Ugh warranty woes 1 day out of new car warranty

[mmanda]

Hi Guys,

I'm feeling a little frustrated with my local VW Service experience... thought I'd vent here and get your opinions. I've owned my MkV GTI Golf 6spd for just a little over a month. After 3 weeks of ownership my passenger front door lock failed. I phoned the closest VW service dept around Sept 15th to book it in under warranty. The soonest they could see my car was Sept 29th. I explained to the service dept that my new car warranty expired on the 28th September and I was told that was ok, that VW had a period of time after the warranty expired where they'd honour a repair under 'good will' so I proceeded to book the car in and put up with not being able to open my passenger front door for a few weeks.

On September 23rd my Allianz New Car Warranty extension was paid in full via Southern Cross VW and all organised.

So Sept 29th comes around, I drop off my GTI... give them the extended warranty policy number and away I go. Later that day I'm phoned with an update. Apparently the door lock has failed. Allianz rejected to pay for the repair work as they disputed the fault occurred whilst the car was still in it's new car warranty period. Allianz only had the policy for 2 days. Fair enough, I'm ok with that.

So now my car is stuck in the VW Service Garage awaiting VW Australia to approve the repair work under their 'good will' policy. I was told this takes a minimum of 3 days. 3 DAYS!!! I could pick the car up but was told when the warranty work is approved I'd have to go through another waiting period due to the service dept being heavily booked out weeks in advance.

I'm feeling a little dejected... the service dept was too busy to see my car, the fault occurred well under the warranty time.. and now I've got to wait all this time just to get approval from VWA?????

What's everyone's thoughts on this? I kinda feel like this is poor customer service, but am also in mixed minds about it as well.... i understand they are busy but geeez can't they back date it, I had the car booked in whilst it was under warranty!!!

[OilBurna]

crap as you reported the fault and booked in within the warranty period they should fix it, my wife's A class had the ECU (cost $3k) replaced 3 weeks out of warranty without question, depends if they want to keep loyal customers.

[mmanda]

crap as you reported the fault and booked in within the warranty period they should fix it, my wife's A class had the ECU (cost $3k) replaced 3 weeks out of warranty without question, depends if they want to keep loyal customers.

Thanks for the reply. Did they make you wait any period of time for VWA to approve the warranty repair? Or did they just fix it?

[DionM]

It's a crap situation for as Allianz have stated, it happened under new car warranty. There should be no issue of "goodwill" as it happened under the original warranty, and you reported it as such. I think the dealer is just being lazy. I bet they were hoping the aftermarket warranty would cover it, and now it hasn't, they have to do legwork with VWA.

[Getti]

3 days to have VW look at the claim sounds crazy, I would think that your dealer should be doing their best to tell VW of the inconvenience this is causing the owner by waiting this long. Surely the processing takes little more than 10 minutes ... but it is just taking them 3 days to get to that 10 minute process!

I would have also thought that the dealer would be going to a bit of trouble to make sure they "impress you" during your early ownership days to have you come back to their more often. By this I mean sweezing you in after VW process the claim ... knowing you have already waited a few weeks.

Without trying to highjack your thread, I know there is often the debate about whether to have the car serviced at the dealer or a competitor, but while my dealer continues to offer outstanding service and going out of their way to make sure I am happy ... I will continue to return, even if the cost is slightly higher. I hope your dealer adopts the same philosophy.

[mmanda]

Thanks guys...

Well I just got off the phone with a service lackie and then the customer relations manager.. they won't budge. I was very firm, implied I wont return.. that I feel they aren't offering good customer service yada yada yada

I'm still waiting on VWA to approve the repair. Funny thing is the service lackie yesterday said that I could pay for it myself and get reimbursed later he quoted over $600 for the repair. The Customer Relations manager just said the repair was $458

WTF???

[NabzGTI]

To make light out of a bad situation, tell them to give you a replacement car (preferably Golf R) while VW Australia makes their decision.. then go and thrash that around. If they make you keep the car while they make a decision, tell them that they are liable if the car gets broken into for the lock not working.

[mmanda]

Like your style NabzGTI

I've told them to fix it. I'm gonna pay for it and get reimbursed later. I can't bare the drama of this! I dont think this particular dealer are going to be servicing my GTI.

Any locals care to share if this type of service is normal for this dealer?

I must say on the 2 occasions I went in to look at the MK6 GTI I experienced very lack lustre service. I should have expected the same in service then maybe I'd have not been so disappointed???

[ian]

I'd be ringing Consumer affairs, i know Victoria are pretty bad for consumer rights , but if you had an appointment booked in 2 weeks prior to the warranty running out they would not have a leg to stand on , I hope you have kept all relevant documents , like the card with the booking date on it, personally I'd refuse to pay demanding that they fix it under the terms of the 3 year warranty,

[mmanda]

I don't have a card with a booking date on it. I did it all over the phone.

[aaaaah]

Don't pay for it yourself.

You notified them that it was faulty while you were in the new car warranty period. They cannot deny you a warranty fix if their closest available time was outside that period.

If you had first notified them on the 29th it would be different.

My climate control displays were failing and I booked in for a replacement in early August. The earliest time available was the 31st of August and the unit was replaced under warranty despite the new car warranty having expired on the 22nd. It's now having problems with controlling air flow when the air conditioner is switched on and is booked in for next Tuesday (6th) for a warranty replacement.

[ian]

I don't have a card with a booking date on it. I did it all over the phone.

It doesn't matter , they were booked out , dig your heals in and demand that it be fixed under the Warranty, tell them you'll go on radio and expose them , there's nothing like bad publicity to get what your rightly deserve, In Sydney I'd ring Allan Jones or Ray Hadley they love to get stuck into these kind of dealerships not honouring the Warranty as implied , One day out should not even come into it, Name the Dealership on here so others can steer clear in the future.

[mmanda]

Good news!

I phoned VW Aus Customer Care and they were able to push it through for me!



So I'm not out of pocket $458 for the weekend and am picking it up later today!

Thanks for all your comments guys, you helped steer me in the right direction.

[OilBurna]

well done good outcome... was it essendon vw??

[mmanda]

Yeh it was oilburna

When I picked up the car I also voiced my grievances with the service I received. It was a waste of time. The Workshop Manager just didn't get it.. he was defensive and just didnt seem to want to see where i was coming from. He got flustered with me, tried talking over me at times... in the end i just said this is clearly a waste of my time and left it at that.

It's funny isn't it... if you have a customer sitting there saying they have experienced service a particular way, wouldnt you just listen to them, appreciate where they were coming from and then try get them back again so you can dazzle them the time after???

This was more drama than I can be bothered with. So in Nov 2010 when the service is due, I'll drive to the other side of town I hear Barloworld are good and also Camberwell VW????

Nice to have my car back and to be able to open the door again! Its a bloody hassle not being able to open the front passenger door.

GEEZ tho I LOVE this car, its just awesome