Elise Glass Repair woes
Discussion
Dear All,
I thought I'd share my experiences with you all. This in a nutshell is what makes owning a Lotus (S2 MY2007 Elise in my case), difficult.
I live in a small sleepy village in East Dorset and the car is parked outside my house as we have no garage or private drive.
The Saturday morning before Easter Sunday there was a knock at the door. A chap out walking his dog explained that he'd noticed the windscreen and passenger side window of my beloved, had been smashed. Upon investigation, it appears that someone had taken a hammer to the windscreen as 3 circular impressions had been made on it. The side window was missing and a pile of broken glass inside and outside was the only evidence of what was there before.
So I contacted the police who were their usual disinterested selves but did add helpfully that they thought it could be poachers (I mean honest who gives a flying fluff who did what and with what?), but anyway... Armed with my crime number I contacted my insurers glass repair "specialist" Autoglass. I book a date for the work to be done, great, happy days.
The next day (easter Monday by now), I'm called by Autoglass who explain that whilst the windscreen is in stock unfortunately the passenger window is out of stock and their suppliers have no date for when it will be In stock.... Marvellous!
In something of a panic state, I emailed Cos at Sportomotive and he said to try National Windscreens, which I did but unfortunately I got the same response from them, and again a local windscreen company it was the same story.
I'm now desperate... so I contact the main dealer down here in Poole (Westover Poole) to give them their full title, though when I phoned them they were Westover Jaguar but I guess they're just a combined dealership, no worries. I'm told that only one person is in at the moment and that someone will call me back but it would probably be that (Tuesday) afternoon... well two days go by and no one calls, so I call again. Eventually I get through to their parts man, who advises that... The side window is in stock but unfortunately the windscreen is out of stock at Lotus and there's no date for when it'll be in stock.... Sorry what? The opposite of what Autoglass et al, have told me.. What I should have done is book Autoglass to do the windscreen and then Lotus Poole to do the side glass, but given the run around I've been getting, I just want to get it done, oh and I'm helpfully advised that to fit the windscreen the front clam has to be removed (good old british engineering at it's best there), which puts me off getting Autoglass et al to do it on the roadside.
Now even more desperate, I find the customer services email address for Lotus Cars over in good old Hethel. Having explained my situation, I get an email back pretty quickly to advise that there's no issue with getting windscreens or any other glass since these are current production items! What is needed is for my local dealer to do what's called a VOR order (vehicle off road / emergency) and they'd take a windscreen off the production line.
Needless to say I forwarded this to my friend at Lotus Poole, who advises that "yeah I suppose we could do that...." (I am flabbergasted). Having discussed this with a chap I now know in the trade, it turns out that this little known (to me) process is an expensive way for a dealer to get parts as they don't make any money on it and get charged a £25 admin fee.
I explained to my Poole friend that my car is not a luxury weekend car, it's my car, the one I drive every day (or did), so not having the car for the 3 weeks (at the time) was a complete pain in the arms.
Having now advised my LOTUS dealer how to get the parts they need (I know I should work for them), I was then advised that the service dept would be in touch to organise the fitting, which meant they had to get their windscreen man in to do it.... ( I mean honestly?).
a week goes by and I hear nothing, so I phone them up and I'm told that "there's only one person in at the moment but I'll get them to call you back...." I am now incandescent and advise the young lady on the phone that they have until 2pm to call me back or I'm phoning back to speak to their MD.
Funny, I then get a call from their service department. The best they can do is the 23rd May, yes the 23rd May (another at the time, four weeks away)... "ok and obviously there'll be a courtesy car available for me?" I ask, more in hope than anything, but no unfortunately there's no car available... So I pose the question, "how should I plan to get home, the 11 / 12 miles away that it is?". So we go for the 24th May as there is a car available. The process apparently will take 24 hours to complete....
I have the distinct feeling that this isn't the end of the saga... I have to get them to do two invoices for each bit of glass, so that I can claim the £2,103.17p back from my insurer. This one could run and run...
I thought I'd share my so far unhappy experiences, hopefully they'll improve by the impeccable customer service I'm going to now get! :-)
Paul.
I thought I'd share my experiences with you all. This in a nutshell is what makes owning a Lotus (S2 MY2007 Elise in my case), difficult.
