Main Dealers - experience

[Moonhawk]

bomberh said:

Please, please do.....I would love to 1. Be fly on the wall when they read it and 2. see how they reply.

Go on you know you want to..great fun in deed.

Yep - whist he's at it - perhaps ask what their opinion of Nankang tyres are because Asdatyres.co.uk has a great deal on 235/40R19s at the moment - only £105 each

[Jon39]

Moonhawk said:

bomberh said:

Please, please do.....I would love to 1. Be fly on the wall when they read it and 2. see how they reply.

Go on you know you want to..great fun in deed.

Yep - whist he's at it - perhaps ask what their opinion of Nankang tyres are because Asdatyres.co.uk has a great deal on 235/40R19s at the moment - only £105 each

You could also complain about the 'Fixed Price Servicing'.
For exactly the same work, older cars £950,
younger cars £650.

[huggy1]

If I wrote down everything I hated about having to deal with the main stealers, I'd be here all day... They wrap, incompetence, lies and downright thievery up in big lumps of cotton wool and think they can get away with it. I will never by an Aston Martin again.

[Ed50]

Huggy,

I sense you might be slightly cheesed off……

Dare I ask you to expand upon your experience,an experience that I guess has seen you leave the Marque.

If thats the case I'm sorry to hear of it and I'm sure those that read the forum at Gaydon would be equally dismayed.

The brand needs loyal customers so I'm sure Dr P would be equally cheesed off if he know of some of the horror stories.

Sad day when the brand loses a customer,far to much of it of late I'm afraid……

[huggy1]

Ed50 said:

Huggy,

I sense you might be slightly cheesed off……

Dare I ask you to expand upon your experience,an experience that I guess has seen you leave the Marque.

If thats the case I'm sorry to hear of it and I'm sure those that read the forum at Gaydon would be equally dismayed.

The brand needs loyal customers so I'm sure Dr P would be equally cheesed off if he know of some of the horror stories.

Sad day when the brand loses a customer,far to much of it of late I'm afraid……

Had a V8 for 4 years Ed, I've enjoyed just about everything about the car apart from having to deal with these people. From the first dealings with a dealer, bought the car without seeing it due to the distance and relying on the sales man to be truthful regarding the condition of the car. To the last dealing with my local dealer and having to listen to their fairy stories. They just seem to make it up as they go along. To top it all off, they scratched the car during service (the 5th time that they have damaged it). Took it back and mopped it. Mopped loads of holograms into it (which is what I exactly told them not to do) and wore the paint off the edge on the rear quarter panel!!! I've complained and heard nothing in over 4 weeks, apart from an acknowledgement of my email, complained to Gaydon last week and I've heard nothing from them either.

These people do not care about us and I've decided to sell the thing and get a Maserati. Not one bit due to the car itself, or reliability, or running costs, or fuel consumption etc but the way we are treated. When deciding to take the plunge and spend, what for me was a huge amount of money for this car, I never even considered this would be the case.

Edited by huggy1 on Wednesday 22 July 00:16

[Ed50]

Thanks Huggy,

I can feel your pain.

I have to say snap,been there and got the tee shirt.

Gaydon unfortunately you've lost another customer due to poor services levels.

There's mirror images here of another I know's experience………he too buggered off and bought a Maser.

Edited by Ed50 on Tuesday 21st July 22:57

[Jon39]

Dealer experience is bound to vary, but there do seem to be some which are repeatedly criticised on here.
There have also been compliments made about particular dealers.
I have not had any problems at mine, and the staff are very helpful. I do though always ensure the car is spotless when it goes in, and tell them not to wash it. That avoids any possible difficulties about cleaning scratches.

Are the Maserati dealers really so fantastic?

Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 21st July 23:39

[huggy1]

I actually told them not to was it and they still did! I find it amazing that an Aston dealer cannot was a car properly, I wash mine, two buckets, grit guards, filtered water, decent microfibers etc and dry it in 30 mins and it looks flawless. So why do they make it look so bad? Having said that, the scratches didn't seem to come from washing.

I'd love to keep an Aston but too fed up now, Maserati is just a result of thinking about what I want next.

Jon39 said:

I have not had any problems at mine, and the staff are very helpful. I do though always ensure the car is spotless when it goes in, and tell them not to wash it. That avoids any possible difficulties about cleaning scratches.

Are the Maserati dealers really so fantastic?

Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 21st July 23:39

[JonV8V]

Ed50 said:

Thanks Huggy,

I can feel your pain.

I have to say snap,been there and got the tee shirt.

Gaydon unfortunately you've lost another customer due to poor services levels.

There's mirror images here of another I know's experience………he too buggered off and bought a Maser.

Edited by Ed50 on Tuesday 21st July 22:57

The thing that amazes me is that these garages are often part of a group (eg stratstone) and to all intents a purposes the ethos is a reflection of them as much as Aston. I was expecting a bit more 'red carpet' treatment I guess with Aston, but there's no real difference to the treatment I get from BMW, just my expectation is that much higher.

[tonyhall38]

Having just bought my first Aston from a dealer....all my others have been private....i have only used the dealers for servicing etc....
So far the experience has been ok.....I have a few minor issues that Ian waiting to be resolved and I'm sure they will be....if not....I will be straight back and will be having words.........here's hoping it doesn't come to that..esp after buying the company flag ship model....and my third aston....

[AMDBSNick]

huggy1 said:

If I wrote down everything I hated about having to deal with the main stealers, I'd be here all day... They wrap, incompetence, lies and downright thievery up in big lumps of cotton wool and think they can get away with it. I will never by an Aston Martin again.

