expostmanpat:  Please read my initial statement to understand.   I did not have the work done because I suspected what they said was untrue.  I then got my suspicions confirmed that there was no fault by taking to other dealers.  My complaint is that the Garage tried to cheat me by saying there was a fault when there wasn't any fault.   Also, It concerns me that if they tried to cheat me then they would try to cheat other customers.  Most customers tend to believe what a Service Manager of a Main Agent would tell them.   Also, I take exception to their attitude when having been found out. 

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by petdeb

Do not worry, someone at SKODA UK HQ will be reading this, and maybe even DUNCAN will get to see it.

Also SIMPSON's will be aware.

 

Just contact Trading Standards, raise a case and then your local Trading Standards might be in touch with you.

 

Power of the internet, Duncan Movassaghi UK CEO / BRAND DIRECTOR & Skoda / VW UK should remember.

Alasdair Stewart the last SKODA UK Brand Director was always having to have Communications Managers and Seniors on his team 

'fire fighting',   They say 'do not listen to forum's  etc,  oddly they have to as long as there are going to be some muppets working in their Official Dealerships.

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

Thanks Awayoffski, I was just going to try to contact Preston Trading Standards but find they do not provide a phone number or email.  They instead direct one to Citizens Advice.

That is how to do it then, and when it gets to Trading Standards who's job it is to decide if there is something to be looked at and then do that.

 

Get that Communications going again with SKODA UK CUSTOMER SERVICES if you are bothered.

& SIMPSON's CEO or Simpson Skoda Motor Group Directors, some are high profile and you can find them

on the likes of

http://uk.linkedin.com 

& message them if you are a member.

The Skoda UK CEO is there as well, and other Skoda UK or VW UK Management, drop them a message.

Facebook works as well when 'Directors' and Managers are disinterested.

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

Thanks Awayoffski, I was just going to try to contact Preston Trading Standards but find they do not provide a phone number or email.  They instead direct one to Citizens Advice.

I'm listening to continuous music having contacted Trading Standards. After listening to endless messages I was transferred to Citizens Advice.   Now 15 minutes but still only music.  I think I will have to drive into town to go to Trading Standards to see if I can see someone with the written evidence.  Initially it said I could request a call back but this option did not materialise.     

^^^ 

Thats how it is, we used to think Slow Mail was hopeless but funnily letters still are good.

CAB have a Email / Online contact system, as do Trading Standards.

 

Always good to put things in writing and have replies in writing, as you clearly know.

 

Good luck with it all, 

if someone shakes your hand check your watch, not for the time, just to see your watch is still there.

LOL LOL............................  But thanks for your input.  Not laughing though, you'd be amazed how much time I have given to this so far, including 3 days visiting Agents and driving over 200 miles.  I just noticed an email come in from CEO's Skoda's Dept.  I asked for written confirmation of their offer, but they seemed reluctant to provide it.   

2 hours ago, petdeb said:

expostmanpat:  Please read my initial statement to understand.   I did not have the work done because I suspected what they said was untrue.  I then got my suspicions confirmed that there was no fault by taking to other dealers.  My complaint is that the Garage tried to cheat me by saying there was a fault when there wasn't any fault.   Also, It concerns me that if they tried to cheat me then they would try to cheat other customers.  Most customers tend to believe what a Service Manager of a Main Agent would tell them.   Also, I take exception to their attitude when having been found out. 

I fail to understand why SUK would then offer you the £324 against servicing if as you say you didn't have the work done or pay out for the work. Your initial post and subsequent posts are not so very clear, but then I may be old and a bit thick, which is why I think there must be more to this story.

You seem to be taking this to the extreme.

 

You did the right thing, got a 2nd opinion when confronted with a big bill, you complained to the Manager.

 

They don't care about it, neither do Skoda UK.

 

But you have warned us about this dealer, which we thank you for. They will lose some business from us.

 

But I'd advise you let it drop now, and do something more productive with your life. 

 

Just my opinion, but if you really want to carry on, go for it...

 

 

Expostmanpat: I asked them to compensate me for the time spent on dealing with the Scam and for the two days and distance of over 200 miles involved in visiting other Skoda Agents.  Skoda dragged my complaint out for months with every exuse possible to prevaricate.  They offered the money off my next service.  The only dealer who is a reasonable distance away is the one who tried to Scam me.  How does one take a car to such a dealer?  Skoda made the offer knowing all this and that if I used the money they would get it all back.   They have just emailed me confirming this offer.  My reply was gives a line at the top extracted out of their email:

 

“I sincerely hope that this gesture will go some way to restoring your faith in the ŠKODA brand”

 

I’m afraid it has had the opposite effect.  How it has been dealt with by Skoda has destroyed absolutely any and all vestiges of respect I previously had for the Organisation.    Many others I’ve made aware of this, say they will never buy a Skoda and I certainly wont buy another Skoda again.  This will be the last of 3 Skoda’s I’ve bought.  That’s what I meant by it not being Cost Effective for Skoda to have responded in the way it has.    The derisory offer was made knowing that all the money will go straight back to Skoda if used.   The reality is that I no longer have a dealer close enough who I could trust with my car.  The quandary I find, is that those I’ve dealt with from Skoda do not seem to understand or be aware of the indecency of their actions or behaviour?

 

Small point.

If you take the offer of Servicing to the value, that does not go to Skoda UK.

The Dealership servicing the vehicle have materials, labour , overheads to spend out and Taxes to pay on profits if they have any.

