Complaining to Jag main dealer

[scm]

I had my car MOTed at Halfords when I was self-isolating and was really impressed. I could book a specific time, and watched the guy in the bay (from a distance!). The guy liked my car so much he asked if I'd swap for his BMW M3! I declined. Oh, and I used their mobile tyre fitting service, too, equally impressive.

 

[shatnersbassoon]

I sent a nice email to the dealer telling them about the experience and how disappointed I was. I didn't demand anything from them, but I was at least hoping for some kind of acknowledgement.
That was a week ago now and nothing.
Was I expecting too much for just an email back saying "sorry, it won't happen again"?
I suppose I should just dismiss it as one of those things, but bad customer service does wind my up a bit!

 

[Anonymous]

Exactly the same thing, E-mailed a complaint to the dealer that service my car, not even an acknowledgement.

Why do people continue to belive that a full main dealer service history is somehow better than a service history done by real machanics?

 

[cj10jeeper]

I had my car MOTed at Halfords when I was self-isolating and was really impressed. I could book a specific time, and watched the guy in the bay (from a distance!). The guy liked my car so much he asked if I'd swap for his BMW M3! I declined. Oh, and I used their mobile tyre fitting service, too, equally impressive.

Very similar to my experience of Halfords over the last year or so.
Joined their motoring club as I needed 4 tyres fitting to a RR and it netted out cheaper than any other provider. As part of the club I got a free MOT within group which was done earlier in the year. As you, very impressed, easy to view and team delighted to have an exotic on the ramps.
Would I allow the Saturday lad to try to install a battery in the car, even though a free service - I think not

 

[cj10jeeper]

I sent a nice email to the dealer telling them about the experience and how disappointed I was. I didn't demand anything from them, but I was at least hoping for some kind of acknowledgement.
That was a week ago now and nothing.
Was I expecting too much for just an email back saying "sorry, it won't happen again"?
I suppose I should just dismiss it as one of those things, but bad customer service does wind my up a bit!

You expect too much. As soon as they respond the door is open to more follow up so best just ignored..

 

[shatnersbassoon]

I sent a nice email to the dealer telling them about the experience and how disappointed I was. I didn't demand anything from them, but I was at least hoping for some kind of acknowledgement.
That was a week ago now and nothing.
Was I expecting too much for just an email back saying "sorry, it won't happen again"?
I suppose I should just dismiss it as one of those things, but bad customer service does wind my up a bit!

You expect too much. As soon as they respond the door is open to more follow up so best just ignored..

Yes, I think you're right. Still, can't help associating the attitude of main dealers with the brand and car itself.
The warranty is now up anyway, and it'll certainly not be going anywhere near that particular dealer again.

 

[Cluck]

Personally, I judge businesses by how they behave when a complaint, or dissatisfaction is raised and a dealer that doesn't respond at all is a dealer I wouldn't visit again. Ever. I would also make sure that, if ever asked by a friend, I would point out said dealer's attitude to customer dissatisfaction.

Having run a small business, the words of my father - the other half of the business we ran - echo loud in my head whenever I read of cases like this .... "It costs very little to keep a customer, it costs a lot to replace them when they walk away"

 

[scm]

Personally, I judge businesses by how they behave when a complaint, or dissatisfaction is raised and a dealer that doesn't respond at all is a dealer I wouldn't visit again. Ever. I would also make sure that, if ever asked by a friend, I would point out said dealer's attitude to customer dissatisfaction.

Yeah, ir's easy to be nice when things go well, but it's how they deal with problems where you see their true colours.

Having run a small business, the words of my father - the other half of the business we ran - echo loud in my head whenever I read of cases like this .... "It costs very little to keep a customer, it costs a lot to replace them when they walk away"

My trusted independent says " it takes years to build a reputation and minutes to lose it."

 

[cj10jeeper]

I've run my own business for 30 years before recently retiring and as a part of that run, grown and sometimes rescued many multi $b businesses. A standard metric I used was a complaining customer will on average tell 13 people a satisfied one might just tell 1, usually less. A complaining one, who's issue is well managed doesn't become one of the 13 and remembers it positively for a very long time.

