I went to pick up my car today, having bought the cheaper of the two Listers Protech options.

Frankly, it was sh!t.

The car looked as though it hadn't been cleaned, far less had a "polymer based sealant" applied to it.

There were dots of rust fallout on the car and the paintwork felt dull, not clean and smooth, like after a wash and wax. (This is a 2019 vehicle with 7000 miles on it.)

Worse than that, the car actually had what appeared to be bird crap in the gully where the rear window meets the hatch lid.

My neighbour had the cheapo Listers Protech on his 2018 car, and the results were excellent and remain excellent, which is why I decided to go for it, despite advice to the contrary on here.

I have a sneaking suspiscion they actually didn't treat the car at all, though the salesman assured me they had.

I am not a happy bunny, and left the car with them to be redone.

Not a fan of any dealer clean of any description to be honest. 
As far as fallout is concerned, I went through a full 200g bar of course clay on my wife’s Focus when it was new and with 7 miles on the clock. That was after I carried out a thorough decontamination wash with fallout remover several time’s. I have to assume it was stored somewhere beside a rail yard or the like. Normally I blame the shocking amount of rubbish that comes from brake pads these days. 
I used Race Glaze 9H when the paint was cleaned and corrected. That was 2yrs ago and the finish is still as good now. 
hopefully yours is finished properly when you return to pick it up. Sealants and coatings are fantastic, but only as good as the person that applies them. 
Regardless, If your still not happy, get a refund and have a good detailer coat it for you instead. 

13 hours ago, UndertheRadar said:

Not a fan of any dealer clean of any description to be honest. 
As far as fallout is concerned, I went through a full 200g bar of course clay on my wife’s Focus when it was new and with 7 miles on the clock. That was after I carried out a thorough decontamination wash with fallout remover several time’s. I have to assume it was stored somewhere beside a rail yard or the like. Normally I blame the shocking amount of rubbish that comes from brake pads these days. 
I used Race Glaze 9H when the paint was cleaned and corrected. That was 2yrs ago and the finish is still as good now. 
hopefully yours is finished properly when you return to pick it up. Sealants and coatings are fantastic, but only as good as the person that applies them. 
Regardless, If your still not happy, get a refund and have a good detailer coat it for you instead. 

That's a good point, I *will* push for a refund if I'm not happy with the finish.

I'd have probably just shrugged and taken the hit as a waste of money if I hadn't seen my neighbour's amazing finish on his car.

I’m in the middle of correcting the paint on mine, but I’m not fitting a permanent ceramic as mine is used for all the daily running about. It’s easier to repair the odd rub mark from other peoples shopping bags, coats etc if it’s maintained the old fashioned way, ie sealant or wax, now even spray ceramics like turtle wax are fantastic for very little outlay. Permanent coatings are harder to fix as the entire car or even one side may need cut back and reapplied due to the coating changing the paint finish slightly, and making a single panel repair stick out. I’ll add a pic of mine at the minute with no protection at all to give you an idea of what yours should look like when you head back again. This is it inside the garage. 

32 minutes ago, UndertheRadar said:

I’m in the middle of correcting the paint on mine, but I’m not fitting a permanent ceramic as mine is used for all the daily running about. It’s easier to repair the odd rub mark from other peoples shopping bags, coats etc if it’s maintained the old fashioned way, ie sealant or wax, now even spray ceramics like turtle wax are fantastic for very little outlay. Permanent coatings are harder to fix as the entire car or even one side may need cut back and reapplied due to the coating changing the paint finish slightly, and making a single panel repair stick out. I’ll add a pic of mine at the minute with no protection at all to give you an idea of what yours should look like when you head back again. This is it inside the garage. 

 

That's the sort of finish I was expecting.

Mine really wasn't very good at all.

I've just received the purchase experience questionnaire from Listers, so I'll leave completing that until after I've collected the car.

*Now* all I need to do is decide whether to buy their bump & scuff insurance. In two minds about that, TBH.

Pretty sure I won't bother with gap insurance and the wheel insurance.

I’ve never bought any of it and never will. That’s all a commission adding tactic in my opinion. I also wouldn’t allow their spot repair people anywhere near my car paintwork, and couldn’t cope with the results of a Part or face repair on a wheel either. I might have a touch of OCD though, so probably best to judge it yourself. 😂 

Now, when I say “might”, I’m kinda in the denial stage at the minute, and when I say “touch”, I have to refurb rims in full sets so they all match, and repaint bumpers when they have more than 12 stone chips. Mainly because 12’s a nice even number. 
i wish I was joking to. Think I’m getting to the next stage and realising I need help. 😄

hope your motor is well sorted this time and your very happy with it. Of course we are going to need a pic of it!!

1 minute ago, UndertheRadar said:

Now, when I say “might”, I’m kinda in the denial stage at the minute, and when I say “touch”, I have to refurb rims in full sets so they all match, and repaint bumpers when they have more than 12 stone chips. Mainly because 12’s a nice even number. 
i wish I was joking to. Think I’m getting to the next stage and realising I need help. 😄

hope your motor is well sorted this time and your very happy with it. Of course we are going to need a pic of it!!

Well it's not looking good just now. Listers said they'd phone me today and they shut at 6pm.

I'd chase them up, but I can't be doing with the "Ah Mr EnterName, I was just about to phone you!".

If he doesn't phone me today, then he's broken a promise, which may be used as leverage if I need to ask for my money back.

