Skoda service standards??

[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.

[bobski]

They won't understand until people start fighting for their deposits back. I, like you, can deal with them being disorganised, but I hate it when people don't call me back when they say they will, or simply palm you off to someone else. Ownership of problems is so important in any customer service role. Which is why so many companies do it wrong.

[woofy]

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.

I'd get the ST, if I were due now I'd order one sight unseen, although dealing with Ford servicing again....ugh.....Renault you will run the big risk of Gremlins that Renault don't want to know about while simultaneously reaming you....

[2009fsi]

It's all the same place, run by VW Group I think Joel.
The points made by D-V & Transporter are quite valid, but think there has been a real decrease in customer support regardless.
Years ago my father bought a Peugeot 403 when most people had never heard of them. The car was really reliable, and parts were dearer than say a holden or Austin of the day, when they were needed, but generally they were say 20% dearer & in stock.
These days the world is a much smaller & faster place when it comes to transport, but auto importers have used that to cut costs rather than improve customer service. Just-in-time usually isn't. And the cost of getting spares when the manufacturer is saving money by not keeping any stock has been totally passed on to the customer. VW/Skoda have never adjusted parts prices for the significant rise in the FX of the A$, or for the enormous drop in shipping costs since the GFC hit. They apply the old Toyota & Qantas adage; charge as much as the market will bear, plus a bit more. The prices we're asked to pay here are more than double other Skoda markets in several examples I've chased up. I see SuperSkoda.com has expanded beyond Europe & established new franchiases in China, Taiwan, India & Ukraine (Greece now closed I see). If the younger owners in the Octavia forum keep ordering from them at the rate some do, it may encourage someone like SS to set up an alternate parts & price option in Australia. One can only hope.

[MISS VDUB]

Perhaps this isn't an issue with Skoda but the dealership themselves getting everything organised and processed.

Gary Cricks in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast have been amazing, i've received everything super quick and they even follow up with me on email and phone to ensure I am happy and have everything I need. Definitely no complaints this end!

[BluChris]

It was frustration with servicing availability, cost and competence that got me out of my Skoda and into a Focus. I didn't want to spend the $ or dump what I still regard as a very good car. Just couldn't take the stuffing around and excessive cost any more.

I have no illusions about Ford service but there are many more dealers so the odds are more in your favour of finding a reasonable dealer. Fixed price servicing for 6 years/105,000 km too - VAG take serious note!!! Transporter, I know your views on this issue but for many peeple it isn't so much the amount but the certainty. The Focus fixed service prices are higher than Mitsubishi or Toyota and I'm fine with that. They are still less than VAG on average and they are predictable above all else. Owners know what they are up for.

On the Focus ST - I have only the cooking version (Trend manual) but it is a very well sorted car with that keen to play feel all good chassis have. The ST should be a fine drive.