VW Australia Faulty Vehicles- Beware Customer Care Centre does nothing

[jake]

I purchased my new Golf R on 28/7/15, it was delivered faulty and below is what has happened so far.
VW Customer Care stopped contact with me on 25/9/15 and are no longer replying to my emails.
I have changed the names to XXXX's for legal reasons.
I have a lawyer involved and a few social media releases ready to go in the next few weeks.

VW Golf R - warranty dates
28/7/15 – car delivered, interior command centre not working properly, told it was a setting that need to be configured properly (turned out to be a fault that needed to be addressed under warranty)
29/7/15 rang to book car in for interior command centre fault
6/8/15 dropped off - icc not coming on, rattle in engine.
7/8/15 picked up, nothing fixed have to take back once they receive advice from tech support.
18/8/15 rang to find out what was going on, still waiting on tech support!
28/8/15 email sent to vw customer care, complaining that nobody has got back to me.
28/8/15 rang salesman XXXX from VW, left a message for him to call back
31\8\15 XXXX rang me back and we organised for it to be dropped off on 1\9\15
1\9\15 dropped car off 4pm
2\9\15 rang to check on car, problem still being dealt with
2/9/15 reply email from vw customer care, apologising and said someone will be in touch shortly.
3/9/15 rang to check on car, having problems diagnosing the cause, will ring back tomorrow.
4/9/15 called to let me know car was ready, picked up car, still not fixed, parts ordered, should be delivered next week.
7/9/15 service centre called, golf is booked in for Friday 11/9
9/9/15 vw customer service called to apologise about not getting back to me, they asked me to call them back if i wasn't satisfied with my outcome with the dealership.
11/9/15 dropped golf off at 8:15am, icc changed for a new one, picked up at 4:15pm
12/9/15 checked icc when starting car, still not working, took over 10mins to come on.
14/9/15 rang vw to book car in again, will speak to tech support, booked in for 23rd September.
23/9/15 dropped car off 8am, 3:30pm have just been told to come and pick car up, problem still not resolved, need to video record the problem so need the vehicle overnight, no loan cars available so need to reschedule for another time!
23/9/15 another email sent to vw customer care, going on 9 weeks still not resolved.
23/9/15 booked in for Thursday 1st October - 4pm
25/9/15 reply email from vw customer care, your case adviser will be in touch in 2-3 business days
1/10/15 sent another email to vw customer care, 5 business days have passed, still no response!
1/10/15 dropped car off, given loan car, told they will call first thing in the morning.
2/10/15 vw customer care still haven't got back to me (1 week since email)
2/10/15 rang dealership to find out what is happening with my car, said they will call back
2/10/15 2:45pm called back and said they still need the car until next week, said i can leave it or pick it up and drop back next Tuesday 6/10/15 - picking it up as I am sick of driving around in courtesy cars.
6/10/15 dropped off car to leave overnight - Vw customer care still haven't replied from email sent 23/9/15
7/10/15 rang vw to check on my car, have ordered another control module for the icc (for the second time) to replace the one they fitted on 11/9/15, will call me back when it has been fitted.
8/10/15 rang to check on car, still working on it, will let me know when it is fixed.
8/10/15 no one called back, as usual, I will call them tomorrow
9/10/15 – 9:20am rang to find out what was going on - said part had turned up and would hopefully go in the car today - yesterday they told me it wad being fitted ???? Said someone (XXXX) will ring me back in 10-15mins to confirm what is actually going on.
9/10/15 – 12:30pm – rang to find out what was going on as none called me back (no surprise there), parts have been fitted – reprogramming to be completed today, ring back Saturday morning to see if it’s working.
10/10/15 – 10:40am rang to see what’s going on, cannot program the new part, have contacted tech support have to wait to hear back, cannot go any further until tech support tell them what to do next.
12/10/15 – Contacted T.XXXX – XXXX Lawyers, said she will get back to me.
14/10/15 – Follow up with T.XXXX – will get on to VW today.
15/10/15 – T.XXXX rang, is sending a letter to VW today.
16/10/15 – I rang XXXX from VW to let him know it was nothing personal but after 3 months the car still isn’t fixed and I feel I’ve waited long enough.
19/10/15 – XXXX the Dealer Principal for XXXX Motors rang, apologized about how long it has taken. Advised that VW in Germany is writing a new program for the ICC – could take 3 days could take 3 weeks – unknown wait at this stage. Said I would pick up my car on 20/10/15 and wait for a call when the new program is ready.
20/10/15 – Picked up Golf from dealership.
24/10/15 – went to use satnav and it says: Function not supported, went to use phone and it said: phone is not available!!! ICC unit is taking between 4 and 8 minutes on average to start each morning.
28/10/15 – email sent to XXXX – DP for XXXX VW about further problems with the car.

