Indifferent dealer service

[paulpud]

I bought my first Alfa in March of this year and having read worrying tales of poor service from dealers, I was very happy with the service I received both when I bought the car and when I had to return it for a couple of small repairs. But this dealer is over 60 miles away from my home and I had reason to use a more local dealer recently which I found to be somewhat more indifferent.

My experience started on 17th September when, whilst driving home, I had a Motor Control System Failure occur. The following morning the car was limited to about 2000 revs and limped to work so, once there, I telephoned my nearest Alfa dealer and arranged to have it inspected the following day. I was told that they would need the car for most of the day so, as they were unable to offer me a courtesy car, my other half agreed to give me a lift to and from the dealer. Fortunately the error message disappeared later that day and the car seemed ok but I still took it to get it checked out.

Later the following day I received a call to tell me I needed a replacement inlet manifold and I arranged to take the car in on 29th September as the car was still driving ok and this was the earliest date they had a car available. I was told my car would be needed for 2, possibly 3 days. On 25th September I received a call telling me the parts were now in stock and asking me when I would like to take my car in; I reminded them of the agreed date only to be told a courtesy car was not available until 6th October.

On Monday 6th October, I finally took my car to the dealer. The service department opened 10 minutes late, told me my car would be available on Friday 'all being well' and gave me a 147 as a temporary replacement. A decent enough car, albeit quite dirty and the CD/Radio refused to work.

Friday lunchtime came and I received the call that my car was ready but there was a problem; the technician had noticed that the inside of my front tyres were bald and not roadworthy, and so the car could not be road tested. Now I will admit to being less than thorough when checking these sort of things, but I do check when I wash my car at least fortnightly and, although I knew replacements weren't far off, I felt sure I'd have noticed if they were bald. On suggesting I would collect the car and get them sorted, I was told that the car really should be road tested first, so I repeated my intention and explained that I would take the car back if I experienced any problems.

Credit where it's due, the car does seem fine, but I do think the service received generally lacked a little something. I checked the tyres when I got home and, although the tread pattern is worn on the inside, the remainder of the tyres have between 2.5mm and 4mm of tread remaining and are perfectly legal. To use this as an excuse for not doing a road test is ridiculous.



The unroadworthy tyres

[Squadrone Rosso]

Who's the dealer

[paulpud]

I took the car to Guest in Willenhall. It is the nearest dealership to where I live and 15 minutes from where I work. I was really hoping to be impressed by them for the convenience they offered.

[Nev]

Hmmm, compared to the service level I usually get, that
sounded relatively painless/professional.

3days to fit a new battery?

3days to replace a window control unit
(No contact over the 3 days) and then
have to take it back and wait 1 1/2 hour
for them to run a proxy alignment that
they should have done over the previous 3 days.

[KNIEVEL77]

Shame you line so far away from the sunny North, we've got Benfield and Alexanders so we are spoilt for choice after years of indifference!

[Spider95]

Well the tyres look perfectly legal to me, the service you received from this dealer is unacceptable. Or should I say the attitude is unacceptable?

When will these dealers ever realise that, without customers, they'll just go out of business! This is not Guests of Solihull is it? or another Guest in the chain?

[paulpud]

It was Guests at Willenhall, who I assume are a division of Guests Solihull.

Had the experience been satisfactory I would have had them carry out servicing on the GT in January of this year, but instead opted for independent specialists WAD who were thoroughly professional.
I also used WAD 2 days ago to MOT the car; they told me they'd discovered a slight oil leak at the back of the engine during the pre-MOT inspection and suggested I get it looked at before my warranty runs out in 3 weeks.
Not wanting to go to Guests again, I contacted Budgen at Shrewsbury and within a couple of minutes had arranged for my car to go in on Tuesday and a courtesy car provided with no hire fees or insurances to arrange. First impressions are good and I'm optimistic that they can provide the sort of service I was hoping for last time round. Fingers crossed!

[Ralf S.]

Good good...

Let's keep naming and shaming the clonkers. They'll soon find out they're being talked about and then either shape up or lose their franchise!

Of course, you may just have caught Guests on a bad day (week?) but that "tyres" excuse is pathetic. Let's keep the pressure for good service on!

Ralf S.

[Graham P]

My mate bought his 159 from Guests in Wilenhall and they have been fantastic with him. Even sorting all of his alloys when just one was rusting a little...and giving him a MiTo as a courtesy car. Hopefully it was just a one off bad experieice for you and they will be better next time (hoping there isn't a next time of course). It's like Chris Variava in Nottingham. I've read a few grumbles on here about them in the past but they have been really good whenever I have been in for warranty work. Need to work on their part ex prices a little though and get a few more magazines in for when sitting and waiting

[fatshaft]

Originally Posted by paulpud

It was Guests at Willenhall, who I assume are a division of Guests Solihull.

