Works Service - Rant and advice please
Discussion
So, the AMV8 is a year old, fuse 22 has been removed, the car has been perfect and as a special treat for it's first birthday I opted for the full Works Service annual pampering. Along with the service I asked to have the gearbox oil changed to ease the gearchange, the front nearside wheel repaired, front guards fitted and a scratch that I received from a stone blended in, along with works number plates and the all important stamp! I had also spotted a small crack on the front wing that I asked them to look at.
Car collection day arrived (19th March) and sods law the battery conditioner failed and the car would not start. One call to Aston later and a very helfpful man arrived to get it going again and onto the collection truck. So added to the list was a check of the battery and a new conditioner! The driver checked the car over and various small chips (mainly rear arch) noted on the handover form then car was signed for and whisked for it's spa week!
A few days later I got a call to say that the car would be in for three weeks as the crack in front wing I had spotted was due to a manufacturing defect (substrate) and would need replacing and a respray. No problems, just get it right I said.
To cut a long story short, the car was delivered back last Friday 13th..unlucky for some and for me definitely so. Within seconds of seeing the car I noticed a rather large gap between the headlight assembly and the wing that had been replaced (large enough to put a finger through) and also a new scratch on the boot. The Car was rejected, and taken back for the work to be rectified.
The car was re-delivered on Saturday morning and the work was fine, except this time there was now a dent in the roof with scratches. My patience was finally at an end and once more the car was rejected and sent back.
This morning my contact at works service called me and the conversation went something like this:
AM rep: "So sorry that the car has come back for the second time, (laugh, laugh), no idea how that dent could have happened. Perhaps it was always there and not spotted by the driver who initially collected the vehicle? We always valet the vehicle when it arrives Sir and inspect the car again. When we did this with yor car we spotted the dent three weeks ago."
I am that sort of annoying person who is fastidious with my cars. It was immaculate (washed amd Zymoled regularly, stored in a dehmidified garage with the car cover and trickle charger connected 24/7. So you can imagine how I felt when he mentioned this, and bottom line is that the car was signed for without a dent showing on the handover form.
For a total cost of over £1,500 I have been amazed at the level of service and lack of care and attention, especially when one is paying a premium to have the car taken to le creme de la creme of Aston sevicing. When I mentioned the dreaded "C" word in compensation, it was "Sorry sir we could not consider that, but we will fix it"
So in summary I have wasted £250 in insurance, £20 in roadtax, wasted three hours in meeting the delivery guys to check the car, it has been with them for over a month, and in that time they managed to scratch the boot, dent the roof, badly fit the front headlight, and each time tried to deliver it back to me with these faults. I have also lost any trust in them to do things right.
I have asked to speak to the head of their customer services department there and instructed them not to start work until he sees it tomorrow. I have also been on the phone to AM head office and am speaking to their customer services division at Gaydon
Now of course the dent can be repaired and the roof respryaed and it is only a car. But that is so far from the point. It seems that no-one these days wants to take responsibility for their actions. If the guy had held his hand up and said, our fault we will fix it and offer you some free goodies, or money off then fine. But now that they have said there is no compensation and inferred it was me that did it in the first place I am livid.
Apologies for the rant, needed to get it off my chest and open up to the world of pistonheads advice.
Am I being too harsh, too soft? Is there any way that I can get justice?
Car collection day arrived (19th March) and sods law the battery conditioner failed and the car would not start. One call to Aston later and a very helfpful man arrived to get it going again and onto the collection truck. So added to the list was a check of the battery and a new conditioner! The driver checked the car over and various small chips (mainly rear arch) noted on the handover form then car was signed for and whisked for it's spa week!
A few days later I got a call to say that the car would be in for three weeks as the crack in front wing I had spotted was due to a manufacturing defect (substrate) and would need replacing and a respray. No problems, just get it right I said.
To cut a long story short, the car was delivered back last Friday 13th..unlucky for some and for me definitely so. Within seconds of seeing the car I noticed a rather large gap between the headlight assembly and the wing that had been replaced (large enough to put a finger through) and also a new scratch on the boot. The Car was rejected, and taken back for the work to be rectified.
The car was re-delivered on Saturday morning and the work was fine, except this time there was now a dent in the roof with scratches. My patience was finally at an end and once more the car was rejected and sent back.
This morning my contact at works service called me and the conversation went something like this:
AM rep: "So sorry that the car has come back for the second time, (laugh, laugh), no idea how that dent could have happened. Perhaps it was always there and not spotted by the driver who initially collected the vehicle? We always valet the vehicle when it arrives Sir and inspect the car again. When we did this with yor car we spotted the dent three weeks ago."
I am that sort of annoying person who is fastidious with my cars. It was immaculate (washed amd Zymoled regularly, stored in a dehmidified garage with the car cover and trickle charger connected 24/7. So you can imagine how I felt when he mentioned this, and bottom line is that the car was signed for without a dent showing on the handover form.
For a total cost of over £1,500 I have been amazed at the level of service and lack of care and attention, especially when one is paying a premium to have the car taken to le creme de la creme of Aston sevicing. When I mentioned the dreaded "C" word in compensation, it was "Sorry sir we could not consider that, but we will fix it"
So in summary I have wasted £250 in insurance, £20 in roadtax, wasted three hours in meeting the delivery guys to check the car, it has been with them for over a month, and in that time they managed to scratch the boot, dent the roof, badly fit the front headlight, and each time tried to deliver it back to me with these faults. I have also lost any trust in them to do things right.
