West End Garage - Broxburn

[badhooverdog]

Put our 57 Octavia vrs estate (54k) in to Uphall to look at a droning noise from back end & the dreaded ESP light had lit up.

 

They called back to say needed a rear wheel bearing & the ABS control unit had gone - £600 in all. Had been looking on here about the ESP so knew about the common failure of the ABS unit so politely asked about possibilty of getting some goodwill contribtution. They said not as the the car was over 5 years old. Oh well i thinks. And it won't be ready for 24hrs as they as had to order the part in.

 

Hadn't heard by next afternoon so my partner phoned up. Spoke to Mark (who wasnt there the day before). Yes the car was ready & he had emailed Skoda about the ABS. Said he hadn't got a reply yet but wasn't going to charge for the ABS repair unit, just the wheel bearing. I nearly had to pick her up off the floor! Fantastic service from these guys. Well pleased. Thanks again Mark.

 

We got the Octy from them & a Citigo Greentech earlier this year. Dealt with Eddie both times. Great, chilled transaction throughout. No hard sell at all. Gave us a great trade in for our frankly knackered Honda Civic after a very brief look at it (though the showroom window!)

 

Will be back.

Edited 2 October, 2013 by badhooverdog

[vrs2013]

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to the service staff at Westend Garage at Sighthill. The service I receive from  Wendy and John when I go in with even the silliest of complaints is 2nd to none. They are a credit to Westend and the entire motor trade. A true insperation in good customer service and lovely people.

[HoneyMonster65]

More than happy with purchasing Superb here at Sighthill With Archie.

Mind you have hard act to follow as i got my second and third Skodas from George Pringle. Way back in 94 and 97 when he was trading in Easthouses Dalkeith and service i had there was excellent.

[domhnall]

George was brilliant!

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[Hallyboy]

Got both our Octavia and Yeti from Halbeath. Excellent service and patience over the past 8 months.

 

Donald King was happy to go the extra mile and spend time with us.

[TREFF]

Buy all my Skoda's From Westend Garage.... what can i say.... TOP CLASS, from sales to the chaps on the tools, every time...

[agentz]

West End out of favour with me at the moment. 56 plate Octy 2.0tdi in for MOT and timing belt on Monday.

Get a phonecall from Angela to advise of a couple of other bits and pieces needing done, agree to get rear brakes and a few other wee jobs done, no problem.

Get a phonecall later in the day saying there had been a problem getting the timing belt cover off and a stud had threaded and it would need some parts or other at a cost of £180, but worst case was that it *might* need a new head...

Cue me not happy at all, why should I have to pay a lot more cash to fix something that they broke. Asked to get Graham to phone me. No return call. Got a call saying "Graham says its metal fatigue and you'll need to pay for it" and that they've have a few of the BKD (think mine is a BKD, can't double check right now) engines do that. Skoda Uk have changed the kit, we're just following Skodas guidelines etc.

Phoned Skoda UK on Monday evening, spoke to a very helpful chap who said "that sounds odd, let me speak to the Techy guys and phone you back", which he did. They say despite what WEG have said that they've not had reports of this before. Yes the kit was changed, but if there's a problem with it we need to understand what the problem is so we'll ask for a technical report... "If a studs not coming off you don't keep going at it..." was another phrase Mr Skoda used.

Yesterday... Car still in pieces, I'm still being faced with a minimum additional bill for £180 over and above the £700 odd the rest of the work is costing me. Angela called, Graham has been speaking to Skoda UK about a goodwill gesture, are you ok to keep the courtesy car overnight while we finish it off and actually get it through its MOT? Yes, ok, carry on but get Graham to phone me.

No phone call.

Nothing from WEG until late this afternoon... Angela phones... Cars ready can you come and pick it up? Graham has agreed to do the additional part at half trade cost, so that'll be £48 instead of £180.

Gee that's nice, but again, why am I having to pay for something that broke while the car was in their care? Graham says "we're not admitting liability". Um, you did that on Monday when you told me that your technician broke the bolt when trying to do the work on the car. Graham wants the courtesy car back.

That's nice, he can have it back once we've sorted this out, get him to phone me. Surprise surprise, no phone call.

So, SUK will be getting a call in the morning as will Daniel Houghton.

