Communication between the dealer and you

[Gti Dave]

I hope you aren't speaking too soon, see how you go after you have paid a proper deposit and signed an official contract, as that's when the attentiveness seems to drop off.

It seems that once they've made the sale many salespeople tend to concentrate their energy on the next prospect (ie one who hasn't signed on the dotted line yet).

It makes sense if you think about it from the short-term perspective of someone who makes most of their income from commissions and changes employers frequently.

Yep can't agree more and especially when these sales people have a monthly quota to meet and if they don't (2 or more months in a row) then they're out (i.e. get the boot). That's why they are so focused on the next sale even though its repeat and happy customers who are more likely to come back to the same sales person (assuming if they're still there) and dealer for their next purchase or for referrals.

P.S. If you guys think VW's customer service is bad, FORD is far WORSE!!!

[roy]

exactly the same...no call at all after signing the contract...all they will tell you is they'll let you know when the cat is ready and that's what they'll do...if you don't call them they won't let you know any other information about your car, such as VIN, build date, etc...you have to call them to find out...it'll be easy if the dealer answer the call...

[Corey_R]

I found it interesting that the contract which I reviewed required me to pay for the car in full within 7 days of the dealer advising me it was ready, otherwise I'd be in breach of contract.

Now I travel overseas a bit so 7 days may not be possible, and I don't think it would be unreasonable to at least be given 14 days to get my act together after having waited 6 months for the car to show up.

After waiting that long, I want to get my hands on the car asap.

I'm sure that any dealer would be fine with giving you 14 days if you let them know PRIOR to your car arriving that you will be overseas at this time and ask them if they can store the car for a week or two until you return.
I know that other dealers have done this for friends (not only for going overseas either). They are usually pretty reasonable if you are open and upfront with them. If the person you speak to isn't - then call back and speak to the dealer principle. If they're not, call VW Australia and make a complaint to them. You're well within your rights to.


As for all the other comments. This is one of the reasons why VW Australia have the after purchase survey. They have this survey on the purchase of both new AND used VW cars from VW dealerships. So please take the time to respond thoughtfully and honestly.

[Glennb]

Was chatting with my dealer the other day, and he said that their dealership (Melbourne one) doesn't work on commissions, so they don't have the "sell at any cost" approach, although they are expected to sell a minimum number of cars each month to keep their jobs.

Experience has been ok so far. Hasn't been that proactive, but hasn't been evasive either. Given that we've ordered a Tig 147 already and i'm intending to buy either a GTI or R this year as well, for a spend of $100+k, i would expect the after sales service to be pretty good!

[ryano]

After driving the car off the lot I received a call from the dealer about a week or two later to see how things were going. Then after I had it back to have something fixed I got another call from the dealer to see if all was good. I have also had a call from their customer service and I even received a text message the other week and usually when I email a question through I get a response within a few hours.

This is in contrast to two other Brisbane VW dealers where I never even got a reply to my multiple online enquiries.

[team_v]

After driving the car off the lot I received a call from the dealer about a week or two later to see how things were going. Then after I had it back to have something fixed I got another call from the dealer to see if all was good. I have also had a call from their customer service and I even received a text message the other week and usually when I email a question through I get a response within a few hours.

This is in contrast to two other Brisbane VW dealers where I never even got a reply to my multiple online enquiries.

Who did you end up going with?

And I assume one of the ones you didn't hear back from was Austral?

[Serge]

Very interesting to find out what everyone thinks about their experience with the dealership. I will not be making excuses and/or protecting any VW dealership. I guess for you guys, it will be interesting to see what happens behind the scene.
Being as as a sales person, you are not our only client, we have many more people that we have to follow up. At the same time we have to sell cars and make a living. Yes, sometimes we slack in replying to email or phone calls, but it is not because we dont care or we dont want. Sometimes we get so busy that we purely forget about making a call or replying to email that we received in the morning. I am not saying its a good thing, but we all make genuine mistakes sometimes. We obviously want to make sure you have been looked after.

