Well the Title says it all...

We live in Bulgaria.

Decide to order a car and selected the Octavia.

Paid a good amount of money up front in April and were told the car will be build in week 24.

They tied their contract by saying 120 working days so they are still in the agreed times but as a customer i am very disappointed.

 

Called the local dealer - he replied multiple times with a simple " Car not yet build" reply

Called him said the same and said the semiconductors bul**** that is now the buzzword when something is not on time.

Called the factory told me no information is available at first and to talk to the dealer... after some pressure, they gave me an update that the car is build but waiting for parts.(same semiconductor bul****)

When i asked if there is a list and how many cars wait and where is ours in that list they declined the information.

Switched back to the dealer and told him the car is build but pending parts.

3 weeks later he confirmed it to me.... as its something new.

 

So I am left in the blind, summer is almost at its end. Family is unhappy as we were told week 24 and were quite excited about it. Now i am the bad guy for ruining the plans(car was a part of them)

 

Can you believe that a company in 21st Century cant even make a estimate of when?In an era of digital information i personally cant.... 

The list is there they can easily say you are number 1000 we estimate if current deliveries are on time to have it week 54...

 

This whole experience is a joke... I doubt i will ever get a Skoda again, customer support is a must these days..

 

 

A friend order a VW car... got it on time, no delays...

 

 

 

24 minutes ago, peshetoman said:

car is build but waiting for parts.(same semiconductor bul****)
 

A friend order a VW car... got it on time, no delays...

There really is a shortage of semiconductors (car makers cancelled orders in 2020 and semiconductor manufacturers cannot keep up with demand because orders for tablets, phone, PCs  etc. have gone up enormously so the fabs are working at full capacity so the car makers just have to take their place in the queue).

 

VAG always give priority to VW & Audi over Skoda & SEAT - so they get built first, annoying but true.

I have no idea why you don't beleive the semiconductor issue, its well know its a huge problem right now. Have you not heard of something called Covid19?

Its affecting loads of things, computers/cars, everything which is in higher demand right now has extra problems becuase of the shortage.

I get it that there is an issue. Water shortages in ASIA etc, but what i dont get is the lack of estimate and transparency.  You cant hide behind something and not give information.

If tomorrow i say sorry I cant pay you my lease these months will they wait? No.. they will ask me why and when.

Edited 19 July, 20214 yr by peshetoman

Its probably because they don't know themselves. No point in giving you a made up date which is wrong. Have some patience!

They for sure know how many cars are waiting for parts. Even if they dont know when will they have the parts,they can estimate based on past deliveries min/max waiting time... my son can do the excel to to the math... he is 4...

Unfortunately patients when you have plans is not something we can afford.

 

Good customer support does their best to make you happy, bad support uses a list of predefined templates to make you shut up...

 

 

Don't know how true this is,the long waiting list depends on what model of car you are ordering.ie petrol/ diesel car the waiting list is not so long.again if you are ordering all electric car this is where the big problem in waiting lists.so anyone clued up how many semi conductor go onto a petrol/diesel car compared to all electric and are they a different type of semi conductor

They need and want Hybrid & Electric cars first registered because they have to meet the Low Average Co2 g/km or face penalties of many millions of quid/euro or what ever currency.

So priority might go to the manufacture, distribution and first registration of those.  Lowest emitters of emissions according to the WLTP / RDE2.

1.5 tsi mhev edition version in skoda bulgaria(only in the configuration menu) plus just  a few extras self parking is the most expensive one.

I think if you aren't patient and don't understand the difficulties the world is having right now with supplies of many things you may be best cancelling your order and buying that VW.....

 

 

Can't cancel without them getting the 10% i have paid. This makes the situation that bad. I have been given false hopes and then nothing. The dealer is not making a single finger move around the situation. They put bad terms in the contract and make you sign... if you dont they wont sell... i dont know how is in uk, but i cant cancel nor get any update.

I could not agree with you more @peshetoman. Skoda's (central) customer service is and has been really really poor during the pandemic and I think it's unacceptable that they treat people (in Bulgaria) that have paid a deposit, like yourself, the way they do. I hope things work out for you.

