Ordered a car here and paid a deposit in February, I was told I would receive regular updates but didn't hear anything. A couple of weeks prior to my Ford PCP expiring I called them up - they said they would call back but didn't. A week later I called again to find that the car was delayed till somewhere between July/September !!! When I asked about my expiring PCP they said I had two options - buy a car that was £5K more expensive or cancel my order - which would leave me carless. Basically that was it. After significant complaining they eventually 'rented' us a Citigo (we ordered an estate !!). They claimed they couldn't access any cars of the spec we ordered within the dealership, but I called another branch who had two cars and after explaining the situation they contacted the York branch to say they were available and could be transferred. When I called, they claimed this wasn't true and they couldn't get me a car.

 

Essentially they simply can't be bothered to help me out, anything they could do would cost them money, the cars from the other branch are a more expensive colour and they don't want to pay the £595 to put the situation right.

 

When I spoke to the head of the branch he said selling new cars doesn't make any money so basically they aren't going to do anything if it costs them money. He also said the branch was basically struggling to retain customers - which in retrospect is pretty ironic !

 

I get the impression they would rather I walked away rather than purchase a car from them, I have never encountered such poor service and complete lack of interest or engagement in solving a problem or apologising even for a problem they caused - completely staggering.

 

Needless to say I wouldn't recommend this branch of DM Keith to anyone.

3 years ago I took my Fabia Tdi there for a service & asked them for a cost to change to a petrol Fabia.

The loss on the old car was 50% but no concessions were forthcoming on the new one, so I left it.

A year ago I did the same deal with Des Winks in Scarborough & got a far better deal.

What's more Des Winks were, and are, far nicer people to deal with.

Give them a ring ?

Edited 4 May, 20197 yr by punyXpress
Brain Fade!

13 minutes ago, punyXpress said:

3 years ago I took my Fabia Tdi there for a service & asked them for a cost to change to a petrol Fabia.

The loss on the old car was 50% but no concessions were forthcoming on the new one, so I left it.

A year ago I did the same deal with Des Winks in Scarborough & got a far better deal.

What's more Des Winks were, and are, far nicer people to deal with.

Give them a ring ?

 

 

My 19 plate Octavia 245 came from Des Winks, Scarborough, Excellent service.  If DMK were the only Skoda dealers in the UK Id change brands.

Edited 4 May, 20197 yr by Auric Goldfinger

I’ve used DM Keith at Leeds and they’re terrible. Unfortunately as you’ll now know they have a monopoly on Skoda dealerships in the Yorkshire area so you have no choice but to use them. I would love to say it gets better but unless you can find another dealership then be prepared for more poor service and having to argue for any warranty work to be done. 

Er - Can I balance this up a bit. I've found DM Keith in Hull to be very good indeed both re buying and service although mine was a nearly new car.

 

Many dealers and car manufacturers have been struggling with new car deliveries of late due to WLTP applying to all new car registrations from September 2018. 

Edited 5 May, 20197 yr by bigjohn

I've used DMK Wakefield branch for an aircon refresh, and a door wiring loom and door mirrors switch, good service and reasonable prices. 

I use a small local-to-me garage for my servicing and repairs, I have no new car buying experience as always buy at 3--6yrs old, let someone else take the huge initial depreciation!

To N.Boonham:-

There's a regular ad in the YP's motoring section, for an independent garage in Killinghall, Harrogate, I have no experience of them, but their ad reads well, Brookroyd Garage, Specialists in Skoda, yesterday's YP listed 13 used Skodas for sale, plus one Citroen.  Might be worth a phone call to see if they could source what you are seeking, perhaps an almost-new option worth considering?

Says they service & MOT all makes, fair rates, free local collection & delivery, or courtesy car.  www.brookroydgarage.co.uk Tel 01423 561782.

As I said, I have no connection with them, or experience of them; may consider them when I come to sell my Roomster.

 

Which Skoda model and spec are you searching for?

As bigjohn says, the recently-introduced World Light Vehicle Testing Protocol has caused big headaches for the manufacturers, it appears they have to test and certify for emissions, every possible combination of options that will affect emissions for each model, so that'll include engines, transmissions, roof-rails, towbars, wheels, tyres, perhaps standard vs Scout trims, ride height (4x4 Octavia estate vs standard).   Oh, and I read that Skoda are short of production/assembly capacity at their plants.

