Are they that bad?
Discussion
Some of them sound like the usual internet moans, but tidbits like this make me question their priorities:
Audi Customer said:
Our child lock does not work on a Q2 lease car. Not only this but on occasion we also cant open the back door from the outside. We are sitting with a 2 year old who opens the door while driving and potentially the inability to get her out of the car should there be an emergency situation. Audi thinks this is perfectly suitable and advises we can come in and get it looked at in 2 months time!!
No idea how in the unfortunate event of this going badly Audi thinks they can justify such poor service to the courts.
Their call lines hang up half the time after waiting in a queue for 20 minutes. The service centres are rude and unhelpful passing us around. Audi Road side assist says the the car is running so its fine.
No idea how in the unfortunate event of this going badly Audi thinks they can justify such poor service to the courts.
Their call lines hang up half the time after waiting in a queue for 20 minutes. The service centres are rude and unhelpful passing us around. Audi Road side assist says the the car is running so its fine.
I think half the trouble is that people think if they have hassle with the dealer then "Audi UK" will help them out and kick the dealers' arse.
In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
Sheepshanks said:
I think half the trouble is that people think if they have hassle with the dealer then "Audi UK" will help them out and kick the dealers' arse.
In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
Serco I believe now. Never used to be some 20 years ago, I know this because my mum headed up the correspondence team at Blakelands for SEAT UK. However she did say that the most commonly used line in replies was basically "all of our SEAT dealerships are independent franchises and are responsible for their own level of customer service" usually in reply to someone complaining a service technician was rude to them of something similar. Some of the complaints the used to receive though were fully "they walk among us" In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
geeks said:
Serco I believe now. Never used to be some 20 years ago, I know this because my mum headed up the correspondence team at Blakelands for SEAT UK. However she did say that the most commonly used line in replies was basically "all of our SEAT dealerships are independent franchises and are responsible for their own level of customer service" usually in reply to someone complaining a service technician was rude to them of something similar. Some of the complaints the used to receive though were fully "they walk among us"
If SEAT/Audi/whoever don't want to take responsibility for their franchises, which may be fair enough, then should they put their branding over everything to make it appear like they own the dealers? Put a Simmonds/Jones/etc sign up with a small, we sell Audi/Seat signs so it is clear that it isn't a manufacturer owned site. They seem to want the good side of things without the bad side.geeks said:
Sheepshanks said:
I think half the trouble is that people think if they have hassle with the dealer then "Audi UK" will help them out and kick the dealers' arse.
In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
Serco I believe now. Never used to be some 20 years ago, I know this because my mum headed up the correspondence team at Blakelands for SEAT UK. However she did say that the most commonly used line in replies was basically "all of our SEAT dealerships are independent franchises and are responsible for their own level of customer service" usually in reply to someone complaining a service technician was rude to them of something similar. Some of the complaints the used to receive though were fully "they walk among us" In fact all the VAG Group us a third party call centre and it's their entire job to fob you off. The dealers take no notice of them whatsoever.
We had an issue with daughter's SEAT (the dealer didn't apply the 5yr warranty, knew about it, but didn't tell us and kept the money). "SEAT UK" replied at one stage completely as if the car was an Audi!
MesoForm said:
We got a decent reply from "Audi UK" a couple of years ago when my wife got her new car - the dealer wouldn't give us the number for Audi breakdown assistance and said we should just stay in the car and press the assistance button. Audi UK got them to give it to us and said they should always give the number out.
How odd - a two second Google finds the number on the Audi website. I did ring VW Assist (it's the same people) last year and recall them being put out that I hadn't used the App.In my experience over 4 brand new Audi's and just about to collect our 5th simple answer is no but i think a lot depends on the individual dealer ability to solve or otherwise before you have to talk with Audi UK.
I have had 1 major problem with one of the cars which in effect meant it was off the road for a few weeks ( blame third party supply issues ) but the dealer dealt with Audi UK on my behalf and all was sorted without too much hassle.
I have had 1 major problem with one of the cars which in effect meant it was off the road for a few weeks ( blame third party supply issues ) but the dealer dealt with Audi UK on my behalf and all was sorted without too much hassle.
geeks said:
Serco I believe now.
It's been TTEC for the last couple for years. Think it was Capita before that.
Seems slightly odd to me that the manufacturer would want to separate itself in such a way from its customers.
Be interesting to see how things develop as most manufacturers are heading towards Agency agreements with their dealers - ie you''ll be buying a car from the manufacturer, not the dealers, they'll just hand it over to you.
It's been TTEC for the last couple for years. Think it was Capita before that.
Seems slightly odd to me that the manufacturer would want to separate itself in such a way from its customers.
Be interesting to see how things develop as most manufacturers are heading towards Agency agreements with their dealers - ie you''ll be buying a car from the manufacturer, not the dealers, they'll just hand it over to you.
geeks said:
Some of the complaints the used to receive though were fully "they walk among us"
I got on first name terms with the local dealer when I had my A5. Interior quality was awful, resulting in many trim creaks/rattles. The same dealer also tried to charge me for a timing belt replacement on my previous Audi A4 3.0 TDI. Then we had all the issues with a new Golf that averaged a dealer visit once a month. Won’t be touching the various brands in the group for the foreseeable. Plus Audis are just f
king boring looking these days.
king boring looking these days. GSX said:
We had an Audi. They were worse than that. Probably the worst marque we've ever dealt with.Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff