Complete and total incompetence!

[Scottch]

:mad: :mad:

Useless shower of bawbags, the @@@@in lot of them!

Been thinking of acquiring a wee-er motor for Julie to do the running around, but still fancied something with a bit of poke that looked good etc..

After a bit of research, decided that the Honda Civic Type R was a worthy contender, amongst others.

Honda's website is pretty good in that it allows you to book test drives online (which I did on new years day) and got a 2 hour slot for today at noon.

Bear with me, I'm on a rant! :mad:

So, today we goes to the local dealership.

Nobody knows why we're there, nobody knows the demo (that's in the showroom and just been polished) is booked, the car has no fuel, and we can't have it for the duration as there's no way the salesman can come with us for 2 hours (even though it says on the test drive email that unaccompanied test drives aren't a problem).

So, after 40 minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, the car is removed from the showroom, drivers licences are copied, the test drive documentation was actually received by the general manager (who did @@@@ all with it - tit), the general manager is out somewhere but everything is getting the greenlight (finally) and we're almost ready to go.

5 minutes later the general manager swoops in and drops his next cluster @@@@ on us.

The salesman (good guy, tried hard to salvage what he could from a bad situation) sheepishly comes to break the news that we can't take the demo.

You're having a @@@@ing laugh? :mad:

A complete useless and totally incompetent knob for a general manager @@@@ed the whole thing over because it was the only type r they had and he didn't want it away for the 2 hour test drive that we had booked.

And he knew it was booked but didn't tell any@@@@.

The type r was parked in the showroom outside his office door, but he still let the valeter polish it when he knew it was booked out for a demo.

Clearly, he never had any intention of allowing the car to used for the demo but still never had any balls to come and tell us the situation.

So, thanks to Arnold Clark Honda, Kirkcaldy, for wasting my day today, and I hope your cock turns green and rots from the inside out you useless @@@@.

[239desmo]

Just had this feeling that I knew which garage it was going to be.:(
Sort of sums up their attitude to customer service in many ways.
Bad enough when you have hassles after buying a car but it does make you wonder if some people actually care about their job or is it just a wage to them? Worse it seems problem is at a more senior level.
No excuse for this really. You waste your day, blood pressure up all round and could all have been easily avoided if there was no car available for whatever reason.
Sorry mate! ...not much consolation though!

[Gizmo]

I don't understand how companies with this that of customer service stay in business, make sure their head office or owner finds out Scott I'd bet they would want to know.

[Dave G]

Complain to Honda UK Scott, name names to them and make it very clear that a sale was lost here.
....Then,.....complain to Arnold Clark's main office,that probably wont get you anywhere but again name the little sh1t and how you think that their company was not meant to be a dodgy arthur daly type outfit.
keep at it,most of these car firms are really awful,their tarnished image is very well deserved.
I had an arnold clark manager (Fiat Glasgow....you listening!!!!)just lie to my face the last time I bought something from them. Never again

[Scottch]

Already complained to Honda UK - in fairness, they did call the dealership.

However, they were fed a lie that was designed to save face on the general managers part, and were then only interested in trying to re-arrange a test drive.

Just a lot of @@@@e really, and I suppose the true measure of the man, and another bad reflection of the company which he represents.

Thanks, guys, for letting me vent a bit ;)

[Biscuit]

I hope after all your greetin and bitchin you apologised and bought the car from them? These car dealers have a tuff time with time wasting customers day in day out....






















;)

[Gizmo]

Already complained to Honda UK - in fairness, they did call the dealership.

However, they were fed a lie that was designed to save face on the general managers part, and were then only interested in trying to re-arrange a test drive.

Just a lot of @@@@e really, and I suppose the true measure of the man, and another bad reflection of the company which he represents.

Thanks, guys, for letting me vent a bit ;)

Get the customer service manager at Honda's email address send him a nice pleasant email explaining the position as it happened, thank him for trying to re-arrange the test drive but as I'm sure he can appreciate if that is representative of the standard of dealers Honda wish to appoint its a reflection on them and their levels of after sales customer service.

Its not just Arnold Clark he represents, its also Honda! if nowt else it might get bounced through to Arnold Clark with a little note from Honda ;)

[Rob998]

Isn't there an Arnold Clark head office guy on this site? Maybe have a word with him?

