GTI Delivery Woes

[G-rig]

Even the service deparment is a bunch of ^%$#'s. Never going back there!!

Better off going to an independent: Very happy going to Mike Weber Prestige & Performance.

[lawsy82]

I'm going to have to weigh in here... as some of you may know I have not had the best experiences myself at Austral, but in the interests of fairness...

Saturday just gone Austral had a major sales day event, and had 20+ staff on board to assist. They had GTIs going out for test drives all day, and were having to restrict those test drives due to time and car resource limitations. Not to say that in the instance quoted the salesperson treated lawsy82 with appropriate choices, but there are always two sides to every story... it's not quite as cut and dried as it comes over...


To give them some credit, Austral have (in the last couple of months) undergone a(nother) shake-up. The newly appointed (August this year) dealer principal has spent several years at Subaru dealers in the Eagers group I believe, and has made a lot of changes in personnel at all levels within Austral. It will be interesting now to see if those changes filter down into more positive experiences at the coal-face - people walking in off the street asking for good customer service.

The guys at Austral have been in touch with me recently, and are aware of the comments and criticisms that are levelled at them... They also know that I have not been an Austral fan, but having been in contact with both the dealer principal and the group managing director, they are making efforts to address the issues.

The acid test will now be if anything actually changes...

Mate I was given a choice, ur right - U can test drive only if you are buying a vehicle TODAY... And yep I was buying one on Saturday, however the good old " We are not discounting" was a little bit of putoff, because as I have mentioned in another thread - 10mins up the road i negotiated a $4,200 discount....

[JasonP]

I had a great experience with Austral when I bought my 118TSI in June 09. I'd ordered it in early March 09, & they didn't try to stuff me around at all.

However, when I went back in Sept 09 to buy my 103TDI, it was a totally different situation.

I ended up buying the diesel through Ian Boechetter Motors at Ipswich.

There were a couple of minor issues at delivery (centre console bin lid adjuster broken, & the RNS510 not displaying properly in the MFD2), however everything was sorted to my satisfaction, & I'd have no hesitation in recommending them.

I rang the Sales Manager before the GTI was released, & he invited me down to test drive the GTI on the saturday they were released. This with the full knowledge that he couldn't sell me another car at the moment, as I'd bought 2 so far this year.

I took a Steel Grey DSG GTI with 18s & Sunroof, & RNS510 for a 45 min blast.

No dramas.

Could be worth the drive out there for good service.

[pinzvidz]

The problem seems to come from the top down and the blame must lie with the dealer principal

To a degree...

and the owners attitudes filtering down.

Ah, you mean AP Eagers. I've heard horror stories from unhappy customers of not just Austral, but some other dealerships/franchises they have as well.

[Patty Mac]

Was happy with the service at Gold Coast Volkswagen ( James Frizelle's group ) when i purchased my MY09 103TDI.

[JustCruisn]

Update

Well it's Wednesday, and as promised Austral have kept their promise and delivered a suitable vehicle Today.
My friend came into work today with a bunch of flowers and a huge grin on her face. She says she has been duly compensated, flowers, tints and a few other bits to keep her happy.

I have to wait until tomorrow for a drive as it is off getting a new sound system installed this afternoon.

Well done to Austral for coming back and making sure the customer is happy.

[Lima]

That seems to be a good result in the end.

[idaho]

...Well done to Austral for coming back and making sure the customer is happy.

That is good but it appears that all the dramas could have been avoided if the dealer had been more forthcoming in the first place. The OP states in the first post that the customer was presented with something that was considerably different specification from what was ordered / anticipated and was not well presented. Surely it would be better for customer relations to call and say that cars are available but not to the requested specification and do you want to come and look at what is available.

[JustCruisn]

Surely it would be better for customer relations to call and say that cars are available but not to the requested specification and do you want to come and look at what is available.

Ding. Spot on. It's all about being open and upfront.

[MurphyTheElf]

Ding. Spot on. It's all about being open and upfront.

Damn straight - they tried to be dishonest and got caught. Just because they came good in the end doesn't make it entirely better.

Just like a guilty plea in the courtroom for attempted fraud....