You might remember this

[Y100]

Well BR identified the problem:



And rectified accordingly:



Another AM pdi cockup bites the dust,,,well done BR.

[mikey k]

How the hell did the machinist not see they had done that

[Jibberingloon]

Did mike do that him self!!


Or out source it?

[Y100]

mikey k said:

How the hell did the machinist not see they had done that

That is what is so disappointing Mikey, you know the machinist must have seen it and then did nothing to put it right. We like to think that those that build these cars, the cars we adore for so many reasons, are dedicated craftsmen and women that wouldn't dream of letting something as obvious as 'that' leave their hands without being rectified. It kind of spoils the dream just a little bit.

But hey, thats what BR are for in it, not only putting factory wrongs right but going on to enhance our dream and them some, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

[KarlFranz]

Mr. Magoo in the room with the fluorescent lights should be ashamed to put an inspection badge on a job like that. The bean counters are really doing a number in the image of craftsmanship that AM is supposed to portray. So sad. Glad BR was there to sort it out for you when the factory failed to do its job.

[Cockernee]

I have said it before Bob, that is un-believable that the machinist, the person building the seat and the inspection missed this, shame on you AM. If you are reading this AM, then go look at your internal procedures quickly or you will be seeing many disgruntled customers who will buy another marque in future. Truly poor workmanship on a top end car, I agree that having BR around to care for our cars after they have left the factory is indeed welcome. I only hope that AM or your dealer sends a nice bottle of something as an apology.

I am sure that BR and other trusted independents have other horror stories, that they are just not willing to tell on an open forum as they love the brand like we all do, despite it's faults. So be careful AM and look after these independents, because in reality they are looking after your reputation also. I would hate to think that you are not supportive of these guys as there are a lot of us out there that use them to sort our P&J's. Indeed without them around it would severely affect my decision to purchase another and I am sure many others on here also . Don't get me wrong, my car has been perfect and I love it, but things like this I find embarrassing. Do not under-estimate the power that this forum has....

[GlynV8]

Cockernee said:

I have said it before Bob, that is un-believable that the machinist, the person building the seat and the inspection missed this, shame on you AM. If you are reading this AM, then go look at your internal procedures quickly or you will be seeing many disgruntled customers who will buy another marque in future. Truly poor workmanship on a top end car, I agree that having BR around to care for our cars after they have left the factory is indeed welcome. I only hope that AM or your dealer sends a nice bottle of something as an apology.

I am sure that BR and other trusted independents have other horror stories, that they are just not willing to tell on an open forum as they love the brand like we all do, despite it's faults. So be careful AM and look after these independents, because in reality they are looking after your reputation also. I would hate to think that you are not supportive of these guys as there are a lot of us out there that use them to sort our P&J's. Indeed without them around it would severely affect my decision to purchase another and I am sure many others on here also . Don't get me wrong, my car has been perfect and I love it, but things like this I find embarrassing. Do not under-estimate the power that this forum has....

^^ I agree with that.

Glad to see it put right. Any chance of seeing the enhancements that Q dept would not do?

[pilgrim7777]

As has been mentioned before its what you don't see, such nut retainers not fitted across the board so if you remove small bolts inside the cabin the nuts just fall into the base of the unit. It is is bit of challenge to reassemble, screws cross threaded etc, the noticeable reduction of quality over the last few years the MY2006 I had was better than the current MY2011 I have although having gone through reviewing and putting right anything I find it is now better than when it left the factory.

[Y100]

GlynV8 said:

Cockernee said:

I have said it before Bob, that is un-believable that the machinist, the person building the seat and the inspection missed this, shame on you AM. If you are reading this AM, then go look at your internal procedures quickly or you will be seeing many disgruntled customers who will buy another marque in future. Truly poor workmanship on a top end car, I agree that having BR around to care for our cars after they have left the factory is indeed welcome. I only hope that AM or your dealer sends a nice bottle of something as an apology.

I am sure that BR and other trusted independents have other horror stories, that they are just not willing to tell on an open forum as they love the brand like we all do, despite it's faults. So be careful AM and look after these independents, because in reality they are looking after your reputation also. I would hate to think that you are not supportive of these guys as there are a lot of us out there that use them to sort our P&J's. Indeed without them around it would severely affect my decision to purchase another and I am sure many others on here also . Don't get me wrong, my car has been perfect and I love it, but things like this I find embarrassing. Do not under-estimate the power that this forum has....

^^ I agree with that.

Glad to see it put right. Any chance of seeing the enhancements that Q dept would not do?

Cockers, wasn't there supposed to have been a meeting at the factory earlier this month to discuss the quality control failings?

GlynV8. Its likely that the Q work will be completed shortly, so imagine Mike will post the changes on his BR 'sticky'.

[steveatesh]

mikey k said:

How the hell did the machinist not see they had done that

Maybe they DID see it but if they work to production targets then it's likely they will just push it through in order to hit the target. I'm making an assumption on that (that they work to production targets) but it would explain it.

In that case it will not be exceptional but should be expected because any contingent incentive ( meet your target and get a bonus, or meet your target to avoid a penalty) inevitably leads to this type of behaviour by workers, no matter what field they are in. Gaming is well a well documented unintended consequence of targets and contingent incentives across both private and public sector.

I'd love to know if the perceived reduction in quality mentioned by Cockers above is linked to them introducing new ways of measuring or driving productivity by management applying some type of contingent incentive plus a cost cutting philosophy making it a ,double whammy.

[mikey k]

steveatesh said:

mikey k said:

How the hell did the machinist not see they had done that

Maybe they DID see it but if they work to production targets then it's likely they will just push it through in order to hit the target. I'm making an assumption on that (that they work to production targets) but it would explain it.

