CAR GIANT - An absolute joke

tusharjoshi007

Can anyone please help and suggest to me how can I get this resolved?

Sales - Although there is a variety of car options available and there is no doubt that choosing a car and info provided is simple and quite informative, sales department is not reliable at all. I bought Vauxhall Insignia from them on 14/08. I was promised that car would be serviced as it has been a while and 4 mats will be provided in the car. When I went to Halfords for my later repairs, to my astonishment, car wasn't serviced as promised by sales advisor (who though was really pushy in selling car and ancilliary products) and 1 mat was missing.

Car battery had died so we had to wait 4.5 hours for a 2 minute car test drive.

Aftersales - When I called aftersales, they had an excuse saying they never service cars and cannot rely on conversation which happened in the car and not on the table. I mean is that my problem? Also, the car vibrates and shudders profusely while on motorway due to tyres being worn from inside. I had clearly asked the sales person if tyres were in a good condition to which they responded that they are in a perfect condition other then normal wear and tear. Car Giant are now very skeptical about paying this and I am worried I will have to spend around £400.00 on 4 tyres and £300.00ish on servicing. This is an absolute joke.

My previous car was from a smaller but local dealer, who was absolutely fantastic, gave me the car fully serviced and in mint condition and never rushed me away when I had problems.

Indout96

I have no idea if Car Giant are good or bad but if you are relying on Halfrauds to tell you the truth then you are the ideal customer for a dodgy salesman

Take it to another garage to have faults diagnosed (sounds like tracking is out) Halfords are not your friend and will find lots of things "wrong" that they just happen to sell

Hoof_Hearted

You have bought from a "stack 'em high. sell 'em cheap" operation with sales staff on commission. You are not going to get the service you expect from this sort of company. Better for you to go local to a dealer with a reputation to preserve but expect to pay more.

tusharjoshi007

Indout and Hoof, your comments worry me but it may be an eye opener. I am waiting for Halfrauds to send a quote to CARGIANT and pictures of my tyres and take it from there.

motorguy

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Can anyone please help and suggest to me how can I get this resolved?

Sales - Although there is a variety of car options available and there is no doubt that choosing a car and info provided is simple and quite informative, sales department is not reliable at all. I bought Vauxhall Insignia from them on 14/08. I was promised that car would be serviced as it has been a while and 4 mats will be provided in the car. When I went to Halfords for my later repairs, to my astonishment, car wasn't serviced as promised by sales advisor (who though was really pushy in selling car and ancilliary products) and 1 mat was missing.

Unless you have it in writing - you're stuffed. Car Giant and their ilk dont service cars or replace mats. You buy as is. If you had agreed to get those things, they would have charged you for them. Its as simple as that. If they havent documented it and charged you, you're not getting it. End of.

Its all sell sell sell with them. They dont give a monkeys.

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Car battery had died so we had to wait 4.5 hours for a 2 minute car test drive.

In hindsight, might alarm bells not have been ringing at that point? More than 10 mins wait, i'd have walked.

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Aftersales - When I called aftersales, they had an excuse saying they never service cars and cannot rely on conversation which happened in the car and not on the table. I mean is that my problem?

Yup - its YOUR problem. You never got it in writing. They're not going to pay for it.

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Also, the car vibrates and shudders profusely while on motorway due to tyres being worn from inside. I had clearly asked the sales person if tyres were in a good condition to which they responded that they are in a perfect condition other then normal wear and tear.

So he danced around the issue that the car had worn tyres by describing it as "normal wear and tear"???

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Car Giant are now very skeptical about paying this and I am worried I will have to spend around £400.00 on 4 tyres and £300.00ish on servicing. This is an absolute joke.

Please step away from Halfords. You have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Find a small reputable independent and get them to service the car. It wont cost more than £100.

Likewise with the tyres - find a small local indy and see what it needs. I would be wholly surprised if all four tyres were down past the limiters - even though Halfords were telling you they MUST be changed.

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

My previous car was from a smaller but local dealer, who was absolutely fantastic, gave me the car fully serviced and in mint condition and never rushed me away when I had problems.

And there we go! You bought off a bunch of sharks no doubt to save a few ££. Its people doing like you've done that is forcing small local more customer focused dealers out of business.

People these days know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Using the likes of Car Giant and you're buying purely on price, not on the value that a car dealer should be adding.

Indout96

If the tyre is worn on the inside only then the tracking or camber are out. Any decent tyre place will be able to sort this but it will also require new tyres - dont put new tyres on without having it sorted (normally not expensive) or it will just happen again.

It does not mean that it is a bad car so dont panic at this stage. Normally garages will only do a "quick" service (oil ect when selling a car. I got my latest car for a main dealer who did a service and stamped service book whilst not even noticing the windscreen washers were not working.

motorguy

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

You have bought from a "stack 'em high. sell 'em cheap" operation with sales staff on commission. You are not going to get the service you expect from this sort of company. Better for you to go local to a dealer with a reputation to preserve but expect to pay more.

Wholly the problem. People are attracted to car supermarkets with their stack em high and sell em approach but unfortunately the O/P has wholly found the consequences of buying on price alone.

motorguy

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Indout and Hoof, your comments worry me but it may be an eye opener. I am waiting for Halfrauds to send a quote to CARGIANT and pictures of my tyres and take it from there.

IF the tyres are illegal - and you would be surprised at what can still be legal - then Cargiant SHOULD be held liable.

Good luck with that though. I would say their next biggest team after their sales team is the lawyers they use to weasel out of paying claims.

tusharjoshi007

Thank you for your comments and suggesstions. I will consider them for sure. Defo going to a local garage for car service.

tusharjoshi007

I am still going to chase them up for tyre faults . They cannot sell a customer, underperforming product for full price.

motorguy

tusharjoshi007 wrote: »

Thank you for your comments and suggesstions. I will consider them for sure. Defo going to a local garage for car service.

If the tyres are illegal, Cargiant will have to be held liable, so i wouldnt let that drop.

But read up on what can be legal - just being worn on the inside wont make them illegal.

Likewise dont jump in and let Halfords do all four tyres - price the likes of BlackCircles or your local good indy and only fit what needs done. I would be stunned if all four tyres were actually illegal on the car.