Do you trust your dealer!?

[Dan Walton]

I've just been tinkering with my car and have found another thing that's ****ed me off. My car was in with Skoda before Christmas to have a couple of new clutches fitted. After having the second one fitted I collected my car to find that they had forgotten to connect my speedo back up. The other day I noticed that they hadn't fitted the clamp around the plastic hose where it connects to the TIP, now I've just found that they have only put one of the bolts back in that hold the air box in place, one is missing.

I know they're only small things, but it really has made me doubt there competence. What other things have they not done that aren't noticable? God knows what's going to happen when the car goes back AGAIN soon to have the clutch looked at... AGAIN!!!

Sorry, guys, rant over!

Needless to say, I won't be using them for anything once my warranty has run out.

[Jimbo vRS]

Nope, neither of the one's I've used.

One sent me on my way with the headlights still disconnected after failing to do the work they'd said was carried out.

Use my (ex RR mechanic) Father-in-Law for most of the jobs now, and independants for the stuff he can't/won't touch.

[Bodge]

yeah after i had my cam belt done they left all sorts of things lose, missing or in the wrong place! (skoda dealer) Then had the same story after a service. (skoda specialist)

i think they just dont give a ****!

as a result i now have zero trust and a bit of hatred towards some garages.

i put it down to there being very few true mechanics left about. most are just jobsworth 'fitters' that would rather listen to your radio at full volume (happened to me recently because i caught him) than do a proper job that they could be proud of.

ive decided to go fully DIY now. it's a bit more effort, but cheaper and gives me more peace of mind in the running of my car.

we should all boycott garages till they change!

sometimes i even imagine starting my own garage one day. with something called 'customer care' and 'pride'. words than seem to be extinct...

ahhhh rant over too!

[Dan Walton]

Well I would do things myself but I seem to be cursed. Whenever I try to do anything, on the house, the car, whatever, it doesn't matter how small a job it is, it will go horribly wrong!

Plus I lose all my tools all the time and haven't got access to most things that would make working on a car easier.

[Lex Dysia]

When I picked my car up when I first got it it from a Milton Keynes main dealer it was making a really bad blowing noise and had no power, when I returned it and they checked it out a turbo pipe had come off. The mechanic said it often happens with these cars when they are driven very hard and that he had had no trouble with it on the drive back from the MOT test in Luton. Im guessing it was thrashed all the way back to the garage:mad:. Other than warranty work and parts I wont be taking my car back to them for any work.

[madfiddler]

No I don't....they seem to be in business to make money purely based on volume of sales and work rather than thinking about quality and customer satisfaction.....they don;t really care about an individual customer becasue another new "mug" will walk through the door a few minutes later

....as soon as my warranty expired, I decided to go to a local mechanic and not use the dealer any more. his labour charges are much better for starters and becasue he is a much smaller business he can afford to spend a bit more time on customer care and satisfaction.

having said that I'm about to get a company car and then I won;t have a choice....it will be back to main dealers.... :(

[Babs]

As I've said before, nothing but praise for Capitol of Newport!

[john_grant358]

I dont trust mine as far as i could throw them!

Hope you get things sorted

[Graham PoLoskie]

This is slightly different but still shows an inherent lack of customer focus on the part of the dealer.

A week ago now, on Skoda website I filled in online request for test drive of Octavia. Brochure arrived promptly (2days) One week on I still haven't had a call from the dealer to arrange a test drive. I've been toying with the idea of calling them but will wait and see when (if at all) I'm contacted. If the customer service is poor on sales then what must service be like? Not saying which dealer will wait.

Chatam's Edinburgh you have a 4x4 don't you?

[anewman]

most are just jobsworth 'fitters' that would rather listen to your radio at full volume (happened to me recently because i caught him) than do a proper job that they could be proud of.

would seriously annoy me. Especially knowing how messed up my Samsung portable telly has gone from using it as an alarm clock on full volume.

ive decided to go fully DIY now. it's a bit more effort, but cheaper and gives me more peace of mind in the running of my car.

Best way IMO. You know everything's done and you know the condition of everything on your car. Although for some people like me, there's some jobs that I don't feel confident doing DIY.

sometimes i even imagine starting my own garage one day. with something called 'customer care' and 'pride'. words than seem to be extinct...

Charge as much as Skoda, pay decent mechanics decent wages, and you'll most likely make a profit out of it too. Unfortunately using such words may make potential customers somewhat suspicious. I think the only way is to build a name for yourself and have people leave happy and recommend you to others.

[3td]

City dealer - bad news , went to my usual old -fashioned country one to collect some parts last week , treated like a friend , not just a " mug " customer . Downside is their current title is only accredited service agent /repairer ! They deserve better and trust them implicitly .

[VRSPhil]

I don't think I would ever trust a dealer 100%, regardless of how good they seem... they're not my friends, they're there to make money.

On the whole I feel that my local dealer are fairly good. I would have said fantastic, but my last encounter put me off slightly.

I use a local independent specialist when I can, he has earned my trust with superb workmanship and realistic prices

[Octavia Vrs!]

I trust Alex Lawrie in liverpool, have alway done an excellent job.