I have asked to speak to the head of their customer services department there and instructed them not to start work until he sees it tomorrow. I have also been on the phone to AM head office and am speaking to their customer services division at Gaydon
Now of course the dent can be repaired and the roof respryaed and it is only a car. But that is so far from the point. It seems that no-one these days wants to take responsibility for their actions. If the guy had held his hand up and said, our fault we will fix it and offer you some free goodies, or money off then fine. But now that they have said there is no compensation and inferred it was me that did it in the first place I am livid.
Apologies for the rant, needed to get it off my chest and open up to the world of pistonheads advice.
Am I being too harsh, too soft? Is there any way that I can get justice?
Having used WS for many years I am suprised to read about this - however the volume of work they handle is far greater nowadays.
My experience of them is that if you remain polite and reasonable with them, then the problem should be solved. Kingsley Riding-Felce is the head guy at WS and my contact there was a very helpful chap called Chris Green.
Someone's dropped a bollock with your car (and possibly something heavier on it) and they should fix it.
djo said:
Many thanks and a fantastic car collection. Thinking of upgrading my Rangie to a supercharged as well. I will continue to remain calm and see where it gets me!
The supercharged is reasonably rapid for something the size of a small library. Also burns more more baby foxes per gallon - so bit of a win win really.
Let us know how you get on with Works Service - perhaps a fax to Kingsley might help (I don't have his email, but have Chris's if you PM me). I would have thought something saying "a bit disappointed" "I'd be interested to have your comments" that sort of thing. It generally pays to be calm and reasonable, particularly as you have nowhere else to run really. They have dropped a major clanger - so they need to resolve it to your full satisfaction.
The point on using WS coyfit, is that for some, it feels nice to send your beastie to HQ! Simple as that really. The reality is that it's buttock-clenchingly expensive and takes longer, but that's the pleasure of Astons!
Update as of Tuesday PM:
Thankfully the situation has been resolved. I have just got off the phone with the Works Service Manager John James and additionally Chris Green who have both been extremely understanding and helpful. Upshot is the car will be back with me this Thursday and hopefully even better than new as the bird lime that was on the roof on delivery has also been removed. So a big thank you to the both of them for resolving the issue to theirs and mine satisfaction. Looking forward to taking her out this weekend. Thanks again Neil for the advice.
Thankfully the situation has been resolved. I have just got off the phone with the Works Service Manager John James and additionally Chris Green who have both been extremely understanding and helpful. Upshot is the car will be back with me this Thursday and hopefully even better than new as the bird lime that was on the roof on delivery has also been removed. So a big thank you to the both of them for resolving the issue to theirs and mine satisfaction. Looking forward to taking her out this weekend. Thanks again Neil for the advice.
"It seems that no-one these days wants to take responsibility for their actions"
correct indeed. In our society it happens that we spend 3-4 times to check that the work done by someone else is fixed. Solicitors, cars, health care, buildings, managing agents,... you name it
I tend to believe that our parents and past generations took pride in what they were doing and it was only right to do a good job.
Not so now. No one wants responsibility because this could bring consequences of various kind. No one wants the bother, "it is just a job, who cares", the classic "80-20" pattern, we are just a number in a nutshell
Marketing can try to make a product desirable to the point you want to sell wife and children to buy your coveted Aston but for me, personally, it will always be the after-sale service that makes the difference
That one has to spend time on the phone, email, letters and get a "vapour lock" in the brain just to get a job done is not acceptable...
Did I use Works Services for my Aston? Only once.
If there was a massive walk out of customers when episodes of this kind happen, we would surely not hear stories like yours
Sometimes I have the impression that only terrorists are the ones taking responsability for their dreadful actions in our society
correct indeed. In our society it happens that we spend 3-4 times to check that the work done by someone else is fixed. Solicitors, cars, health care, buildings, managing agents,... you name it
I tend to believe that our parents and past generations took pride in what they were doing and it was only right to do a good job.
Not so now. No one wants responsibility because this could bring consequences of various kind. No one wants the bother, "it is just a job, who cares", the classic "80-20" pattern, we are just a number in a nutshell
Marketing can try to make a product desirable to the point you want to sell wife and children to buy your coveted Aston but for me, personally, it will always be the after-sale service that makes the difference
That one has to spend time on the phone, email, letters and get a "vapour lock" in the brain just to get a job done is not acceptable...
Did I use Works Services for my Aston? Only once.
If there was a massive walk out of customers when episodes of this kind happen, we would surely not hear stories like yours
Sometimes I have the impression that only terrorists are the ones taking responsability for their dreadful actions in our society
All is well than ends well. The car is back in my care. All the work has been done and I have managed to find a parking space at work with no cars either side....don't want it knocked so soon now do we 
I now even have a umbrella snuggled up in the boot as a peace offering from Works Service.
Should it have needed numerous calls? Certainly not
Am I happy with the final result? Indeed I am, especially Chris and John
Will I use them again? Definitely...the question is will they want me back
I now even have a umbrella snuggled up in the boot as a peace offering from Works Service.
Should it have needed numerous calls? Certainly not
Am I happy with the final result? Indeed I am, especially Chris and John
Will I use them again? Definitely...the question is will they want me back
coyft, completely agree they did do all those things, but in the end did the right thing and promised a full investigation as to how this happened in the first place. The thing I have come to realise is that accidents do happen, it is how they resolve them that is important. Hopefully when I take the car back next year they will be more careful!
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