Simpsons - Colne

[Polluxtroy69]

Used Simpsons Colne for my service. Paid £10 to be fully covered on a courtesy car, which was a great option as you never know what might happen. They gave me the Fabia Mk3 in white and I really loved it's dash, very nice. I was called the same day saying that my car was ready but needed some stuff sorting out. One of the things that needed sorting was 'too much oil on the engine - £29 to empty some'. At first I didn't think as I was really busy at the time but it clicked that my car was being serviced the oil is being changed. Very odd indeed. I agreed to a puncture being repaired and said that if be along to pick it up soon. When I got there - about a 20 min drive from my house, I was told that there was a leak in the boot and they'll need to investigate it - no idea why I couldn't of been told this on the phone to save me a 40 minute round trip. I questioned the oil comment and they said it was a training issue. It seemed believable now but surely someone working in the service department should have the basic knowledge of what is a service. It wasn't the girls first day!

Anyway they said 'Friday'then Tuesday just gone, then Wednesday. I called them on Tuesday to be told the part still isn't in the shop. The service guy said they would call me back Wednesday and that never happened. So I called them on Thursday and my car was ready. Got the car back all was great - I have a dog and he loves to go out in the car. So the back seat is his and the hoovered the hairs off the seats from when his sheet is pulled off, I never expected that at all which I was really chuffed about, car was well cleaned on the outside too - thank you. Thursday evening the service manager calls me about my post on here about their lack of communication. We both agree that I would get a call back on Saturday morning as I was working on Thursday so couldn't really take the call. The Saturday agreed call never happened.

It's a shame really as the over all experience could of been top notch if I wasn't left in the dark and then chasing up Simpsons instead of them dropping me a call or an email letting me know what's happening. An with the above post by another member being frustrated by very similar things I think that the team at Colne organise themselves much better and maybe bring the customer service aspect of their job up to scratch with their car service.

[jst_at_home]

I have been a Simpsons (Colne) customer for many years having bought eight cars, new and used from them.  I am currently awaiting a response to issues I have recently had which I won't comment upon, at least until I have had that response.

 

Suffice it to say that I have noted a definite change for the worse in the level of service given which is a shame since it matched the excellent service I have had from a local BMW dealer (which was exemplary) and probably bettered my experience of Mercedes-Benz.

 

What I will say is that some 12 months ago, we went to Colne to look for a replacement car for my wife.  The two used vehicles of the type we were looking for were in a disgustingly filthy state and the Sales person had an appalling manner.  

 

We went directly to Simpsons at Preston where we were met with the exemplary level of service we had previously had at Colne.

 

However at Colne we were to be extremely disappointed! 

[andyvee]

They are all too busy with the rally cars to worry about things like customers

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[Coopy]

Got mine from here through Richard very nice chap was straight forward unlike my other car dealer from else where. He took me step by step through everything reassured me so many times and even put up with my Mrs which he deserves a medal for haha . Other then that I can't complain 5 star rating from me and when my deal is up I'll be back 100%

[Kobayashi]

Colne Branch did the '5 Fabia VRS MK2 Oil fixes nearly a year ago' even though i bought the car originally from motorpoint. My 75% contribution was worth it car still running and the fixes worked.

 

Also provided us with a Citigo for the missus on PCP  2 years ago - great car, no issues.

My recent visits have noticed the showroom staff change a lot - usually  a bad sign and its always murder parking!

 

Also i gave Ross 4 months to find me a MK3 Fabia Monte Carlo in Blue. Insisted on trying to sell the missus a white one - no good keeping clean for motorway driving.

 

Because we were paying cash and not PCP i think we got bumped to the back of the queue.

 

When he finally phoned (months later) saying one available it was an hour too late we already had purchased another demonstrator car from the Manchester Branch!

 

 

 

[Tron]

Used Colne for my previous Superb estate and all was good.

However looking to get back into a Superb L&K, I first went to Preston and was treated really well and test drove the 1.4T and the 2.0TDi, but really wanted to drive the 2.0TSI as thats what i wanted.

Was given very good quotes from Preston and eventually found a 2.0TSI to test drive at Colne a number of weeks later.

Preston were slagged off by the salesman straight off the bat telling me how bad their staff were and they were not a proper family owned business like they were. Anyway after the  test drive I was happy to strike the deal there and then, but they wanted £120/pm more than Preston! granted it hadbeen a number weeks since the quote from Preston, so i asked for a fresh quote from preston and it too had gone up by £20/pm, leaving Colne at a £100/pm disadvantage.

