Missing Options. Compensation levels?

[dickt]

It is clear that VW have made some corporate decisions and corporate ****-ups on Options since they first launched the Mk7 Golf. It appears from other threads that they have failed to provide electric wing mirrors with some cars, and they withdrew the Seat Memory Option on the leather with electric seats between launching the car last year, and deliveries in 2013.

When a mega-corporate such as VW makes these corporate decisions, and ****-ups, I think they ought to refund a large portion of the price of the car. (10% or 20%??).
After all, VW make huge profits based on customers buying their cars with a lot of Trust. When VW deliberately and/or accidentally break that Trust, they should be heavily penalised.

I am still upset that some corporate big-wig deliberately withdrew the electric seat memory. It is not as though they cannot do it - they have the software and have had it for years. They have just decided that lying in their brochures is OK by them. Naturally, the brochures have the legal wording that allows them to tell whatever tales they want in their brochures. So I've wasted a lot of money on leather/electric/memory as the key bit - memory - is not available.

So, how much compensation should people get for corporate **** ups and corporate decisions that impact customers?

[mactrack]

Personally I don't believe that VW UK deliberately lied because, as you say, it causes no end of upset customers who may well not buy another VW car in the future as a result. However what VW UK have been is breathtakingly inept at clarifying with VW AG as to what is, and possibly more importantly what is not, available for the UK market as far as the Golf MK7 is concerned.

Like you we originally ordered the leather/electric/memory seats as we had them on our previous Audi A4 and I think electric seats without a memory are pointless. Fortunately our build had not been confirmed when this came to light so the option was deleted as it is £2k+ wasted IMHO. I think the best any of us can expect is to get the cost that missing/compromised option refunded and if this is not what you want I would be thinking about rejecting the car entirely.

We also ordered the Bi-Xenons, thinking they came with the LED DRLs, and now find out that they don't but even more annoyingly is that they WILL become available to order as early as the 26th of this month!

[westie383]

This ongoing debacle with cars not being supplied with the chosen (and paid for) options is seriously putting me off purchasing another VW. I personally think that if the car has shortfalls in its spec, the dealer should take that car on as a demonstrator, and give the purchaser the option of either re-ordering, or walking away from the deal. Given that options can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds, the buyer should not be fobbed of with the basic cost of such missing/altered items.
This probably won't happen of course, but until buyers vote with their feet, VW seem to be more than happy to send out anything which trundles off the production line.

[Evil Dan]

This ongoing debacle with cars not being supplied with the chosen (and paid for) options is seriously putting me off purchasing another VW. I personally think that if the car has shortfalls in its spec, the dealer should take that car on as a demonstrator, and give the purchaser the option of either re-ordering, or walking away from the deal. Given that options can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds, the buyer should not be fobbed of with the basic cost of such missing/altered items.
This probably won't happen of course, but until buyers vote with their feet, VW seem to be more than happy to send out anything which trundles off the production line.

Legally it has to happen if the buyer stands up for their rights. The Sale Of Goods Act protects the buyer from goods not as described but you have to be quick to notify the retailer when you find things.

[h5djr]

This ongoing debacle with cars not being supplied with the chosen (and paid for) options is seriously putting me off purchasing another VW. I personally think that if the car has shortfalls in its spec, the dealer should take that car on as a demonstrator, and give the purchaser the option of either re-ordering, or walking away from the deal. Given that options can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds, the buyer should not be fobbed of with the basic cost of such missing/altered items.
This probably won't happen of course, but until buyers vote with their feet, VW seem to be more than happy to send out anything which trundles off the production line.

I very much doubt if it's Volkswagen Germany that is at fault as each car is built to order. Some of the options for the new Golf may not yet be available but VW(UK) are not telling the dealers or the dealers are not telling the customer to ensure the order goes through and hoping the customer will accept the car anyway.

