North Shore Skoda

[The Speedfighter]

Hi all,

This is just my rant for today, maybe other people can benefit from this in the future.

I've bought my Skoda Octavia vRS from North Shore Skoda roughly 4 weeks ago. The sales guy David I've been dealing with was exceptional. Every single question was answered and he apologized beforehand that he didn't know every single detail of the car as he only started 2 weeks before that with Skoda.

After talking about the car, test-driving it it was time to do some numbers. We sat down with Chris. At first great guy to deal with and everyone there was very helpful. We got to an agreement and we signed all the papers.

Now this is where the problems started.

On the following Monday (as I bought my car on a Saturday) I had to ring some stuff through in regards to the numbers. I had to leave in total 4 messages for them to finally ring me back. The first phonecall I received back was Tuesday.

The day after they asked for more information from me, so I told them that I'll ring them back roughly 2 hours later. I rang them 1.5 hours later and didn't hear from them for 2 whole days!!!

Well finally it was delivery day, mind you they only rang me in the morning to confirm. I arrived there on the day and David helped me out and explained me the basics of the car. I told David I was missing the MDI cable which was included in the deal.
So he agreed that I was right and asked for the MDI. Well all of a sudden the guys there (excluding David) "forgot" that I had an MDI cable in my car. How convenient.

So after roughly 40 minutes they came up with the MDI cable. So the only thing that was left outstanding were the warranty papers. They advised me that they were going to be sent out in the same week. 4 weeks later I have finally received the papers, after 13 phone calls.

Now when I started to have some issues with my car I brought it back to the dealership. I had to leave my car there for investigation. I never received any phone call and had to give various phonecalls myself in order to see what's happening with the car after 6 hours. Everytime I called they were busy and they'll call me back. Again, never received any phonecalls back from them.

Then my second issue started (the wastegate rattle). Went back to North Shore Skoda, and they insisted that they couldn't hear the issue so there was nothing wrong with this.

I did some digging around on the net & this forum, and I told them they need to fit a clip and provided them with everything. Then North Shore advised me that this will void my warranty and that fitting this clip will be my own risk.

At that point that was it for me.

Overall after having many issues with the car I took it to Trivett in Alexandria. I just didn't want to deal with this dealership anymore as they treated me like a pile of c**p.

Once with Trivett my whole opinion about Skoda changed fully. The service is magnificent!!!!! They follow-up problems/phonecalls etc.

So I have made the decision to take my business to Trivett and keep my car under service there.

As a conclusion,

If you have too much time on your hands and would like to make a lot of phonecalls buy your car at North Shore Skoda.

If you want great customer service and follow-up then stay with Trivett.

Lex

[Mysticality]

You should get Trivett to give you some new numberplate surrounds... And then hand your old ones back to North Shore. Very obviously.

[huntermotive]

Hi Lex,

My name is Mark Roach and I am the Group General Manager for Huntermotive who own North Shore Skoda.

I am terribly dissapointed to read your comments and can assure you that it is not consistent with how we treat our customers or should I say how the directors request their customers to be treated.

It is my intention to speak with all people involved and come back to you with an adequate response no doubt including an apology.

My mobile number is 0423 404655 and email is mark.roach@huntermotivegroup.com.au and you are welcome to contact me anytime should you wish to provide any further information you would like chased up or explained.

As David explained we have put some new staff in the dealership however that is not an acceptable reason to have poor service and neglect our customers.

Please accept my interim apologies and I will come back to you soon as I do care very much about my customers and their experience.

Kind regards

Mark

Hi all,

This is just my rant for today, maybe other people can benefit from this in the future.

I've bought my Skoda Octavia vRS from North Shore Skoda roughly 4 weeks ago. The sales guy David I've been dealing with was exceptional. Every single question was answered and he apologized beforehand that he didn't know every single detail of the car as he only started 2 weeks before that with Skoda.

After talking about the car, test-driving it it was time to do some numbers. We sat down with Chris. At first great guy to deal with and everyone there was very helpful. We got to an agreement and we signed all the papers.

Now this is where the problems started.

On the following Monday (as I bought my car on a Saturday) I had to ring some stuff through in regards to the numbers. I had to leave in total 4 messages for them to finally ring me back. The first phonecall I received back was Tuesday.

The day after they asked for more information from me, so I told them that I'll ring them back roughly 2 hours later. I rang them 1.5 hours later and didn't hear from them for 2 whole days!!!

Well finally it was delivery day, mind you they only rang me in the morning to confirm. I arrived there on the day and David helped me out and explained me the basics of the car. I told David I was missing the MDI cable which was included in the deal.
So he agreed that I was right and asked for the MDI. Well all of a sudden the guys there (excluding David) "forgot" that I had an MDI cable in my car. How convenient.

