Skoda service standards??

[Yao]

Seven months after I got my Superb Elegance Wagon, I arrived home today from work to find a package from Skoda addressed to me. Opened it up to find confirmation of my Skoda 24 Hr Roadside Assist.

Just as well I haven't needed it before now!!

[romaniac]

Lucky you, I still haven't received mine 10 months after purchase...

[woofy]

Funny enough when it ends and they want you to now pay for it, it turns up right before its due. Well in my case it went to my old address so only saw it recently well after the fact but shows you where their priorities lie.

[Yao]

That's three of us so far with a not-so-good story.

Anyone out there who actually received theirs promptly? Almost tempted to bet there isn't.

[brad]

It doesn't really matter when you receive the card as you are enrolled in the Road Service from day1 & the phone number is on the sticker on the windscreen. You just ring up & tell them the rego number & they send out the tow truck.

1st World problems

[Yao]

It doesn't really matter when you receive the card as you are enrolled in the Road Service from day1 & the phone number is on the sticker on the windscreen. You just ring up & tell them the rego number & they send out the tow truck.

1st World problems

Yep, I know that. But it really doesn't make them look good if it takes them 7+ months to confirm something that simple, does it? Just another example of their (poor) service standards, really.

[2009fsi]

Make that 4. It turned up here 10 months after purchase. I thought it ironic that the first contact from Skoda is 7 weeks before my warranty expires, just when they want to spruik the Rapid. Perhaps they'd like me to buy a Rapid rather than a Superb Elegance next time.

Did anyone else try the link on the back of the card to check your details on Skoda.com.au? All I got was something along the lines of " Sorry, the page you are looking for does not exist." I got exactly the same when I clicked on the more info link in the Rapid email.

The one thing that is likely to stop me buying another Skoda is the seemingly complete lack of back office support for Skoda products from both VW Group/Skoda & the dealer I have dealt with, and the lack of readily available spares plus price gouging on parts & servicing, relative to other markets & VWs sharing the same running gear. I think the V6 4x4 Superb a terrific car (sedan), but I'm not impressed by what backup there is behind it, especially concerned as I approach end of 3 year warranty.

I wonder how fairdinkum VW Group Australia actually are about Skoda. I regularly pass their newish HQ at Chullora & I haven't seen a Skoda among the vehicles coming in & out, travelling or parked anywhere near for months. My sister bought an Octavia a few months ago & she says she has similar reservations. Both of us are open road travellers & the places we go across this country sure don't have any Skoda parts or support available. i assume that means they must have to farm out Skoda Assist to a local garage or the NRMA across most of Australia. Begs the question, What's the point of Skoda Assist?

[Diesel_vert]

The one thing that is likely to stop me buying another Skoda is the seemingly complete lack of back office support for Skoda products from both VW Group/Skoda & the dealer I have dealt with, and the lack of readily available spares plus price gouging on parts & servicing, relative to other markets & VWs sharing the same running gear. I think the V6 4x4 Superb a terrific car (sedan), but I'm not impressed by what backup there is behind it, especially concerned as I approach end of 3 year warranty.

This has always been a feature of European car ownership in Australia.

Mainstream European marques are marketed as upmarket and/or premium in Australia, and charge accordingly.

It's also not that unusual to have to wait 4-6 weeks for parts to arrive from the Continent, even for the more prominent or established European marques like BMW or Mercedes.

I don't see Volkswagen changing the status quo any time soon, let alone Skoda.
And unless they do, they'll never be a mainstream brand in Australia.

[Transporter]

Generally speaking...
I don't think that Skoda or VW service fees are much different to some other brands. If you had an old car and serviced it once every 18 months or when there was a problem and now when you bought a new car you probably feel the pressured to get the service done on time or you would lose your warranty, then yes it will cost you more. There are people with Hyundais who paid well over $300 for their first service at 7,500km.

Many things we buy just got more expensive in last 10 years.

...and as for the comment that you didn't receive the card for the roadside assist...it's what brad said, in this case, it doesn't really matter, does it?
Maybe the person responsible for sending the cards is taking too many sick days, I hear that in other media quite often. Oh and I can only imagine when he/she is at work, they’re chatting on facebook, twitter and who knows what else. Then they come home and keep chatting form their PC's about the stuff, ...you know, like the price gauging. Well they're contributing to it.