[Brendan_A]

I'd be looking at your rights with ACL( Australia Consumer Law) because it hasn't be repaired in a reasonable time frame and you have been sold a product that's doesn't work as advertised.

My wife and I had big problems with a MY14 GTI, we fought and won. Good luck.

[jai]

Time to find a new dealer mate

[DKC]

I truly feel for you as I hate dealing with dealers too. This level of service is ridiculous.

However the problem you are having seems like a common one (see other thread) and it seems that Germany is still trying to come up with a solution so there is nothing the dealer can do other than give you a loan car really.

[jake]

Thanks for the advice, I will read up on ACL.
I have actually spent (personally and through my business) over $290K in their dealership since 2008.
And yes I have found complaints about blank screens on MK7 Golf's going back to April 2014 - 18 months ago customers were being told that a patch or update was coming.

[woofy]

Sounds annoying, but looks like VW Germany are the cause rather than the dealer who appears to be just as frustrated. I've had a similar issue where Samsung kept trying to take my TV to put a new motherboard in it, when it was a known software issue. They took it twice for weeks at a time leaving us with nothing whereas it was a software fix that they just needed to resolve. Most electronic issues these days are fixed by the replace mentality, but it doesn't always work. My company has some machines that if anything appears to be ****y they just replace parts until it works. I've saved a tonne of time and money by actually just spending some time doing a few things which generally fixes the issue. I'm not even an engineer or trained in it!

[jake]

Sounds annoying, but looks like VW Germany are the cause rather than the dealer who appears to be just as frustrated. I've had a similar issue where Samsung kept trying to take my TV to put a new motherboard in it, when it was a known software issue. They took it twice for weeks at a time leaving us with nothing whereas it was a software fix that they just needed to resolve. Most electronic issues these days are fixed by the replace mentality, but it doesn't always work. My company has some machines that if anything appears to be ****y they just replace parts until it works. I've saved a tonne of time and money by actually just spending some time doing a few things which generally fixes the issue. I'm not even an engineer or trained in it!

Yes it is VW Germany's fault and that's who they are blaming.
Problem is I didn't pay my money to VW Germany (not directly anyway) I paid them, nor do i have any contact with VW Germany so no point in trying to play the blame game.......

[LukePolo]

You know what would have made all of your problems above a heck of alot better?

Customer service.

They seem to be lacking training in that particular area amongst all dealerships. Considering all it takes is less than 5 minutes a day to pick up the phone and let you know exactly where the cars at, they don't even have to lie. The key is an open communication line with the customer.

On another note, this sounds like exactly what I went through with my Holden Cruze SRI-V back in 2012. I ended up going through the channels of the ACCC and ended up in mediation with Holden. Ultimately, at the moment the car doesn't fall under lemon laws because the problem is not classed as "complete failure" as the definition of motor vehicle is to be driven from one destination to another, by Fair Trading. BUT because there is a known problem, Fair Trading can assist in putting their two cents in with some threats, a complaint to a Business that is followed through can result very negatively against them.. But seeming you've already gone to a solicitor, you probably already knew all that.

[Eaglen00b]

You know what would have made all of your problems above a heck of alot better?

Customer service.

They seem to be lacking training in that particular area amongst all dealerships. Considering all it takes is less than 5 minutes a day to pick up the phone and let you know exactly where the cars at, they don't even have to lie. The key is an open communication line with the customer.

On another note, this sounds like exactly what I went through with my Holden Cruze SRI-V back in 2012. I ended up going through the channels of the ACCC and ended up in mediation with Holden. Ultimately, at the moment the car doesn't fall under lemon laws because the problem is not classed as "complete failure" as the definition of motor vehicle is to be driven from one destination to another, by Fair Trading. BUT because there is a known problem, Fair Trading can assist in putting their two cents in with some threats, a complaint to a Business that is followed through can result very negatively against them.. But seeming you've already gone to a solicitor, you probably already knew all that.

I have yet to come across a vehicle manufacturer/dealership who provides consistently impressive customer service.

If expecting decent customer service was the norm, there'd be no need for this forum!!!

[Cossor]

OK
There is a problem with new Golf R
Important. do other new Golf R's have same problem?
I doubt it.
I suspect problem is in wiring loom.
Either a faulty connection, or else a cable connector not
inserted correctly.
I know this is not related to vehicles. However as Chief engineer of a large medical imaging company I was
requested to solve a CT Scanner problem. (In this area, not my expertise)The computer diagnostics kept
saying problem was in a particular area. This area tested correct. Finally I decided
to have all cable connection's and PCB'S socket connection's rechecked and cleaned.
This cleared the problem.
Why a problem in first case? Maintenance staff relying on computer diagnostic and not looking further!