😡 that’s just bad manners and uncalled for. My wife likes Fords. The sales person we’ve used last few time’s is brilliant, and part of the reason we go back again. He’s as eager to help after the sale as he is before he even gets it. Quite rare these days. 
If they don’t ring tomorrow morning, I’d ring them and ask for the dealer principle and tell them you’ve had no correspondence and you’d like to cancel the deal as you’ve lost faith in them as a company. Then wait and see what they offer you for your inconvenience and how well your car comes prepped for you then. 
you could pull mud flaps or mats or a free service from the DP, but the salesman won’t care or play ball. 

30 minutes ago, UndertheRadar said:

😡 that’s just bad manners and uncalled for. My wife likes Fords. The sales person we’ve used last few time’s is brilliant, and part of the reason we go back again. He’s as eager to help after the sale as he is before he even gets it. Quite rare these days. 
If they don’t ring tomorrow morning, I’d ring them and ask for the dealer principle and tell them you’ve had no correspondence and you’d like to cancel the deal as you’ve lost faith in them as a company. Then wait and see what they offer you for your inconvenience and how well your car comes prepped for you then. 
you could pull mud flaps or mats or a free service from the DP, but the salesman won’t care or play ball. 

He mailed me at 17:58 to say the valet had left early and wasn't able to do my car. He's going to contact me tomorrow after he's established when it will be done.

So we'll see. I've not actually pushed him for time at all yet, so fair play to the guy.

I would ask him why the valet had not done your car first thing this morning as you have been left waiting since Friday. Are other customers more important, or more pushy, than you?

2 minutes ago, Liger1956 said:

I would ask him why the valet had not done your car first thing this morning as you have been left waiting since Friday. Are other customers more important, or more pushy, than you?

Possibly, but the valet only works during the week, and they only agreed to redo the car on Friday just before closing, so it's not unreasonable that they had a full Monday booked and just didn't have a slot for my car.

I'll speak to him tomorrow and see what they say. I haven't completed the customer experience questionnaire yet, so my experience will go in there.

I'd rather wait and have them do the job properly, than have another crappy job.

That said, if they are just trying to wait me out, thinking I'll get impatient and take my car before I'm satisfied with it, my approach with them will change.

But I'm already not pleased, given that they've had since the start of August to get this done, but not quite ready to start bouncing off the walls.

26 minutes ago, EnterName said:

Possibly, but the valet only works during the week, and they only agreed to redo the car on Friday just before closing, so it's not unreasonable that they had a full Monday booked and just didn't have a slot for my car.

I'll speak to him tomorrow and see what they say. I haven't completed the customer experience questionnaire yet, so my experience will go in there.

I'd rather wait and have them do the job properly, than have another crappy job.

That said, if they are just trying to wait me out, thinking I'll get impatient and take my car before I'm satisfied with it, my approach with them will change.

But I'm already not pleased, given that they've had since the start of August to get this done, but not quite ready to start bouncing off the walls.

You only have to pretend to bounce. 😉 

All I wanted was a shiny car.

On 17/08/2020 at 19:29, EnterName said:

Possibly, but the valet only works during the week, and they only agreed to redo the car on Friday just before closing, so it's not unreasonable that they had a full Monday booked and just didn't have a slot for my car.

I'll speak to him tomorrow and see what they say. I haven't completed the customer experience questionnaire yet, so my experience will go in there.

I'd rather wait and have them do the job properly, than have another crappy job.

That said, if they are just trying to wait me out, thinking I'll get impatient and take my car before I'm satisfied with it, my approach with them will change.

But I'm already not pleased, given that they've had since the start of August to get this done, but not quite ready to start bouncing off the walls.

An update for anyone who's interested.

Spoke to the salesman yesterday who told me their car valet had had to take the rest of the week off for personal reasons. (Seems a bit cryptic, but none of my business, I suppose.)

However they do now have cover from another valet who will have the car ready for collection on Thursday afternoon.

So we'll see.

(Meanwhile, my beloved old Mondeo goes to its new owner tonight.)

I hope that it all turns out to your satisfaction in the end and that they deliver their promise. I look forward to a post from you on Thursday evening saying how shiny your new car looks.

6 minutes ago, Liger1956 said:

I hope that it all turns out to your satisfaction in the end and that they deliver their promise. I look forward to a post from you on Thursday evening saying how shiny your new car looks.

Thank you, so do I.

 

I’m sure come Thursday you’ll have a smile like a Cheshire Cat, and have many happy years ahead with your new motor. 
The mondeo’s are a great tool as well. My brother had one for 7yrs without one spot of bother. He’s driving a kuga now for a few years with the same results. 
my wife had an S Max for 8yrs fault free and is now in a Focus ST estate, which had a new electric rack fitted within a few hundred miles of being new. It to has then been fine ever since. 
I think Skoda is pretty much on the same level for reliability. Everything can have a fault, it’s how it’s dealt with that determines your own personal view of the vehicle/manufacturer. 

11 hours ago, UndertheRadar said:

I’m sure come Thursday you’ll have a smile like a Cheshire Cat, and have many happy years ahead with your new motor. 
The mondeo’s are a great tool as well. My brother had one for 7yrs without one spot of bother. He’s driving a kuga now for a few years with the same results. 
my wife had an S Max for 8yrs fault free and is now in a Focus ST estate, which had a new electric rack fitted within a few hundred miles of being new. It to has then been fine ever since. 
I think Skoda is pretty much on the same level for reliability. Everything can have a fault, it’s how it’s dealt with that determines your own personal view of the vehicle/manufacturer. 

Thanks, I do hope so.

I've had 4 VAG cars before, and they've generally been okay, once they're sorted out.

Well I'm not an expert, but it looks okay to me and I'm happy enough with the result to take it away.

 

That looks very smart. Health to enjoy it.