Why we didn't buy a Skoda!

[SeanyQ]

Seeing the "Where are all the Skoda?" type threads, has motivated me to post this.
The weekend before last, my partner & I were hunting for a new $25k - $30k car.
We decided to give the Skoda Roomster a go. Seeing as sales for this vehicle have been completely abismal (unless you call 80 sales in over 7 months of trying, anything other than disatrous!) & coinciding with the end of the financial year, we thought we'd be in for a good deal.
After 10 or so minutes of looking at the Roomster inside & out at the "Zupps" Skoda in Brisbane, we realised we weren't going to get any kind of customer service unless we asked for it (even though there was only 1 other couple in the whole lot. Who were looking at the Octavia's).
My partner went into the showroom to ask about the Roomster & was given a brochure (the cheapest & nastiest 1 page car brochure I have ever seen!), he asked how much they were selling them for "look at the website" was the response! Upon hearing this, I decided I wanted to see for myself. I went into the showroom and said "without having to look at the website, can you tell me how much you're selling the Roomster for?"
"26 to 30 grand, depending on the model" was the answer before he literally ran out the door, across the road & over to the Mitsubishi/Subaru part of Zupps.
I was left standing there flabbergasted. I then watched as the remaining two salesmen acted like a pair of bitches on heat towards the couple looking at the Octavia. I was almost tempted to wait & see if they would start dry humping the couples legs!
This lead me to the realisation that this is why Skoda sells next to no Roomsters in this country.
My partner & I are both early 30's. The couple looking at the Octavia were probably early 40's, with children. As a result we were completely dismissed without even taking the Roomster for a test drive. The dealers preferred to salivate all over the middle aged couple & hopefully settle on a sale to them.

We were extremely interested in the Roomster. I personally hoped Skoda would do well in Australia, to encourage SEAT back into the country (now there's a brand I'd even put up with this crap level of service for). It was stylish & modern (unlike the dated, 90's looking Octavia), only visible downside to the Roomster was the $2 feeling steering wheel.
Instead, I walked out of the lot knowing exactly why the Roomster is failing. How many Roomster buyers are going to be aged over 40? They've marketed the car with pic's of surfboards, bikes etc. Yet when that demographic walks into their showroom, they are completely snubbed.
The Octavia's never going to sell in big numbers either, because it is one of the most dated looking cars on the market & is way too over priced for what it is.

Within 2 days of this experience, we now have a brand new Citroen C4 Auto with a full glass roof for $25,990 on the road, on order.
The Citroen dealer was a good person, who was persistent & knew his job. At the end of the day, we'll end up with a much better looking, better value, higher quality car from a dealer who deserves our business!!
Good luck in Australia Skoda, if Zupps is the sort of dealership you want to have representing your company!

Quote from Zupps manager found on skoda.com.au:
"Our dealership is all about the experience for our customers. They can expect a warm and friendly welcome from a professional, knowledgeable team who are happy to go the extra mile.
- Peter Thompson"

Yeah, good one Peter. You just keep telling yourself that hey!

[MJKooLio]

Have you written this to them? Sent it via email? I sure hells would!

I understand what has happened and have recieved it a few times!

Best of luck with yout PSA purchase (Citroen) I'm sick and tired of mine... and the Skoda dealership service here is fantastic (Perth), even not owning one I was invited to Skoda Day http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...reply&p=182151 and the dealersip woman is fantastic! Next car I would purchase and will be from a female... not sure why...

[STV4SYT]

They did u a favour.

As a colleague of mine put, "It's quite obvious that the person that designed the front has never even met the person who designed the rear"

and probably 2nd cousin of the guy that designed the prius.

[SeanyQ]

Have you written this to them? Sent it via email? I sure hells would!

I understand what has happened and have recieved it a few times!

Best of luck with yout PSA purchase (Citroen) I'm sick and tired of mine... and the Skoda dealership service here is fantastic (Perth), even not owning one I was invited to Skoda Day http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...reply&p=182151 and the dealersip woman is fantastic! Next car I would purchase and will be from a female... not sure why...

