Poor customer service!! HALIFAX VW

[gribbo]

I have been in dispute with VW HALIFAX at Shelf, West Yorkshire in respect of a squeaky dashboard/centre console problem that has plagued my Passat 57 plate 140 diesel sport estate, (which is still under warranty until November 2010), for over the past twelve months. The service manager accepts that the vehicle does indeed have a dashboard problem. I have conducted numerous visits to the dealership and they have had possession of my vehicle for over 31 days over six seperate periods, in the past year, without resolving the issue. They simply pack the problematic area with sticky backed felt and silicon grease hoping that I will just accept the temporary repair. This deforms the trim and results in an immediate repetition of the original fault.
Relationships have broken down between me "the customer", the technicians and the service staff and manager at the dealership. As a result I contacted VW UK in mid March 2010 and aired my concerns. To cut a very long story short I find that the customer service department at VW UK in Sheffield just as bad as the dealership, with no communication and poor service being given about what "I" should do regarding the fault. They have had me too-ing and fro-ing to different dealerships in a hope that a second dealership would step in and cure the fault, but they have declined and VW UK have still not resolved the issue. The service manager of the local dealership at Shelf was requested to contact me by VW UK to continue repair on the 19th April 2010 but has still failed to do so. (its now the 29th April!!)
He clearly sees me and my problematic vehicle as a hindrance and is clearly not taking my complaint seriously.

I would like to warn other VW owners in the Halifax area who use this dealership to be aware of the disrespect and incompetence that this particular dealership have shown me.

I am also wishing to gather details of any similar complaints in order I may make a collective approach to trading standards and highlight the difficulties and incompetencies outlined in suitable approaches to auto forums and magazines.

I love the car, it's stylish, the performance and economy are great, but, I HATE the DASH and the dealership. They used to be a privately owned caring family company but have recently been taken over by VW in Liverpool with no apparent interest in local customers! Be warned!...

[patomlin76]

Funnily enough I did look at a car from that dealership last feb before finding a model in Chesterfield..

Regards the dash, whereabouts is the noise coming from? In my experience dealers are reluctant to fix what they may see as minor problems - to them mechanically it is sound, driving fine and safe. They don't really care about creaks and rattles unless you really push them.

If you have to end up getting the problem looked at, maybe a specialist is what you need - from my experience, far more knowledgeable and eager to help. However that would also mean paying...

Could you request that VW UK look at this car at a different dealership? Locally there'll be a few dealerships in Huddersfield/Leeds...

[gribbo]

I was advised to go to a second dealership... I chose JCT 600 at Sticker Lane, Bradford, they were ok about the approach but reluctant to take on Shelf's bodged repairs. They also contacted VW UK to see if they were able to receive payment under warranty for a repair but VW UK refused them permission to carry out additional work and I have been instructed to return to Shelf. I have written a letter to VW UK outlining my lack of faith in the Shelf dealership but they have insisted it is thrown back VW HALIFAX at Shelf to resolve..
JCT 600 were concerned about not being paid for a duplication of repair to the dashboard by VW UK which i can understand to a degree...but they have welcomed me "open armed" to have my vehicle serviced/repaired for other issues.. and to be fair it looks like a better place all round to have my vehicle attended to in the future. There is loads of parking (not like VW Halifax at Shelf) and the staff are polite and seem to know what they are doing. (not like VW Halifax at Shelf)!!

the noise is coming from the glove box (loose plastic female recepticle for the glove box pin on the right hand side) and several trim panels and centre console which creak when accelerating, braking and cornering.. guess its friction between several separate components that fit tightly together, then flex as the dash twists when driving... the cenre console appears also to be fit too far forward underneath the dash and the two must also flex together adding additional creaks and squeaks!!

[Quatrelle]

Have you tried Citizens Advice - perhaps they'll tell you where you stand legally. Might be worth asking Trading Standards. Sorting this out on your own obviously isn't working, so I'd have thought any backing you can get would be useful.

Then of course there's always 'Watchdog'

[gribbo]

Thank you for the advice... I am still awaiting a written reply from VW UK before I consider my next step. Feel very disappointed with their approach too if I'm honest, hence the generation of this thread.

[angus]

Well, not a lot changes then!

