I finally got my wings sorted earlier this week FOC, since i first started my claim mid June. Have been disputing the tailgate for ages now as they want me to pay 30%. In the end i wrote them a 5 page letter sent it to VW head office, cc'd VW Customer care and cc'd my local franchise dealer...
Brand manager from local dealer rang, said he would escalate to regional manager who had links to head office and that i should hear back within 2 weeks of the date of my letter. on the very last day customer care rang, explained to me that first the warranty budget is used to pay for corrioson claims and if no budget is avaialble then VW resort to goodwill (i know, what a load of cobblers!) then they went on to say that my tailgate corrision had occured from outside in, with the paint cracking and letting water in and therefore with my car being a 2005 gti, the paint was only guarnteed for 3 yrs.... anyhow, i wasnt happy with that explanation and said i would be taking it further as when the guy had taken pics at the bodyshop he had said that the corrision had occurred from inside out! the lady then said she would escalate to her manager and get back to me in 48hrs. i said if im not happy with their decision in 48 hrs then i would like a response to my letter in writing so that i could take it to the courts. next day they rang and upped it to 100%, albeit they got their figures wrong and said they needed to confirm with the bodyshop and get back to me...but its looking good its going in the right direction now....
i think from my experience theres a few things people can do:
- whoever takes the pics when first submitting the claim ask if they think the corrision has occured from inside out or outside in. get their full name too, will come useful later as the word of the bodyshop staff counts for quite a bit in the later stages, especially if its inside out.
- after your pics have been taken, give it a week, if youve not heard back then ring your local dealer and ask how it is going. i waited 3 weeks only to ring and find out that they hadnt submitted due to a software glitch....funny how the submission was made succesfully the day i rang!!
- if it comes to writing a letter, they should respond within 2 weeks (suspect thats their policy). copy n paste a reference to their site on what their corrision guarntee is!! when they do get back to you and if you are not still happy, ask for a full response to your letter in writing. they cant be asked with that as these cases are becoming more frequent they wont have the time for it either! mention that their response will be used when claiming through small claims court.
hope that helps!