I bought a Chrysler Grand Voyager from Arnold Clark in St Helens, and to be fair, when we test drove it (accompanied) and came up with a list of stuff that needed attention, (DVD player kaput, paint scratches, knocking sound from front end, cd player kaput etc) they were keen to sort it. So I was more than a little @@@@ed off when I picked it up and the paint chips were still evident on the bonnet (they had been rubbed down ready for painting, but never painted....). The salesman was visibly angry with the service dept and sorted an appointment there & then to get it done. The knocking sound, they couldn't find, apparantly. But on the way home, there it was again, so I rang them, told them to get it sorted when I brought it back for the paint.
Took it back for the paint, spent the day xmas shopping & went to pick the car up. Still couldn't find the knocking. What had they done to find it I asked, "driven it 3 times up & down the bypass" "Have you had it on the lift? Checked the discs are true or that the CV joints are OK?" "Er.. give us a minute..."

Turned out the CV boot was split and the car needed a new driveshaft, universal joints and of course the parts had to be ordered in. So another trip to the dealership.

When I picked it up the 3rd time it seemed everything was sorted, until I got home and noticed a dent in the C post that hadn't been done by me or Mrs Rob, but of course we can't prove that.

You'd think a main dealer (renault in this case) would have checked over a vehicle that they had in PX and then on their forecourt for over £10k, not left it to a customer to do their job for them. TBH if the car wasn't exactly what we had been looking for for weeks, we would have walked away after finding the list of snags, but the salesman assured me it would all be sorted, which I suppose it was evenually. I just have a nagging feeling that we may have missed something that might cost us a lot of dosh in the future.

[Dave G]

What Gizmo just said.
This is an example of how you would be regarded as a customer had you bought the car,shop elsewhere,and let them know about it in no uncertain terms.

[DKM]

:mad: :mad:

Been thinking of acquiring a wee-er motor for Julie to do the running around, but still fancied something with a bit of poke that looked good etc..

After a bit of research, decided that the Honda Civic Type R was a worthy contender, amongst others.




If it was the new model you were looking at, you may have had a narrow escape! Click (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfqN_DDkppc&feature=related)

[gordj65]

i would have preffered a seat leon cupra, myself. funny enough theres a nice ex demo one on the forecourt. im sure if i was given some notice i could even arrange for a test drive for you, id just have to check with my gm.call me tomorrow on 01316697799 and i will see what i can do to help mate.

[MartinH]

I have never had any dealings with Arnold Clark and because of what I have read here (and other posts on this site) I never will.

[Davie]

I have never had any dealings with Arnold Clark and because of what I have read here (and other posts on this site) I never will.

I will agree with that

[blackie]

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: I hope your cock turns green and rots from the inside out you useless @@@@.:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

:roflmao: :roflmao:

Superb.........best one of the year so far.....i salute you, made my day.....

PS hope his rabbit dies & he cant sell his hutch, what a c0ckend, surprised you did,nt kick him in the 8alls

[Scottch]

Get the customer service manager at Honda's email address send him a nice pleasant email explaining the position as it happened, thank him for trying to re-arrange the test drive but as I'm sure he can appreciate if that is representative of the standard of dealers Honda wish to appoint its a reflection on them and their levels of after sales customer service.

Its not just Arnold Clark he represents, its also Honda! if nowt else it might get bounced through to Arnold Clark with a little note from Honda ;)

Yes, that's great advice Mikey, I think perhaps in a few days when I can be a bit less aggressive with my words I will :thumbs:

[Scottch]

What Gizmo just said.
This is an example of how you would be regarded as a customer had you bought the car,shop elsewhere,and let them know about it in no uncertain terms.

Exactly true Dave, IF we decide to pursue this particular car then I don't think I need to say that it would NOT be purchased from that dealer in particular.

[Scottch]

If it was the new model you were looking at, you may have had a narrow escape! Click (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfqN_DDkppc&feature=related)

Having owned the earlier model, I can honestly say the new one is a vast leap forward in packaging alone, nevermind technogically.

Also, Clarkson can be a knob and his word is not gospel ;)

Thanks for digging that one up though :thumbs:

[Scottch]

i would have preffered a seat leon cupra, myself. funny enough theres a nice ex demo one on the forecourt. im sure if i was given some notice i could even arrange for a test drive for you, id just have to check with my gm.call me tomorrow on 01316697799 and i will see what i can do to help mate.

It's also made it onto our shortlist, but I'm now @@@@ed off looking at cars and going to have a weekend away from it - thanks for keeping an eye out for me mate!

Ya @@@@in shark :p

[Scottch]

Superb.........best one of the year so far.....i salute you, made my day.....

Hold on to yer horses fella - it's only Jan 4th, there's plenty time for more!! :lol2:

[Fergie]

Ok. Here we go.