I live in a small sleepy village in East Dorset and the car is parked outside my house as we have no garage or private drive.
The Saturday morning before Easter Sunday there was a knock at the door. A chap out walking his dog explained that he'd noticed the windscreen and passenger side window of my beloved, had been smashed. Upon investigation, it appears that someone had taken a hammer to the windscreen as 3 circular impressions had been made on it. The side window was missing and a pile of broken glass inside and outside was the only evidence of what was there before.
So I contacted the police who were their usual disinterested selves but did add helpfully that they thought it could be poachers (I mean honest who gives a flying fluff who did what and with what?), but anyway... Armed with my crime number I contacted my insurers glass repair "specialist" Autoglass. I book a date for the work to be done, great, happy days.
The next day (easter Monday by now), I'm called by Autoglass who explain that whilst the windscreen is in stock unfortunately the passenger window is out of stock and their suppliers have no date for when it will be In stock.... Marvellous!
In something of a panic state, I emailed Cos at Sportomotive and he said to try National Windscreens, which I did but unfortunately I got the same response from them, and again a local windscreen company it was the same story.
I'm now desperate... so I contact the main dealer down here in Poole (Westover Poole) to give them their full title, though when I phoned them they were Westover Jaguar but I guess they're just a combined dealership, no worries. I'm told that only one person is in at the moment and that someone will call me back but it would probably be that (Tuesday) afternoon... well two days go by and no one calls, so I call again. Eventually I get through to their parts man, who advises that... The side window is in stock but unfortunately the windscreen is out of stock at Lotus and there's no date for when it'll be in stock.... Sorry what? The opposite of what Autoglass et al, have told me.. What I should have done is book Autoglass to do the windscreen and then Lotus Poole to do the side glass, but given the run around I've been getting, I just want to get it done, oh and I'm helpfully advised that to fit the windscreen the front clam has to be removed (good old british engineering at it's best there), which puts me off getting Autoglass et al to do it on the roadside.
Now even more desperate, I find the customer services email address for Lotus Cars over in good old Hethel. Having explained my situation, I get an email back pretty quickly to advise that there's no issue with getting windscreens or any other glass since these are current production items! What is needed is for my local dealer to do what's called a VOR order (vehicle off road / emergency) and they'd take a windscreen off the production line.
Needless to say I forwarded this to my friend at Lotus Poole, who advises that "yeah I suppose we could do that...." (I am flabbergasted). Having discussed this with a chap I now know in the trade, it turns out that this little known (to me) process is an expensive way for a dealer to get parts as they don't make any money on it and get charged a £25 admin fee.
I explained to my Poole friend that my car is not a luxury weekend car, it's my car, the one I drive every day (or did), so not having the car for the 3 weeks (at the time) was a complete pain in the arms.
Having now advised my LOTUS dealer how to get the parts they need (I know I should work for them), I was then advised that the service dept would be in touch to organise the fitting, which meant they had to get their windscreen man in to do it.... ( I mean honestly?).
a week goes by and I hear nothing, so I phone them up and I'm told that "there's only one person in at the moment but I'll get them to call you back...." I am now incandescent and advise the young lady on the phone that they have until 2pm to call me back or I'm phoning back to speak to their MD.
Funny, I then get a call from their service department. The best they can do is the 23rd May, yes the 23rd May (another at the time, four weeks away)... "ok and obviously there'll be a courtesy car available for me?" I ask, more in hope than anything, but no unfortunately there's no car available... So I pose the question, "how should I plan to get home, the 11 / 12 miles away that it is?". So we go for the 24th May as there is a car available. The process apparently will take 24 hours to complete....
I have the distinct feeling that this isn't the end of the saga... I have to get them to do two invoices for each bit of glass, so that I can claim the £2,103.17p back from my insurer. This one could run and run...
I thought I'd share my so far unhappy experiences, hopefully they'll improve by the impeccable customer service I'm going to now get! :-)
Paul.
I’d use a different dealer... one that is more Lotus than mainstream.
I always got the impression that Lotus was a hobby for Westover.
Front clam doesn’t “need” removing, they can get enough movement by loosening the bolts nearest doors (top and bottom).
If you have a hardtop, make sure it is fitted when the screen is changed.
