VRS TSI Clutch Slip / Replacement after 17K Miles / Skoda reluctantly pays-out after proof of defect

[Orville]

After hearing nothing from VW Financial Services for 2-weeks I just received a call to say that they will pursue my case. I was originally promised a reply within one week so had given up on them. To be fare, both times I have spoken with VWFS they have been polite, and have appeared very willing to help/listen.

Edited 23 June, 2016 by Orville

[Orville]

Weekly update.

 

*Credit Card company have received full details. They will allocate a Section 75 Assessor and I should hear back from them within 10-days

*Motor Codes have received full details. They currently have a +1-month backlog of cases so I am unlikely to hear anything this month.

*VWFS have all of the documents and will investigate. They state an 8-week max turnaround time.

[neiln]

Keep at it

[dsj20v]

Any news yet

[havocUK]

Just read this thread (well, Orville's posts).

Makes pretty damning reading...partly wish I'd read this before ordering my car, but there we go...  Only wish to say best of luck to the OP, and my utmost respect for following this through to the conclusion - I hope the court gives them both barrels!!!

[GoneToBeemer]

Weekly update.

*Credit Card company have received full details. They will allocate a Section 75 Assessor and I should hear back from them within 10-days

*Motor Codes have received full details. They currently have a +1-month backlog of cases so I am unlikely to hear anything this month.

*VWFS have all of the documents and will investigate. They state an 8-week max turnaround time.

Anything further mate? How are things progressing?

[Orville]

I called the Credit Card company today and they confirmed that their Section 75 Team had accepted my case and are pursuing things. Unfortunately I called after 4pm and Section 75 had closed for the weekend so I could not discuss with them directly. I have been promised a call back within two working days so might have some progress on Tuesday.

Motorcodes and VWFS may take another month to respond. Things will probably move slowly from now onwards but I will not give up. If everything else fails then I will take the Legal option, but hopefully someone at Skoda will see sense before it goes that far.

Edited 16 July, 2016 by Orville

[Orville]

SUCCESS !!!

 

VW Financial Services called this morning. The Dealer will refund 50% of clutch costs and VWFS will refund the other 50%. VWFS will also cover my costs and Inspection Report.

 

I will update once I actually receive the payments.

[V6Jules]

SUCCESS !!!

VW Financial Services called this morning. The Dealer will refund 50% of clutch costs and VWFS will refund the other 50%. VWFS will also cover my costs and Inspection Report.

I will update once I actually receive the payments.

Result! Still stupid that it took them this long to see sense

[Auric Goldfinger]

Hope you'll be claiming for Stress and sleepless nights, Screw 'em

 

 

Fantastic result and top marks for sticking with it.......

[CFBScout]

Brilliant to hear this but sad you had to go to such lengths, victory for the consumer, Martin Lewis would be proud!!

[SimonD316]

Fantastic news! Someone has finally seen sense! Glad you've got it sorted eventually.

[EoinM]

Excellent news. Hats off to you sir.

[Minimoke]

Excellent news but I see that VWFS and the dealer are covering the cost.

 

That looks like "goodwill" to me, so Skoda themselves still appear to deny any responsibility for a manufacturing defect in their own product.

 

Not that it makes much difference to you I suppose!

[GoneToBeemer]

SUCCESS !!!

 

VW Financial Services called this morning. The Dealer will refund 50% of clutch costs and VWFS will refund the other 50%. VWFS will also cover my costs and Inspection Report.

 

I will update once I actually receive the payments.

 

Great news Orville - well done for having the determination (and patience!!) to see this through. Great result!

[Sec8200]

Congrats for the road taken and the success

[ExSEAT]

Ask for a written apology too!

Well done mate, you shouldnt have had to those lengths but fair play for going with it. Great result.

[Geek42]

Brilliant news, well done for getting there in the end. Well done also for keeping your cool and going through 'proper channels', giving them the chance to keep digging themselves into the hole. Many of us would have lost our cool and may have made matters worse!

 

Thanks also for the regular updates, I for one would have more confidence to stand my ground and more of an idea what to do about it having read this.

 

[MoggyTech]

Well done sir.

[Orville]

I have spoken with Skoda Customer Services this morning, who had repoened my case upon request from VWFS. VWFS asked SUK what evidence they had to counter the Inspection Report, high-resolution images and background information I had supllied. SUK only had the word of the Dealer and a few low-resolution images taken within a dark workshop. SUK agreed that their "evidence" could not stand up to my hard evidence. VWFS also contacted the Dealer, who could provide no further reason to deny the facts.

 

*Skoda UK have instructed the Dealer to refund me 50% of replacement costs. The Dealer will apparently contact me shortly to arrange payment.

*VWFS will refund the remaining 50% plus costs.

 

Once I receive both payments I will call off the Credit Card Company. I will keep the MotorCodes case active because I want Skoda and Dealer to be officially informed of their shortcomings, and for SUK to learn from them. Hopefully nobody else suffers the crap I have gone through.

 

I must give VWFS some credit as they came through for me in the end. It also demonstrates how poor SUK and Essex Auto Group handled this, because they were provided exactly the same information before VWFS involement, but chose to ignore it. 

 

Anyway, it has been a long road, but the end is almost in sight.

[octyal]

:cocktail:  Well done with finally getting a resolution and a full refund - just goes to show that digging your heels in pays off sometimes

[DrTh]

I have spoken with Skoda Customer Services this morning, who had repoened my case upon request from VWFS. VWFS asked SUK what evidence they had to counter the Inspection Report, high-resolution images and background information I had supllied. SUK only had the word of the Dealer and a few low-resolution images taken within a dark workshop. SUK agreed that their "evidence" could not stand up to my hard evidence. VWFS also contacted the Dealer, who could provide no further reason to deny the facts.

 

 

 

Thats pretty shocking - the dealer just didn't pass on the info because they knew they would be in the wrong by the looks of it. 

[Orville]

There are two main reasons why a clutch may fail so fail early.

#1 - Extremely poor driving style / abuse.

#2 - Mechanical or manufacturing fault.

 

This 3-month dispute derived from the Dealer wrongly assuming #1, and then not even bothering to check adequately for #2. Upon questioning their findings they made up reasons to justify #1 rather than confirming any facts. I provided Essex Auto Group with lots of information and pictures. I offered to return the parts for re-analysis and even provided them with an Independent Inspection Report. However they refused to admit making an initial mistake (not checking parts for extremely obvious defect), and even appear to have withheld some information from SUK to cover up their incompetence. SUK were almost as bad, completely ignoring what the customer was telling them and favouring their Audtorised Dealer. Thankfully VWFS took the time to fully read and follow-up my arguments, and subsequently found their customer to be in the right.

 

Of course, SUK has not directly admitted Manufacturing Defect, but this has clearlty and independently been proven as the cause.

[havocUK]

They've been quite cute - they've settled to avoid any sort of precedent (even if the small claims court can't legally set a precedent).

 

So next time someone comes up against this, they can be just as obtuse as they were with you and deny everything...because there's no pound-note cost* to the idiots at the dealership or in SUK CS** unless someone like you is determined AND well-armed enough to take them to court.

 

 * clearly from this and other threads they don't appear to care about brand reputation...
 ** Interesting anagram!

[Orville]

It seems that the Essex Auto Group will take their time paying their portion of my money back. According to an email from EAG they have to claim the money back from SUK before they will pay me. It seems that Skoda's Authorised Dealer does not trust Skoda's promise to pay them. It is almost funny.

Edited 21 July, 2016 by Orville