The reason we don't allow test drives on your own is for insurance purposes. The GM will have discretion when it comes to this, but you should have called ahead to check with the sales dept before setting out. That would have stopped the problem at the centre. If someone rolled up here waving an e-mail from a website looking to take a high performance car for a spin, in the middle of winter, then we would probably have taken the same line.

Whatever reasons he had, it will certainly not be to prevent a sale. I'll call the guy later and find out why it was denied. And I'll post his comments here.

Why not speak to Gordon? We have access to almost every car in the group and if you want a drive in a Leon FR or Cupra then I'll be happy to give you an overnight in one of our cars. Perhaps even an FR Flappy Paddle? We have them on offer delivery miles at £16488. You drive one I reckon you'd buy it.

Ian

[Gizmo]

Ok. Here we go.

The reason we don't allow test drives on your own is for insurance purposes. The GM will have discretion when it comes to this, but you should have called ahead to check with the sales dept before setting out. That would have stopped the problem at the centre. If someone rolled up here waving an e-mail from a website looking to take a high performance car for a spin, in the middle of winter, then we would probably have taken the same line.

Whatever reasons he had, it will certainly not be to prevent a sale. I'll call the guy later and find out why it was denied. And I'll post his comments here.

Why not speak to Gordon? We have access to almost every car in the group and if you want a drive in a Leon FR or Cupra then I'll be happy to give you an overnight in one of our cars. Perhaps even an FR Flappy Paddle? We have them on offer delivery miles at £16488. You drive one I reckon you'd buy it.

Ian

Err, not wishing to get into an argument as I can see why dealers do have special conditions ( and if I was a dealer in Kirkcaldy I'd probably have them :D) but if the Honda website allows a potential customer to book a test drive on line then I'd assume that if I booked a drive the information would be passed from Honda to the dealer so the dealer should be aware, know the customer is coming in and have a car ready, if the dealer had special conditions different to what Honda say on the website I'd then expect the dealer to contact the customer to explain this prior to the drive not the customer to check with the dealer.

The attitude that its the buyers responsibility ain't exactly proactive selling and if that carries through to aftersales its understandable why AC get so many complaints?

[Fergie]

I have a similar problem with the Peugeot 24/48 hour test drive promotion. And in the intersets of accuracy I just went to look at the log for the stats.

Out of 28 requests for an extended test we allowed only 5 to take place. The rest were denied for many reasons including too many points, DD and the like. Young drivers (under25) accounted for over half. The rest were offered an extended drive with a member of staff and 15 people took this option with 9 sales resulting from the promotion.

We do not go around finding reasons to be awkward but I can assure you from this side of the debate there are many many problems to overcome with test drives in general.

Like I said earlier though, call Gordon and he can sort something out. I have lots of cars and deals and he is waiting for the call.

But lets not just get back into the "we hate Arnold" argument again.

Ian

[Scottch]

Ok. Here we go.

The reason we don't allow test drives on your own is for insurance purposes. The GM will have discretion when it comes to this, but you should have called ahead to check with the sales dept before setting out. That would have stopped the problem at the centre. If someone rolled up here waving an e-mail from a website looking to take a high performance car for a spin, in the middle of winter, then we would probably have taken the same line.

Whatever reasons he had, it will certainly not be to prevent a sale. I'll call the guy later and find out why it was denied. And I'll post his comments here.

Why not speak to Gordon? We have access to almost every car in the group and if you want a drive in a Leon FR or Cupra then I'll be happy to give you an overnight in one of our cars. Perhaps even an FR Flappy Paddle? We have them on offer delivery miles at £16488. You drive one I reckon you'd buy it.

Ian

Ian,

I understand your position, and the reasons for your defence of this "dealer".

However, to put the responsibility on the potential customer to call the dealer and make sure that the official Honda UK test drive booking system has made the arrangements is a load of tosh.

Why am I going to call the dealer?? Isn't it my money I'm spending? Isn't it me that has been proactive in seeking this test drive prior to potentially buying the car?

Like I said, I understand your position. But your reply is purely aimed at defending his incompetence.

As for not allowing unaccompanied test drives, I seemed to have crossed that bridge at the dealer and the car was going to be made available to me for that. I offered to insure the car myself for the purpose of the demonstration, however, I was told that the dealership did have insurance in place to allow it, albeit with a hefty excess.

For clarification, I DID NOT "roll up here waving an e-mail from a website".

I expected at least some professionalism from the dealership. Instead I found the opposite, the salesman was extremely helpful and apologetic. He made every effort to meet my expectations, and had potentially saved the entire situation until the arrival of the @@@@nut GM.

