was written on my order form. 27/11/09 still no call back, phoned to chase and they had not found out delivery times. Cancelled order due to absolute indiference of sales staff and have had enough of the lies that they tell. Would recomend everyone to steer well clear as one of the most unhelpful dealers I have ever visited.

TC

[Rydal0]

I have no idea how Bamford's actually manage to sell any cars! I went in last weekend to ask about a new VRS and was treated with complete indifference. I asked for a ball park part-ex value for my Saab but was told they couldn't give one as it was Saturday! The salesman begrudgingly jotted a few notes on the back of an envelope and said he would call me on Monday - needless to say I'm still waiting.

***************************************************

Edited 10 December, 2009 by DGW
Inappropriate inclusion of comment about another dealer deleted.

[APJ]

Agree with the last poster - not sure how they actually sell any cars.

Popped in quickly one lunchtime to enquire about a new vRS Octy. 3 staff in the showroom, none of them seemed that interested to engage me. Asked for a price, chap quoted the standard vat free price. No offer of a seat, cup of coffee or anything. Asked about a further discount for no part-ex. They said they couldnt do anything. Even when I pointed out online brokers were £1200 cheaper, they wouldn't budge.

Ok, they may be wanting to protect their margins, but the whole experience just felt cold and unfriendly - certainly not worth paying over the odds for.

[topcat2006]

Had further dealings trying to get prices of extended warranty. Also trying to sort out deposit that had not been returned to me despite at time of ordering not being told deposit was non-refundable and also no mention of deposit being non refundable on terms and conditions I signed on order for.

Sales Manager ****** extremely aggressive and deliberatley provoctive - kept asking all the time if I was threatening him when I was doing no such thing. Kept hanging up the phone despite no rudeness and aggressivness on my behalf and only agreed to speak to me when I told another person who answered the phone that if he did not I would be contacting Skoda UK. (Yes I was threatening at that point lol!)

Going to steer well clear of this garage in the future and will be taking legal action to get my deposit back.

TC

[DRJ]

Had further dealings trying to get prices of extended warranty.

Bamfords advised me in 2007 neither they nor Skoda offer extended warranties...

Edited 9 October, 2010 by DRJ

[octavrskoda]

I ordered parts on special order from these jokers this week. Had to email my request as they were too busy to take my order over the phone. I was told they would be in this (Saturday) morning, so I phoned to check before going to collect. I was told (10.30 am) by the parts guy that he had not had time to check what was there. I asked him if he could please check and he said only if he had time. I then rang back and spoke to some bloke with a put-on posh accent (Bob himself?) and asked him if someone could please let me know if my parts were in. I heard a mobile going off in the background and he said hold on please mid sentence and put me on hold while he took the call! He said that it was unlikely anyone would have time to check the orders because... It is Saturday!. He made it sound like it was there chaos there. I got a call back, confirming parts in, jumped in the vRS and set off to Bamford's gaff to collect hoping I would make it there before their swingeing closing time of 12pm on a Saturday.

When I got there it was as I suspected some tinpot outfit wedged behind a Shell garage the wrong side of Gloucester. There were no customers in sight, but three sales staff sat around doing f-all, another washing cars on the forecourt and another round the back washing an old Focus ST170 which I can only assume was his own car. None of the staff did anything other than look me up and down as I walked in. Mark the parts guy was clearly pushed being there on his own but it seemed that no-one else there was willing to give him a hand.

In short I found this dealer's to be a complete hovel inhabited by surly, old-school car dealers who show a complete indifference to their customers and their needs. I will be writing to Skoda with a suggestion that they look at a customer service course for these lot.

And I thought VW dealers were rude!!

[moogster]

Fully agree with the previous poster! Waste of space on a Saturday!! Completely indifferent and unwilling to help every time I call in during the weekend!!! The lads at the Audi and VW garages in the area are more help!! Even if you do drive a lowly Skoda!! Bamford's will definitely be at the bottom of the list when I buy my next car!!!

[sclg]

Rang up to request a test drive in a Superb. Guy that answered the phone said no one from sales available and they would phone back right away. 4 days later they hadn't.

Phoned again and they said they hadn't got one and didn't know when they would have. Offered to phone me if they ever got one.

Gave up and went to a dealer who was actually interested.

Steve

[BJM]

I have to concur with most of the comments.

When looking to buy a Skoda 4 years ago the sales guys were a complete waste of space. Uninterested and offhand, even though I was looking to spend around £8.5K cash for a 2nd hand Ambiente on the forecourt.

So I went elsewhere and ended up buying the vRS instead.

BUT, as my local dealer they do sometimes get my custom for genuine bits and pieces, and John in parts has always been friendly and knowledgable.

Wednesday I called in for new centre caps for my refurbished wheels, and asked John the parts guy if it was possible to buy just the outer casing of a key, as the chrome keyring loop on mine had broken. "No" was the answer, "but hang on a minute". He re-appeared from his parts store with a box of broken keys, and proceeded to swap bits over with mine to make a new one, fitted a new battery and only charged me £2 for the battery.