[Diesel_vert]

Just to clarify my position, I'm certainly not being an apologist for VW or Skoda!

Rather, I was just pointing out the situation as I see it - which isn't as good as it can be (to say the very least).

But the tyranny of distance (amongst other reasons) means that imported cars tend to be more expensive to maintain.

[joel0407]

I think it's just Skoda Customer Service is rubbish. I currently have Yeti on order, due to arrive Jan/Feb next year. I had a heap of issues trying to order or buy the thing but I liked it enough to persist. After I eventually ordered it, I have contacted Skoda several times via Email, Facebook and Motor show staff. No reply on email. Facebook person and Motor show staff both said we will get someone to call you because we care about customer service.

Who ever runs the Skoda Australia Face Book page keeps trying to shut down my rants by saying he will get someone to call me. I think anybody who would read the page would see he has told me that several times over a couple of months.

The question is, do Skoda Australia even have a customer service department or do they just employ some labour hire person every few months?

[Transporter]

What did you contacted them about?

[brad]

i assume that means they must have to farm out Skoda Assist to a local garage or the NRMA across most of Australia. Begs the question, What's the point of Skoda Assist?

Road Service is sub-contracted throughout Australia.

I only ever needed to use Skoda road service once. The issue was handled expediently so i don't really care who it was sub-contracted to.

I agree, contacting Skoda is a waste of a phone call. Their customer service is a joke as is their service network.

I doubt I'll be buying another Skoda despite loving my Octavia. I'll either go with a wide dealer network & buy a Focus ST or have some proper fun with a lousy dealer network & buy a Renault Megane.

[joel0407]

What did you contacted them about?

Dealers were very unsure what options were and I couldn't get definate answers on somethings.

I was told by Trivet Skoda in Blacktown Sydney that they could not order a Yeti with the options I wanted because Skoda Australia had too much stock and they were not ordering any at the time. I sent a message through the Skoda Australia Face Book page because I didn't know anyother way of contacting them at the time. I was told they (Skoda) would look in to it and call me back. A week later I contacted Skoda Nowra and they said they knew nothing of it and accepted my order.

I wanted to order Annapurna wheels but I was quoted $1700. The dealer said there was no code to order them instead of the standard Spizberg (Spelling) wheels. Since there was no code, they had to order the wheels through spare parts, meaning I would have 8 wheels. The Annanpurna are the same size, just a differnet style. They are a 89 pound option in the UK. All the pictures in the brochure show the Annapura wheels.

The picture of the interior for the 4x4 model in the brochure is not avalible in Australia. Could marketing not find a camera?

The "sound system" option is not explained at all in the brochure and no dealers could tell me what it includes.

I was told by dealers that there was no Yeti with the "Off Road Tech" in Australia, then walked out to their yard and said "What about this one"?. Turns out it was ordered standard for all 2011 delivered Yeti but then changed to an option in 2012. None of the Skoda stock coding was ever updated.

The brochure says tinted windows are standard but there is an option for privacy glass. Either all the Yeti I have seen have privacy glass or only the rear windows get tinted as standard? No one knows.

None of the dealers until Nowra would provide me with commercial pricing. I am salary sacraficing through a goverment department. I was considering just getting a Toyota Hilux because it saves me near $10,000 getting Goverment pricing. Makes up a little for the rubbish pay.

The majority of what I learned was via internet searches and forums. Then it was hard to know what I'll be getting because Skoda keeps changing things. I have seen 3 differnet brochures in less than 12 months.

All the Australian delivered Yeti have had tow prep as standard and it's not currently an otpion. Who knows if the next shipment that might change and I'll end up without it?

I'm told it's part in parcel with buying a European vehicle but I dont see why it has to be?

Things like including the wheel code to the dealers for Annapurna wheels should be simple admin. Most if not all of these things could be fixed pretty easy. Skoda wont survive here at there current rate. They have good vehicles nad hense why I have still ordered one but come on.

[Transporter]

You have every right to be angry about that. This problem is not just Skoda, there are other more popular brands that don't allow ordering what is available elsewhere and they often don't know what features are coming in the new models. So much for the computers everywhere.

The one should be able to order and change that order till the last second his/hers car is entering the production, or at least have that option.