Deal done with Preston

[Vrstdi estate]

I have been patronising Simpsons Skoda since 2007 when I bought a new vehicle from them. I chose Simpsons because a) they gave me the demo car keys and let me really try the car out on a long drive to truly evaluate the car and there was no high pressure sales tactics afterwards. I'd always had courteous reliable treatment each time I went for any service work to be done. Then, when myself and my partner decided to change both our cars for new Skodas we went to see what they could offer us. Instead of being made to feel like a valued customer, the salesman treated us to a humiliating session where he his ego ran riot which lost him and them a 2 car sale. I wrote to the MD who apologised and asked if we would consider them again for any servicing needs.

Fast forward on 5 years and my Yeti is still as great as it ever was however this time standards at Simpsons have slipped significantly. I live a good 30 minutes drive from the Colne branch and in the past they have either offered to collect my car or offered a courtesy vehicle, neither was offered this time. There are a number of  Skoda dealers now that are much closer to where I live & work however having always trusted the professionalism of Simpsons I booked a day off and the car in for its annual service. I was disappointed to be told to come back at the end of the day so advised them that it was booked well in advance and that I was stranded there without transport. They managed to move things around eventually but it still meant hanging around for half a day. The basic service was £400 which admittedly included changing the DSG gearbox oil however they wanted another £600 for changing the cam belt; it would have been far more helpful if I'd been pre-warned that this work would have been required at that mileage. 

I'd left my service book on the passenger seat for stamping however that didn't get done but it was only when the car almost spun out of control in heavy rain when I realised their worst mistake; they'd taken my front wheels off to check brakes etc but put them back on the wrong side and the directional treads were now back to front! 

I called the service manager as soon as I'd noticed - she was in a meeting but she'd call me back. Weeks went by without even an apologetic email so I emailed Neil Simpson the MD as I was sure he'd be disappointed with the service I was given. Weeks have passed and I'm still waiting for a simple acknowledgement.

Sadly they're now too big to give the excellent service that won my custom 10 years ago so I shall be giving a more local dealer a try next time.

[Auric Goldfinger]

1 hour ago, Vrstdi estate said:

The basic service was £400 which admittedly included changing the DSG gearbox oil however they wanted another £600 for changing the cam belt; it would have been far more helpful if I'd been pre-warned that this work would have been required at that mileage. 

 

 

Did you know they were doing the Cam Belt or was it done without asking you first.

 

Skoda Fixed price servicing for a Cambelt is £485

 

Cambelt with waterpump*

 

Citigo/Fabia	£435
Other models	£485

Edited 25 August, 2017 by Auric Goldfinger

[nbramwel]

VRDTDI's experience is nothing short of shocking and disgraceful treatment from a main dealer (in fact any dealer).  Sorry but I would just not sit and wait for Simpson's to respond.  This kind of treatment needs to be reported to the Trading Standards Department and to Skoda customer services.  Someone could have been badly injured or even killed by Simpson's mistake.

[Polluxtroy69]

On 25/08/2017 at 07:24, Vrstdi estate said:

Weeks have passed and I'm still waiting for a simple acknowledgement.

Dont hold your breath. Their responses are worse than their customer service 

[andyvee]

On 25/08/2017 at 07:24, Vrstdi estate said:

I have been patronising Simpsons Skoda since 2007 when I bought a new vehicle from them. I chose Simpsons because a) they gave me the demo car keys and let me really try the car out on a long drive to truly evaluate the car and there was no high pressure sales tactics afterwards. I'd always had courteous reliable treatment each time I went for any service work to be done. Then, when myself and my partner decided to change both our cars for new Skodas we went to see what they could offer us. Instead of being made to feel like a valued customer, the salesman treated us to a humiliating session where he his ego ran riot which lost him and them a 2 car sale. I wrote to the MD who apologised and asked if we would consider them again for any servicing needs.

Fast forward on 5 years and my Yeti is still as great as it ever was however this time standards at Simpsons have slipped significantly. I live a good 30 minutes drive from the Colne branch and in the past they have either offered to collect my car or offered a courtesy vehicle, neither was offered this time. There are a number of  Skoda dealers now that are much closer to where I live & work however having always trusted the professionalism of Simpsons I booked a day off and the car in for its annual service. I was disappointed to be told to come back at the end of the day so advised them that it was booked well in advance and that I was stranded there without transport. They managed to move things around eventually but it still meant hanging around for half a day. The basic service was £400 which admittedly included changing the DSG gearbox oil however they wanted another £600 for changing the cam belt; it would have been far more helpful if I'd been pre-warned that this work would have been required at that mileage. 

I'd left my service book on the passenger seat for stamping however that didn't get done but it was only when the car almost spun out of control in heavy rain when I realised their worst mistake; they'd taken my front wheels off to check brakes etc but put them back on the wrong side and the directional treads were now back to front! 

I called the service manager as soon as I'd noticed - she was in a meeting but she'd call me back. Weeks went by without even an apologetic email so I emailed Neil Simpson the MD as I was sure he'd be disappointed with the service I was given. Weeks have passed and I'm still waiting for a simple acknowledgement.