I always got the impression that Lotus was a hobby for Westover.
Front clam doesn’t “need” removing, they can get enough movement by loosening the bolts nearest doors (top and bottom).
If you have a hardtop, make sure it is fitted when the screen is changed.
cre8toruk said:
Dear All,
I thought I'd share my experiences with you all. This in a nutshell is what makes owning a Lotus (S2 MY2007 Elise in my case), difficult.
I live in a small sleepy village in East Dorset and the car is parked outside my house as we have no garage or private drive.
The Saturday morning before Easter Sunday there was a knock at the door. A chap out walking his dog explained that he'd noticed the windscreen and passenger side window of my beloved, had been smashed. Upon investigation, it appears that someone had taken a hammer to the windscreen as 3 circular impressions had been made on it. The side window was missing and a pile of broken glass inside and outside was the only evidence of what was there before.
So I contacted the police who were their usual disinterested selves but did add helpfully that they thought it could be poachers (I mean honest who gives a flying fluff who did what and with what?), but anyway... Armed with my crime number I contacted my insurers glass repair "specialist" Autoglass. I book a date for the work to be done, great, happy days.
The next day (easter Monday by now), I'm called by Autoglass who explain that whilst the windscreen is in stock unfortunately the passenger window is out of stock and their suppliers have no date for when it will be In stock.... Marvellous!
In something of a panic state, I emailed Cos at Sportomotive and he said to try National Windscreens, which I did but unfortunately I got the same response from them, and again a local windscreen company it was the same story.
I'm now desperate... so I contact the main dealer down here in Poole (Westover Poole) to give them their full title, though when I phoned them they were Westover Jaguar but I guess they're just a combined dealership, no worries. I'm told that only one person is in at the moment and that someone will call me back but it would probably be that (Tuesday) afternoon... well two days go by and no one calls, so I call again. Eventually I get through to their parts man, who advises that... The side window is in stock but unfortunately the windscreen is out of stock at Lotus and there's no date for when it'll be in stock.... Sorry what? The opposite of what Autoglass et al, have told me.. What I should have done is book Autoglass to do the windscreen and then Lotus Poole to do the side glass, but given the run around I've been getting, I just want to get it done, oh and I'm helpfully advised that to fit the windscreen the front clam has to be removed (good old british engineering at it's best there), which puts me off getting Autoglass et al to do it on the roadside.
Now even more desperate, I find the customer services email address for Lotus Cars over in good old Hethel. Having explained my situation, I get an email back pretty quickly to advise that there's no issue with getting windscreens or any other glass since these are current production items! What is needed is for my local dealer to do what's called a VOR order (vehicle off road / emergency) and they'd take a windscreen off the production line.
Needless to say I forwarded this to my friend at Lotus Poole, who advises that "yeah I suppose we could do that...." (I am flabbergasted). Having discussed this with a chap I now know in the trade, it turns out that this little known (to me) process is an expensive way for a dealer to get parts as they don't make any money on it and get charged a £25 admin fee.
I explained to my Poole friend that my car is not a luxury weekend car, it's my car, the one I drive every day (or did), so not having the car for the 3 weeks (at the time) was a complete pain in the arms.
Having now advised my LOTUS dealer how to get the parts they need (I know I should work for them), I was then advised that the service dept would be in touch to organise the fitting, which meant they had to get their windscreen man in to do it.... ( I mean honestly?).
a week goes by and I hear nothing, so I phone them up and I'm told that "there's only one person in at the moment but I'll get them to call you back...." I am now incandescent and advise the young lady on the phone that they have until 2pm to call me back or I'm phoning back to speak to their MD.
Funny, I then get a call from their service department. The best they can do is the 23rd May, yes the 23rd May (another at the time, four weeks away)... "ok and obviously there'll be a courtesy car available for me?" I ask, more in hope than anything, but no unfortunately there's no car available... So I pose the question, "how should I plan to get home, the 11 / 12 miles away that it is?". So we go for the 24th May as there is a car available. The process apparently will take 24 hours to complete....
I have the distinct feeling that this isn't the end of the saga... I have to get them to do two invoices for each bit of glass, so that I can claim the £2,103.17p back from my insurer. This one could run and run...
I thought I'd share my so far unhappy experiences, hopefully they'll improve by the impeccable customer service I'm going to now get! :-)
Paul.
