Car Dealership Issues

mouldnffc

Looking to see if anyone can help if possible. 

I bought my first car last week, and given it was the first car and the reason for getting it was for a new job, I decided to go to one of the bigger more reputable companies local to me as I wanted to make sure it was fairly smooth and had as few problem as possible. It was a 2nd hand one cost me £11,000 (paid for a 3 year warranty at £800 odd quid) 

The car itself is OK and I love it but I had a shocking customer service experience. Without boring with all the details, I had a really poor salesman at the first point, who decided he'd make jokes about "the state of me" in my photo on my driving licence, this followed up by an arrangement to collect 4 days later, which they called me to delay a further 2 days to get the car ready for me. When I arrived at the appointment for it to be ready, I was delayed 2 hours, fobbed off due to a valet needing doing so I missed an afternoon at work, had to cancel a meeting I had scheduled with 10 other people and miss near enough an entire afternoon of work so I got a right rollocking from my boss and when asking for updates I was fobbed off with blatant lies from staff in the office as to what the delay was about. After citing it was due to valeting the car and making sure it was "perfect" that was causing the delay there are various marks and issues inside the motor that show the valet work has been really poor. To top it off the car has been recalled by the manufacturer to address a part on the same day I took the car home so I've got to deal with that as well! 

I made a complaint there and then and said I was looking for some sort of goodwill gesture for me by way of apology. I had a follow up call from someone yesterday who told me that the reason for the delay was down to staffing and poor planning, apologised but told me that I was given the best price at the time and therefore there was nothing they would offer me in terms of reimbursement financially. They said they were "very generously" offering to collect the car from me to address the recall, which would just go straight to the manufacturer who would do it free of charge. I'm already doing this and manufacturer site is very local to me so said this wasn't good enough and they said there was nothing more that they could do. Eventually making an offer to do another valet of the car free of charge. 

The offer of how to resolve has been very poor in my view and I'm looking for more than that, I've paid a premium on car price for the extra elements that have not been delivered on in terms of service and the guy at the company has told me I'd get nothing more and "they don't do financial reimbursements or compensate customers as a business" but I'm determined to get awarded something back. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or guidance as to next steps. When I asked about who I"d escalate the complaint to as I was not happy, the guy said himself... Which didn't seem useful! 

Anyway if anyone has any pointers/guidance/ideas on what to do next I'd really appreciate it!

[Deleted User]

There's nothing in your post that merits compensation beyond a goodwill gesture, so as they're not willing to make one, move on and enjoy your new car.

photome

I dont see any real issues to complain about.

If you like the car and there is nothing wrong with it, take them up on the valet and move on

2 days delivery delay is nothing

2 hours wait shouldnt have happened but what do you really expect for a 2 hour wait ?

nyermen

In my experience (most recently, audi), all the preparatory arrangements are normally organised by the salesperson, so it sounds like they're the primary issue.

If its a chain of dealers (such as Lookers), i'd complain to the head office.  Customer satisfaction in dealer groups is more commonly monitored.  You're unlikely to get much goodwill, however at least they may take a closer look at things for future.  Or you could at least give some feedback to the manufacturer.  They also monitor such things (eg. I got 2 surveys, one from lookers, and one from audi themselves).

Are you happy with the car?  If so, I'd just leave it, write a factual review online (i'd keep it to what you can evidence, eg. Mention that salesperson was uncomplementary, and the delays etc, especially if they've confirmed those problems in the response they gave you - that way if the review site asks for proof you can provide it) , and take your business to another dealer in future (including servicing unless that warranty etc is specific to that location).

oldagetraveller1

"I had a really poor salesman at the first point, who decided he'd make jokes about "the state of me" in my photo on my driving licence,"

I'm not exactly a Clark Gable lookalike, but that's when I would have walked away!

marlot

oldagetraveller1 said:

"I had a really poor salesman at the first point, who decided he'd make jokes about "the state of me" in my photo on my driving licence,"

I'm not exactly a Clark Gable lookalike, but that's when I would have walked away!

Yep.  I had a similar (but different) experience with a VW dealer salesman.  I walked straight out.

bris

We now live in a different word, the smallest problem seems to bring pound signs to peoples eyes.

born_again

General comment, not aimed at anyone. 👍

Some people would simply have laughed at the comment & agreed.. 

A bit of banter has gone out of life 😢

Brie

I agree with others that you probably should have walked away but we're so often lured along by a good price and a bit of sales patter. 

With me it was the time I was buying a TV in Sears (far away and long ago) and sales guy was chatting about the different ones available.  And while me and the OH were discussing which we might like sales guy started cleaning his fingernails with his pocket knife.  With the occasion use of spit as lubricant.  Completely disgusting that I remember it 30 years on - but frankly we weren't going to get a better offer anywhere without much difficulty and personal expense.  And I think that this was his technique to hurry the sale to completion.  C'est la vie!