VW Commercial Dealers Poor Communication

[Victor]

What is it with VW Commercial Dealers? They never ever return phone calls or emails, it is always left to me to chase up, I am not just talking about one dealership here, there are three that I have used for both sales and service and they are all as bad as each other.

I am sure I am not the only one that leaves a message with reception to be told 'sorry they are all with customers, can I ask someone to call you back? ' so I stupidly leave my number and nobody ever calls me back and I then have to judge when to call them back to chase, do you leave it 30 mins, 2 hours? 2 days?

We have two other cars in the family, a BMW and a Land Rover, they always call back and appear to value my custom.

Shame on you Volkswagen, I assume I am not the only one?

 

[LadySmiff]

We found this too initially, then we discovered this forum! Got the details of some fab dealers, worked through a few to get our costs down and got a great deal on our new Cali with Mike at Eurovans in Crawley.... Definitely with a call

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[blondebier]

... got a great deal on our new Cali with ...

Ahhhh - the warm fuzzy feeling when you've just placed your order. I remember that.

Sadly you won't always deal with the chap that wants your money.

You'll have to book your vehicle in one day and deal with other people who don't feel the same way.

It's understandable. The first transaction has lots of zeros, the second, third and fourth didn't.

You'll soon learn - give it time.

(I only only wish VW would)

 

[GrannyJen]

What is it with VW Commercial Dealers? They never ever return phone calls or emails, it is always left to me to chase up, I am not just talking about one dealership here, there are three that I have used for both sales and service and they are all as bad as each other.

I am sure I am not the only one that leaves a message with reception to be told 'sorry they are all with customers, can I ask someone to call you back? ' so I stupidly leave my number and nobody ever calls me back and I then have to judge when to call them back to chase, do you leave it 30 mins, 2 hours? 2 days?

We have two other cars in the family, a BMW and a Land Rover, they always call back and appear to value my custom.

Shame on you Volkswagen, I assume I am not the only one?

You are not the only one.

The buying process to replace Albert started 18 months ago. I have asked one dealer three times to talk to me, no reply, even on one occasion turning up by appointment to be then told "busy with other customer then going for lunch".

However hopefully through our dealer review pages we can make others aware of who are good, who are bad, who at least are good when they finally gt round to talking to you etc.

For the record since Saturday morning I have been dealing with Listers Droitwich and very impressed with speed of response. As LadySmiff mentions, Mike at Eurovans is good for selling (not for buying, they offered me £8k less than the next lowest dealer when I was touting him around on a P-Ex basis).

 

[mccp]

For the record since Saturday morning I have been dealing with Listers Droitwich and very impressed with speed of response.

Our new 204 DSG 4Mo is on its way from the factory to Listers Droitwich right now. I think their sales guys have been pretty proactive so far, regular progress reports and a quick response to emails. I'll post a review once we have picked up the new van.

 

[Jay586]

As I have mentioned before, I used to assess car dealer service as a job. VW were my least favourite jobs...

I ended up officially complaining during my van buying last year & nearly gave up altogether.

 

[Zygouk]

Buying our Cali was painful! They were just not interested and it felt like I was inconveniencing them when ever I phoned them, the problem is they know we can't go anywhere else. It is not like buying a motorhome where you could have a choice of another 20+ brands

 

[ArunAlec]

I guess that compared to selling a van to a commercial buyer, dealing with us private buyers is hard work. I imagine it's just a matter of offering a good financial package, with little "selling". Where as when we turn up at the showroom, they know their going to be questioned and going to have to put in a lot of time and effort. Sadly VW don't need to worry until there's some real competition.

 

[Fast Freddie]

I have only dealt with Citygate in Wooburn Green near Beaconsfield Bucks and have had a better experience both in the purchase and subsequent servicing and minor fixes under warranty. Just wanted to point out they are not all bad. A Geo-lottery based on your postcode I suspect. It’s a shame because it’s not excuseable these days on a premium brand like Volkswagen that should be good nationally.

 

[Joker 1299]

I’ve only had good experiences with West Yorkshire Van Centre, both sales and service. Service centre staff even waited after hours for me when I was held up in motorway traffic on my way to collect after a service.

 

[Digger]

I have had great service from Liverpool VW Van Centre. I know when they are busy but they always come through. Maybe we expect more than the centres have time for but that is not our problem, it is one for VW to sort out.
I also think the Marco Polo buyers are suffering the same issues. Truth is campervans the stages in looking. ordering and delivery takes up lots of time and sales staff are pressed for sales in numbers. My advice is make friends with your dealership if you have a good one.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Confirmation.....
In some sectors, the UK vehicle sales is very boyant.

I had this at Lookers in Guildford and before I bought my Evoque I thought I might save some money and go for a Quashqui.
Well.....25 minutes in the show room trying to make eye contact and not a hint of an interested salesman!!
WE ARE TALKING NISSAN
Worse still 2 salesmen passed right by me at different times and gave me a passing glance with a 'dream on' look

I walked away without muttering a word the whole time and will probably never go back

 

[GrannyJen]

Buying our Cali was painful! They were just not interested and it felt like I was inconveniencing them when ever I phoned them, the problem is they know we can't go anywhere else. It is not like buying a motorhome where you could have a choice of another 20+ brands

Having just had a good buying experience I don't want to sound churlish but I was so disappointed with the Marco Polo. It just didn't have what I wanted and astonishingly the three dealerships that I had contact with would make the worst Cali dealer look positively slick and polished.

