Okay, so I've had this niggle with the car of condensation behind the lens of the high brake light. It all works perfectly but I'm one of these annoying 'It's not right, I want it sorted people' so, I want it sorted. It's half an hour's work for me to strip it all out dry everything, put the hair dryer on it, check the seal and put it all together but I paid a lot for it and it's only half way through it's warranty so I phone the dealers. 'Not a problem Mr P, bring it in and we'll water test it and sort it for you.' 'Fair enough, but if it's not covered by warranty, don't do anything. If I have to pay, I may as well do it myself.' 'Not a problem Mr P, we'll check it and phone you right away.' So this morning I drop off the car, go through it all again with the receptionist, who worryingly writes none of it down, and set off on an invigorating route march to work. About 11:00 I get a phone call. 'Mr P, we've checked the lamp housing, the lens seal, the unit seal and everything is fine, there's no water getting in, it's just condensation so it's not covered by the warranty'. 'What's not covered by the warranty?' 'Well, the repair won't be covered by the warranty.' 'But you just said there was nothing wrong with it.' 'That's right, but unfortunately, if you want us to put it right, we'll have to make a charge.' '?' 'Hello...Mr P?...Are you still there?' 'Yeah, I think I'll just pick it up, okay.' When I got there, to add insult to injury, they'd washed it. With that special gravy main dealers use, so I'm going to have to wash it again.
Methinks a letter to the CEO/MD of the Distributors is warranted here Ken, and knowing how good you are at that sort of thing, please post it on here for us all to enjoy ) JD
As soon as I work out what happened Johnny. I'm afraid it's triggered my surrealism reflex and I'm having trouble processing it at the moment.
The answer is no .Its all about total lack of training you only have to walk into a TV shop and ask any basic question and you will never get the correct answer ,Why? because every body wants the easy buck and nobody wants to research the product they are paid to either sell advise on .
I hear scenarios like Kens all the time. I could write a book with them all on.Some of these dealers/Halfrauds/kwik fit are getting very petty with things they say need doing.Perhaps a Dealer etc bashing thread could be put on here.
I buy my car from a main dealer, when it's service time I book it into the same dealer. Explain a few "known" warranty issues that I'd like them to sort and make a polite request to not wash the car. When I pick the car up I'm made to feel like a div as they reckon I'm making the warranty issues up. The young girl serving me explains how I have a puchure, I question this as the I've not had to put any air in the tyre, she shrugs her shoulders, I ask to speak to the guy that serviced the car. I then wait 20 minutes for the "stoner" to come to the counter and explain I have a nail in the tyre, I ask why they didn't call me and offer to repair it, he tells me that the wheels on the car are too big for the machine (they are standard wheels). I then go outside to find that the said "stoner" had actually left me with a present in the form of greasy hand marks all over the car. Fooking idiots
Love it Dave. I remember my first service of this car. Same dealer. Everything was fine until we got to the free 'Health Check' and the tyres were wearing more on the inside than the outside. 'The technician says you need to keep a closer eye on your tyre pressures' My hackles came up so quick, it sounded like Indy's whip. 'You what?' 'There's more tyre wear on the inside of the wheel than on the outside, so your pressures are too low' 'No. If the pressures are too low, the wear would be greater on the edges than in the middle.' Vacant gaze for a moment, then 'I'll ask the technician' Disappears for 5 minutes then comes back and tells me she can't find him but she's sure there's nothing to worry about. Guys, I religiously check the tyres every week. I'm a biker, for christ sake, my life could depend on it. I shall be glad when it's out of warranty and I can go to a mechanic I trust.
I hear you Ken, Took my car to the main dealer I’ve used since i bought the car. It "needed" a big service £500 was the price tag, Ok i said. When i picked the car up i drove home, about 20 miles, as i turned into the drive i go a warning telling me to check the oil, so i left the car for about 30 mins then checked the oil, kinn ell not a mark on the dip stick, so i checked again, still not oil or trace of it on the dip stick. contacted the service manager "oh just bring it back" he said, after letting rip, they collected the car, then delivered it back, manager told me the mechanic forgot to put enough oil in it, and gave a a free valet next time i book her in, i promptly told him there wouldn’t be a next time, then i received a customer satisfaction survey, were i told them how i felt. What I would do Ken is tell them you’re not happy and that you look forward to telling the members of the various car forums your members of and that you'll also write to the car magazines you subscribe to, see what happens then.
You need to go to a mian dealer to be covered by the warranty. Thats all changed these days buddy! Even in Devon
Yeah, that's why I'm waiting. Then I'll go to a good old fashioned Devon witch doctor when it goes wrong and get it excorcised.
My post was wrong, i meant to say you DONT need to go to a main dealer to be covered by the warranty. All you need to do is make sure thats its serviced within manufacturers guidelines and using oe or equivelant quality parts and oils. Its an EU directive......they get some things right......just not very often. Devon is in the EU right?
We don't have a united, we have a city, and they're shit. But we do have the chiefs and they're shit hot.
