Would you put in a complaint?
Discussion
I'm simmering away nicely here so thought I would see the general consensus on this before taking it any further.
Warning: Essay Ahead
Car (RenaultSport Twingo) has a partially melted steering wheel. Common fault on earlier RenaultSport cars (Slightly symbolic that Renault whilst despite churning out some reasonable tepid & hot hatches they still can't get basic stuff right) but hey-ho, car in warranty so I ring up to book it in for an inspection.
First ask for an appointment at 4pm or later as I work flexitime and can leave work from 3:30, won't book it in after that time (Which is a bit s
t since the service is open till 17:30 according to there website). Eventually get it booked for 2 weeks later to have an inspection done.
Last Friday was inspection time, service manager has no idea I was coming but says he'll 'inspect' anyway. Essentially he walked out to the car, agreed it was knackered and said he'll order in and fit a new one - 2 minutes (And a 40 mile round trip for me, having to come from home 20 miles away on my day off, rather than work 5 miles away).
Tuesday just gone, get a phone call to say the wheel had arrived and it could be booked in, thinking things are eventually on the up. Decide to take today off and get it sorted, booked in for 9am this morning.
Arrived at Renault at 9am this morning having booked it in for 9 and been told it'll take 3 hours. Had to pay for courtesy car for first time - get given keys and off I go. Open courtesy car, discover smashed wing mirror, glass (And other filth) all over interior and barely enough fuel to get to petrol station.
Point mirror out to a passing salesman, just to cover my arse in case they blame me for it. But decide to leave it there and take the car, thinking the service department don't know about it (and so I'll tell them when I give the car back) and I'll barely be in the car enough to notice.
Leave Renault just after 9am, having told them to ring me as soon as it's done as I'll hang around nearby rather than head home. 7 hours later, I'm still wasting time and money on about my 15th Starbucks (Other coffee shops are available) getting pretty pissed off and wondering what had gone wrong.
Get a phone call just as I was about to go and see what had happened, to be told they had the wrong steering wheel - there is two different designs across the entire Twingo range. A non leather one and a smaller diameter leather one. They have a sheet on the desk with the spec of my car with 'Leather steering wheel' highlighted.
Feeling pretty pissed off at this point, I go to the Renault garage, ask for the service manager (Same guy who did the inspection) and the gurning tt comes out with "It's not our fault, they sent the wrong one" but has zero answer when I point out that surely they noticed that SEVEN HOURS ago when I took the car to it's appointment.
Point out that I have paid for the courtesy car and essentially it's both st and dangerous, he acknowledges he knows(!) about the glass everywhere and says he'll not charge me the fking £12 for the courtesy car next time.
At this point I'm getting close to blows, say I'll be complaining and walk out, only to get in my car and find it stings of fking cigarettes (I don't smoke, nor has anyone smoked in my car in the 2 years I've owned it).
As a Renault fan, I sometimes wonder why on earth I put myself through the purgatory of dealing with this piece of st company (Which I know I will have to, since it will break at some point).
Warning: Essay Ahead
Car (RenaultSport Twingo) has a partially melted steering wheel. Common fault on earlier RenaultSport cars (Slightly symbolic that Renault whilst despite churning out some reasonable tepid & hot hatches they still can't get basic stuff right) but hey-ho, car in warranty so I ring up to book it in for an inspection.
First ask for an appointment at 4pm or later as I work flexitime and can leave work from 3:30, won't book it in after that time (Which is a bit s
t since the service is open till 17:30 according to there website). Eventually get it booked for 2 weeks later to have an inspection done. Last Friday was inspection time, service manager has no idea I was coming but says he'll 'inspect' anyway. Essentially he walked out to the car, agreed it was knackered and said he'll order in and fit a new one - 2 minutes (And a 40 mile round trip for me, having to come from home 20 miles away on my day off, rather than work 5 miles away).
Tuesday just gone, get a phone call to say the wheel had arrived and it could be booked in, thinking things are eventually on the up. Decide to take today off and get it sorted, booked in for 9am this morning.