But I've just had very poor service from a local garage doing my first MOT. Sent my car in fully cleaned and polished looking mint, an hour later scratches all over the drivers door. About 10 little ones in a kind of circle and two bad n's. Believe me I was *****d off . They admited no blame but recomended a paint shop round the corner and accepted to pay to have it pollished. Anyway the guy got all but 1 scratch out and that isn't very noticable. Dad came up the drive tonight with his lights on as I was walking passed my car and i noticed buffer trails from the pollishing machine. I don't know why I bother trying to keep my car looking nice

Rant over - For now!

[midgebuster]

I use All Electric in Kings Heath, Birmingham, service is excellent, but sales leave a lot to be desired, totally wrong attitude. Like I said, I definitely trust the guys who do my services

Neil

[KenONeill]

Henry's North, Glasgow. Yes. Check the reviews section.

[iain]

No in a word with some of them

the local one nearly let my dad drive his brand new octy out of the showroom with no water in the bottle till he lifted the lid to check!

same dealer left the transportation block in the suspention on mine

the best one was when mine went for a service they frogot to reset the service light! it went back twice for it to be rest to variable and then 12 months later it came back on. when I took it in to point out that they had incorrectly rest it they said to me "no no you don't attach the car to the computer to reset it you just need to do it off the dashboard":eek:

my rant over. mine will now probibly end up going to my mate to deal with

[simonlb]

I use a local independant to do my normal servicing. They have been in business for many years, are trading standards approved and only a five-minute walk away.

For any other stuff - cambelt etc. I'd definitely recommend Awesome.

[woodenspatulas]

This is slightly different but still shows an inherent lack of customer focus on the part of the dealer.

A week ago now, on Skoda website I filled in online request for test drive of Octavia. Brochure arrived promptly (2days) One week on I still haven't had a call from the dealer to arrange a test drive. I've been toying with the idea of calling them but will wait and see when (if at all) I'm contacted. If the customer service is poor on sales then what must service be like? Not saying which dealer will wait.

in the dealers defence, the brochure is ordered by computer, the request for the TD goes via carrier pidgeon to the main factory, then it goes by snail mail to a geek in germany, who then pushes a big red button to let the nearest dealer know.

i have sold cars and delivered them before the original request for a test drive came through

i think its generally a bad service from most main dealer service. i get mixed reports from my customers about ours. i know our techs and allot of the time its the higher management getting them to do the jobs faster and faster, so they dont get the time to do things properly or check them out fully after working on them.

i wont touch my vx garage after they "forgot" to fill up the car after a water pump change. even though it came up on screen about the lack of fluid!! even if they were pushed for time you'd think they would have spotted that!!!

[Seedy Jay]

Trusted mine until recently. Had an ongoing splutter problem (the usual), dealer claimed they'd cleaned out the throttle body but I still had the problem. Main dealer then suggested a fair bit of expensive work (incl new TB £££!)Took it to a local independent (Volvo specialist really) for second opinion, he cleaned the TB thoroughly and instantly solved the problem. He didn't reckon it had been done before.:mad:Won't name and shame til i've spoken to the main dealer but VERY unlikely to go back to them!

[Taxi 219]

Hate Westover Skoda in Dorset Hate,hate!!!! cowboys.

Now changed to other Skoda dealer and very happy with service etc.

[vrs-si]

i trust my dealer to sell me the parts cheap and thats it. il do the work with one of my mates.

[BFG]

Trusted mine until recently. Had an ongoing splutter problem (the usual), dealer claimed they'd cleaned out the throttle body but I still had the problem. Main dealer then suggested a fair bit of expensive work (incl new TB £££!)Took it to a local independent (Volvo specialist really) for second opinion, he cleaned the TB thoroughly and instantly solved the problem. He didn't reckon it had been done before.:mad:Won't name and shame til i've spoken to the main dealer but VERY unlikely to go back to them!

Jay - was it the Swindon dealership by any chance? I don't know what's been going on there over the last 18 months, but their service / QA etc have dropped massively IMO. I've had to take the car back several times to get fairly simple faults fixed (when they've insisted that the job has been completed).

I'm onto my 2nd Skoda & unless I find another dealer, I won't be buying a third.

[Ender]

No

[Blanes]

My dealer said it fixed my exhaust pipe bracket and 2 days later the thing was flapping around again. Its not just the trust thing its the prices too. £230 quid for a new mirror fitted, 300 quid for a service - that kinda thing p's me off- especially when my old man has a focus and the ford dealer charges £130 quid for a mirror fitted and £160 full service!

People run down the fords but his has not given him an ounce of trouble - Im still pretty keen on getting a mondeo 140 tdci new shape - but lots of people on here are knocking that as a decision! (my octy has cost 3 grand extra! as amongst other things, the bleedin cambelt snapped!)

[anonymouse]

Well I would do things myself but I seem to be cursed. Whenever I try to do anything, on the house, the car, whatever, it doesn't matter how small a job it is, it will go horribly wrong!

Plus I lose all my tools all the time and haven't got access to most things that would make working on a car easier.

You sound somewhat like me

I use a local independent - over 10 years now - that routinely service anything from a Clio to a Porsche.

Just had cambelt change, all filters, oil, MOT at a very very good price.

+ I know the job has been done properly

I know of a local dealer (admittedly years ago) where one or two of the mechanics used to perform an oil change (but would just wipe the oil filter clean, and then sell the new, but not fitted filter, privately).

Much like any tradesmen you need - find a good un and damn well keep hold of him.