So the new car is FINALLY on a ship on it's way to the UK...  Ordered late Sept and was told unconfirmed build date middle Nov for delivery mid to late December.  Build date came and went and took another two weeks for dealer to find out that there was a shortage of parts for phonebox with wireless charging and build date slipped back to Feb then came forward to start of Jan...  Complaining isn't going very far - but seriously with an approx 8 week time between order and build how could they not get supply chain / parts in place?   Or at least be able to tell me before the build week in Nov that it would be delayed?  Anyway I digress...

 

I'm collecting car from Horton in Lincoln but my nearest dealers will be Progress Letchworth, Progress Harlow and Citigate Watford.  When I did the three day test drive I found Letchworth salesguys to be an absolute bunch of muppets and got some quite rude emails back when trying to negotiate a deal vs carwow.  It doesn't inspire confidence in me for their service dept and so looking to take my business elsewhere... wondering if Harlow will be just as useless as it's the same franchise?  Anyone used these and can offer any good/bad stories?  If the service dept at Letchworth is good then they might win me back, as it is the easiest to get to!

I used Progress in Letchworth in 2014 once to buy a used approved Skoda.

The salesman was arrogant and pushy. The car was not prepared when I went to collect it. (eg: the wheels needed balancing, agreed carpets were not supplied etc etc)

Post sales complaint handling was amateur.

Awful experience. Awful dealership.

 

 

I live in Stanmore, so probably not a million miles away. the below is from something I posted in December.

 

For the record, I've now used the Willis service dept for the first service on the Yeti and they were actually pretty good and the lady on the service desc is very pleasant to deal with. I've not used Citygate for service but I have a personal, real world friend who had terrible trouble with Citygate VW over a warranty issue which has made me not want to try.

 

We're just in the process of buying a Superb and we are actually paying a bit more and travelling 250 miles to Plymouth for that one - make of that what you will.

 

Citygate Skoda Watford - 'mo' the salesman was pushy, had poor product knowledge and kept calling my wife 'my dear' and smarming over her, while telling her how to drive - she's a much better and more experienced driver than me and probably than him. Tried to sell us a Yeti we didn't want as they had it in stock - only when I pushed the issue did they work out a deal on a brand new Yeti with 0% finance and acted surprised when the monthly payment was less than the second hand one would have been...

 

Willis Skoda Ruisilp - salesman was good but the treatment after purchase from the 'sales manager' over a relatively minor issue that he basically accused me of causing left a sour taste. It was all resolved amicably once I had contacted the owner Dennis Willis directly, but it did mean that when we were looking to buy the Superb they weren't top of the list...

Hi,

Just to say that I have had positive experiences at Progress Skoda in Letchworth.

 

I live in Digswell, Hertfordshire and bought my first Superb Mk 2 Estate second hand from a Skoda Dealer in Reading in 2011. I subsequently had it serviced at Letchworth. They always seemed professional and to know what they were doing. After 60k miles I had an intermittent fault in the EGR system, which only appeared when I was towing the caravan quickly. They successfully identified the component causing it and replaced it. I have never had to wait long for a service appointment with a courtesy car and their service reception has always been very efficient.

 

Last year I traded in the Mk2 and bought from them an ex-Skoda Mk3 Superb SEL Exec Estate with 3k miles on the clock. My dealings with the sales team were positive and professional. They have since serviced the car and I have experienced no problems so far.

 

My next-door neighbour has also dealt with them over several years with an Octavia and two Fabias. He also has always found them OK.

 

Cheers

Paul R T

Mine came from Progress Letchworth and I have always found them very good and willing to help out.  Their Bedford branch is a disaster however.  Everything is too much effort (salesman just kept watching the footy on his computer) and they denied all knowledge of a case passed to them by Letchworth as Bedford is nearer, even though I know it was done.

Edited 11 January, 20188 yr by FelisBengalensis

Thanks for the replies.  I found the salesguys in Letchworth hard work - they never replied to emails unless I followed up, when I collected the test drive the salesguy who said "ask for me" actually never worked Fridays, when I asked about making an appointment to run through numbers when I dropped it off I got the reply "well if one of us is free we will help, otherwise you can just email us" and when I did talk numbers they rubbished carwow and said they didn't use it as it pushed prices up... but still couldn't get close to the best number I was quoted through carwow   And I know for a fact that they didn't verify my driving licence before picking the car up which is a little worrying...

 

It sounds like all three of my nearest dealers are a mixed bag, so might as well start with the nearest and work my way out...  Hopefully the service dept is better than sales, plus it's going to be a while before first service anyway as I don't even have the car yet!  

I brought my Superb Sportline from Progress Skoda in Harlow, and I could not fault the experience.  The salesman was patient, and put up with a lot of my dithering about over specs before the build date was confirmed.   Once I picked up the car they were again helpful when I had a problem with one of the lights, getting it in as quickly as they could and sorting it out.

 

I use the Letchworth dealership, have had my superb serviced there from new, (2015) no problems with their service department, always very helpful,