Looking at where you are based Huggy I would guess you use what is considered the marque's "premier" dealer. I used to use them and they damaged my old V8V. I know they insist on washing the cars on arrival, well they used to!!!

I now use an Indy

[Moonhawk]

Sent an email direct to the sales person I bought the car from - then followed this up with one directly through the dealers feedback form on the website. Heard nothing.

Followed this up with a phone call today - and was told they will have to "investigate" and they'll get back to me next week. Given the tone of the person I spoke to - i'm not at all hopeful in getting a resolution on this.

Silly thing is - they are likely to lose a customer over their continued bad customer service. I test drove the V12 a couple of months back and was seriously considering an upgrade - but I am rapidly losing all confidence in this dealership (and the brand if i'm honest).

Given the decline in sales the company has been suffering - i'm surprised customer retention isn't one of their top priorities. As a car - the Vantage is fantastic and the test-drive/buying experience was quite good - but the dealers after sales and attitude when a customer is faced with a problem seems to be as bad as any of the main stream car dealers I have dealt with.

Edited by Moonhawk on Wednesday 22 July 11:00

[wokkadriver]

Moonhawk said:

Sent an email direct to the sales person I bought the car from - then followed this up with one directly through the dealers feedback form on the website. Heard nothing.

Followed this up with a phone call today - and was told they will have to "investigate" and they'll get back to me next week. Given the tone of the person I spoke to - i'm not at all hopeful in getting a resolution on this.

Silly thing is - they are likely to lose a customer over their continued bad customer service. I test drove the V12 a couple of months back and was seriously considering an upgrade - but I am rapidly losing all confidence in this dealership (and the brand if i'm honest).

Given the decline in sales the company has been suffering - i'm surprised customer retention isn't one of their top priorities. As a car - the Vantage is fantastic and the test-drive/buying experience was quite good - but the dealers after sales and attitude when a customer is faced with a problem seems to be as bad as any of the main stream car dealers I have dealt with.

Edited by Moonhawk on Wednesday 22 July 11:00

I feel for your problems, however…

Pick up the phone, and ring Aston Martin Works on 01908 610620.

Ask to speak to Simon Stanton, sit back and relax.

[bomberh]

AMDBSNick said:

huggy1 said:

If I wrote down everything I hated about having to deal with the main stealers, I'd be here all day... They wrap, incompetence, lies and downright thievery up in big lumps of cotton wool and think they can get away with it. I will never by an Aston Martin again.

Looking at where you are based Huggy I would guess you use what is considered the marque's "premier" dealer. I used to use them and they damaged my old V8V. I know they insist on washing the cars on arrival, well they used to!!!

I now use an Indy

What they damaged my car????

[Moonhawk]

wokkadriver said:

I feel for your problems, however…

Pick up the phone, and ring Aston Martin Works on 01908 610620.

Ask to speak to Simon Stanton, sit back and relax.

Will he be able to help with my current problems - or my possible future purchase?

[Noogly]

AMDBSNick said:

Looking at where you are based Huggy I would guess you use what is considered the marque's "premier" dealer. I used to use them and they damaged my old V8V. I know they insist on washing the cars on arrival, well they used to!!!

I now use an Indy

I visited a number of AM dealers when I was looking to buy a DB9 recently and service does vary.

I got the worst service from what I thought would be the premier dealer. I went on spec. because I was in the area, didn't have an appointment, but one car advertised on the web was not there and the salesman didn't know anything about it and the other I was interested in had a flat battery and no emergency key. Couldn't even open the door. They were expecting more stock that week and were going to call me when they had that one fixed and new stock. That was many weeks ago, I still haven't heard from them. Meanwhile I bought a nicer one from H R Owen three weeks ago and I am very happy with their service so far.

[wokkadriver]

Moonhawk said:

Will he be able to help with my current problems - or my possible future purchase?

Future purchase - to be fair, any of the chaps there will be first rate, if my experience and that of numerous others is anything to go by!

I'm not sure as to who you are dealing with at the moment - but you have my sympathy. A hopeless dealer is just that. Take your hard-earned cash elsewhere.


As to your current problem, I'd go to the top - I suggest a strongly worded letter in the direction of Mr Trevor Finn. He is the chief executive for Pendragon PLC, which owns Stratstones (oops, that popped out…) Their head office is at

Loxley House
2 Oakwood Court
Little Oak Drive
Annesley
Nottingham
NG15 0DR

Edited by wokkadriver on Wednesday 22 July 14:01

[Moonhawk]

^^ cheers - i'll keep that in the back pocket just in case I get nowhere.

As for future purchases - i'll definitely keep them in mind, if I haven't been totally put off Aston that is.

[Dingle Dell]

Main dealers left me cold while I was looking for a car - didn't return calls, etc, and I ended up buying from a specialist.

I am still using main dealer for servicing, though I question the worth every year, but the service has been okay, nothing special, but no big issues other than quoting silly money for things like alignment checks. I have to say that during servicing and a recall on both the Vantage and an M3, the customer care (and coffee!) from the BMW Dealer way exceeded that given by Aston.

[petop]

wokkadriver said:

I feel for your problems, however…

Pick up the phone, and ring Aston Martin Works on 01908 610620.

Ask to speak to Simon Stanton, sit back and relax.

/\ This.....had nothing but brilliant service from Simon and Works. I work 3000 miles away from the UK and 99% its email correspondence for anything to do with servicing etc. Always reply and deal with anything, minimum of fuss. They also on a few occasions gone above and beyond what i would expect and not reflective on any car problems but taken into account the fact i work away a lot.