For your further information, I have since used the Honda test drive system to book another demo from another dealer. That dealer has already called me to confirm the arrangements, and I have my 2hr unaccompanied test drive booked. Seemed so easy for them to do it right.

Ian - the GM didn't even come and speak to me, it was all put on the poor salesmans shoulders to break the news - absolutely pathetic.

Ian, please don't take any of this personally. Cars for us are always a purchase made without the head, and to be treated in this way was doubly damning because of that.

Thank you for letting me know about the Cupra, and your kind offer for the overnight test drive. However, it's a little bit further down our list - but should we decide to pursue it then I would be in touch.


Err, not wishing to get into an argument as I can see why dealers do have special conditions ( and if I was a dealer in Kirkcaldy I'd probably have them :D) but if the Honda website allows a potential customer to book a test drive on line then I'd assume that if I booked a drive the information would be passed from Honda to the dealer so the dealer should be aware, know the customer is coming in and have a car ready, if the dealer had special conditions different to what Honda say on the website I'd then expect the dealer to contact the customer to explain this prior to the drive not the customer to check with the dealer.

The attitude that its the buyers responsibility ain't exactly proactive selling and if that carries through to aftersales its understandable why AC get so many complaints?

Mikey,

Thanks for your more eloquent reply :)

[Scottch]

But lets not just get back into the "we hate Arnold" argument again.

Was never my intention

[Fergie]

I agree that it is always frustrating when expectations are not met. I get the same when i buy cars and bikes. And I don't tolerate mediocrity either.
If the gut could not come talk to you out of sheer arrogance then its his downfall.
I have PM'd you a name for another dealer. Friend of mine and a biker. I'll pass your number to him and I am sure he will sort you a deal on whatever.

Ian

[Rob998]

But lets not just get back into the "we hate Arnold" argument again.

Ian

My post wasn't meant to be in that category, I was just relating my experience.

It hasn't put me off buying from AC again.The salesman was brilliant, and did everything he could to make the situation right, and he was visibly irritated by the service dept letting us down.

However as I mentioned in my last post, I do find it strange that the vehicle had obviously not been inspected prior to going on the forecourt & the customer was left to discover the faults & ask for them to be sorted. This is the kind of business practice you'd expect off a backstreet dealer, hoping that the customer misses something that needs fixing, not what I'd expect from a main dealer, and part of such a big group. I'm actually glad now that we were accompanied on the test drive so that the "chaperone" could confirm that the knocking (that turned out to be a shagged driveshaft) was actually there, after the service dept failed to find it on 2 occasions. Do you not have a multi point inspection plan on your PX vehicles to prevent the customer encountering these problems?

As I said, this hasn't put me off buying from AC again, after all, all my concerns were dealt with to my satisfaction eventually (apart from the dent in the "C" pillar, which I am convinced happened in the service dept), but it has put me off from buying from that particular branch again.

[Scottch]

Ian,

Thanks for your pm, much appreciated :)

[Gizmo]

I have PM'd you a name for another dealer. Friend of mine and a biker. I'll pass your number to him and I am sure he will sort you a deal on whatever.

Ian

that is good customer service!

[gordj65]

Ian,

Thanks for your pm, much appreciated :)

and i tell you now, if you buy a car without going through me, i'll break your legs and scratch you with my rough sharks skin ya swine:D :D :D :D

[gordj65]

So that's me off your Xmas list then:frown::(

you were never on it ya bugger:D :D :D

[Steve748]

My experience of working for several main dealers was that px's went out pretty much as they had come in but with half a day spent on them being valeted. If I was going to buy a car now I would to the block and get one. The risk on hidden faults wouldn't be a lot different if it had come from a dealer. You have an hour to reject it if you find a serious fault which is more than you get with a dealer.

[239desmo]

My experience of working for several main dealers was that px's went out pretty much as they had come in but with half a day spent on them being valeted. If I was going to buy a car now I would to the block and get one. The risk on hidden faults wouldn't be a lot different if it had come from a dealer. You have an hour to reject it if you find a serious fault which is more than you get with a dealer.

I buy cars for friends and family at the auction. Just bought a car week before Xmas. £1500 less than I could get at dealer same spec etc. and that includes price differential for not trading in. Car still has manufacturers warranty so can't lose! I can get in the auction for my trade in what I was offered to part-ex because that is all the dealer is going to do. If I get more privately the "saving" will be greater.
Only other buyers on the day were several Arnold Clark guys and a couple of other dealers. Oh and a 3 course lunch for a fiver in the canteen. Result!;) :D