At the good delership, thats how it should work.
Before sale if your car is forward order:
every 2-3 weeks sales consultant will get intouch with you and will let you know where your car is at.
After delivery:
3 day follow up call- just to see if you have any questions
1 month follow up call- any questions, roadside assist card has been received or not as well as survey from VW
3 months, 6 months,1 year and so on.

[Beaker]

Serge, surely if someone calls for the second of thrid time - they should go right to the top of the list.


Everyone is busy, everyone has other stuff to do - leaving your customers with no contact is just not on in ANY buisness.


If you (an I'm not singling you out persoanly BTW ) don't have time to address an email/phonecall immediately, A one line email "Hi XXXXX query received - will attend to it ASAP" will keep 99% of people happy for a couple of days - belive me I do it all the time.

[hcvo1]

Serge, surely if someone calls for the second of thrid time - they should go right to the top of the list.


Everyone is busy, everyone has other stuff to do - leaving your customers with no contact is just not on in ANY buisness.


If you (an I'm not singling you out persoanly BTW ) don't have time to address an email/phonecall immediately, A one line email "Hi XXXXX query received - will attend to it ASAP" will keep 99% of people happy for a couple of days - belive me I do it all the time.

Well I have just rang the dealership and spoken to the guy to sold me the car. He asked me if I had on order a red GTI! I promptly said NO it was a black one!!!! He then said he needed to talk to his stock controller and will call me back soon... lets see how long it takes...

[Corey_R]

After driving the car off the lot I received a call from the dealer about a week or two later to see how things were going. Then after I had it back to have something fixed I got another call from the dealer to see if all was good. I have also had a call from their customer service and I even received a text message the other week and usually when I email a question through I get a response within a few hours.

That has been my experience with my dealer in NSW.

[hcvo1]

That has been my experience with my dealer in NSW.

It has been the same experience that I have been getting with Peugeot and Toyota, but so far my VW dealer has not done the same...

[Maverick]

As for all the other comments. This is one of the reasons why VW Australia have the after purchase survey. They have this survey on the purchase of both new AND used VW cars from VW dealerships. So please take the time to respond thoughtfully and honestly.

That's assuming the customer receives the after purchase survey and the dealer hasn't been filling them out themself as one dealer up here was doing

[Maverick]

Hi all,

Just wondering what your dealings have been like with your dealership after the contracts have been signed?

Austral VW who I had contracts with (yes multiples thanks to their stuffups) treated me like rubbish after the contract was signed and I had many many many problems with them that resulted in me taking my trade back, telling them to stick the contract and went to another dealer.

Highway Auto on the other hand treated me the same both before and after and I had excellent service. They even rushed my car through for me because they knew of the problems I had with Austral and gave me a really good price when they could have taken advantage of my position at the time.

Austral is owned by a large corporation whereas Highway are family owned. Makes all the difference.

[hcvo1]

Austral VW who I had contracts with (yes multiples thanks to their stuffups) treated me like rubbish after the contract was signed and I had many many many problems with them that resulted in me taking my trade back, telling them to stick the contract and went to another dealer.

Highway Auto on the other hand treated me the same both before and after and I had excellent service. They even rushed my car through for me because they knew of the problems I had with Austral and gave me a really good price when they could have taken advantage of my position at the time.

Austral is owned by a large corporation whereas Highway are family owned. Makes all the difference.

I have been dealing with Barloworld and they are a large corporation, do they even car about customer satisfaction? btw still no response from them after they said they would call me back in 1/2 hour (it has been 2 now)

[team_v]

Austral VW who I had contracts with (yes multiples thanks to their stuffups) treated me like rubbish after the contract was signed and I had many many many problems with them that resulted in me taking my trade back, telling them to stick the contract and went to another dealer.

Highway Auto on the other hand treated me the same both before and after and I had excellent service. They even rushed my car through for me because they knew of the problems I had with Austral and gave me a really good price when they could have taken advantage of my position at the time.

Austral is owned by a large corporation whereas Highway are family owned. Makes all the difference.

I had the same sort of issues with Austral.
Even after the open night and test drives and constant phone calls and emails, they still wouldn't even get back to me with a price or availability.

Rang around and Highway did the best deal.
I email them every 2 weeks to see if there is any updates but nothing so far as the car isn't built and they haven't been given the VIN yet.