Arrived at Renault at 9am this morning having booked it in for 9 and been told it'll take 3 hours. Had to pay for courtesy car for first time - get given keys and off I go. Open courtesy car, discover smashed wing mirror, glass (And other filth) all over interior and barely enough fuel to get to petrol station.
Point mirror out to a passing salesman, just to cover my arse in case they blame me for it. But decide to leave it there and take the car, thinking the service department don't know about it (and so I'll tell them when I give the car back) and I'll barely be in the car enough to notice.
Leave Renault just after 9am, having told them to ring me as soon as it's done as I'll hang around nearby rather than head home. 7 hours later, I'm still wasting time and money on about my 15th Starbucks (Other coffee shops are available) getting pretty pissed off and wondering what had gone wrong.
Get a phone call just as I was about to go and see what had happened, to be told they had the wrong steering wheel - there is two different designs across the entire Twingo range. A non leather one and a smaller diameter leather one. They have a sheet on the desk with the spec of my car with 'Leather steering wheel' highlighted.
Feeling pretty pissed off at this point, I go to the Renault garage, ask for the service manager (Same guy who did the inspection) and the gurning t
t comes out with "It's not our fault, they sent the wrong one" but has zero answer when I point out that surely they noticed that SEVEN HOURS ago when I took the car to it's appointment. Point out that I have paid for the courtesy car and essentially it's both s
t and dangerous, he acknowledges he knows(!) about the glass everywhere and says he'll not charge me the fking £12 for the courtesy car next time. At this point I'm getting close to blows, say I'll be complaining and walk out, only to get in my car and find it stings of f
king cigarettes (I don't smoke, nor has anyone smoked in my car in the 2 years I've owned it). As a Renault fan, I sometimes wonder why on earth I put myself through the purgatory of dealing with this piece of s
t company (Which I know I will have to, since it will break at some point).Edited by matty_doh on Friday 4th November 17:47
How does a steering wheel 'melt'??
But, yep, usual shocking service from Renault then, I was going to compare it to my local McDonalds but they've upped their game recently! No 2 departments of Renault have any phone link and everythings done with yellow sticky notes in pencil - total waste of space.
I'd get the wheel sorted first then press for money of your next service!
...and since when do you have to pay for courtesy cars???
But, yep, usual shocking service from Renault then, I was going to compare it to my local McDonalds but they've upped their game recently! No 2 departments of Renault have any phone link and everythings done with yellow sticky notes in pencil - total waste of space.
I'd get the wheel sorted first then press for money of your next service!
...and since when do you have to pay for courtesy cars???
Fastra said:
...and since when do you have to pay for courtesy cars???
That depends whether the dealer calls it a courtesy car, i.e. they are giving you then use of a car out of courtesy, or if they refer to it as a loan carAlso, as hightlighted above, the £12 probably covers the cost of an insurance excess waiver - In many cases, the excess for a dealer is set quite high, like £2 + high.. would you rather pay the £12, or for the full cost of a repair if you had a bump costing less than £2k?
Agreed, the £12 for a "courtesy car" is quite normal these days.
I've been charged it by Renault through to Mercedes.
Curiously, Lexus are the only ones who haven't charge....... but there might be something in that what with their status as numero uno when it comes to customer satisfaction.
As for the rest of it; just give Renault UK a call. They've been quite helpful when I've dealt with them in the past and will generally give the dealer a talking to.
I've been charged it by Renault through to Mercedes.
Curiously, Lexus are the only ones who haven't charge....... but there might be something in that what with their status as numero uno when it comes to customer satisfaction.
As for the rest of it; just give Renault UK a call. They've been quite helpful when I've dealt with them in the past and will generally give the dealer a talking to.
When you go back tell the service manager you'll be waiting while the work is done
It isn't a 3 hour job to change a steering wheel
Drink the dealers coffee, save on the loan car fee
Simple
Put the rest down to experience and if the service manager gives you any trouble speak to the dealer principal and tell him/ her what happened on your last visit
It isn't a 3 hour job to change a steering wheel
Drink the dealers coffee, save on the loan car fee
Simple
Put the rest down to experience and if the service manager gives you any trouble speak to the dealer principal and tell him/ her what happened on your last visit
Edited by Red 4 on Friday 4th November 18:35
Superhoop said:
Fastra said:
...and since when do you have to pay for courtesy cars???