[dickt]

I confirmed my order on 14th November. This was a private sale, not a corporate order. It included leather/electric/seat position memory. The first time I found out that it did not have the seat memory was after I had arrived back home and tried to set up the memory. Neither VW nor the dealer had bothered to tell me that the VW Boss-class had decided to remove the option from the VW.
Let me be clear here. Someone in VW decided to remove the option. It was not a mistake and not an accident. VW have this technology, use it on other cars, and I had it on a Passat back in 2005. It is clear that they originally intended to offer it - it is mentioned twice in the price list that I was given - and is still mentioned a number of times in the manual. The dealer's service manager went in to the electric system of another Golf that they had in their showroom, and confirmed that it should be available, but then spoke to VW who said that it was not available.
The leather/electric/memory option costs about 2,000ukp.
The first offer of compensation was 250ukp. I said that I would reject the car based on this offer. They then came up with 500ukp, which is where we are at present. I've done about 350 miles in the car, but I am still considering rejecting it. The dealer knew from first contact that I wanted the memory function.
I think that the whole 2000ukp should be refunded. Whilst the leather is fine, I only went for leather to get the leather/electric/memory combination........ the electric seats without memory are much the same as a car without an engine. Useless.
So I'm sat on their cheque for £500, not entirely sure what to do.
They have certainly lost any Trust that I had in VW, and our family has 3 cars from the VW group.

Quite simply, I see no reason to trust VW/Audi with anything any more.

[Evil Dan]

I confirmed my order on 14th November. This was a private sale, not a corporate order. It included leather/electric/seat position memory. The first time I found out that it did not have the seat memory was after I had arrived back home and tried to set up the memory. Neither VW nor the dealer had bothered to tell me that the VW Boss-class had decided to remove the option from the VW.
Let me be clear here. Someone in VW decided to remove the option. It was not a mistake and not an accident. VW have this technology, use it on other cars, and I had it on a Passat back in 2005. It is clear that they originally intended to offer it - it is mentioned twice in the price list that I was given - and is still mentioned a number of times in the manual. The dealer's service manager went in to the electric system of another Golf that they had in their showroom, and confirmed that it should be available, but then spoke to VW who said that it was not available.

The option was never "removed", it was falsely advertised as being part of the electric seats pack.

It is not available on a Mk 7 Golf anywhere in the world, though it may be coming at some point in the future.

[dickt]

Whilst I respect your opinion and perspective, I disagree about the "removal". (But like you, I only have an opinion). I have worked in big global corporates, and I know how they work. That price list, and the manual, would have been through many layers of corporate bureaucracy to become approved. Some one somewhere will be personally accountable for it.
Then, some one with even more power decided to remove the option.
I wish I knew the names of both these people.
IMHO, that is not false advertising, it is a corporate decision to remove something from the spec.............AND, someone also took the decision NOT to tell the customers.

However it came about, however, I wish there was an easy way to get them to take full accountability and responsibility, and to put it right. It is only software, and they already have the software.!!!

[mactrack]

Whilst I respect your opinion and perspective, I disagree about the "removal". (But like you, I only have an opinion). I have worked in big global corporates, and I know how they work. That price list, and the manual, would have been through many layers of corporate bureaucracy to become approved. Some one somewhere will be personally accountable for it.
Then, some one with even more power decided to remove the option.
I wish I knew the names of both these people.
IMHO, that is not false advertising, it is a corporate decision to remove something from the spec.............AND, someone also took the decision NOT to tell the customers.

However it came about, however, I wish there was an easy way to get them to take full accountability and responsibility, and to put it right. It is only software, and they already have the software.!!!
Like Dan has said the memory seats are not available at all (but may indeed come later). The fact is VW UK did tell all of their dealers, via a product update bulletin, which is how I found out about both this issue and the no LED DRLs. In your case it would appear that your dealer failed to tell you and, IMHO, this is what you need to impress on your dealer when taking the matter further that they have let you down!

[h5djr]

Whilst the leather is fine, I only went for leather to get the leather/electric/memory combination........ the electric seats without memory are much the same as a car without an engine. Useless.