In summary JOHN in parts, TOP MAN.

The rest - waste of space

[lol-lol]

Is the Gloucester dealer ship being handed over to Blade as Blade are advertising a Gloucester branch in priory road?

[DRJ]

Is the Gloucester dealer ship being handed over to Blade as Blade are advertising a Gloucester branch in priory road?

I'm not sure to what you're referring here - the Volkswagen branch of Blade is in Priory Road. Are you suggesting they're taking on the Skoda franchise? If so I can't find reference to it anywhere. Their only Skoda dealership is in Bristol. Blade Skoda

[lol-lol]

I'm not sure to what you're referring here - the Volkswagen branch of Blade is in Priory Road. Are you suggesting they're taking on the Skoda franchise? If so I can't find reference to it anywhere. Their only Skoda dealership is in Bristol. Blade Skoda

Typical cannot find the link now which I think was on a flash advert. Bought our first Skoda from Bamfords and found them very good but gather there has been lots of complaints since then. Moved from Gloucester to Worcester so use dealer up here now.

If it is true hope it is good for Skoda people in Gloucester and a bit sad as Marcel of Bamfords started us of the great Skoda journey and we have done a million miles in Skodas since we bought that Felicia back in the mid 90s.

Edited 2 May, 2011 by lol

[pgiles]

Marcel told me this morning that they are now:

Blade Skoda

[Will777888]

Yes, just called them to enquire about servicing prices, is definitely now Blade Skoda. Craig in service is still there, found him helpful & friendly on the phone.

Quoted £210 for a variable service (not sure whether that means oil or inspection) + £440 cambelt & waterpump + £150 DSG oil & filter change + £50 brake fluid change. All fully inclusive.

Any VAG/Skoda specialists round these parts that someone can recommend ? I'd like to get comparative quotes. Maybe via PM as mentions of other garages seem to get deleted in this thread !

Will.

Edited 7 July, 2011 by Will777888

[APJ]

Never did like Robert Bamford, found the sales team quite rude, so was pleased to learn that Blade had taken over the dealership. Phoned them today for a first variable service - was quoted £210. Perhaps a little more then expected but not significantly overpriced. However, when enquiring about courtesy cars, apparently if I had bought the car from them they were free, but if I had not, a courtesy car was £50 a day. £50!!!

[Rydal0]

OK, I have previously criticised Bamfords for being totally uninterested in customer service but now they have become Blade I thought I would give them another chance. I can however confirm that nothing had changed.

I'm having problems with my Bolero unit and since I was passing I called in to ask about having it investigated under warranty. I explained that it was an intermittent fault and was told in no uncertain terms that unless it showed up as a fault code no warranty claim could be considered, even if the technician could watch the unit turning itself on and off with his own eyes. He said that if they replaced the unit without a fault code they would be charged the £1000 and his manager would not be happy. It was all about him and his manager, I as a customer didn't appear an important factor in this at all. Truly awful customer experience, essentially told, we can see there's a fault but we're not prepared to do anything about it.

I then phoned Winners in Cinderford who sold the car and had a very polite and friendly service guy tell me that this was a load of rubbish and that of course a claim could be made where a fault is able to be confirmed by the technician whether through diagnostics or visual inspection, the car was booked in for a check over in the same call and an appointment arranged at my convenience.

I urge anybody in Gloucestershire to steer well clear of Blade and make the trip to Winners, not only are they genuinely helpful they are also considerably cheaper.

[shauns]

Skoda Octavia second variable service in early March, in my view not to be recommended and I will not be returning. Hopefully they will improve.

No courtesy car, no drop off or collection service.

Asked why the price they quoted for the service was not the same they charged me (£25 extra), answer because we added the pollen filter which is due after two years and no point in returning your car for that. So they charged me for something I did not ask for or was told about. Another Skoda garage did point this out this to me.

The dealership could not find or rectify the squeak linked to the dashboard, seemed just not interested. I told them them the source of the squeak but they tried the car on a bad stretch of road and could hear nothing.

Asked why other Skoda car dealers wash and clean a serviced car and they do not before returning to a customer, because they are short of people and they are taking someone on to rectify the problem. They sold a new car the same day I visited the dealership which was immaculately cleaned.

[P55REY]

Bought a nice tidy 58 plate Fabia Tdi estate with fresh MOT last Friday from local Skoda Approved Dealer for added peace of mind.

Original Bridgestone 205/45 16" tyres had about 2-3k left, but one was renewed by the dealer (Blade/Bamford) due to excess wear in order to pass the MOT.

So, rather shocked when we took wheels off to change to winter tyres to find offside front tyre had three large (40-80mm long)inner sidewall splits, consistent with hitting a pretty nasty pothole.

We had only done 163 miles pottering around on ordinary 50mph roads and luckily not gone for a long motorway run.

It was only through luck that we found the damage before the tyre burst, but the service manager naturally said that it was OK at the time of the MOT only 7 days earlier, although I am unconvinced.

Lesson learned - Never trust anyone and always double check.

Edited 18 October, 2012 by P55REY

[mannyo]

Dealer name updated.