Had the experience been satisfactory I would have had them carry out servicing on the GT in January of this year, but instead opted for independent specialists WAD who were thoroughly professional.
I also used WAD 2 days ago to MOT the car; they told me they'd discovered a slight oil leak at the back of the engine during the pre-MOT inspection and suggested I get it looked at before my warranty runs out in 3 weeks.
Not wanting to go to Guests again, I contacted Budgen at Shrewsbury and within a couple of minutes had arranged for my car to go in on Tuesday and a courtesy car provided with no hire fees or insurances to arrange. First impressions are good and I'm optimistic that they can provide the sort of service I was hoping for last time round. Fingers crossed!

I found Guests in Solihull (Knowle) to be very good tbh, however I'd never come across being asked to have your own cover for a courtesy car until I used them.

Once I discovered WAD in Wolverhampton, I never went back to main dealers.

[Janitor]

I have to say that every time we've ever left Sidwell Street Motors in Exeter after visits with the 156 & 147, we've always felt wholly raped

Ok, they're Vospers now (well, the Alfa side is) but if the Sales experience a month ago when looking at MiTo is anything to go by, I'd still recommend people give them a very wide berth

Longstones at Bridgwater on the other hand have left us with a very different impression altogether

[Dave Brand]

I would have been pleased to get indifferent service from Mangoletsi - that would have a 100% improvement!

[2 black lines]

(going back to original topic)
TBH, the dealer is right, the tyres should be in a road worthy state for them to drive on, A minimum of 1.6mm and visible tread on the contact area with the road.

The legal consequences on test drives, for mechanics if stopped/in a accident/ or even have a blow out do not warrant a 'chance' in a customers car.

btw, just looked at your pics (didn't show up on first read), your tyres are a MOT fail, you have gone below the wear indicator on the inner edge.

Harsh by the dealer, yes, but imo taking a professional line.

[hermann]

isnt the tyre tread definition "1.6 mm for three quarters of the width unbroken for the full circumference"?

[Spider95]

Originally Posted by hermann

isnt the tyre tread definition "1.6 mm for three quarters of the width unbroken for the full circumference"?

Exactly. And as far as I can see the wear has not gone down to the indicators, even on the inner edges.

But it's no excuse to give such indifferent service to a customer. And they should be told so as well

[2 black lines]

Originally Posted by Spider95

Exactly. And as far as I can see the wear has not gone down to the indicators, even on the inner edges.

But it's no excuse to give such indifferent service to a customer. And they should be told so as well

I think If you look at the inner edges on both tyres they have in fact gone down to the wear indicators - evidenced by the increased with of the innermost groove and the lack of continious tread across the last portion of the inner part of the tyre - would it safely pass an MOT? No.

A google search brought up this: - Tyre Laws

As for the indifferent service, yes, on getting to the garage they could/ should have done better. If the loan car was not an issue would it be a different story?

[paulpud]

The company I work for has an account with ATS and I know the service manager at one of their branches. When I picked up the car from the dealer, I took it to him to have a look. He confirmed that they were worn, but told me not to panic because they definitely weren't illegal, and suggested I got them changed within the next few weeks.

When I got home, I used a tread gauge, and the wear indicators were all at least 1mm below the surface, even on the worn inside edge.

[paulpud]

*UPDATE*

After taking my car to Budgens yesterday it has left me in no doubt that quality of service can vary quite a bit.

In addition to the points raised earlier in this thread, when I took my car for it's previous repairs the forecourt was so packed with cars there were no parking spaces available and I had to leave my car on the road. When I booked my car in I then had to wait whilst the courtesy car was located.
When I went back to collect my car at the end of the week, I had to hang around in the showroom for several minutes whilst someone went into the workshop to find my key, which was then handed for me so that I could go and find my car. No information about the work carried out or the general conditon of the car was offered.
When I located my car, although it wasn't exactly spotless when I took it in, I found it to be quite grubby which I assumed was down to being outside in rain and subject to the airbourne grime of local industry.

By contrast, at Budgens yesterday the service department opened on time, the paperwork was there waiting for me as was the courtesy car, a clean, new, fully functional 147 parked right outside the showroom door.
When I returned at the end of the day, despite the repair being a minor one, the engineer who had carried out the work immediately brought the car round and parked it right outside the door before coming in to explain what work had been carried out.
I was then given a form relating to a fairly comprehensive vehicle check that had been carried out to make sure no bits were about to drop off. My car had also been washed and valeted prior to my collection.

So well done to Budgens for providing an altogether more professional and efficient service than I had previously experienced.

[Janitor]

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[Spider95]

Originally Posted by Janitor

Better news Paul... but it's just a shame they had to let themselves down before

Yes but I believe Paul took his GT to Guests Willenhall in the first place, this latest work was carried out at Budgens. Just goes to show how service and attention to detail can vary between the dealers.

And as you say paulpud it is quite clear from your photographs that the inner edges are not worn down to the indicators, as confirmed by your tread guage, further proof I think to give Willenhall a miss in future.

Good news with Budgens though! Where are they based?

[Janitor]

...

[paulpud]

Budgens are based in Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury. They have a Peugeot and Alfa franchise. A fair bit further away from me than Guests, but a doddle to get to from the M54.

[Janitor]

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