Smith kight fay Oldham... P*ss takers!

[Bazgti]

Hey guys,

Jus had an experience with the above and im absolutly ripping. Iv dealt with skf for years n had no problems.
But today!!
I booked my car in for a 50k 2weeks ago and because im on a tight schedule with work etc i asked if they could do a collect and delivery to and from my work which is 4miles from the garage. They picked it up at 11.30 this morning. I got a call from the service advisor saying all was well at 3.30pm. Service done, valet done n other than 2 3mm front tyres the car was perfect and on its way back to me. Anyways... Car still hadnt arrived at 5pm i rung up as i finished at 5.15 and was viewing an apartment at 5.30. It finally arrives at 5.20 with 2 drivers. Alarm bells were ringing.
Heres where the fun starts.... I put £30 of fuel in this morning. I set my number 2 dash trip to zero and had 140miles left til re fuel. It came back with 80 n had covered 34miles.

I immediatly rung n was greeted by some brain dead plastic manc with an attitude. After 14mins on hold i was told hed ring me back. 10mins later i was where i was told that my car was used to pick up a driver of another pick up n delivery from another location.
As you can imagine im not best pleased that my car is bein used as basically a 'courtesy car'.
When asked if i could at least get my fuel back that had been used i was told i had to speak to a manager. I was then 'cut off'.
I rang back... Same person, same answer n same outcome.
So ive jus been down to the garage where this p*ick has just told me quite casually that my car was taken on a standard delivery route. What a loada crap! Now if id av used a courtesy car theyd have asked me to re fuel it so they at least could of done the same to mine with them using my pride and joy as a taxi after all.

Now am i being unreasonable n a whinge? Or am i in the right?

[sub39h]

i'd want my fuel money back too, but sadly i don't think it's worth pursuing

just don't use them again. they'll have lost more in business from this thread alone than they've gained using your fuel. let 'em rot.

[Tfsi_Mike]

You're not being unreasonable to air your frustration mate

Unless a test drive was part of the work then they've taken the piss there

[Jussa]

I would have gone BALLISTIC!!!!

Trust me that the dealership would not have been the same after I walked in there 

Even when I drop my car at airport parking I take a pic of the odometer before leaving!

[Jussa]

A 34 mile test drive??   

[Bazgti]

There was no need to test drive. It was havin a 50k which from what i gather is an oil change, lights, levels n a visual check.

Alls i want is my fuel paying for. Its bad enuf tosser osbourne takin money outa my pocket. I dont need VW doin it to.
Hus annoyed me that theyre so la di da about my car n the service they provided

[VC]

ive been asked if my car can be used to demo for a customer before and said no.

but in relation to your post, when i owned my volvo they didnt have a courtesy car available but offered me a ride home, we went in a customers car that needed delivering. when it came to my car being ready i was collected in another customers car going in for a service to the dealership.

its not as uncommon as you think.

the rangerover dealership we use now happily drops us into town while they work on the car....except they use cars from the forecourt

[richtung]

If it was me mate, i would have went mental at them!!

However, i would say the best thing you can do is write a letter of complaint to VW UK (copy in the dealer principle of SKF Oldham) explaining exactly what happened and how you were treated after you went in to complain and seek a valid explanation.

Points in the complaint to cover would obviously be the unauthorized use of your vehicle and the shocking level of customer service (being on hold for 14 mins is a p155 take). I wouldn't just seek reimbursement for the fuel, i would demand the whole cost of the service to be refunded. Some folks might say this is being greedy but if they thought they could use your car as a runabout, who's to say they didn't rag it?

Instances of of such bad levels of customer service needs to be highlighted and reported, otherwise it will just keep happening.

More importantly, the unauthorised use of your car needs reporting to the highest level. There was a recent case of the 2 kwik fit mechanics who took a customers Porsche for a spin (without the owners consent) and tragically knocked over and killed a little boy. Ok, its a bit different in your case but if they are driving your car without your consent, doesn't that void their insurance cover?

I hope this helps and certainly hope you don't just accept the way you have and your car have been treated. You pay the premium of using a dealership for a reason!! For me, the trust with the dealership has been lost and i would never use them again.

Thanks

Rich

[KC_Gti]

Also time to name and shame! 

[Dannyboy88]

Id be wanting my fuel money back and it would be on the back of my mind wondering how far up the revs and speedo the car had been!!

[Bazgti]

Id be wanting my fuel money back and it would be on the back of my mind wondering how far up the revs and speedo the car had been!!

It had a full milltek turbo back and stage 2 uploaded on Monday. They knew this as i told them not to disconnect the battery or flash the ECU. Soooo... It from what you say. 30 odd miles driven against 50miles worth of fuel used would indicate 'spirited' driving at some point.

My cars on a service plan so asking for a re embursement of the service could be a problem.
Its been annoying me all night at work n im prob gona have to stew on it til monday now   

[richtung]

My cars on a service plan so asking for a re embursement of the service could be a problem.
Its been annoying me all night at work n im prob gona have to stew on it til monday now   

Baz, im sure i will be corrected if im wrong, but the service plan you have  taken out is with VW Finance - not with SKF. SKF claim the money back from VW Finance when they carry out servicing as part of the plan. So, if it was me, i'd ask for a refund on the whole service plan, citing an absolute abuse of trust and you have no faith in SKF and refuse to use SKF anymore as a result of whats happened.

Direct your anger -albeit in a assertive but still polite way- to the highest echelons of VW UK Customer services. Im sure they would be interested to hear about what happened and i also think you will actually get somewhere compared to dealing with the staff at SKF.

just my 2 pence.

Rich

[Tinytim]

I'm absolutely shocked to read this and it shows what little respect the dealers have their customers.

Basically they have used your car as a taxi without your concent. Surely there must be an issue with insurance here.

They obviously think while the car is in their hands they can do what they want with it.
They probably use customers cars for mcdonalds runs all the time.

I would probably have gone down to the show room and tipped the place upside down.

The lesson to learn from this is don't let the dealer pick up and drop the car back off, unfortunately you had to do this because of work and time constraints.

[andrewparker]

I must say, this really is shocking to read. If there was any danger of them putting that many miles on they should have at least warned you.

I was shocked when I was getting courtesy cars from VW Huddersfield (my car was with them over the space of several months) that they just seemed to be plucking them off the forecourt. The Scirocco for example was on their website for £22k. Perhaps I was getting special treatment, but I always assumed they'd have a pool of cars specifically for the service department.

[Tamiyoman]

Agreed mate, thats taking the pi55, speak to VW UK cust service and have a right ding dong, when my car goes in for service they get told not to use it and exactly what I expect from them (Its like dealing with kids!), and the LEAST you should expect back is a couple of gallons of fuel mate along with a written apology from SKF.

Its a shame as SKF used to be a very good dealership, between my mother, my brother and myself we have probably had 10 or 11 cars from them over the years,  I stopped using them for servicing around 5 years back as I was not happy with certain things (then 2 years later I moved!).