[r5e]

Maybe I'm just having a whinge that was sparked by what I posted here, but I think maybe I should share the letter I sent to the dealership in here. I've removed any incriminating names, but you'll still get the gist.

Hi XXXX,

I trust you've enjoyed your trip?

Just a quick note to express my angst at the process that unfolded while you were away. I will not get into too many details and I don't really want to waste your time or mine on an argument, but I'll just take a few points and note them here:

1. Before I signed the contract, you checked availability of the car and said that it was with another dealer, so it could be easily trucked down and it would be "days, not weeks" to get here. However, after extensive nagging from me, I was constantly told the vehicle was "on its way" and it was the trucking company's responsibility and was out of the control of the dealership. I could never get an honest answer on delivery date/time. I was clearly lied to on several occasions, as finally on Monday 13th I was told that it was being loaded on the truck that afternoon - after I'd been told every other time that it was already on it's way! (It's only 4-5 hours from XXXX). There were many other examples where I had clearly been lied to, but I won't list them all here.
2. I expected to be ripped off on the trade in. I've put that behind me. I never expected a private sale value to be given and I'd budgeted on a value well within the lower range of trade-in value acceptability. The offer I got was insulting and clearly it could be as you'd already won my business with the signed contract and deposit. I've heard all the justifications about this from you and your staff, none of which still really wash as even with your maximum re-valued offer and your point on the build date vs the registration date, you were still well under the value you should have been for a trade in. Because of this, I had to seek a private sale, which I achieved easily at well over twice the price of your offer within a few days. The reason I had not wanted to do this in the first place was that it left my wife without a car. Because of the lies mentioned in point 1, she was without a car for work for nearly a week and we all ended up incurring significant time, expense and inconvenience to get around the late delivery of her new car.
3. The new car had 150kms on the odometer when I took delivery of it. I know the technicalities of demo models vs floor stock with the demo model being registered to the dealership instead of floor stock requiring trade plates if driven. I can fully understand and expect 20-40km on a new car. 150km regardless of the technical definition is NOT a NEW car, but a demo model. Please don't give me any excuses or to justify why I should consider it new simply because it was only demoed (or driven as a staff car) with trade plates on it. IT HAD 150KMS ON THE CLOCK. It also had some minor marks on the paint (nothing that won't polish off with correct effort and care) from it's time at the XXXX dealership where it had been driven for just over a month. It was clearly hurriedly cleaned up as could be seen when it was parked in the late afternoon sun (though during delivery at your dealership it was under the shade). I'm not upset about the cleanliness at all - I don't really care about that if it seems like I'm nit-picking, but I am pointing out that the car was not new and was hastily taken from someone who was using it at the very last minute and then passed off to me as new.

To summarise, I'm very happy with the car (I'm not going to use the word "new"). I'm very happy that my wife can now use it again for her work. I'm not happy that I've been lied to constantly about the delivery. I'm not happy that I've been inconvenienced through poor communication and lack of follow up. I'm not happy that I've paid a new car price for a demo model.

I don't want to tell you how to do your job. I don't want to tell your dealership how to improve its customer facing image. I don't want to argue or patronise. I will leave these this thought for how things could have been better for your dealership with managing customer expectations: "It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than over-promise and under-deliver". I feel that my experience with your dealership during this process has felt a lot like the last part of that statement and was not properly managed by your staff, who complained about being unable to help as they were "just the middleman", when clearly the middleman was not doing the job of interfacing to the customer properly and working for them up the chain.

It is a shame as I was very happy and very comfortable dealing with you initially, I would have been very happy to recommend you again the day after the deal was done, but it went sharply downhill from there and ended up badly. I would not have written this and eventually got over points 1 and 2, but 3 really soured the deal.

I'm not sure how your dealership can recover from this. Certainly not with an apology that tries to explain away the events with the usual technicalities, so please don't give me that.

Regards,

...

Yeah, yeah, I know, they are a car dealer, so I should expect that, I should know better. I know it is a long and whinging rant. I know many of you in here have had good car experiences and bad dealer ones, so I just thought I'd share.

I hope other buyers don't get their good i30 experience tarnished by bad dealers.

[Shambles]

Make sure to post the reply, should you get one  

[Dazzler]

Gee - We might be related (that's the sort of letter I've been known to write in similar circumstances)  :roll:

[r5e]

Yes indeed. It may have been more about catharsis than about trying to actually change anything. I've been tempted to write a letter all the way through the process, but stopped myself every time thinking that it would only waste my time and vitriol and not change anything. Also, why should I spend my time trying to tell them how to improve? I was only forced into doing it when I saw the 150kms on the clock and that finally tipped me over the edge.

I'm not going to pursue this much further with them (unless something else riles me, or they respond poorly), but I will be sure to post back in here to keep you all informed.

[EymaTeapot]

r5e,
You can put it all behind you now and just get on with enjoying your (her) new car. I can relate to that, my i30 is apparantley hers too even though its me who washes it, polishes it (and did my back doing it to I might add) and fills it with Diesel.

[eye30]

r5e

You should also copy it to Hy Oz as they should welcome feedback on dealer experience.

They might:
 - provide say a free service or some extra's
 - have a view on the sale of a "new" Hy car with 150km's and contact the dealer to ensure you are adequately compensated etc

[r5e]

Well, the sales manager got back today and called me up to discuss this issue.

He said he had no idea that the car from the other dealer that was shipped down would have that many kms on it and apologised. He said that the delivery date of the car was only a couple of days away from the estimated day that had first been nominated, so to be reasonable, there was not really a delay.

I told him that I understood the date and the timing, but the issue had been the total lack of communication and customer service from his staff in his absence. Also of course I was still cranky about the high kms.

He said he could not wind back the clock, but offered a free tank of fuel and a full detail on the 1000km service. At least it is something and I've mostly gotten over it now.

[EymaTeapot]

Good result r5e,
 

[eye30]

He said he could not wind back the clock, but offered a free tank of fuel and a full detail on the 1000km service. At least it is something and I've mostly gotten over it now.

I take it you are happy with the offer?

[r5e]

Well, not 100% happy, but I'm prepared to concede for lack of any remaining vitriol. I'm happy that I got some concession, so I'll just get over it and appreciate what I got. At the end of the day, my Mrs still has a nice little i30 and the dealer will continue to lose business and reputation if they treat other customers like they treated me. I can't really change too much of the status quo, so I'll just have a little whinge and then put my soapbox away again. When I'm king, it'll all be different...

[Dazzler]

When I'm king, it'll all be different... :?:  :?: