Great Car - Pity about the after sales service, or should I say lack of service

[parisfrance]

Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent to the only authorised Skoda service agent in Perth. I also sent a copy to Skoda Australia boss, Michael Irmer. My preferred outcome would be for Barbagallo to lose the Skoda dealership in Perth and it be given to another dealer, but with so few Skoda vehicles being sold each month in Australia that is not likely to happen. I will let you know what if any response I receive.

"Dear Ms

I refer to your letter dated 21 November 2015 inviting me tohave my Skoda Octavia, registration ..., serviced by Barbagallo as it iscoming up to six months of ownership.

I would have found your letter comical if it hadn’t been offensive.

My vehicle had been booked to be with Barbagallo for a week in November to have the roof lining repaired/replaced after it had been torn by your “qualified technicians”during one of their four previous attempts to repair the electric sunshade for the Panoramic Roof, which was broken from vehicle delivery.

These are the same technicians that have left us with a roof lining torn in two places, an electric sunshade that rattles like a bag of spanners and a sunroof that no longer sits flat; a fact that they noted when sitting in vehicle and made the comment, “do you think the owners will notice the sunroof doesn’t sit flat”;captured on the dash cam recorder during their last failed attempt at repairs.

To now receive your letter inviting me to use Barbagallo for an unscheduled service (recommended servicing is 12 months/15,000km) is both unwelcome and unacceptable, particularly given I wasn’t contacted or reminded of the warranty repairs booked for a week in November when a loan vehicle would be available, a date I hadn’t diarised but had booked at the beginning of October.

The consistently poor service I have received from the Barbagallo service department since ownership has driven me to consider having the vehicle serviced by either a Volkswagen or Audi service department or another Volkswagen specialist. This includes having the above mentioned repairs performed, which I expect will not be covered by warranty and will see me out of pocket but at least they might be professionally performed.

I certainly have no confidence in using Barbagallo, the only authorised Skoda service agentin Western Australia, which is very disappointing and means I will not be recommending my friends or colleagues purchase a Skoda or any other make of vehicle from Barbagallo.

Deeply dissatisfied"

[Guest001]

They probably read this forum and wont appreciate you shaming them publicly.

Wouldnt think it would help your cause at all publishing what is essentially a private correspondence.

It may also be illegal to record someone without their permission

[afterdarker]

Yes have to agree with Hillbilly, you should allow them the courtesy of a response first. Speaking as a business owner myself you never want clients to have these problems, sometimes **** happens, most businesses will want to do their best to fix it.

[JustCruisn]

Ahh its 2015 gone of the days of privacy. Everything is on-line, social media exists just for this purpose.

[Guest001]

Ahh its 2015 gone of the days of privacy. Everything is on-line, social media exists just for this purpose.

Only if you are stupid enough to post it all over the net.

You wont find any of my business anywhere.

Look at the girls in Perth who trashed the loos. Will live with them forever

[parisfrance]

They probably read this forum and wont appreciate you shaming them publicly.

Wouldnt think it would help your cause at all publishing what is essentially a private correspondence.

It may also be illegal to record someone without their permission

I would generally agree with you about giving them the courtesy to respond but as indicated in my letter, they have had the vehicle four times already, including on one occasion for more than a week. Upon its return the car had developed a rattle in the driver's door when changing gears from 2-3-4 at low speed. The long term average fuel consumption had also jumped by over 3litres/100km so am fairly confident in claiming they had thrashed the vehicle while it was in their possession. However, I didn't have the dash cams installed at that time so can't prove it.

You might also look at my signature to see when I ordered the vehicle and when it was delivered. I think I have been more than patient with this dealership.

I posted my email on this forum not to shame the dealership but as a warning to other vehicles owners. Trust me, they don't care about my business, if you search their dealership you will see they sell Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc. A few Skoda sales and services is not going to adversely affect their bottom line.

[Guest001]

Might affect yours if they have you on for defamation though Will cost you win or lose

[mummbles]

its not defamation if it is the truth.

[donweather]

its not defamation if it is the truth.

Bingo!!

Shame away I say. Stealers aren't called stealers for no reason.

[afterdarker]

its not defamation if it is the truth.

Perhaps, but that is for a court to decide if it goes there, and that could be an expensive decision. There are several allegations made here that may or may not be true. To my mind, installing dash cams and filming and recording people without their admission smacks of entrapment, paranoia, a denial of rights and would almost certainly be inadmissible evidence if it went to court.

How happy would you be if someone filmed you at your work without your permission? OP must have this footage and by inference could release it. If I was filmed and threatened in this way I would be absolutely straight to my lawyer and take immediate formal action for damages. I suggest the OP is on dangerous ground here.

Why put yourself through all this for a relatively trivial car servicing issue, ie a faulty sunroof operation? Just take it to another mechanic.

[woofy]

There are no other Skoda dealers left in Perth if I am recalling correctly, otherwise I suspect they would.

[brad]

People are filmed or in some way monitored (GPS tracking / voice recording) at work all the time. Why should it be any different at a dealership? If you aren't doing anything wrong then what's the issue (sure, you might be pegged picking your nose. Big deal).

It would be only a voice recording, unless the cameras are pointing inwards or sideways. If the bonnet is up then what will you see?

Why put yourself through all this for a relatively trivial car servicing issue, ie a faulty sunroof operation? Just take it to another mechanic.

What part of "the only Skoda warranty provider in Perth" don't you understand?

Why should the OP pay for both the warranty repair of the sunroof and the rectification of damage done by the dealership mechanics? I've known of 3 year old cars to be written off due to sunroof issues.

[sillyboy]

I hope this gets rectified for you as soon as Skoda Aus/VW Aus got notified, I believed you have done the right thing sharing your experiences with us.

[bobski]

I love how quickly people throw their privacy under the bus. Because you can secretly film someone doesn't mean you should - if you'd said "I'm filming in the car, do you mind?" and they agreed it might be a different story. I'm no lawyer, don't know if its legal or not - but just don't buy into the "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you shouldn't worry". The mob doesn't give two sh*ts about that and that is all the internet and social media is, the Mob running around lynching people.

As for the problem, that's absolutely terrible service and you have every right to demand more. I feel like if you have a problem outside their ability, companies are much better off being straight up about it instead of wasting your time over and over.

[Transporter]

Yes, I agree. There is a reason for the message you hear when you call your telco company..."this call is being recorded for training and other purposes, please tell the operator, if you don't wish to participate".

...and for sure it's a different story, when you have set up camera somewhere outside of your residence that secretly records and you aren't part of the footage. It's very likely illegal.