Alfa Romeo Forum - View Single Post

tony44 · 15-05-2008

Originally Posted by 166lover

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.

You have obviously had good dealings with them, having bought 2 cars of them in the past I expected much more from them when I went in a few months ago to look at buying a Brera.

The service dept has improved a lot

but the sales guys have a great deal to learn.

I'm sorry but I cannot let go that they wanted to charge £100 to transfer the warranty on a car less than 1 year old to put it in my name

do you honestly believe that BMW, Audi or Merc would do that?

Pennywise pounds foolish, they lost the sale, what this has taught me is that I will now go anywhere in the country to buy a car instead of being loyal to a dealer, it cuts both ways.

15-05-2008	#163 (Post Link)
tony44 Club Member Club Member Number: 493 Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Macclesfield, UK Posts: 631 Member car: Brera 2.2JTS SV	Re: Mangoletsi Originally Posted by 166lover 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. You have obviously had good dealings with them, having bought 2 cars of them in the past I expected much more from them when I went in a few months ago to look at buying a Brera. The service dept has improved a lot but the sales guys have a great deal to learn. I'm sorry but I cannot let go that they wanted to charge £100 to transfer the warranty on a car less than 1 year old to put it in my name do you honestly believe that BMW, Audi or Merc would do that? Pennywise pounds foolish, they lost the sale, what this has taught me is that I will now go anywhere in the country to buy a car instead of being loyal to a dealer, it cuts both ways.