In that case it will not be exceptional but should be expected because any contingent incentive ( meet your target and get a bonus, or meet your target to avoid a penalty) inevitably leads to this type of behaviour by workers, no matter what field they are in. Gaming is well a well documented unintended consequence of targets and contingent incentives across both private and public sector.

I'd love to know if the perceived reduction in quality mentioned by Cockers above is linked to them introducing new ways of measuring or driving productivity by management applying some type of contingent incentive plus a cost cutting philosophy making it a ,double whammy.

Me from another thread

It seems to me there is a culture change needed at Aston;
From the machinist that does stitch a seat cover in a straight line
The assembly guy who cannot be bothered to adjust the handbrake
The paint shop guy who doesn't bother checking the panels cleanliness before spraying
The wet sanding/polishing guy who doesn't clean up after himself
The assembly guy who can obviously see panel fit issues when he puts them on
The assembly guy who fits a roadster roof that doesn't close fully
You get the idea!
And lets not forget the dealers techs who let all these pass PDI's!
Oh and then we can start a list of cock ups by dealers

When you do the factory tour they push hard the "fact" ANYONE in production can stop the line for quality issues
It seems no one does!
It feels to me like they all believe they are doing what they say, but no one actually has the pride and ownership to do it. (or the management won't let them/listen?)
"All it takes" is for the individual person to ensure they are proud of their work wink
I say "all it takes" but that is a a big thing to achieve across a whole organisation frown

[steveatesh]

mikey k said:

Me from another thread

Stuff

When you do the factory tour they push hard the "fact" ANYONE in production can stop the line for quality issues
It seems no one does!
It feels to me like they all believe they are doing what they say, but no one actually has the pride and ownership to do it. (or the management won't let them/listen?)

I say "all it takes" but that is a a big thing to achieve across a whole organisation frown

Couldn't agree more with you, my money will be management thinking and their system of production driving the poor culture. After all I doubt any new AM employee joined with a view to doing poor quality work or not doing their best, but the system has resulted in that happening, as in many other examples in other sectors (I'm thinking north staffs hospital, for example). If management changed their thinking and changed the system ( especially around what they measure) then the culture change comes with it. It does sound from what you say like management have allowed a poor culture to develop then accepted it, ignore it or not aware of it because what they take notice of ( production volume targets maybe?) hide it. Needs to change.

[Little Donkey]

Can I ask....... What did the dealer do to help rectify the defect? Did they involve the factory? Do I take it that you went to BR because the dealer couldn't/wouldn't help?

[whoami]

Little Donkey said:

Can I ask....... What did the dealer do to help rectify the defect? Did they involve the factory? Do I take it that you went to BR because the dealer couldn't/wouldn't help?

Very good point.

The dealer would have had this very obvious, and totally unacceptable, fault fixed under warranty.

[Y100]

Little Donkey said:

Can I ask....... What did the dealer do to help rectify the defect? Did they involve the factory? Do I take it that you went to BR because the dealer couldn't/wouldn't help?

I did show the fault to the dealership and was told they would be in touch to discuss a solution, there was no argument there. Whilst waiting for them to contact me BR collected the car to perform a number of enhancements both power and cosmetic, one of which involved headrest embroidery,,,,so it made sense for them to rectify the bolster fault at the same time.

My point in posting was two fold, one the obvious lack of committment by the seamstress employee at AM in terms of conscientiousness and second, that such an obvious fault was not picked up at the the pdi stage.

Interestingly, 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for the dealership to contact me,,,,its not a good image is it.

[Ed50]

Y100 said:

Interestingly, 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for the dealership to contact me,,,,its not a good image is it.

Par for the course Bob............go tell um your thinking of buying another and see if the phone starts ringing .

[Little Donkey]

Y100 said:

Little Donkey said:

Can I ask....... What did the dealer do to help rectify the defect? Did they involve the factory? Do I take it that you went to BR because the dealer couldn't/wouldn't help?

I did show the fault to the dealership and was told they would be in touch to discuss a solution, there was no argument there. Whilst waiting for them to contact me BR collected the car to perform a number of enhancements both power and cosmetic, one of which involved headrest embroidery,,,,so it made sense for them to rectify the bolster fault at the same time.

My point in posting was two fold, one the obvious lack of committment by the seamstress employee at AM in terms of conscientiousness and second, that such an obvious fault was not picked up at the the pdi stage.

Interestingly, 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for the dealership to contact me,,,,its not a good image is it.

Ah, yes. See your point. Never mind that though, where are the compulsory photos of the headrest embroidery???

[Y100]

Ed50 said:

Par for the course Bob............go tell um your thinking of buying another and see if the phone starts ringing .

Funny you should say that Ed,,,,they were offering the 'red carpet' treatment only a few weeks ago,,,naturally I was not interested. Anyway, good to see you're back.

LD, the headrest embroidery is a challenge for anyone, as Mike says, we need guaranteed stitch perfect, that is taking some organising. Pics will be posted when available, promise.

PS: In order to give a fair and balanced opinion, I ought to add, that at a personal level, the Cambridge dealership have been in many ways helpful, arranging a pre-purchase factory visit (where we saw Vesuvius body shell being married to the power train) offering options advise and were very patient as we um'd and r'd for several months over colours. Also did there level best to encourage Q to get off their arse and agree something (mission impossible 007). Finally, once our deposit was down, the salesman there went as far as he could in terms of 'freebies', which tallied up to several hundred pounds worth. So far from all bad news guys.

Edited by Y100 on Sunday 22 September 11:01

[dredders]

It does mean, that the final inspection plate - that looks so personal under the bonnet is as good as worthless.

If I remember - Rob & Mollys wasn't even for the right model.

Come on AM - up your game a bit.