So after roughly 40 minutes they came up with the MDI cable. So the only thing that was left outstanding were the warranty papers. They advised me that they were going to be sent out in the same week. 4 weeks later I have finally received the papers, after 13 phone calls.

Now when I started to have some issues with my car I brought it back to the dealership. I had to leave my car there for investigation. I never received any phone call and had to give various phonecalls myself in order to see what's happening with the car after 6 hours. Everytime I called they were busy and they'll call me back. Again, never received any phonecalls back from them.

Then my second issue started (the wastegate rattle). Went back to North Shore Skoda, and they insisted that they couldn't hear the issue so there was nothing wrong with this.

I did some digging around on the net & this forum, and I told them they need to fit a clip and provided them with everything. Then North Shore advised me that this will void my warranty and that fitting this clip will be my own risk.

At that point that was it for me.

Overall after having many issues with the car I took it to Trivett in Alexandria. I just didn't want to deal with this dealership anymore as they treated me like a pile of c**p.

Once with Trivett my whole opinion about Skoda changed fully. The service is magnificent!!!!! They follow-up problems/phonecalls etc.

So I have made the decision to take my business to Trivett and keep my car under service there.

As a conclusion,

If you have too much time on your hands and would like to make a lot of phonecalls buy your car at North Shore Skoda.

If you want great customer service and follow-up then stay with Trivett.

Lex

[JustCruisn]

Hi Lex,

My name is Mark Roach and I am the Group General Manager for Huntermotive who own North Shore Skoda.
...
Please accept my interim apologies and I will come back to you soon as I do care very much about my customers and their experience.

Kind regards

Mark

Nice one, it's good to see a dealer follow up in such a public way.

[Transporter]

Yeah, the dealer will follow up in the hope to improve his business and its reputation, that's what a good business manager does. But, what I see is that the OP had too many unreturned phone calls from too many people. Those people who don't return the calls they drive, buy and complain about the cars as well.

As I see it it's everyday practise that too many people forgot to return the call.
Yes, I'm guilty too; sometimes I forgot when I'm too busy and have too many things to take care of.
Good on you huntermotive for trying to fix the problem and good luck with it (I mean it), since as the business owner myself I know that a lot of people there are mostly unreliable and they don't work at 100%.

Where I'm going with this is that people who complain the most are very often guilty too. I wouldn't let anyone to spoil the joy from owning a new car that soon.

I just wander, how long will it take and the OP or someone else posts something similar about the Trivett?


Oh, did you know that we have a new section in the forum where you can post your complaints.

[wai]

Unfortunately this is very common. The sales reps are excellent. They go out of their way pre-purchase, and they are also expected to smooth things over well after they have done their part on the deal.

It is the service department that ruins the experience of owning a VAG vehicle. This is yet another instance where the owner is basically told that whatever is wrong is "standard for that type of vehicle".

As they say, owning a VW is a great experience spoiled by the manufacturer in the way they deal with their customers through their dealers.

[The Speedfighter]

Yeah, the dealer will follow up in the hope to improve his business and its reputation, that's what a good business manager does. But, what I see is that the OP had too many unreturned phone calls from too many people. Those people who don't return the calls they drive, buy and complain about the cars as well.

As I see it it's everyday practise that too many people forgot to return the call.
Yes, I'm guilty too; sometimes I forgot when I'm too busy and have too many things to take care of.
Good on you huntermotive for trying to fix the problem and good luck with it (I mean it), since as the business owner myself I know that a lot of people there are mostly unreliable and they don't work at 100%.

Where I'm going with this is that people who complain the most are very often guilty too. I wouldn't let anyone to spoil the joy from owning a new car that soon.

I just wander, how long will it take and the OP or someone else posts something similar about the Trivett?


Oh, did you know that we have a new section in the forum where you can post your complaints.

First of all, yes I'm very happy with this follow-up from Mark (Huntermotive), so thank you for this.

I do agree with what you're saying, but let me get this straight. I'm not a person who complaints a lot. As long as I'm treated fair and honest you won't hear a word from me.

Let me have a look to the section of complaints as well. Thank you for pointing this out as I wasn't aware of this section

Lex

[meremale]

Oh, did you know that we have a new section in the forum where you can post your complaints.

Ok I must be daft, but I'm unable to find it. And yes looked + used search, and still not luck.
Thought it'd be nice to know where so I could locate places to avoid.

[ausspace87]

Hi Lex,

My name is Mark Roach and I am the Group General Manager for Huntermotive who own North Shore Skoda.

I am terribly dissapointed to read your comments and can assure you that it is not consistent with how we treat our customers or should I say how the directors request their customers to be treated.

It is my intention to speak with all people involved and come back to you with an adequate response no doubt including an apology.

My mobile number is 0423 404655 and email is mark.roach@huntermotivegroup.com.au and you are welcome to contact me anytime should you wish to provide any further information you would like chased up or explained.