 

BTW, DMK Leeds hosted the Skoda Owners Club UK AGM last year, I attended, having joined at the 2018 Skodafest (and I live about 7 miles away!) they looked after us well, and I recall reading later in the Club's mag that several members did deals on cars that day, there was an incentive voucher in our pack.

And when I had my Fabia, pre Sept 2013, a very helpful service receptionist at DMK Leeds assisted me with a central locking issue, simply by suggesting I try my spare key!  It worked!              I recall that  I subsequently got the key's battery replaced at a car spares shop nearby.

Hope That Helps!

Do let us know the outcome you (hopefully) achieve,

Richard

Edited 5 May, 20197 yr by RichardatWakefield
Add more detail.

I've bought a few cars off Brookroyds when they were based in Hampsthwaite near Harrogate, they were a Skoda dealer until Skoda started waving a big stick about insisting dealers get bigger showrooms, around 2004/5 I think. Thats when they became an Independent Skoda Dealer.  They get very good reviews

 

 

 

 

Edited 6 May, 20197 yr by Auric Goldfinger

DM Keith are a shower of *****. I live in York and wouldn't set foot across any of their forecourts ever again.

 

Luckily, as other have mentioned Des Winks in Scarborough are everything DM Keith aren't.

 

Tell Angus Keith to stick his car where the sun doesn't shine, and take a ride over to Scarborough.

I have, over the years, bought three cars from D.M. Keith (used to be Royce Roberts)  in Hull and I have to say I have never had a problem with them and have always been pleased with the deals I've had.  

 

I also use them for servicing and they've always been spot on.

Thanks everyone for the further feedback and suggestions of better dealers in my area next time around I will canvas views in advance - lesson learned !!!

 

I should stress that my experience is with the York branch. The other branch I phoned was Grimsby and they were really helpful and bent over backwards to try and help - sourcing a car from outside the dealer network and making it available to the York branch. Who still maintain it can’t be done.

 

The irony however continues, I decided to post some reviews of my experience on line. As a result the branch phoned today to ask: Why I posted bad reviews ? Would I post more ? And why did I call the Grimsby branch ?

 

When I asked if they thought they had delivered good customer care, they thought they had because they were renting us a car - at my cost, to get them out of a hole for failing to tell me my car wasn’t arriving for another 3-5 months (on top of the 3 months I have waited already). Apparently this is them doing me a favour.

 

They said they would look out for a car in a different colour now (this wasn’t seemingly an option last week) but the metallic paint would cost £19 extra per month. I suggested they should pay for it to make up for the hassle. They said no chance.

 

Maybe I am missing something here, I honestly thought that I was the customer and the best option they keep coming back to is for me to cancel. As much as I would love to I would then be without a car till another dealer sorted one out.

 

Completely gobsmacked !!!

Doesn’t surprise me, DM Keith in York have been consistently diabolical for many years. 

 

When you deal with their staff you become convinced a number of villages are missing their idiots. 

Can't understand why anyone buys a new car from a particular Dealer. Use one of the on-line services where you spec the exact car you want then wait for the quotes and take the one you want. I usually give my local dealer the chance to match the quote but if they won't then buy from the cheapest. Use your local dealer for servicing etc. No problems!

This works for all makes not just Skoda.

Edited 29 December, 20196 yr by Expatman

On 04/05/2019 at 10:42, NBoonham said:

I have never encountered such poor service and complete lack of interest or engagement in solving a problem or apologising even for a problem they caused - completely staggering.

 

Needless to say I wouldn't recommend this branch of DM Keith to anyone.

 

Whilst they definitely dont sound like they deserve your recommendation what is the problem that you believe that they caused?

 

The delivery delay of your new vehicle would not appear to be of their making.

4 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

Whilst they definitely dont sound like they deserve your recommendation what is the problem that you believe that they caused?

 

The delivery delay of your new vehicle would not appear to be of their making.

The thing is when I called them on the original delivery date they had to discuss with the manager. Then they came back and said there were issues with the engine and it delayed delivery. By some miracle, from that date the delivery followed the exact time line they initially told me. 
 

This makes me suspect they simply forgot to order the vehicle first time, in fact the guy I did the deal with had left by then, so it’s possible he forgot. The engine delay story may have been to cover this up, there weren’t problems reported when I ordered or it seems after then.

 

In the mean time I had a car at the end of its lease that they were taking in PX and their first thought was that I should just wait and the lease car was my problem. They then agreed to take the lease car but leaving us without a car. Finally, after a lot of complaining they agreed to take the car and rented me a Citygo. 
 

