Customer Service?

[Sagalout]

Just thought I would share a response that I had from Skoda UK today. I was looking for information on the performance of the 220ps engine. More detail than the max over a spread that they quote in the brochure, I wanted to see the performance curves across the rev range. Simple stuff you would think but no. This is their reply 

 

Thank you for your recent request for technical information on ŠKODA vehicles.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any technical advice over the telephone or through correspondence; other than that offered in the Owner’s Manual.  I am sincerely sorry for any disappointment that this may cause.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on the number below.
Thank you for contacting ŠKODA UK.

 

[Coops]

Wonder what the answer would be if you asked BMW the same question of one of their engines?

[StuartTunstall]

If the truth is know they may plain and simple not have that information... At one time Bentley and Rolls Royce never even said what BHP there engines were full stop....

[penguin17]

Why not contact someone like Shark performance and ask they have any rolling road analysis that they could anonymise and send you?   

[Sagalout]

@penguin. Yes I will try that, thanks for the thought.

 

@Stuart. They will have it, the design standards would include it. They just don't want to go to the trouble of providing it. Most manufacturers will provide it on request and others actually publish it on-line.

 

The point of my note was that they are saying 'unable to provide any technical advice' full stop. That is an unexpected approach to customer service in my view and I was genuinely surprised by it.

 

I am going to have a word with my friendly 'stealer' to see if they can dig it out for me, they are usually pretty supportive.

[Rainmaker]

5 hours ago, Sagalout said:

@penguin. Yes I will try that, thanks for the thought.

 

@Stuart. They will have it, the design standards would include it. They just don't want to go to the trouble of providing it. Most manufacturers will provide it on request and others actually publish it on-line.

 

The point of my note was that they are saying 'unable to provide any technical advice' full stop. That is an unexpected approach to customer service in my view and I was genuinely surprised by it.

 

I am going to have a word with my friendly 'stealer' to see if they can dig it out for me, they are usually pretty supportive.

 

Providing no technical information is, at least, better than providing completely incorrect information. That was what resulted from my previous enquiries to SUK - completely wrong info. 

 

The more I've experienced of Skoda this time around the worse they've become. I think that despite how nice the 2.0 TSI is this will be our last Skoda/VAG car. Other marques have no issues with customer service or answering basic questions. The dealer network has gone downhill in my experience also. 

 

Skoda did at least used to be cheap and cheerful. But when you're charging £30,000 to £40,000 for a family 'budget' car you'd better be doing something right imho. Between the excellent Koreans (decent motors and excellent service / dealers with a solid 7 year warranty), and the more driver focused German brands (you can get a new BMW 40i tourer for the price of a Skoda now) SUK really need to pull up their socks lest they make themselves obsolete. 

[skidpan]

19 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

Other marques have no issues with customer service or answering basic questions.  

 

Really.

 

2 examples.

 

When we had a simple issue with the radio in the Focus the dealer blamed us for specifying the upgrade. Quite remarkable when it was fitted to the stock car we got a good deal on. Tried to contact Ford Customer Service but it was a premium charge line so gave up.

 

When we first got the Kia Ceed CRDi it seemed to us to be doing a regen far too often, every 300 miles. The dealer said he had no info since ours was the first car he had supplied with a DPF fitted. So I contacted Customer service who rang me within 24 hours as promised and told me to go to the dealer. The dealer than rang and demanded to know why we had contacted customer service.

[FelisBengalensis]

And then of course under the European Freedom of Information rules the manufacturers can keep Schaumburg, whereas in the US they are obliged to tell all.  Hence being able to get all sorts of info from the US and nowhere else.

[CheshireBumpkin]

My experience of Kia is mixed - customer service at my local dealer was grim to say the least. They're a bunch of feckless idiots who couldn't care less if you're not there to buy a new car.

 

Kia UK on the other hand I found to be excellent, and were quick to stamp on said dealer when necessary.

[Rainmaker]

4 hours ago, skidpan said:

 

Really.

 

2 examples.

 

When we had a simple issue with the radio in the Focus the dealer blamed us for specifying the upgrade. Quite remarkable when it was fitted to the stock car we got a good deal on. Tried to contact Ford Customer Service but it was a premium charge line so gave up.

 

When we first got the Kia Ceed CRDi it seemed to us to be doing a regen far too often, every 300 miles. The dealer said he had no info since ours was the first car he had supplied with a DPF fitted. So I contacted Customer service who rang me within 24 hours as promised and told me to go to the dealer. The dealer than rang and demanded to know why we had contacted customer service.

 

Yes, really. You're talking about a couple of poor(ish) dealers, not the manufacturer. One of your examples was also on admittedly brand new (at the time) technology. Try contacting Mazda and asking about their engines. You'll get a ton of dyno graphs, videos, and information back giving you more detail than even most engineers would care for. They're proud of it. I found the same with BMW and even Ford (who have a free customer line as well as email btw, not sure how you ended up with a premium rate one). For SUK to say they can't even answer questions about the cars they're selling is frankly a farce, no matter how much we like the cars surely nobody could say otherwise? 

