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166lover · 14-05-2008

All,

I've had 5 Alfa's, 3 of which have been supplied by Mangos. I've always found them to be a good bunch of guys

I am certainly not on a retainer to Mango's and I can understand the communication frustrations (email tends to work well for comms with servicing) but I think people are being a bit unfair.

1. You have got to bear in mind that its is a privately owned dealership - Fraser has had to dig deep in to his own pockets to bring the place up to the new Alfa dealer spec - £500k is a lot of money to invest and that takes a lot of car sales plus servicing/parts to make a return on that. Remember its only in the recent past that Alfa has started to get a product line of cars that people really desire (159, GT, Brera, Spider). That means as a small business, Fraser is trying to play in the big league but has to keep a very tight lid on overheads/headcount until he starts to realise a RoI. With the current economic environment I think that's a sensible move.

2. Service costs/parts - Mangos use menu pricing for servicing. Like all dealers/manufacturers what margin they don't make on new car sales (and you do get a lot of car for money with AR) they need to make elsewhere. Ever been to Volvo, BMW or Audi and seen their pricing?

3. Service Dept - we need to remember that Paul and his team have to deal with many issues which are not of their making - usually shortcomings in manufacture or design. They do take a right royal load of abuse day in day out often unjustified (I've witnessed some scenes from some real herberts). The problems are often not THEIR fault but they take a caining for it. I have found that if you are calm, patient and treat the team with respect they will go the extra mile to help.

Going to run for cover now...............INCOMING!!!!!!

166Lover.

14-05-2008	#156 (Post Link)
166lover AO Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Cheshire Posts: 224 Member car: GT1.9JTD & 159 SW2.4	Re: Mangoletsi All, I've had 5 Alfa's, 3 of which have been supplied by Mangos. I've always found them to be a good bunch of guys I am certainly not on a retainer to Mango's and I can understand the communication frustrations (email tends to work well for comms with servicing) but I think people are being a bit unfair. 1. You have got to bear in mind that its is a privately owned dealership - Fraser has had to dig deep in to his own pockets to bring the place up to the new Alfa dealer spec - £500k is a lot of money to invest and that takes a lot of car sales plus servicing/parts to make a return on that. Remember its only in the recent past that Alfa has started to get a product line of cars that people really desire (159, GT, Brera, Spider). That means as a small business, Fraser is trying to play in the big league but has to keep a very tight lid on overheads/headcount until he starts to realise a RoI. With the current economic environment I think that's a sensible move. 2. Service costs/parts - Mangos use menu pricing for servicing. Like all dealers/manufacturers what margin they don't make on new car sales (and you do get a lot of car for money with AR) they need to make elsewhere. Ever been to Volvo, BMW or Audi and seen their pricing? 3. Service Dept - we need to remember that Paul and his team have to deal with many issues which are not of their making - usually shortcomings in manufacture or design. They do take a right royal load of abuse day in day out often unjustified (I've witnessed some scenes from some real herberts). The problems are often not THEIR fault but they take a caining for it. I have found that if you are calm, patient and treat the team with respect they will go the extra mile to help. Going to run for cover now...............INCOMING!!!!!! 166Lover.