I mentioned before that we'd had a 148 pound rebate from Welsh Water - they sent me a cheque (how quaint) and it was going to be paid into our joint Smile account. The process is you use one of their supplied envelope, insert the account details and hand it in over the counter at the nearest PO. First two bits went flawlessly, but somewhere between the Post and the car must have dropped the envelope. I phoned WW when I got back, they cancelled the cheque and I received a new one within 3 days. This was paid in, didn't give it a second thought.
Got a secure message from Smile a couple of days after this to tell me that a local Postie had picked the original envelope up and handed it in at the Post who'd processed it. So good service from three separate companies plus good comms from a Bank. It should always be like this !
|
Nicoles Polo started whining about needing a service. And its due a cam belt.
So on Monday (the only day of sun) I serviced the Polo prior to going in for a cam belt.
I gave it a good once over, noted that the front nearside disk was wearing near the limit, slightly rusted and lipped, pads ok, probably an MOT pass. The nearside repeater light (in the wing mirror) was not working, Possibly an MOT failure. The tyres were ok (4mm all round)
So the car goes into to a VW dealer, for belt kit and water pump. £380 quid. In at 8:30, phone call at 14:00 to say its ready.
It comes out again, fully valeted with a fully printed itemised condition report. The report noted:
Front nearside disk was lipped, rusty, an MOT pass but marginal.
Nearside repeater light failed.
Tyres 4mm all round
Wipers smeared and squeaky
Impressed, it included all the parts and the VW Etka part numbers, and book labour times.
NOt impressed with the prices quoted tho
£300 for fitting new pads and disks ( 1.2 hours book time)
£75 for repeater ( £17 for part)
£75 to replace wipers
£90 to replace brake fluid
So great customer service, honest and accurate appraisal, but commercially driven at prices that would make you wince.
|
>>£75 to replace wipers...............
I doubt if I've spent that on wipers during my entire, forty-odd year, motoring life and the same goes for the brake fluid.
|
To be fair the brakes will need bleeding, so £90 isn't just for topping up fluid.
I agree the prices are beyond a joke though, the last time I had pads and discs changed I got a tiny bit of change out of £100.
|
|
Discs and pads for "her" Qashqai were £300 and something. I did suggest she could just use the handbrake but she wasn't up for that...
|
|
VW are the most profitable car maker in the world.......
|
>> It should always be like this !
>>
If only.
I'm just back from a family funeral, his daughter was on holiday in the States on holiday. She had her mobile with her and set up for roaming, but could only send and receive texts. She flew home to be with her father, and found the phone account locked on return, because of an unpaid bill.
The mobile company, which shall remain nameless, attribute the £140 unpaid bill to the time she spent trying to ring them to find out why she couldn't make calls from the States
and she had to buy a cheap mobile over here to keep in touch with us all because the phone company would not let her pay the bill as the contract was in her husbands name.
Now I am reasonably certain that if a bill is paid, it is paid, and this was just some phone monkey misreading the script, but it aint what you want when you have far more important things to think about
Last edited by: borasport on Sat 5 May 12 at 18:53
|
Zero - not sure if your Polo is over 3 years old, but the VW dealer I have used have some good fixed price deals for 3+ cars.
Front discs + pads = £239
Brake fluid change = £59 or brake fluid and air con service for £99
Its the one in Swindon, so although M4 corridor may be a little cheaper than those further east, but they are part of inchcape so may offer the same at other dealerships.
I had to replace the repeater in the wing mirror on the sharan last year - bought one on ebay for about £15, but it did take a couple of hours to do it - those mirrors are not the easiest to take apart
|
>>air con service!
>>
>> ??
+1
Never asked for one, never been offered one. And air con works as well now as it did when my car was new nearly ten years ago.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Sun 6 May 12 at 09:36
|
Not exactly good customer service for doing their normal job, but nevertheless a rare accolade for British Gas.
Driving back from the Midlands one sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, I was rear-ended by one of their service vans. Low-speed shunt, dented tailgate and bumper, my car still perfectly driveable. Their driver admitted responsibility, gave me a printed card filled in with all his personal details, I filled in my bits and went on my way, worrying slightly that this would end up being a hassle.
On the Monday afternoon, Britsh Gas phoned me to say that they accepted liability, they'd arranged for a repair shop to collect my car, it would be fixed ASAP and would I like a courtesy car in the meantime?
Everything was sorted, car returned to me immaculately valeted inside and out, repairs to high standard, no need for any claim although I did inform my insurers as a matter of course. Follow-up was excellent both from British Gas and the repair centre.
|
|
Sounds like they self insure. Dont know how big their fleet is, but there reaches a point where it starts to be more economical to cover your own claims
|
|
Most big fleets above 3k units self insure. Well its not self insure as such, you get RTA only incorporated into your public liability insurance. Then you self fund repairs. Or use a leasing companies accident management services.
|
Some very big operators self insure by way of a large sum deposited in court. In days gone by the interest was probably enough to meet vehicle damage claims.
The biggy is liability for a life changing injury.
|
Good Customer Service ! - Zero
