Skoda Australia customer relations

[Tensixty6]

Has anyone had the need to contact Skoda Australia customer relations?

I've tried contacting them more than once through their "enquiries" email facility. No replies. Not impressed.

I had both the Superb Elegance and the Octavia RS wagon on my short list of potential replacement vehicles for my Golf GTI. Not on the list anymore. That sort of indifference puts me right off.

[woofy]

I found Skoda in the CZ really good, answer within a day....but never anything from Skoda OZ...which is in reality VW Australia. I once had a call from a guy there after I bought the car as I sent a physical letter in. He was "astounded" I had never had an email answered and gave me his person number. It happened many many times after that, but I had lost his number. I never got any kind of welcome pack at any stage either.....Mazda get onto that and call you within days.

I think its fair to say, there is no Skoda customer relations...you'd think between them and the dealers they would be trying really hard to set the brand up.

[phaeton]

Try Skoda Australia on youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/SkodaAustralia there is always a response.

I have a funny feeling its the Managing Director Matt Wiesner

[brad]

I've sent them a couple of emails via the "Contact Us" link on the website. No reply.

I've also rung them with technical questions which they are incapable of answering. If they do try and answer, they have no first hand knowledge of what they are reciting back to you & therefore cannot explain what they are talking about in different ways to help you understand. (ie: I can explain the technical aspects of my work on levels ranging from numpty to knowlegable user because I know the technicalities of my field - they do not).

I've also rung them to complain about dealership issues & service costs. While they attempted to resolve the issue, ultimately they didn't have the support of their Management & could do bugger-all.

On the plus side, their phone manner is very nice. Possibly they'd be better suited on the end of a pay horoscope phone line.

[K1W1]

Skoda Australia marketing person

Linda Streeter

Linda dot Streeter at skoda.com.au

If she is not interested in returning emails or solving issues with unanswered emails than I guess there is no hope.

[brad]

Only about 6 weeks back, Audi advertised for a Customer Relations person with a technical bent (there was more to it than CR). I ticked all the boxes but when I asked them about remuneration it was $30k below my current wage with a potential for another 15% in bonuses. The only perk was an Audi to drive for only $275 a month & it was changed every 6 months.

In some ways I regret not applying but $20k-$30k drop in wages is a bit hard to come to terms with.

[aarondc]

Having just bought a TDI Octavia, I am loving the car, but finding some aspects of the dealership experience lacking. Is there a dealership venting thread?

[Jake02]

Has anyone had the need to contact Skoda Australia customer relations?

I've tried contacting them more than once through their "enquiries" email facility. No replies. Not impressed.

I had both the Superb Elegance and the Octavia RS wagon on my short list of potential replacement vehicles for my Golf GTI. Not on the list anymore. That sort of indifference puts me right off.

Why exactly do you need to contact them so badly? The fact that you can't contact a company and now their cars are off the list makes me sick. Skoda Aus is VW Aus - meaning you get exactly the same response, from exactly the same people. You already have a VW so what exactly is the problem?

[woofy]

I still got the RS last year but as a new customer to VAG, the lack of response almost put me off. I had to hunt and ask Skoda CZ in the end, as even the dealers didn't know a lot about the cars....

[gregozedobe]

I find the Briskoda (UK) forum has a lot of useful info, and it isn't wrapped up with marketing-biased flim-flam

I'm not sure that VWA or Skoda Oz have the right people answering inquiries from the public. Maybe you could try asking questions of the dealers that post on here on this forum, they will be at least willing to try to help you.

I would assess any car on the merits of the actual car, not according to the response I get to emails from some low-level CR/PR flunkey. Lots of organisations don't recognise how important it is to answer emails correctly, and they lose sales because of it.

[Tensixty6]

Why exactly do you need to contact them so badly? The fact that you can't contact a company and now their cars are off the list makes me sick. Skoda Aus is VW Aus - meaning you get exactly the same response, from exactly the same people. You already have a VW so what exactly is the problem?

Firstly, I've never had any problem communicating with VW Australia. I've emailed Head Office a couple of times since 2006 and guess what, they actually replied.

I checked the Skoda Australia website to locate the nearest dealer. Took a trip out to Ferntree Gully Skoda to have a look at the cars only to find they're not there any more. So, that was a waste of time. I emailed Skoda OZ to find out if the dealer had moved or whether a new dealer had taken their place. Consequently got no reply, which is bad business.

There is so much more to buying a car than just the car itself. You have pre-sales and more importantly, after sales service.

It would seem I'm not the only one who's dissatisfied with certain aspects of Skoda Australia customer relations. As far as I'm concerned, if they're not sufficiently interested to reply to what was a very simply inquiry, I have no interest in buying a car from them. That's my choice. I'm sorry if that attitude makes you feel unwell. Take a Valium and lighten up.

[brad]

Why exactly do you need to contact them so badly? The fact that you can't contact a company and now their cars are off the list makes me sick. Skoda Aus is VW Aus - meaning you get exactly the same response, from exactly the same people. You already have a VW so what exactly is the problem?

Jake
Are you the actual Skoda owner or do you own it by proxy?
Are you the curly haired, grinning lad on the Skoda YouTube site?

I'm not putting crap on you & am happy that you are a passionate Skoda enthusiast but ownership perspectives change depending on the level of financial involvement. eg: I do not give a toss about any aspect of the ownership experience of our Outlander because it is my SWMBOs company car.

[paul_segr]

I sent an email to Skoda in July trying to confirm the specs/changes to the new RS prior to ordering. It took a little while (about 2 weeks) to get a reply due to a problem with emails from the enquiries email address being routed to a real person. However, they did apologise for this.

When I had a follow up question I got a reply within an hour, but this question was sent a specific persons email account not the general enquiries.

[K1W1]

Firstly, Took a trip out to Ferntree Gully Skoda to have a look at the cars only to find they're not there any more.

They took the signs down about a week ago.
I do not think Barlow World were ever committed to Skoda there it was located in the old used car office with no showroom. I doubt that in the 12 months they were there they actually sold any cars.

[Tensixty6]

Yeh, just bad timing on my part. The Skoda Australia website has been updated during the week to show a new dealership, Mentone Skoda, in Nepean Highway. It's part of the Mentone Motor Group who sell Saab, Renault and Hummer. Quite a mix.