VW Australia survey

[Tony Tiggy]

Hi all, after recently picking up my new Tiguan at the end of Jan I had some serious issues with the dealership in regards to missing options and a really poor hand over experience.

I have given a very detailed account of all issues in the two surveys that VW have sent out to me but as yet I have received no reply whatsoever from VW Group Australia. This in itself is what I would consider to be the height of rudeness, what's the point of asking for feedback and then not acknowledging it or auctioning in any way?

I'd like to ask the forum members here what your experiences are and what you would suggest as the next steps I should take?

[gecko2k]

VW Australia is a very large company. It might take a while till you get a response. When did you send the letters off? Have you tried the hotline yet?

[Drift]

Businesses often employ the services of marketing companies to conduct their surveys and collate the data so I'm not terribly surprised you've had no response from that. In fact, I wouldn't hold your breath.

First things first, you need to notify the dealership in writing of your concerns going into implicit detail as to the account of service you've received to date with dates and times of conversations if possible. Also make sure you provide a copy of the original contract which outlines the options you paid for yet did not receive. Make sure you clearly state the outcome you're expecting and ensure you include such things as a free loan car for the duration of the works to install the missing options. Give them 7 days to respond advising that if you don't receive satisfactory response within this time, you'll be escalating the matter to the ACCC for assistance in settling.

Frustrating yes, but unless you adhere to this process it's going to take an awefully long time.

[brimway]

I also received an invitation to respond in a VW survey and one run by Neilsens after buying a Golf R end January. Strangely, I got an email from the dealer just this week advising me that I would receive the VW survey and , more or less, wanted me to discuss any probs prior to completing the survey. And yes, AFTER the dealer had my $55K+, I copped sh*thouse service.

I tried the formal letter writing thing to the dealer, but they responded by not responding. The whole experience was far from what I expected. My wife bought a pov pack Corolla and was treated as if she was their only customer. Her car was ready in the showroom with a big ribbon, a congratulatory placard, a full tank and a gift set of wine glasses. What I got was a1.5 hour wait while some monkey burred the screws for my personalised plates (so I drove it home with no plates), no books, no spare keys and just to add icing to the cake, the fuel light came on before I got home.

I don't expect VW to do anything constructive to make me happy, guess I'll derive my jollies from driving an amazing car.

[Pullstarter]

This really pisses me off when the dealers give the brand a bad name. I really don't see why there's a need for that kind of crappy service.

[hippyhippy]

i got a call from for a survey after having my car fixed (under warranty) there. They replaced the interior lining of the roof cause the sunroof leaked (fair enough, common issues with VW's). However, they took 3 weeks longer than quoted and i eventually had to complain to even get a loan car after the 2 weeks. They didnt put the rear view mirror back properly and after a while it had fallen off and i had to give it back to them to stick back on. They denied it was their fault when obviously it was, tried to charge my 250 bucks to stick it back on saying thats what it costed to get a guy to come in and do it, and when i complained they put the price down to 150 and said it was the absolute cost. When i got my car back, a razor which was used to clean the window was left on the passenger seat which my wife sat on and luckily didnt do any damage.

I let them know all of this had happened so I would definitely not go back to chatswood classic cars, what a horrible organization.

[mutare 23]

My wife and I bought a new 132 Tiguan and a Polo GTI on the same day. You would have thought the dealer would be falling over themselves: you would be wrong. Picked up the Polo first, had less than half a tank of juice, which we didnt realise until the next day. 4 days later the Tiguan had the same lack of fuel. When I pointed this out, they said it must have been an oversight and went and filled it. The service manager was 'surprised' that it was VW policy to supply all new cars with a full tank.

I asked for the radio codes for both vehicles. Not supplied. Booked in with them to have the vehicles plugged in to provide the codes. The salesman hadnt advised the service crew, wasted an hour with no codes for either vehicle. And the list goes on and and on.

Completed the surveys and did receive a call from VW Australia, expressing their concern at the problems we encountered, including the salesman dropping the 'F' bomb on the phone when I inquired about the issue with the radio codes.

Sales manager rang me 'alarmed' at what we had been through wanting to know what he could do to improve the 'experience'. Well, the purchases have been made and the damage in our minds very clear. We will not take our vehicles to them for servicing, but will be going to a VW specialist who I have visited and spoken to. Unlike the dealer, he is interested, informative and nearly half the price when it comes to servicing costs.

I know of two other people who have similar bad experiences with our dealer. Just wish I had known before I went throught the purchasing process.

Cheers

[Pullstarter]

I take it you'll be going to Canberra VW Centre for your servicing like I do? You can't go wrong mate, excellent service.

[kzhao19]

CVWC, did the first service there two months ago, so far so good. Recommended.

[LEEMAR]

We had no problems with the dealer whatsoever, quite the opposite...they even had the radio code available when we picked the Tiggy up. When told that we would be “invited” to complete a survey on our “experience” I thought good-o, a chance to pass on a good word about the dealer and a chance to send a rocket in VWA’s direction.

It’s disappointing that the survey is purely focussed on the dealer, giving no opportunity to comment about VWA’s:

-Inability to give dealers the pricing for MY12 accessories until months after the model release.
-Inability to supply a tow bar until 2 months after we took delivery of the vehicle.
-3 week delay in sending through details of the Roadside Assist package. Which when it did arrive also contained the card for someone else’s GTI, to be followed a week later by the kit for yet another party’s Jetta!

Our experience is that the dealer did a good job despite VWA, not for VWA.