Just look at this thread after just 8 days has 741 views (of course many multiple hits from same people) and is on it's 3rd page, cutting like a knife into core existing and potential customers.

 

[shatnersbassoon]

I've run my own business for 30 years before recently retiring and as a part of that run, grown and sometimes rescued many multi $b businesses. A standard metric I used was a complaining customer will on average tell 13 people a satisfied one might just tell 1, usually less. A complaining one, who's issue is well managed doesn't become one of the 13 and remembers it positively for a very long time.

Just look at this thread after just 8 days has 741 views (of course many multiple hits from same people) and is on it's 3rd page, cutting like a knife into core existing and potential customers.

It's a fairly small issue in the grand scheme of things, and not something that I probably should make a big deal out of.
I think the fact that they didn't acknowledge my complaint has annoyed me more than the original issue.

Having a complain to you lot had made me feel a bit better though

 

[Billymcmred]

Thanks all.
Confirmed my thoughts that’s it’s prob not worth the effort.
Lost faith in jag dealers to be honest. I’ve had dealings with 3 different ones in the last year, and they’ve all been bad in their own way.

Are other brands like Porsche any better?

Don’t think the Brand matters it’s the individual dealer that makes the difference. Been using Dick Lovett for Porsche and Mini for many years and have great service, although some other Porsche owners have had poor experiences elsewhere. Also heard of a number of complaints re JLR dealers. I have three JLR dealers near to me, the furthest is Melksham which is also a DL site, was planning to use them for service unless you tell me that that’s the one that serviced your car

The 3 I've used in the last year are:

Sytner Bristol which was where I bought the car.
Shortly after picking the car up I had an engine warning light which turned out to be an O2 sensor. They wanted the car in for the day but didn't have any courtesy cars so I had to organise time off work/lifts back and forth to Bristol etc. They didn't start looking at the car until 4pm and then discovered they didn't have the part so the car wouldn't be ready till the next day. The work was carried out under warranty, so nothing to pay. But they did keep me waiting for over an hour to pick up it the next day.

A couple of weeks later I had an engine warning light again. Diagnosed by jag assist as an O2 sensor. The same sensor that Sytner replaced.
Booked in to DL Melksham this time as it's my closest dealer. They couldn't look at the car for a couple of months, but ultimately diagnosed that Sytner had replaced the wrong O2 sensor.

I used Grange in Swindon for a service and the wheel alignment. Melksham were about £400 more expensive for the same service compared to Grange, and could see the car within a couple of weeks, and could do it before our Swiss trip.
They were actually decent to deal with until I realised they don't own a torque wrench.

On the way back from getting an independent specialist to tighten up my nuts yesterday, I did pop in to Swindon Porsche to have a look.
They seemed a bit more friendly and efficient that the Jag dealers I've experienced so far.

I’m in Swindon and service from Grange is poor and I’m looking to buy an F type, took my details in a scrap off paper, never heard from them again DL Melksham much better test drive follow up call etc, have you tried Mike Allen in Swindon Indy garage not sure about reputation maybe others have experience using Mike Allen

 

[MikeM]

I’m near Cirencester, also not taken with the Grange Swindon. I did visit Mike Allen, it would be very convenient for me and they were very helpful. Interestingly their 3rd year service price (inc transfer box oil change) was actually a little dearer than Jaguar’s on line price. As my car was nearly three year old I chose to buy a Jaguar three year service plan and have added a 12 month extended warranty. To date had two visits to DL Melksham, as I brought the third service forward to meet the original requirements and fortunately for me they found a problem that is being treated under the original manufacturer warranty. It’s a bit of a drag but if you don’t want a courtesy car and can wait, it’s not all day and the coffee and Wi-Fi is good.

 

[Jaguandy]

Mike Allen's looked after mine for about 6 years. Handy to drop off, near the station or an easy walk into the outlet centre or the (not very interesting) town centre. Very knowledgeable on Jaguars, will arrange warranty work and updates the on-line service records.