Personally I don't agree that electric seats without memory are useless. I have an electric drivers seat in my Audi A3 and find it very easy to adjust to the correct position and change the racke of the back depending if I'm wearing a jacket or not. It's much easier to use than the normal wheel setup. Audi have never offered seat memory on the A3 so I knew that when I ordered it. The now offer the same for the A3 as for the Golf. Electric seats with memory on leather only. I can understand being upset because there is no memory function but they are not useless. It seems that it's your dealer that has let you down rather than Volkswagen by not telling that memory was not yet available before you placed your order.

My wife and I have the drivers seat in different postions and the electric operation makes it all very easy. The memory in my A3 is a small piece of insulating tape on the outside of the seat runner which I line up as necessary. Works a treat and very cheap!!

Strange thing is Audi have never offered seat memory on the A3 or A4 but Skoda have had on the previous Octavia without the need to have leather.

[mactrack]

Strange thing is Audi have never offered seat memory on the A3 or A4 but Skoda have had on the previous Octavia without the need to have leather.
Not so our previous B8 A4 Avant had the memory for both the driver's seat and wing mirrors and it's so much easier to press one button to go between the two previously set positions instead of up a bit down a bit etc. etc. manoeuvring. Once you've had it you don't want to go back and as such I think electric seats are useless without a memory.

[vc-10]

It does seem odd people going on about memory seats- my parents Peugeot 807 had them, as standard fit on that particular trim level, way back in 2002. The car was a POS, but the electric memory seats were good.

I do agree though that it's ridiculous asking people to pay all that money for electric seats without a memory function, it can't be expensive or hard to implement.

[h5djr]

Not so our previous B8 A4 Avant had the memory for both the driver's seat and wing mirrors and it's so much easier to press one button to go between the two previously set positions instead of up a bit down a bit etc. etc. manoeuvring. Once you've had it you don't want to go back and as such I think electric seats are useless without a memory.

OK, I will correct my statement:

Strange thing is Audi have never offered seat memory on the A3 but Skoda have had on the previous Octavia without the need to have leather.

[dickt]

In the end I accepted and banked the ukp500. The hassle of rejection, lawyers and etc put me off doing anything else.

[maisbitt]

Would you have bought leather anyway for the leather and heated seats? If so, £500 compo for lack of the memory option which would never cost £500 on it's own is fair enough. If on the other hand you bought leather as it was the only way of getting memory seats, only to find out later that it was not available and never would have paid for leather without memory then i'd have rejected the car or asked for a bigger discount. I find basic VW leather a bit crap - lots of "pleather" on the side panels etc, not so much of the genuine stuff everywhere you expect it to be - at the price VW charge for it, that's scandalous.

[dickt]

I quite like leather seats, but I would not have paid 2,000ukp for leather elec., without the memory. My old mk5 170 was 2008, so at the end of the mk5's life. Then, they "gave away" leather as a freebie, so I got used to it. The leather quality on the mk 5 was as good as merc "E" and BMW "5". I've had them both.
In the end, the ukp500 was a compromise.

[S66MJETDI]

I am in total agreement that contracts should be adhered to and that there is some principal involved here, but why the major need for memory ? Comments here seem to suggest that people only ordered leather so they could have memory seats?!? Thats a heap of cash to save yourself the tiresome chore of pressing the buttons yourself - if indeed the seat has actually moved since you last drove the car......

[Evil Dan]

I am in total agreement that contracts should be adhered to and that there is some principal involved here, but why the major need for memory ? Comments here seem to suggest that people only ordered leather so they could have memory seats?!? Thats a heap of cash to save yourself the tiresome chore of pressing the buttons yourself - if indeed the seat has actually moved since you last drive the car......

You assume only one person drives each car..... :confused:

[S66MJETDI]

No I pointed out that its unlikely that you would have to move the seat EVERY trip.

I drive a 530d at work that is driven 24hrs a day by 4 different drivers, some of the adjustments aren't even electric 😳 the horror!

[Evil Dan]

No I pointed out that its unlikely that you would have to move the seat EVERY trip.

I drive a 530d at work that is driven 24hrs a day by 4 different drivers, some of the adjustments aren't even electric  the horror!

It's a 12-way electric seat so 6 different planes of adjustment. My wife has the seat significantly different to me. It means 1-2 minutes to get the seats just right for comfortable driving.

[S66MJETDI]

I guess my point is that convincing VAG that they should refund the full £2k because the only reason you ordered leather and paid £2k extra was you NEED electric MEMORY adjustment, when the driving public have been surviving adequately for the past 100years without, is about as likely as securing a trip to the moon.

[dickt]

As Evil Dan points out, the different driving positions used by SWMBO and I are a pain in the neck. We have had seat memory in a VW Passat, in a Merc E class and in a Beemer 5 series. They make life one hell of a lot easier, and a few hundred quid in a 25k+ car is not too much to pay. SWMBO and I are economising, and only use 1 car. If SWMBO had her own car, things might be different. (Her own car has been appropriated by daughter)
As others have said, once you have had memory, it is difficult to do without it as both of us use the car. As for the last 100 years point, I take it that you reject any cars with polyurethane in it, with power steering and air con?

As to getting 2000ukp. That is what I wanted, but bearing in mind the trip to the moon, I settled for ukp500.

[S66MJETDI]

As for the last 100 years point, I take it that you reject any cars with polyurethane in it, with power steering and air con?


Reject a car for being constructed with modern materials? What a bizarre thought - what has that to do with the notion that you can't possibly live without memory seats ?

[h5djr]

Perhaps you should reject the car and buy a new Skodia Octavia. They have the option listed for both the SE and Elegance models at £700, including memory on the mirrors as well.

[dickt]

S66. My point was that all innovations are "extras" to start with. Eventually they become normal. I remember back in 1990, air con was an extra, which many Brits saw as a poofter's extra only used by Yanks and Aussies.. PU's early use in cars was described as a luxury.

You're the one that said...."when the driving public have been surviving adequately for the past 100years without"

[Bob_S]

Perhaps you should reject the car and buy a new Skodia Octavia. They have the option listed for both the SE and Elegance models at £700, including memory on the mirrors as well. I'm not so sure the electric seat option in the new Octavia includes a memory function for the seats. The Skoda website describes the option as "Electrically adjustable front seats (inc auto dimming driver's door mirror and mirror memory function)". It reads to me that the mirrors have a memory function but not the seats.

[Ceber]

Hi everyone, i,m brand new to this forum,and the owner of a new mk7 2.0 litre gt with shetland electric leather last week.:D Unfortunately like others here the memory is not on the car,so rang the dealer and he should be ringing tomorrow with a compensation offer from vw uk. Forums like this are very helpfull when you have issues like this.:D

[dickt]

Ceber,
do let us know how you got on. As I said before, I settled for £500. I do not know how much was from VW and how much from the dealer.

[Ceber]

Ceber,
do let us know how you got on. As I said before, I settled for £500. I do not know how much was from VW and how much from the dealer.

Well according to my dealer, vw say only one person in the uk got £500 pounds because he bought 10 cars. They have offered me £250 but my dealer is trying to get more. I dont understand why the dealer should pay for a vw mistake though?

[dickt]

I did not buy 10 cars!! I bought one.
They gave me £500 for the lack of memory. You should get the same.
1. As I have said before, I made it clear to the dealer when I ordered the car that the memory was important to me. Fortunately, some of this was in e-mails, so I have proof that the dealer knew that memory was important to me.
2. I kept a copy of the old price list, which clearly says memory for 3 drivers
3. Someone else has said that the dealers were told in January that memory would not be available. (I do not know whether or not this is accurate). I did not find out until after I took delivery (5th March). No-one told me, even though the dealers knew (allegedly) back in January - when if I had been told I could have cancelled the order, and ordered one without leather and electrics, saving me £2,000 approx.
4. I complained BOTH to the dealer and to VW over the phone. VW, over the phone, assigned a named individual to look in to it. Eventually, she contacted the dealer, and between them they came up with £500. I do not know whose money it was. I had already got a very good deal on the car via a website, so the dealer would not have had too much spare cash from the deal.
Therefore, they are not telling you the whole truth.