Sadly they're now too big to give the excellent service that won my custom 10 years ago so I shall be giving a more local dealer a try next time.

I'd would be chasing them for negligence for putting directionals on the wrong way round, but your experiences above mirror mine from 2013/4 with them, and I haven't been back since.

[dmcmylor]

Bought my Scout from Simpsons Colne. First time i've been in a position to buy from a dealer and must the whole experience was excellent. Will be using them for service and warranty work as there are a couple of bits need looking at. A+++++++++++++

[FatWolfie]

Being a bit of a serial car buyer, I’ve come across many dealers in the past 30 odd years of car ownership.

 

looking to buy a new Superb L&K Estate, went to Simpson’s yesterday to meet with Craig Passmore, who I’d made an appointment with and over the phone had briefly outlined what we were looking for.

 

although parking was a bit tight at the showroom, I was very impressed with the set up and in particular how Craig dealt with our many questions. We were passed the keys to a 190 DSG demo car and told to head off and have fun. No pressure on us, simply come back when you’ve had enough time to make a decision. Being an unaccompanied demo meant we could talk freely about good and bad points without a salesman jumping in.

 

The demo run confirmed that we wanted to go ahead.

 

back to see Craig who was extremely helpful and after looking at 3 different available cars on the system, was able to get 2 out of the 3 within out target budget. Nothing was too much trouble and at all times we were dealt within a professional and courteous manner, very friendly. 

 

Order placed, and already a couple of “touch base” emails telling us the car has been released for shipment, what will happen next and so on.

 

so so far, a 5 star/ 10 out of 10 experience. 

 

 

[bonelorry]

Thread revival but had a very poor experience with Simpsons Colne yesterday...

 

Went to view PFL 230 VRS yesterday afternoon and as a dealership they didn’t meet my expectations and it is doubtful I will ever go back.

It went downhill from my initial enquires which where via email, I had to tell the salesman I originally dealt with to back off as he was giving me the usual don’t miss out on it there's loads interested and my colleague is talking to someone about it now….This was Thursday and it still hadn’t sold when I viewed it 2 days later.

Told him I don’t respond to pressure selling and I was not prepared to place a deposit on the car without seeing it in the flesh first as in my vast experience of buying used cars it has been rare that they are ever as described.

During a telephone conversion I asked very specific questions regarding the exterior condition of the car and at multiple points stated I am very particular and I am looking for top example, I was told that it hadn’t been painted to his knowledge and it was an outstanding example that they had looked after and they knew the car well as a dealership etc.

I thought it was worth the trip from Sheffield to Colne to view it so made an appointment and went yesterday afternoon, Within 30 seconds of looking at it alarm bells where ringing at all the defects in the paint on the drivers front wing, Certainly not a factory finish and I have seen many vehicles over the years that have had VAG approved bodywork done and this certainly was not one of them!
 

As I worked my way around the car I established the entire drivers side and areas of the passenger side had been repainted, Really poor finish with imperfections in the paint and masking lines everywhere in the door shuts and tailgate. Compound was visible on all the masking lines where it had been painted upto with the paint finish ranging from average to shocking especially on the door tops below the window seal...Very rough and looked frosted in appearance rough to the touch.

The salesman who I did all the initial enquires with was not present and had handed it over to a young salesman who in his own words said he had learned a lot from me in the 10 mins I spent in total going around the car and pointing everything out, Both myself and even he was amazed that such a vehicle would meet the criteria for an approved used Skoda at a main dealership and he apologised for my wasted journey. He wanted to bring his Manager out to look around the car with me so I could point out what at that point he felt must have been missed by someone else prior to the car getting put on the forecourt.
 

This is when my attitude changed because within seconds I was then treat like an idiot by this particular manager, Asking me questions about my profession and why I am so particular, That no other customers look in so much detail at a used car, Why I have owned so many cars and what I am doing with them, That its a 6 Year old car and it is to be expected for any used car to have seen bodywork and then admitted he was aware there was some cosmetic damage on the car which required it to be painted before they took it in as a part exchange and the prep team where aware of it.

Then he said it is clearly not the right car for you but it will be for someone else, I said yes and I feel very sorry for whoever that might be because selling crap like this car to people at top money who don't have the underpinning knowledge of what to look for is dishonest. As a main dealer people put their trust in you and Skoda as a brand and if this is the standard of used stock you are selling and the level of customer service you are offering then good luck but you are not having my money.
 

I have written a complaint but had no reply as yet, I will never go there again though.

[Rooted]

Neil Simpson popped up on this forum a few years back with posts, i wonder if he looks in any more to the forum.

Maybe send off a communication to him.

http://www.simpsonsskoda.co.uk/about-us/preston-team

 

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/neil-simpson-5297a619

 

Edited 27 February, 2023 by toot