I asked if there were other vehicles like we ordered in the dealership network, they said there were not.

This also appeared to be untrue, because when I phoned around the first DMKeith I called (Grimsby) had two - the same spec but more expensive (£500) paint colour. When I bought this up they said they could transfer my account to Grimsby but only if I paid for the paint. Fair enough, but for £500 I thought they could have solved the problem there and then, since I didn’t care what colour the car was and the problem was caused by them not me. At the very least had they called around like they said, then they might have given us the option - perhaps they just assumed we wouldn’t want to pay the extra.

 

Instead I rented a Citygo off them for three months which wasn’t very convenient as I was switching from a Fiesta to an estate due to the need to fit larger child seats, something I had to delay for 3 months.

 

So as I said, I suspect several instances where they said missleading things (obviously I can’t be sure they outright lied though that would be one interpretation if you were being unkind) and there were three months of inconvenience caused by their poor service.

 

DM Keith in York are woeful, I vowed never to set foot across their lying and cheating forecourt ever again several years ago.

 

Use Des Winks in Scarborough, they are light years ahead.

19 hours ago, silver1011 said:

DM Keith in York are woeful, I vowed never to set foot across their lying and cheating forecourt ever again several years ago.

 

Use Des Winks in Scarborough, they are light years ahead.

Just a word for D M Keith York - I have had my 2017 Yeti serviced there since new (bought from another dealer at a lower price than D M Keith could offer), servicing has been without fault and courtesy car always supplied without problem I found their service staff to be polite and knowledgable, car always returned washed and vacuumed clean.

Once I got a piece of grit in the front disc brake - sounded like wheel was coming off!. D M Keith had to strip the disc down to get the piece of flint out, they did that immediately at a nominal cost, so I’ve got no complaints only praise for them. New showroom is nice as well with free coffee etc!!!

 

They were great to me too, until things didn't go to plan, as is often the case with life.

 

Customer service skills are not properly tested until something goes wrong, until that point when they have to put right their mistakes, or even those mistakes from the brand they ultimately represent. 

 

When it starts costing them money, or eating into their profits they will drop you like a stone, this opening post being a prime example and not too dissimilar from my many experiences with them.

 

Anyone can sell a car and change its oil, it's all the other bits they struggle with.

 

Luckily there are other dealers out there that they haven't been able to monopolise, such as Scarborough.

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

Luckily there are other dealers out there that they haven't been able to monopolise, such as Scarborough.

 

My car is in at Des Winks on Friday for it's first service.  No problems with Des Winks, Sale and service side second to none.

 

It's a 10/10 from me.

Only used them when oil inspection light came on they then said this and that will want doing shortly and tried to give a service plan.Don,t rearly want to go york evertime so go to my local garage 5 mins away

On 04/05/2019 at 21:27, bigjohn said:

Er - Can I balance this up a bit. I've found DM Keith in Hull to be very good indeed both re buying and service although mine was a nearly new car.

 

Many dealers and car manufacturers have been struggling with new car deliveries of late due to WLTP applying to all new car registrations from September 2018. 

@bigjohn are you still happy with DM Keith in Hull for servicing, MOT customer care?

@bigjohn are you still happy with DM Keith in Hull for servicing, MOT customer care?

On 07/05/2019 at 11:55, Jock said:

I have, over the years, bought three cars from D.M. Keith (used to be Royce Roberts)  in Hull and I have to say I have never had a problem with them and have always been pleased with the deals I've had.  

 

I also use them for servicing and they've always been spot on.

@Jock , are you still happy with DM Keith Hull? I need a service and MOT for Mk III Octavia

10 hours ago, haba14 said:

@bigjohn are you still happy with DM Keith in Hull for servicing, MOT customer care?

 

Can't really comment since 2019 as once my car  was 5 years old and potentially needing front brake replacement etc I moved my servicing to my fabulous local independent garage. Up until 2019 I found them good Indeed.

Edited 22 April, 20224 yr by bigjohn

I will vouch for DM Keith in Hull.  Never had any issues with them, when I had a skoka from 2015 - 2020.  They were a consideration when purchasing my new car after moving to BMW for 2 years.

 

Only one experience last year. Got a quote for Haldex service, DSG service and an intermediate service.

I asked in advance if I could bring it in first thing and wait for 3 hours. Took them 5 and when I went to pay the bill they had only done 2 out of 3 tasks... 

.. In York