Awayoffski:  I'm intrigued by your bike Avatar.  If it points to this, I've been interested in motorcycles all my life. 

A Specialized Fatboy.  So a Fat Tyre push bike.

Please contact me on [email protected] to tell me more.

7 hours ago, expostmanpat said:

You have lost me, did you have any work done? If you did have work carried out then obviously when another dealer looked at it then no fault would be evident?, You say you didn't pay but was still offered a refund by way of service credit by SUK? If you did have the work done then obviously the fault wouldn't reappear? Sorry your writing as left me confused. As an aside I have always had excellent service from Simpsons, all be it the Colne branch.

My understanding of the whole stinking affair is - The OP smelled a rat when he was shown the sheet of paper that had supposedly damaged the sensor wiring loom - Simpsons of Preston were claiming that the OP would have to pay for the sensor to be replaced. Suspecting that the dealer was NOT being truthful, the OP declined to authorise the claimed necessary work and promptly took the vehicle to two other specialists - who both confirmed that there was no fault. When confronted with this finding, Simpsons of Preston threatened to place the OPs vehicle on some sort of national fault blacklist. If the OP had trusted the dealer, he, in all likelihood, would have authorised the work. The important point in this case, particularly for owners who may not have much technical knowledge, you should be able to credit the dealers with some small modicum of trust.  

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by Warrior193
Clarification

Good summing up. 

So it was SIMPSONS SKODA PRESTON & some SENIOR MEMBER OF STAFF AT SIMPSONS OF PRESTON, just so that there can be no mistake where the SKODA DEALERSHIP was that the thread is about.

Rather than demanding Skoda compensate you for your losses, or just asking "What are you going to do about it?", why not detail exactly what your losses are (time spent travelling, fuel costs, wear and tear, etc.) and ask them to compensate you by that amount. If they refuse then lodge a small claims case in court.

That's always providing you have documented evidence of what the initial dealer said, like a written quote from them of the problem they'd found and the costs to put it right. Then you'd need documented evidence from the other two dealers as to what exactly wasn't the problem when they looked at it, and then you'll need documneted evidence that the parts still fitted to your vehicle have not been replaced since the first dealer looked at the car and diagnosed the fault. Then you'll have to have a detailed breakdown of the costs you incurred trying to get a non existent fault repaired elsewhere to support your claim. No doubt there'll be some other stuff you'd be required to present at court to make a strong case.

If anything is missing from the list of stuff required to make a claim, then I'd just resign myself to making sure as many people as possible know which dealer had done what to you, and why you thought it was wrong.

The GOODWILL GESTURE of an offer of a VOUCHER / CREDIT towards SERVICING will have been just that, Nobody admitting any guilt, 

no harm done no lies etc etc 

'How so very Volkswagen Group UK,  Paul Willis CEO VW UK leads the way now, 'Nothing wrong, no compensation needed, move along now'.

Awayoffski: Yes you have the right dealer.   I think I was fobbed off by them thinking most folks would then just give up.  Another thought was, they decided that admitting it might have legal implications.  I did complain straight to Neil Simpson himself.

 

Rustynuts: Thanks for the thoughtful advice.

10 minutes ago, Rustynuts said:

Rather than demanding Skoda compensate you for your losses, or just asking "What are you going to do about it?", why not detail exactly what your losses are (time spent travelling, fuel costs, wear and tear, etc.) and ask them to compensate you by that amount. If they refuse then lodge a small claims case in court.

That's always providing you have documented evidence of what the initial dealer said, like a written quote from them of the problem they'd found and the costs to put it right. Then you'd need documented evidence from the other two dealers as to what exactly wasn't the problem when they looked at it, and then you'll need documneted evidence that the parts still fitted to your vehicle have not been replaced since the first dealer looked at the car and diagnosed the fault. Then you'll have to have a detailed breakdown of the costs you incurred trying to get a non existent fault repaired elsewhere to support your claim. No doubt there'll be some other stuff you'd be required to present at court to make a strong case.

If anything is missing from the list of stuff required to make a claim, then I'd just resign myself to making sure as many people as possible know which dealer had done what to you, and why you thought it was wrong.

I believe that the OP is entitled to expect SUK to fully investigate this case and apply sanctions against the dealer if attempted wrong-doing is found - it's almost certainly is not the first time that this dealer has tried to pull this type of trick - if the average owner is unable to trust the "experts" to whom we are tied while the vehicle is under warranty, who can we trust. At the end of the day, it is Skodas brand that is being dragged down. AGAIN.

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by Warrior193
Typo

Yes Awayoffski, we Brits are seen as being more gullible than most others around the world.

Warrior193, you are right that would be the decent thing, but it seems that many at the top of our Corporations have little in the way of morals.  Maybe that's how the got to the top of the pile?

Well Mr Simpson will be able to reply if he wishes, or maybe best he does not and leaves that to someone from his legal representative or Skoda UK.

Best post in the SIMPSON SKODA PRESTON Dealers reviews with your experience where it will be seen by those interested in being a customer there.

 

EDIT Sorry  'SIMPSONS SKODA PRESTON'

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/64141-simpsons-skoda-preston-ltd-preston/?page=1 

An interesting post just this Monday past.

Edited 2 March, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

2 minutes ago, petdeb said:

Warrior193, you are right that would be the decent thing, but it seems that many at the top of our Corporations have little in the way of morals.  Maybe that's how the got to the top of the pile?

Sadly, I fear that you are correct - but it doesn't mean you have to give up the moral fight. I'm just hoping that the UK class action for "DieselGate" get off the ground.