I bought the car from Daniel four years ago, WEG were the original supplying dealer. The first owner always had it serviced at WEG and the only thing I've ever had done away from WEG in four years is the aircon compressor replaced by an independant last year. I've even been buying supplies and sundries from WEG for the last four years, screen wash, mats, replacement number plate, wiper blades, servicing, MOTs etc. I have been happy enough with WEG up til now and have been contemplating changing the car later in the year, but you know what, this has really soured my opinion of them.

Am I being unreasonable here? I'm happy to pay the agree price for the timing belt job, it's the national standard price so not as if it was a special deal or anything, I just don't see why I should be faced with a larger bill for something that went wrong while my car, which is well looked after was in their care.

[Wet Kipper]

I don't think you're being unreasonable, and I'm disappointed you're getting treated this way, WEG (mainly in Uphall but folk seem to float between them) have always been courteous and helpful to me in my experiences with them

[agentz]

Cheers Wet Kipper. It's always been Uphall I've dealt with and apart from a couple of minor niggles, nothing major at all. Have generally found the staff helpful apart from once when I had a run-in with a new service guy who was ex Chathams staff, then I remembered I'd had a not pleasant experience with him when we had a Honda that Chathams wanted to charge me nearly £500 to investigate a rattle from the sunroof when the car was less than two months outside warranty. Have always found Daniel and Stuart helpful and couldn't have had a nicer bloke than Eddie dealing with us when we considering buying a Fabia.

I've found WEG to be good with prices for tyres etc, always roughly in the same area as the national boys and from experience they always take more care with the wheels than the likes of Kwik Fit or Farmers. The guy in the parts department has always been really helpful, sourced me some parts for one of our previous Seat Leons and was cheaper than the Seat dealer by some way.

I feel kinda bad quibbling over less than £50 now, but in my opinion that's not the point. If they've been able to bring the cost down that much, why not just say "fair enough, it's £48, we'll cover it and call it quits" and I would have come out of this experience as a happier customer, but even if WEG turn round and say yeah we'll sort it the damage is done as far as my opinion of them goes.

[Mute]

Am I being unreasonable here? I'm happy to pay the agree price for the timing belt job, it's the national standard price so not as if it was a special deal or anything, I just don't see why I should be faced with a larger bill for something that went wrong while my car, which is well looked after was in their care.

 

Yeah i think you are being unreasonable, and here's why. If we look at this from the mechanics point of view we can see that the mechanic didn't do anything wrong. If the mechanic didn't do anything wrong, why should it be his responsibility to replace a part which has reached end of life?

 

These studs corrode over time, some you can get off with a lot of futzing around. Some just break and there's absolutely nothing you (as the mechanic) can do about it. There is no other course of action the mechanic could have taken that would not have resulted in this breaking. At some point the part becomes so corroded that it even heating the surrounding area will not relieve enough pressure to allow it to remove without overcoming the remaining strength in the fastener. That's just life. If VAG made the fasteners with better quality materials (see 80s / 90s volvos for example which to this day are still easy to work on) then this issue would be avoided.

 

Who should foot the bill for a part which has reached end of life? Note that I'm not saying it's a substandard part. This is because the car was cheaper to buy because of the optimisation of materials used. We got what we paid for.

 

I say that the customer is 100% responsible. Now the only caveat would be if the mechanic had not exercised reasonable care and attention while doing his job. This would be unlikely. We can say this since he still has a job and would be unlikely to keep it if he had repeat occurances like this.

 

The other bit i'd raise issue with is Skoda UK's response. If the part is so super duper, then why was it changed? Think of all the costs involved in changing a part post-production on a car. It is not something to do lightly as a manufacturer. I'd suggest it's because of issues reported with the design and or materials used.

 

It is not in Skoda UK's interest to support the garage. If they did so, they'd have to foot the bill for your car. They want the garage or you to pay. Since you're on the phone it's easiest to say "ah well but the garage have been a bit silly here". Now likewise when the garage phone up i'm sure they're super nice and say things like "wow, how long does this customer really expect this part to last, just have the customer pay for it Mr Garage, you've done the right thing".

 

I'm sorry agentz but i can see both sides. I don't agree with you being told you'd get a call and that not happening however, i think that's poor service and hopefully just a one off.

[wagonwheels]

I used west end Uphall last week to get some warranty work done on my paintwork.

Very friendly polite and kept me informed.Turned out it took an extra week while they fitted a new tailgate but gave me a new Superb as a courtesy car anyway so not a problem.

Painted to a very high standard.

[Wet Kipper]

SWMBO said a friend broke down and tried to get towed to the Uphall branch, but was told they are not doing repairs /servicing any more?

Also heard that West End are expanding to take over Newmarket at Bannockburn?

[domhnall]

Apparently the Newmarket thing is true. Uphall's days are numbered

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[Wet Kipper]

Yep - just noticed on their website : West End Stirling

[agentz]

Uphall is now closed. Drove past this evening and its deserted, graphics on the windows say relocated to Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Stirling. I'm sure they were still there last weekend!

[domhnall]

Uphall is now closed. Drove past this evening and its deserted, graphics on the windows say relocated to Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Stirling. I'm sure they were still there last weekend!

moved out a couple of weekends ago. 

 

shame, nowhere that local now. Pain in the bum to have to go to edinburgh

[Wet Kipper]

Whilst I am happy with any dealings I have had with the sales team at any of the branches of West End, I can't say the same for the servicing

 

took the Octy vRS for a service at the Edinburgh garage last week. Got to the garage about 8:50 to put it in.

 "Is there a time you would need the car back, Mr Kipper ?"

-"I was hoping for around 2:30, or 3pm?"

*person goes through to the servicing office*

"Sorry, Mr Kipper, but they say there is so much work on today we won't have the car ready until 5pm"

(out loud) "Okay, fine"

(what I thought of later and should have said) -THEN WHY DID YOU EVEN ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE. DON'T OFFER ME SOMETHING I CAN'T HAVE

 

So I'm making my way to the garage around 4:30 when they call to say the work is almost complete, would I like new wipers (NO) and the car will be ready at 5

 

Arrive at 4:50 and let them know I'm here, get told it will be 10 minutes. Sit to wait with 3 other people who have obviously been told to wait until 5 (or who maybe told the garage they couldn't come back until 5, I don't know)

 

And wait. 

And wait.

Some of the other people get served

And wait (including a friendly chat with the sales guy who sold me the vRS 3 years ago)

 

FInally got asked across to do the paperwork at 5:25, and in the car by 5:30.   (and one of my 5pm chums is still there)

Then get stuck in the mental traffic at the Hermiston gate roundabout (15 minutes worth) to try and get on to the M8

In the meantime I had to call my wife to go and collect the kids from school/nursery before closure, she herself had been running late and was previously relying on me to collect them so she got there at the last minute.

Of course, the servicing people apologised for the wait;  I can't fault the job that the actual mechanics did,and the pricing wasn't bad, but their customer service and managment of the timings of work and collection leaves a lot to be desired.

 

I'm more than happy to do sales business with them, but am unlikely to go there for servicing again.

(and i missed their followup calls the next day, so wasn't able to officially give them a poor score)

 

Never had a problem with them when they had the Broxburn garage.

Edited 9 June, 2016 by Wet Kipper

[domhnall]

Dunfermline rang me the other day to arrange my service, I pointed out that the car is 11 months old, has 7,000 miles and is on variable servicing. "oh, so you like your wait for the car to notify you? Yes some of them do that."

Thought it was an odd thing to say. As you say I never had any issues with Uphall.

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[ejstubbs]

So I'm making my way to the garage around 4:30 when they call to say the work is almost complete, would I like new wipers (NO) and the car will be ready at 5

 

They always seem very keen to sell me new wipers.  I always refuse.  I know I can get them very much cheaper online, and they're a breeze to fit.

Edited 20 November, 2016 by ejstubbs

[widdershins]

Had my car in to the Sighthill branch for a major service.  Service desk was efficient and friendly, offered courtesy car or lift to/from work instead since I work only a couple of mins drive away,  All the work appears to have been done (took photos on phone of before service and subtly marked some service items so I could see if things had been touched or not).  The car was also washed before I collected it, and a bottle with the leftover screenwash was sitting in the door pocket for me to use up.  No rip-off prices or attempts to fleece me with work that wasn't required either.  Can't think of anything to complain about really.