Had my previous car (130TDI sport) from there, and had it serviced there.
It went in for its 60k service (cost over £650.00), and broke down three times on the way home. I did ring them and told them I`d got less than 5 miles - their response was "what do you want us to do about it, aren`t you in the AA? Turned out they hadn`t attached the hose from the intercooler.

I also informed them that it had a noisy wheel bearing and the DMF/clutch was faulty and snatching. Apparently I was wrong as "I can assure you, sir, we have had VW trained technicians looking at it and there is no faults" (Well, I`m not `trained` but have been pulling cars to bits and rebulding them for nearly 40 years).
Not happy with this, I took the car to Richard Alexanders in Huddersfield (now Huddersfield VW - part of the Sytner Group) who lent me a car whilst they `had a look`, and I was informed that `the parts were on order` when I picked mine up.

Anyway, the long and short of it was that it needed a wheel bearing (!), a new clutch and flywheel (!), and a new gear selector (missed that one), all done under warranty a few days before it ran out but would have cost close to £1800.00 if I would have had to pay a month or so later.

The people at Halifax refused to put me through to a director by phone, refused to answer my e-mails, ignored letters, and even refused to speak to me when I turned up in person to ask why I, a "non-VW trained" person could identify faults they couldn`t find even when they had been told what to look for?

I also contacted VW who also failed to respond. It seems once they have your money you can go to hell.

[DSG4ME]

Sadly folks this is what the VAG group is all about, ppl blame the dealer's, but when I had my Skoda I got the opinion that the dealer wasn't too clever, then I had to contact SUcK (that's Skoda UK btw) and the way one of their managers spoke to me I nearly sold the car on the spot, having had 20 years of good service from VX and not ever needing to go above a dealer, anyway I concluded that rather than it be the dealer, what if the dealer struggles to get paid by VAG, this would account for the reluctance to replace anything imo, this very nearly ensured I wasn't going to buy the Passat, but the Skoda did 3 years good graft and proved itself to not need the dealer anyway, hopefully the Passat will be the same and the only thing VW that I'll need is the DSG service, but even that isn't any harder than an engine oil change tbh, so it might not even go there for that either.

To sum up, I think daddy is an ***, and his wife and kids are scared of the miserly old flucker.

[jimgironde]

1. Go to your VW dealer and tell them you will be going to an independent vw dealer and you will later reclaim the costs from them. Put this in writing to them as well.

2. Go to the vw independent and get them to carry out the repair and assuming it is successful get them to give you a written report detailing what was wrong. Pay the bill.

3. Go back to the main dealer with the written report and invoice and ask them to reimburse you.

4. If this is not forthcoming tell them you will issue proceedings through the small claims court. If they still do not pay up actually issue proceedings.

As long as you have everything in writing showing that the original VW dealer had every opportunity to fix it but was not competent enough to so, the court will tell the dealer to pay up.

Seven or eight years ago I was in a not too disimilar position and took a Peugeot main dealer to court and won.

[gribbo]

VW UK have now sent me a letter apologising for the poor level of customer service, and attention to my vehicle from the dealership. However, they have instructed me to re book my vehicle with Halifax VW and the service manager there is to liaise with VW UK technicians in order to resolve the issues. The car is back in for three days this Tuesday, so I guess i will have to allow them this last chance.
I am appreciative of the last reply about consideration for independent repair and the civil court action route to resolve this once and for all. Many thanks.

[Teflon]

The VW customer service people in Milton Keynes were outstanding when it was located there. They were contemplating having the wife's car transported to HQ for their guru to fix a problem my local dealer couldn't. Since they have switched to a call centre (I thought it was Leeds, not Sheffield) the standard is abysmal.

My prefered dealer (not my local one, who I wouldn't pay in washers) tells me that the new service is widely known within the dealer network as a shower of sh!te. His words, not mine.

It looks like you have finally got your problem elevated high enough to get the attention of someone who cares about customer service and brand reputation. I wish you the best of luck.

After two years of struggles with one of my cars I've been less successful, given up on VW UK and when the Passat gets long in the tooth it will be replaced by a Honda. The customer service may not be any better but at least the cars come out of the factory without anything to complain about.