Richmond Skoda & Where's George?!

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

For those in Melbourne, not sure if you heard but Audi Melbourne, Audi Richmond & Richmond Skoda were recently bought by the Zagame group (they have Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroen, Lotus, Ferrari, Maserati and others I probably don't know of). It'll be interesting to see what happens to the dealerships under Zagame - they have the Ferrari & Maserati dealership a few doors down in Swan St, nice if Skoda moved into that building

Also George from Richmond Skoda has moved on to Regan Motors (Peugeot) in Balwyn. I assume quite a few of Richmond Skoda sales were thru George.

Cheers

[K1W1]

George left Richmond in late October or early November. I don't believe his move was related to the business sale.

[zach]

yep George helped with my sale so it's disappointing as I found the others quite useless.
going to think twice about taking my car there for service later this month especially the prices some have been quoted.

[wombatoutofhell]

Interesting-I wonder if I can do a deal on servicing as I have both a Fiat and a Skoda?

[woofy]

I've been seriously considering what to do since George left, Adil was good as well, but he moved to Audi Melbourne. Since George left in mid Nov, everything going on there hasn't made me a happy camper at all.

I'm thinking of going in and have a sit down to see what they can now offer me, especially when I'm due to change cars over late this year.

[tentacles1]

Having just sold my Fiat and now looking to get into a Skoda I find this to be good news. I went in to Skoda Richmond a couple of months ago looking at the Octavia RS, had a chat to George about it who promised to give me a call when they had one there to take for a run. Never heard back from him, even after trying to follow up on it from my end. I found this to be both disrespectful and unprofessional, so was definitely not going to buy from there, and had started shopping for an XR5 Turbo instead. Now that the dealership is in Zagame hands, I will be happy to go back, especially considering the brilliant service I have had with the purchasing of my first and second Fiats from them.

[sh|tbmxrider]

And the Zagame steam train rolls on...

[RSwag]

yep George helped with my sale so it's disappointing as I found the others quite useless.
going to think twice about taking my car there for service later this month especially the prices some have been quoted.

Hi Zach, that's interesting because I dealt with Heath from Bayfords and Chris from Mentone when I looked at the RS wag in early 2010. Although we ended placing the order through George (due to unforeseen later cancelling) we had a preference for Mentone as the consultant who we dealt with was nothing short of exceptional given the ordinary circumstances he and the others were working in.

My scenario was different because the fleet lease company had a relationship with Rich but my preference, if it was my dollars, I would gone with the consultant at Mentone. That was early 2010 so things may have changed but my experience drone Richmond was nothing short of average so having Zagame on the scene maybe a positive thing?!

It's all subjective I guess

[RSwag]

I should add that my experience was not with George and by all accounts he was the exception to the others at the dealership!!

[zach]

RSwag actually my experience is pretty much the same as yours. My reference to 'others' was at Richmond itself. George was the saving grace for them hence the disappointment he's gone as he was my contact for getting a loan car, etc.

[Damo105]

A mate in the car game told me Zagame actually don't have a great reputation in the trade. Something about people who have experience running pubs don't necessarily make great car dealers.

I've got an order pending with Richmond, that was placed with George. So far the follow up since George left has been good, so time will tell I guess.

[K1W1]

A mate in the car game told me Zagame actually don't have a great reputation in the trade. Something about people who have experience running pubs don't necessarily make great car dealers.

They had a very ordinary reputation when they were selling Ducatis and KTM's in Church St. In fact the reputation was so ordinary they no longer sell them.

[RSwag]

Adil was good as well, but he moved to Audi Melbourne. Since George left in mid Nov, everything going on there hasn't made me a happy camper at all.

The guys were pretty open at Richmond and told me that Adil's uncle owns Audi Melbourne, he also owned the franchises at Richmond but i believe they leased the premises on Swan Street. Adil will be at Melbourne as long as it is a family business i guess?!

[K1W1]

The guys were pretty open at Richmond and told me that Adil's uncle owns Audi Melbourne, he also owned the franchises at Richmond but i believe they leased the premises on Swan Street. Adil will be at Melbourne as long as it is a family business i guess?!

That was then but now they have apparently sold out to Zagames so we can all expect Ferraris as loan cars at service time from now on.

[K1W1]

I just got an email today from

"Richmond Skoda - A Zagame company".

For some reason they think I might want to take advantage of the free insurance offer. Still any communication from a car dealer is good communication I guess.