Cardiff Audi, after all the good things I've said about them, were fecking useless today at service time.
I'd booked a 'while you wait' service at 08.30 this morning "about 2 hours" I was quoted, so it's better for me to wait than mess about with a loan car etc. Trouble is when I got there they hadn't booked me in to wait and thought they could do the job by 3pm... and could someone come and pick me up! Erm no I don't think so. Some random manager appears and mumbles something which is interpreted to me by the service woman as we can do the car by 11.30. And the excuse for not being booked in as while you wait service "we don't make the bookings we just deal with you while you are here" - do they think the customer really cares about this? It's all the same dealership to me.
At 9.45 my car is still in the exact spot where I left it so I ask if all is on schedule. This response is the one that annoyed me the most "Yes your car has already been in for it's health check" - umm no I pointed out my car hadn't moved and was still outside. Then came the lie yes they've put it back outside...I've been sat looking at my car the whole time. I did ask them if we should check the real time tracker log to make sure there hadn't been a disturbance in the relationship between time & space but it seems this wasn't needed. About 10.30 the car finally went in to the service bay and I was given an updated time of 12.30.
At 13.15 I finally got the car back with the excuse that "the recall Haldex software update caused the delay" - what not the fact that they started the work 2 hours late.
Shocking service after being previously very good. You would think dealers would realise this is customers one main interaction with them a year and want to get this right.
I've expressed my opinions to the dealer management and Audi Customer Services, I'm awaiting their response.
Hi MKB,
TBH most caring Audi owners or S & RS enthusiasts expect quality of service, but I think your are spot on about the A3/4/5 Rep diesel brigade who unintentionally compromise the whole customer experience with complacency - as with most fleet car owners they generally tend to say "how hot is the coffee....oh yes, replace the tires all round, change the wiper blades and infact check the oil too as she has been cutting out and then starting almost ever time I have been stopping at the lights and I don't expect that from a '63 plate".
At this point a light bulb goes off at Audi HQ and the latest GPS technology vibrates the closest Service Manager in the Fleet owner's proximity to alert him of his immediately 'brucey bonus" if he can seal the deal. He then presents the customer with a mystery survey and 15 mins later he says "Your not going to believe this, and I know you possibly haven't finished the survey yet but a hidden microchip confirming your name and location has isolated you as the winner of our iPad competition" ....the reps say "so what are your saying?" ------the service manager then says "you've won a prize" and then mutters internally 'ya dancer I have hit my monthly bonus'. Now of course that is tongue in cheek, but.....
The franchise I bought my first RS3 from once tried to stop me from entering the premises on the basis I was there to make trouble....I told them with a name like "Elton" I always wore a pink cat-suit and was merely there to demand a refund for a fraudulent sale on my initial purchase as I wasn't advised or told the premium A3 model titled the RS3, was an absolute howler of a squeeler which I testified by driving around their premises like a scene from 'Blazing Saddles'.......8 months later I got my money back and am now also sporting a full lycra borac wardrobe, so please don't take their patronising customer service
sh@t he he, especially when its blatent lies and you can see your car hasn't evened turned a wheel and they say it been health checked.
For example - I always say "yes, I am fussy, yes I am abstract, but please ensure no one washes the car" even though she may appear in need of TLC.....she is my pride and joy and I don't even let the missus wash her....(unless she says she is of course!)
I always ask that this be written on my ticket.
With my S3 it was written on my ticket by the service manager and when I collected it was ticked and signed as washed and valeted.....since then I have assumed master tech's and service managers are actually trained monkeys from parallel universes' who are pre-programmed to say "ice fishing".
My experience with the stealers is that they give quality of service provided you are a stereotypical customer, but in reality if you push beyond that and most don't give a sh*t. They recently tried to charge me £15 admin costs for the insurance of the courtesy VW polo I was offered as a courtesy car when my car was being recalled for error from the manufacturer?
Furthermore, my missus worked for an alleged reputable 'stealer' and had commands and demands from management that couldn't be printed online....that is how outrageous as well as spectrum-ised the owner experience can be from one visit to the next.
On a more serious note I am now recruiting fellow owners to join me in the making of Kick *** 3.....