 

(I'm also waiting for my car (1.5 TSI) to get the "missing" semi conductors (probably one of the last engines in line to get access to available semi conductors as @e-Roottoot pointed out)  however I did not have to pay a deposit and the dealer has provided me with a loaner, free of charge, while I wait).

2 hours ago, peshetoman said:

Can't cancel without them getting the 10% i have paid

That's a big deposit. I only had to pay $2000 on a purchase price of over $60000.

 

Is the Contracts Terms & Conditions with the Bulgarian Dealership actually correct for the Law of Bulgaria.

 

Arnold Clark once had me put a deposit on a car that they could not supply because the production had stopped and they had not actually ordered it and after months of playing me along they tried saying i was tied to buying the car they could get or lose my deposit.

 

They were plonkers as 'The Terms & Conditions' written were referring to English Law and not Scottish Law where the Dealership & i were.

As it is the T&C's as they had them went against them because of the way they did business, they were not a license for them to take the pith.

 

I got my deposit back plus interest as the same interest rate they were charging for finance on vehicles.

They had little choice as i borrowed a demonstrator and kept it until they transferred the money into my account.  They said they would call the Police, i said 'Make my day', i will call the press.

Edited 20 July, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

I dont think there is anything in our law that forbids them to collect it. They put their terms and conditions that are usually bad for the customer and great for the seller. Like the one that says you have 3 days to wire the 10% or no deal. Then they put 120 businesses days in the contract to deliver and say if they dont they will give you 0.1% of the upfront 10% per day back.

You lose your deposit if you say I dont want to wait. Keep in mind in Bulgaria the minimum wage is around 350€. The average wage is around 800€ depending on location. So for a car that cost 28000€ they charge you up front 2800€. So you are tied and unable to make any move than wait.... this is why I am bothered most. 😕 i at least deserve some information given how much they have charged me...

Edited 20 July, 20214 yr by peshetoman

@peshetoman

Have they got an open ended agreement where it can take as long as it takes to deliver the goods be it because of acts of god, pandemics, or poor management of the car manufacturer.

30 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

@peshetoman

Have they got an open ended agreement where it can take as long as it takes to deliver the goods be it because of acts of god, pandemics, or poor management of the car manufacturer.

 

Its not that bad at least. But the 120 days end October.. way after the summer and the car will be with the summer tires

When I worked in business, I always insisted before accepting a quote that our terms and conditions took priority. In order to achieve a sale, that always worked. So why not apply the same criterion when buying a car? If they are keen to sell, then they either agree or lose a sale. In the UK, Which? magazine is a great help with legal matters and although detailed information is only accessible to members, there is still a lot of helpful general advice. Incidentally, our dealer takes a holding deposit of £500 when the order is placed, but this is returned on delivery of the vehicle.

Edited 20 July, 20214 yr by Jim2015

I was surprised when I ordered mine that they didn't ask for a deposit at all, unlike every other car I've ever ordered.  In fact, I almost felt I would have liked to have paid something just to "seal the deal" - as it was it all seemed too easy and I wondered if it meant I didn't really have a contract of any kind with them.  Still, it all worked out - they gave me a delivery date in March, which they missed by only a couple weeks because of delays crossing the channel.  I was happy but really surprised how simple the whole process was, from beginning to end, compared to previous car purchases.

When i first contacted some dealers in my country they all told me that 10% is the amount i had to pay so that they can order the car... That was somewhere in february 2021.

Later on in april when i finally decided to go for Škoda Octavia, they told me that 200€ is enough 

After i asked why is now just 200€, he told me that after the semicondutor issues they no longer take 10% because if they don`t deliver you the car in time they have to return your deposit  plus the interests ... ( if you choose not to wait longer).

Waiting period is 6 months xD, and i am already 3+ months in with 0 informations 

On 22/07/2021 at 15:57, Senaid said:

Waiting period is 6 months xD, and i am already 3+ months in with 0 informations 

Same here, in Romania. I already have 4 months and I don't know nothing about my car (1.0 TSI). My deadline is December!