I really wanted a choice but found that I had none.

 

[pjm-84]

I find them all painful with the odd exception. I don't know what it is, or maybe I'm getting old and have less tolerance.

I've given up replacing the Cali this year or next and will now wait for the T7. Tried to do the deal but it was painful and I never received a final figure. Bought a Mini instead/

VW are not alone. Mini sales seem to be run by young adults. Very nice, polite but not a lot going on upstairs. BMW, some are good but when they get good they typically go up to corporate sales, and LR have failed to sell me a car since 1999 even though we tried to buy on 3 separate occasions since.

 

[ChrisB]

I have exactly the same sort of problems here in Spain. It doesn't really matter what you are buying. The concept of customer service is a rare commodity over here.

 

[millyferry]

That was such a amazing forum I've ever participated with.

 

[ChrisB]

That was such a amazing forum I've ever participated with.

Why?

 

[Digger]

That was such a amazing forum I've ever participated with.

2013. T6 Coast. Something not right. MP sister forum has been having issues worth checking?

 

[shudycamps]

What is it with VW Commercial Dealers? They never ever return phone calls or emails, it is always left to me to chase up, I am not just talking about one dealership here, there are three that I have used for both sales and service and they are all as bad as each other.

I am sure I am not the only one that leaves a message with reception to be told 'sorry they are all with customers, can I ask someone to call you back? ' so I stupidly leave my number and nobody ever calls me back and I then have to judge when to call them back to chase, do you leave it 30 mins, 2 hours? 2 days?

We have two other cars in the family, a BMW and a Land Rover, they always call back and appear to value my custom.

Shame on you Volkswagen, I assume I am not the only one?

I have a fabulous VW centre at Bury St Edmunds, but the tactic I use on like situations is that I tell the receptionist; "don't worry hunny, I am retired so have all the time in the world to ring and ring and ring YOU! Shove my call to someone upstairs who gets paid more than you do to handle cantankerous old gits like me." It usually works.

 

[ChrisB]

2013. T6 Coast. Something not right. MP sister forum has been having issues worth checking?

Does seem to be an odd post.

 

[Gambler71]

Our new 204 DSG 4Mo is on its way from the factory to Listers Droitwich right now. I think their sales guys have been pretty proactive so far, regular progress reports and a quick response to emails. I'll post a review once we have picked up the new van.

Must of had a change of staff? Not impressed with Listers of Droitwich when buying my Cali, which arrived in May. Indeed recently (September) spoke to them about obtaining a free VW connect plug, when they said they needed to talk to the area manager. Not heard anything since (~6 weeks). Given up with them and popped into a local VW dealer in Cheltenham and picked up a plug.

 

[Mickm]

I've had excellent service at the Bury St Edmunds van centre, both from John Clarke the salesman and Steve in the service department, and good coffee!

 

[Paul S]

Try Mercedes cars for ineffective dealer service. The rule of thumb that for me has so far proven correct is the quality of service is inversely proportional to the amount spent on the initial purchase. Sad but true.

 

[Jay586]

MB dealers do have better coffee tho. Lesser brands try harder in my experience, tho it varied hugely.

The best ever sales attempt, both for technical content & actual asking for the sale was a Polish girl selling a Transit van. I was working assessing the customer service, so it was on video. Watching it back, she was epically good, I would have bought broken glass off her...

 

[Logi Bear]

Anybody had dealings with vw Hatfield ?
Having a really bad time with them at the moment !
Just bought a 12 month old vw crafter paid 30k it was delivered to me on the 3rd of November 2018 with a large dent in the side (not there when I went for a test drive ) two weeks earlier, before I got the keys and inspected the vehicle I asked the delivery driver what the dent was and he said he never noticed it before , I signed for the vehicle and reported on the signed document about the dent and immediately sent an email to the garage manager , I had to take it back to the garage for them to inspect it and was told “don’t worry we will sort it out “ this was nearly 3 weeks ago so I’ve asked for my money back , they have now denied this damage was done before and have said that it was done after I did the walk around and signed for it !! I’m so disappointed been in touch with customer care and they say it’s down to sales and not a defect ? So I’m stuck waiting for there head of business Paul Weldon to get back to me .
I know this is not Cali related but been a member here for 4 years and did not know where to turn .

Photo showing dent ( how could they miss this?

I know I should have refused delivery but I had already paid cash 30k and the garage is 180 miles away from me and I desperately needed the van for a job . Hindsight is a wonderful thing .
The salesman said at the time of the test drive that they would send it to the workshop for a 145 point check before it was delivered to me but yet they missed this dent also the side door won’t stay open I have to carry a piece of wood dowel to prop it open and there was no owners manual ! Great checking.
Wood appreciate any comments please .