That's shocking and just so amatuer.I thought I'd share my experiences with you all. This in a nutshell is what makes owning a Lotus (S2 MY2007 Elise in my case), difficult.
I live in a small sleepy village in East Dorset and the car is parked outside my house as we have no garage or private drive.
The Saturday morning before Easter Sunday there was a knock at the door. A chap out walking his dog explained that he'd noticed the windscreen and passenger side window of my beloved, had been smashed. Upon investigation, it appears that someone had taken a hammer to the windscreen as 3 circular impressions had been made on it. The side window was missing and a pile of broken glass inside and outside was the only evidence of what was there before.
So I contacted the police who were their usual disinterested selves but did add helpfully that they thought it could be poachers (I mean honest who gives a flying fluff who did what and with what?), but anyway... Armed with my crime number I contacted my insurers glass repair "specialist" Autoglass. I book a date for the work to be done, great, happy days.
The next day (easter Monday by now), I'm called by Autoglass who explain that whilst the windscreen is in stock unfortunately the passenger window is out of stock and their suppliers have no date for when it will be In stock.... Marvellous!
In something of a panic state, I emailed Cos at Sportomotive and he said to try National Windscreens, which I did but unfortunately I got the same response from them, and again a local windscreen company it was the same story.
I'm now desperate... so I contact the main dealer down here in Poole (Westover Poole) to give them their full title, though when I phoned them they were Westover Jaguar but I guess they're just a combined dealership, no worries. I'm told that only one person is in at the moment and that someone will call me back but it would probably be that (Tuesday) afternoon... well two days go by and no one calls, so I call again. Eventually I get through to their parts man, who advises that... The side window is in stock but unfortunately the windscreen is out of stock at Lotus and there's no date for when it'll be in stock.... Sorry what? The opposite of what Autoglass et al, have told me.. What I should have done is book Autoglass to do the windscreen and then Lotus Poole to do the side glass, but given the run around I've been getting, I just want to get it done, oh and I'm helpfully advised that to fit the windscreen the front clam has to be removed (good old british engineering at it's best there), which puts me off getting Autoglass et al to do it on the roadside.
Now even more desperate, I find the customer services email address for Lotus Cars over in good old Hethel. Having explained my situation, I get an email back pretty quickly to advise that there's no issue with getting windscreens or any other glass since these are current production items! What is needed is for my local dealer to do what's called a VOR order (vehicle off road / emergency) and they'd take a windscreen off the production line.
Needless to say I forwarded this to my friend at Lotus Poole, who advises that "yeah I suppose we could do that...." (I am flabbergasted). Having discussed this with a chap I now know in the trade, it turns out that this little known (to me) process is an expensive way for a dealer to get parts as they don't make any money on it and get charged a £25 admin fee.
I explained to my Poole friend that my car is not a luxury weekend car, it's my car, the one I drive every day (or did), so not having the car for the 3 weeks (at the time) was a complete pain in the arms.
Having now advised my LOTUS dealer how to get the parts they need (I know I should work for them), I was then advised that the service dept would be in touch to organise the fitting, which meant they had to get their windscreen man in to do it.... ( I mean honestly?).
a week goes by and I hear nothing, so I phone them up and I'm told that "there's only one person in at the moment but I'll get them to call you back...." I am now incandescent and advise the young lady on the phone that they have until 2pm to call me back or I'm phoning back to speak to their MD.
Funny, I then get a call from their service department. The best they can do is the 23rd May, yes the 23rd May (another at the time, four weeks away)... "ok and obviously there'll be a courtesy car available for me?" I ask, more in hope than anything, but no unfortunately there's no car available... So I pose the question, "how should I plan to get home, the 11 / 12 miles away that it is?". So we go for the 24th May as there is a car available. The process apparently will take 24 hours to complete....
I have the distinct feeling that this isn't the end of the saga... I have to get them to do two invoices for each bit of glass, so that I can claim the £2,103.17p back from my insurer. This one could run and run...
I thought I'd share my so far unhappy experiences, hopefully they'll improve by the impeccable customer service I'm going to now get! :-)
Paul.
If Lotus want to sell £100k + cars they really need to get their act together on customer care.
to replace. Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff