Hi all,

 

One of my front fog lights was smashed by a stone in early 2014, and as the reflector on the other one was yellowing, I replaced both light units with new on.  The replacement parts were genuine Skoda parts, carrying a 2 year warranty.  I’ve just noticed that one of the two lights is losing the silvering on the reflector, having gone a yellow colour (the other is perfect).  I reported this to the retailer who supplied the units, who said that I could take it to any Skoda dealer to be checked and replaced under warranty, which is where the fun started…

 

I took my car to my local Skoda dealer, who examined the unit, and said that whilst it was defective, that it was not covered by warranty because:

• As the fault wasn’t immediately obvious when the part was supplied, it couldn't be regarded as a manufacturing defect (contrary to the manufacturer's warranty wording on the invoice for the parts)
• It wouldn’t cause the vehicle to fail an MOT (they're not tested)
• It was fair wear-and-tear as a result of less than 18 months' environmental exposure (just no)

They stated that Skoda administer the warranty, they can’t authorise any claim without Skoda UK’s say-so as it’s not their money, and that if I disagreed with them, I should contact Skoda customer services.  The argument that as it failed to last the warranty period without degrading indicated that there was a latent fault with the unit leading to it failing to be sufficiently durable and therefore defective, was somewhat lost on them.

 

I have since spoken to Skoda UK, and lodged a complaint with them over the matter.  They’ve stated that it is not them but the dealer who administers the warranty as they don’t have sight of the vehicle (i.e. the opposite of what the dealer said), and that whilst they can’t overrule the dealer as to what’s covered under warranty, they can look to make a goodwill gesture.  I’m currently waiting to hear back from them.

 

So, does anyone have any experience of a similar matter, and if so, how did it get resolved? 

 

Also, does anyone know who administers the manufacturer's warranty on VW Genuine Parts - is it Skoda or VAG UK? (if Skoda UK aren’t co-operative, it’d be useful to know where to send the Small Claims Court summons)

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. I know that I can also deal with the retailer that supplied the units, but going via the warranty “should” be easier …

Ask Skoda UK Customer Services to send you a Copy of the Warranty / T&C's on Genuine Replacement parts.

They know exactly who Manufacturers or has the Parts Manufactured and who Underwrites the Warranties, 

& it will be the Volkswagen Group.

 

As to sale of Goods and merchantable Quality, that is easy to check in UK / EU Consumer Law.

 

Have all communications with Skoda UK & a Dealership Representatives / employees in Writing,

 many seem to be close relations to Tony Blair.

Who supplied the parts?

Ask Skoda UK Customer Services to send you a Copy of the Warranty / T&C's on Genuine Replacement parts.  They know exactly who Manufacturers or has the Parts Manufactured and who Underwrites the Warranties, & it will be the Volkswagen Group.

Thanks - I had a suspicion it would be VAG UK rather than Skoda, but couldn't see it on the paperwork.  Good idea requsting the warranty terms - I really should have thought of that, and will do it if Skoda are not forthcoming.

 

As to sale of Goods and merchantable Quality, that is easy to check in UK / EU Consumer Law.

Hopefully it won't be necessary, but if it becomes so, I'll be checking with an actual solicitor, although I'm pretty sure I'm right (not sufficiently durable therefore not be of satisfactory quality and defective per SOGA).

 

Have all communications with Skoda UK & a Dealership Representatives / employees in Writing, many seem to be close relations to Tony Blair.

Sigh :(  Thanks for the heads up.

Who supplied the parts?

They were supplied via mail order by a member of the VW-Audi network.  The reason why I'm looking at going via the warranty rather than going back to the supplier under SOGA is it should be less hassle than removing the part, sending it back, driving around with a "hole" in the front of my car whilst awaiting a replacement, and claiming return postage back ...

so mail order from a dealer parts department?

so mail order from a dealer parts department?

Yup. (In the interests of fairness, I'd rather not name any of those involved until everything is sorted out)

mmm, they'd probably have the most weight behind them in the event of a claim with them being the suppliers. I can understand there's no ideal solution and I've been in the situation before and my experience of it is not very inspiring.

OK, so I spoke to a helpful chap named Nathan at Skoda UK ... he said that they couldn't really intervene as is was the dealer who saw the vehicle not them, and that due to the age of the vehicle they couldn't do goodwill, and that they didn't have the text of the parts warranty.  However, if I sent them photos they'd get one of the technical guys to look at it and see if they could identify why it was in the condition it was (i.e. the cause of failure).  A couple of days later, I got a follow-up phone call stating that their technical department had examined the photos and "could not find any evidence to support the dealer's statements", and that they would speak to the dealer to "encourage" them to submit a warranty claim.

 

In the end, after speaking to another dealer about some impending servicing (WInchester Skoda), I took it elsewhere as they were more than happy to replace the fog light at the same time as doing some other servicing - as Skoda/VW reimburse the dealer for their time, I'd rather someone more helpful/sane got paid for the work.  Needless to say, I wouldn't be looking at the original dealer (Sparshatts) any time in the future.

 

So, all sorted and a happy ending.