Arnold Clark - one to avoid

Mosh

Had it up to here with these cowboys. We've given them so many second chances that it simply can't be coincidence that we've experienced such shoddy "service", especially when it's been from four separate branches (five if you include Perth Citroen where my father got the runaround a couple of years ago).

OK, to date Arnold Clark have:

Failed to return a car stereo in a vehicle I part-ex'd with them despite promising to do so. Sales staff simply stopped returning my calls after I purchased my new car.

Taken 3+ months to organise a half-day warranty repair. And then took 3 days to perform said repair. During the palaver, they claimed (to Renault) to have spoken to me on several occasions - they didn't. Not once. They also "confirmed" an appointment with me which I'd never spoken to them about and which I couldn't make.

Mis-sold a car to my wife regarding size and specs, then refused to exchange our previous car back. Sales person lied to their manager about what he'd told us and how we had evaluated the vehicle. Manager believed him over us. We ended up having to get another vehicle elsewhere and ended up approximately £2000 out of pocket.

Sold my wife a car with a chipped windscreen (hidden by a sticker at the showroom), with a passenger door that won't open from the inside, and a dodgy key that won't start the car.

It's a 7-seater and we need a vehicle this size. She's been told that she has to pay for a hire vehicle (or specifically the insurance on one) while they fix *their* shoddy sale, and I will bet you our house that it will be something the size of a Clio, not the size we require.

The only thing stopping me driving down there and having it out with one of the lying, two-faced...individuals is that she's made me promise I won't. I am *FUMING* at the moment and want nothing more than to go down when they're busy and ensure that they make no sales while I'm on or near the premises.

I gather that Scotland has no trespass laws, so can they actually eject me? They certainly can't have me moved on from the road outside...

Apologies for any rantage. They've also blocked me from posting on their facebook page. No surprise! Having looked on there, there are numerous other complaints, most resulting in "Please PM us your details" and a week or two later by the original poster following up with "Have heard nothing since I send you my details".

Infuriating that such a horrendously unethical company has a near-monopoly on the car trade in Scotland.

OddballJamie

How many cars have you and your family purchased from AC in total?

Mosh

My father: 1

Myself: 1

My wife: several. At one branch, she received good service. On every other occasion there was an issue.

Stephb1986_2

Email the CEO eddie.hawthorne@arnoldclark.co.uk

I had a problem with Arnold Clark and emailed him. I got a result

Good luck

Steph x

Mosh

Cheers, Steph. I will get onto that ASAP.

At least one good thing has come of this - the wife has vowed never to go near them again! FINALLY!

Stephb1986_2

I was sold a car I was told it had one owner what they didn't tell me was that it was an ex hire car!

There was loads of things wrong with it so I emailed the ceo and I got a response off his secretary called Susan she's a really lovely lady

Mosh

I'm drafting a letter at the moment. Their worst escapade was ripping us off by mis-selling a car a few months ago and then refusing to accept it back.

This current one is just shoddy. Taking it back for repairs will be inconvenient (we need a large car) and Arnold Clark want us to pay for an undersized hire car while they do the work!

ess0two

Why keep going back then?

Mosh

Don't look at me - I won't after my experience a couple of years back. My wife, on the other hand, shops around for the "best deal" and doesn't take into account who she's buying from. Also, she works on the theory that different dealerships won't be the same.

In fairness, we've used one AC dealership who weren't rubbish. But four who are.

This time round is the proverbial camel-crippling straw. Even she's had enough.

colino

Unfortunately AC (as the biggest European, family-owned indie) dictates a lot of popular opinion by blanket advertising in the popular press. This massive marketing expenditure also appears to cloud editorial thought as one red-top, with a consumer page well regarded as, "judging" out problems, never appears to feature any AC issues. Strange.

albionrovers

Come on people. AC are for the lowest-common denominator in the UK. The fact that you have interenet and are even aware of this forum should mean don't touch them with a barge pole?