[HHGTTG]

Well according to my dealer, vw say only one person in the uk got £500 pounds because he bought 10 cars. They have offered me £250 but my dealer is trying to get more. I dont understand why the dealer should pay for a vw mistake though?

Well I think that any dealer or seller of any product, worth their salt, should know their product inside out and make it a point of so doing, instead of just sitting their at their business stations in those glass palaces - all VW dealers showrooms have been updated at great expense in my neighbourhood.
As someone else said on some car forum, that invariably we enthusiastic car owners know more about the cars than they do, which is a pretty pathetic state of affairs.

[Oswald1964]

I did not buy 10 cars!! I bought one.
They gave me £500 for the lack of memory. You should get the same.
1. As I have said before, I made it clear to the dealer when I ordered the car that the memory was important to me. Fortunately, some of this was in e-mails, so I have proof that the dealer knew that memory was important to me.
2. I kept a copy of the old price list, which clearly says memory for 3 drivers
3. Someone else has said that the dealers were told in January that memory would not be available. (I do not know whether or not this is accurate). I did not find out until after I took delivery (5th March). No-one told me, even though the dealers knew (allegedly) back in January - when if I had been told I could have cancelled the order, and ordered one without leather and electrics, saving me £2,000 approx.
4. I complained BOTH to the dealer and to VW over the phone. VW, over the phone, assigned a named individual to look in to it. Eventually, she contacted the dealer, and between them they came up with £500. I do not know whose money it was. I had already got a very good deal on the car via a website, so the dealer would not have had too much spare cash from the deal.
Therefore, they are not telling you the whole truth.

I have an e-mail at work from my dealer dated late January,around the 22nd from memory, which states there is a fault on the system, and no memory function is included with the 12 way adjustable seat, and asking if I would like to change my options.

So yes the dealers did know in January.

[Ceber]

I did not buy 10 cars!! I bought one.
They gave me £500 for the lack of memory. You should get the same.
1. As I have said before, I made it clear to the dealer when I ordered the car that the memory was important to me. Fortunately, some of this was in e-mails, so I have proof that the dealer knew that memory was important to me.
2. I kept a copy of the old price list, which clearly says memory for 3 drivers
3. Someone else has said that the dealers were told in January that memory would not be available. (I do not know whether or not this is accurate). I did not find out until after I took delivery (5th March). No-one told me, even though the dealers knew (allegedly) back in January - when if I had been told I could have cancelled the order, and ordered one without leather and electrics, saving me £2,000 approx.
4. I complained BOTH to the dealer and to VW over the phone. VW, over the phone, assigned a named individual to look in to it. Eventually, she contacted the dealer, and between them they came up with £500. I do not know whose money it was. I had already got a very good deal on the car via a website, so the dealer would not have had too much spare cash from the deal.
Therefore, they are not telling you the whole truth.

Its not to difficult to choose between a new golf owner and a company trying to reduce compensation pay outs for thier c*** up, as far as telling the truth is concerned.;).Will post update tomorrow if i get any news, hopefully good:D

[Ceber]

What i dont understand is, the memory option was available in the october and december price brochure, so at least 2 months on display, not only that but somewhere in between they actually increased the price by £190 ukp. How can they put a price increase on something that that they know does,nt exist!!!. Maybe to pay compensation pay outs.:D

[dickt]

This site has a private message facility. Message me if you need any more from me.

[dickt]

Anyone else with Missing Options and/or compensation for stuff missing?

[wichsh]

I have my new GT that arrived with a cheque to compensate me for missing options. I had ordered the memory seats and xenons. The dealer did not contact me about either to let me know, xenons just a cosmetic thing and I wouldn't have paid extra for LEDs anyway. I was annoyed about the missing memory on the seats and I threatened to reject the car.