As David explained we have put some new staff in the dealership however that is not an acceptable reason to have poor service and neglect our customers.

Please accept my interim apologies and I will come back to you soon as I do care very much about my customers and their experience.

Kind regards

Mark

This is definitely not a once off situation, I had exactly the same poor customer service issues with the North Shore Service Department and will never be returning. The sales guys at North Shore are fine, but the service department employees need to fully replaced in my opinion. Absolutely woeful customer service and product knowledge compared to the excellent service I now receive at Trivett - who also now have my business.

[Transporter]

Ok I must be daft, but I'm unable to find it. And yes looked + used search, and still not luck.
Thought it'd be nice to know where so I could locate places to avoid.

Here it is. Buyer-Seller Feedback

You should get Trivett to give you some new numberplate surrounds... And then hand your old ones back to North Shore. Very obviously.

Well, I always remove them, since they don't pay or give anything for the free advertising on my car, the same goes for their stickers.

[woofy]

I always warn them not to put stickers on, but not so fussed about the number plates surrounds unless they drive me to take them off.

I find service price and availability to have been the let down with my car as well, it used to be fine, but I'm now 4 yrs on looking at other options. Ironically its the after sales support in the UK that wins Skoda the awards but there is an air of arrogance here with Skoda mechanics, everything is either too hard, or beneath them to do. Maybe they should do what Mazda do and hold comps for the technicians and apprentices.

[Mysticality]

but there is an air of arrogance here with Skoda mechanics, everything is either too hard, or beneath them to do. Maybe they should do what Mazda do and hold comps for the technicians and apprentices.

Ironically, my service dept offered to install my boot mat.
They did it, too. No extra cost. It was fantastic. lol

[huntermotive]

Hi Ausspace87,

Thank you for the further feedback and I wanted to let you know that I am doing a thorough review of the entire service department along with a new GM I have employed to fix any issues, Andre started with us Tuesday this week and FYI I took over this business only this year as well. I will be able to report back to the forum in regards to changes in processes and people I intend to make after my investigation.

Last night I met with Lex and went through his issues and have made some commitments to him which i will undertake this week coming. it was great to meet Lex and Vivian they are both very nice people and i thank them so much for their time.

As much as a previous comment in this thread was correct that good managers need to folloow up and protect their business I am also a very passionate people person and I do not want to be involved in any business offering anything but the best service so I can sleep peacefully at night knowing we provide quality serivce at a fair price that I and the staff can be proud of.

Have a nice weekend and thanks again for taking the time to provide the feedback.

Cheers

Mark

This is definitely not a once off situation, I had exactly the same poor customer service issues with the North Shore Service Department and will never be returning. The sales guys at North Shore are fine, but the service department employees need to fully replaced in my opinion. Absolutely woeful customer service and product knowledge compared to the excellent service I now receive at Trivett - who also now have my business.

[wai]

Maybe they should do what Mazda do and hold comps for the technicians and apprentices.

Unfortunately it is the way the dealer model is setup. Dealers will be given a target of camplaints that they pass on to VW and this target has to be kept low and preferably reducing over time. There are various incentives that are used to encourage dealers to keep reducing these reports and can vary from the availability of vehicles to fulfill orders, right through to bonus payments. These can be very subtle and difficult to pinpoint, but the dealers know that if they refer too many complaints as warranty faults, it will come back to bite them.

Unfortunately it is the fontline staff who cop it. In the majority of cases, it is not their fault as they are only working as instructed (the Nuremburgh excuse). This is of no consequence to the customer. They have a vehicle that is not working as described, and all they get told is that it is "standard for that type of vehicle". This can be anything from the transmission not operating as described through to the cigarette lighter not being able to be turned off, or tyres scolloping in a few thousand km, or the radio not operating because the antenna provided is not capable of picking up the station unless you are parked right next to the transmitter. It is not a short list, but none of the complaints warrant being told that whatever it is, it is standard for that type of vehicle.

I mean, the vehicle is sold with an AM/FM radio, yet AM reception is either extremely poor and intermittent or simply non-existent. Can you imagine going to an ICE shop and purchasing a system and then being told "by the way, the AM part of the radio is very poor and you may not be able to actually pick up any AM station"? The ACCC would be on to the retailer so fast, they would not know what hit them, yet this is exactly what we are being told by VW and their dealers!

VW and the dealers need to remember that they are only successful because there are people buying what they produce. It does not take much for buyers to look elsewhere. Support can collapse in the blink of an eye. They have forgotten the two rules of selling:

1. The customer is always right

2. If there is any doubt, read rule 1.

[Mysticality]

In I.T. at least, the customer is often wrong, and an idiot.
I hate your rule #1... Its false.

That being said, I'm not a car salesman, nor do I plan to be.
That sounds like too much BSing around for not enough pay!! lol