 

As CheshireBumpkin says Kia as a manufacturer are really on the ball and the products are quickly rising to where Skoda WANT to be. All our local dealers are spot on too; full of technical info, fast to help, don't ignore you and will pick you up and drop you off for anything from a service to a test drive. Nothing is a problem for them. Can't say I've found the same in local Skoda dealerships of late (nor our local Ford come to that). Vauxhall are another marque making a great comeback. The new chassis and lightweight designs coupled with strong, simple turbo petrol engines are right on the money and fun to drive as well. Add in the fact their 200ps turbo petrol costs ten THOUSAND less than an equivalent Skoda and gives you a six speed manual to stir it with...... They're actually worth looking at again. The competition is hotting up, and Skoda are really starting to lag. Not a dig, just an observable fact.

Edited 22 April, 2017 by Rainmaker

[Sagalout]

I, perhaps fortunately, have a great relationship with my local 'stealer'. ( They even laugh at being called just that ). They are always keen to help and as has just been proven ready to do a good deal. So I have no beef with the local provision. I am still hopeful that they will come up with the info I am looking for after the weekend.

 

So my issue is with the 'customer service' gateway. They really do need to improve their ability to respond to technical queries from customers, whether by referring them to the relevant dept or by learning more about the technical aspects of the cars they supply. I had similar issue when asking about the detail of some of the packs and technology when the S3 came onto the market. Beyond standard press crap they had nothing and no inclination to provide anything more. Like this time I was asked " why do you want it?" the brochure and press pack tells you all you need to know.

 

To add to rainmakers list. Volvo are also very good at providing information beyond the brief brochure detail. SWMBO recently bought a V40 and I wasn't happy that the local sales guy could clearly explain the difference between some of the safety packs or the between the lower power and mid power engines. One quick call to Volvo customer service and I had everything I was looking for including those Skoda elusive typical performance graphs. (Well they were Volvo ones of course but you see what I mean )

Edited 23 April, 2017 by Sagalout

[Breezy_Pete]

Is it the 2.0 162kW EA888 engine you're researching?

If so, there's a document on erWin that might well answer your questions. You have to register/login/pay 7 euros + VAT to see, but that may be worth it to you?

Register/login, then go to the Individual vehicle information tab, choose Training items, then scroll down to No.99.  If the title sounds like what you need, you can click download, pay your euros and then download it. 

In my experience there's usually a torque/power graph.

Edited 23 April, 2017 by Wino

[Rainmaker]

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Is it the 2.0 162kW EA888 engine you're researching?

If so, there's a document on erWin that might well answer your questions. You have to register/login/pay 7 euros + VAT to see, but that may be worth it to you?

Register/login, then go to the Individual vehicle information tab, choose Training items, then scroll down to No.99.  If the title sounds like what you need, you can click download, pay your euros and then download it. 

In my experience there's usually a torque/power graph.

 

Good spot, I'd forgotten about erWin. I've just tried to pay using two cards (debit and credit) and I get this every time:

 

Quote

The input of your credit card data is invalid.

 

Oh well. Knowing Skoda I can now look forward to two sets of charges and no access lol.

Edited 23 April, 2017 by Rainmaker

[Breezy_Pete]

Someone else on here had that, and found that it was the way his address had gone in that was causing the problem. May be worth another look? Doubt you will have been charged.

[Rainmaker]

39 minutes ago, Wino said:

Someone else on here had that, and found that it was the way his address had gone in that was causing the problem. May be worth another look? Doubt you will have been charged.

 

I'll have a look when I get chance, and try again. Thanks for the pointer!

[skidpan]

On 4/22/2017 at 22:39, Rainmaker said:

 

Yes, really. You're talking about a couple of poor(ish) dealers, not the manufacturer. One of your examples was also on admittedly brand new (at the time) technology.

 

and even Ford (who have a free customer line as well as email btw, not sure how you ended up with a premium rate one).

 

We had used this Ford dealer group for about 6 years with complete satisfaction (except for the very aggressive female body shop manager - eventually disappeared) but this was the first time we had used this branch (closer to where I worked). Went back to previous branch and all was OK.

 

We bought the Ceed CRDi in 2010 so DPF's were hardly new technology. Kia had only introduced them on the 1.6 CRDi in the UK at that time but they had been fitted to 1.6 CRDi's in some European countries for several years. DPF's had been fitted to the dirty old 2.0 CRDi since Euro 4 in 2006 to the Sportage, Magentis and the 2.0 CRDi Ceed so dealers should have been familiar with them. The good news was after this exchange the service manager became most helpful and knowledgeable about their products. We considered another Kia when we bought the Superb but they were poor in comparison.

 

As for the Ford customer line I got the number from the supplied info but an internet check after finding it premium rate showed no alternatives or e-mail option.