I just sent a copy off to Skoda.
The last new car I bought (a Kia Rio) was from a female. She was much better than the males I had dealt with prior. Unfortunately there are none working at this hopeless Skoda dealership....We were nearly tempted to take a drive over the border to the Tweed Heads dealership, before deciding it's not worth the drive just to risk receiving the same level of service down there.
Skoda head office needs to hire some "mystery shoppers" to get out there & see how bad the service is for themselves. They won't last another 3 years in this country if they keep going the way they are.

[SeanyQ]

They did u a favour.

As a colleague of mine put, "It's quite obvious that the person that designed the front has never even met the person who designed the rear"

and probably 2nd cousin of the guy that designed the prius.

Hahaha!! Yeah we feel pretty happy now when we look at the C4 compared to the Roomster. Had we received some good service from Skoda, we may have signed for it without giving Citroen a chance. Things happen for a reason hey!?

[mrx]

I've had similar experiences at various dealerships over the years, particularly VW & Subaru. Thankfully, as MJKoolio says above, the service at Skoda in Perth is top notch. The most uniformly helpful and non-pretentious service that I have received has come from Mazda dealers.

[brad]

Car sales guys must be the laziest buggers on the planet. It's like leaning on a shovel is too hard for them.

It amazes me that you read all this crap about how the Automotive sales Industry has lifted their game, etc but you just don't see it.

I originally started Skoda shopping in November last year and while the sales staff seemed attentive & helpful, their prices were just hopeless. I was buying through a lease company (so Corporate prices) and it was cheaper to buy a GTI Golf than a vRS Skoda (after discounts & trade-in was taken into account). Why would you bother if Skoda is supposed to be the price leader?

The VW dealer wasn't much better - they certainly didn't bother to chase the sale.

I was all ready to buy either a Golf Pacific or a GTSport 1.4 & was at VWwatercooled doing some research & wandered into the Skoda section. Noticed some comments about Skoda discounts & a new dealership opening near where i work in Campbelltown. I wandered in to the new dealership and was immediately approached by a female salesperson who was yet to sell her first Skoda. She knew her product and she worked bloody hard pointing out the features of the various models & what she thought were the positives & negatives.

She offered to get my car valued & quote some prices on some floor stock 1.8T & vRS in both wagon & liftback. In the end I got about $4000 more (than anywhere else inc another Skoda dealer) trade-in on my old Golf & free onroads/stamp duty/dealer delivery. Take all that into account & the Skoda starts becoming competitive - 1.8T Elegance liftback for about the same price as a Golf 2.0 Comfortline or a Mazda3 diesel.

This saleslady followed up on my initial visit & worked hard to get my sale.

I took my kids to the dealership the other day for a 2nd look & they fell in love with the Roomster. I'd probably consider one if it had the 2.0 diesel.

Zupps - haven't they got a bad rep for Subaru too?

[gregozedobe]

I think it is a bit of an (un)lucky dip what sort of a salesperson you get to deal with (or not). I've had bad and good experiences, yet other people have had the opposite experience at the very same dealers.

I certainly vote with my feet, but you need to go back afterwards and tell the dealer principal why you didn't purchase from his business if you want to have an impact on the people you are angry at (ie the sales person/s who didn't want to sell to you). I did this with the last Ford I bought (and I'll bet that particular salesman regretted not trying a bit harder the day I went in after his boss finished with him).

[STV4SYT]

I dont tolerate f**kwit sales people at all. The most annoying ones are the ones that blatantly lie. I will always give them a minute of freeflow bulls**t to suss them out. If i dont like em ill walk away. I enjoy the look on their face when they realise that u know more about what u are buying than they do.

I also recently bought a decent TV and walked out of about 10 stores due to the attitudes and slack sales people. the guy i bought it off after 10 seconds i had decided thats who i would buy from as he had the right demeanor and didnt talk down to me, he also knew how to sel, which im afraid is a pretty rare skill among many of the sales people i have encountered in teh past few months of buying cars and TV'S

[WABIT]

good on ya for this, i support your decision 100%

wabit