That depends whether the dealer calls it a courtesy car, i.e. they are giving you then use of a car out of courtesy, or if they refer to it as a loan carAlso, as hightlighted above, the £12 probably covers the cost of an insurance excess waiver - In many cases, the excess for a dealer is set quite high, like £2 + high.. would you rather pay the £12, or for the full cost of a repair if you had a bump costing less than £2k?
Come to think of it though, when I've had courtesy cars out during servicing it's been covered by my insurance - the dealer has rang up my insurance and swapped it over for the day.
Not very good service from them, to change steering wheel on most cars is quite easy;
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
You might be able to get a free service or mot or something based on having to take a day off work.
What bit melted is it the 'leather' rim? Some Fords had a habbit of doing this around 2001 models, was a horrible feeling after it had been deformed.
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
You might be able to get a free service or mot or something based on having to take a day off work.
What bit melted is it the 'leather' rim? Some Fords had a habbit of doing this around 2001 models, was a horrible feeling after it had been deformed.
I work for a Renault dealer, but I don't think we could help as we are based in Northants. My advice would definitely be to contact RUK Customer Services - they are actually very good, and will contact the dealer you are having problems with and get it sorted. You can email them via the address on their Facebook page.
The Twingo has two types of leather steering wheel, one with cruise control buttons, and one without. Any dealer can either do an visual check or a computerised ICM check to verify which yours has. I might suggest their Parts Dept have dropped a bk and ordered the wrong one.
'Melting' leather steering wheels have been a common fault with Clio II's, RS and non RS models. I haven't personally seen any Twingos with this issue so far.
The Twingo has two types of leather steering wheel, one with cruise control buttons, and one without. Any dealer can either do an visual check or a computerised ICM check to verify which yours has. I might suggest their Parts Dept have dropped a b
k and ordered the wrong one. 'Melting' leather steering wheels have been a common fault with Clio II's, RS and non RS models. I haven't personally seen any Twingos with this issue so far.
Fastra said:
How does a steering wheel 'melt'??
Sweat and sebaceous oils get into the (which rather thing on RS steering wheels) and it degrades and breaks down. The leather flakes and peels away, mostly at the 10 to 2 position where your hands are, and exposes the base layer of the wheel beneath. It looks like leather has melted off! It happens to the gear knobs too - it's frankly very shoddy. Renault must have known about it when they were making the 172, yet the 182 suffered exactly the same problem.Another bone I'd like to pick with Renault is that their RS cars have the least sport seating positions, ever. It's not just me that has this complaint, but you don't feel bunkered down in the car at all, more like you are sitting on a daft little stool while driving - modern Fords have the same problem. You would have thought they'd do something about it, as nearly every magazine review I can recall for RS cars of the older generation said the same damn thing!
rallycross said:
Not very good service from them, to change steering wheel on most cars is quite easy;
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
- disconnect the battery, avoiding the airbag-face-interface risk and the airbag light coming on, no? 
16v stretch said:
I'd have bked them there and then if I got it back from the garage with "eau du B&H" all over the interior. It's not on. Your car was there for warranty work, not for one of the service geezers to spark up a cig on his way to a bacon butty run.
This - I don't smoke in my car so there's no way anyone else is ked them there and then if I got it back from the garage with "eau du B&H" all over the interior. It's not on. Your car was there for warranty work, not for one of the service geezers to spark up a cig on his way to a bacon butty run.
bazking69 said:
They send what the dealer orders....
Problem with the central parts despatch is if you get some illiterate or some johnny foreigner who can barely speak English picking the parts you can literally be sent anything we had automatic transmission fluid labelled as a spark plug once. Then the "poor" service manager has to take the brunt of the customers fury.
Calmed down a bit now. Will be having a word with RUK Customer Services as it's not really on.
I could understand (And would be significantly less pissed off) if they had noticed the cock up then rung me immediately, not left it for 7 hours knowing full well I had asked to be rung as soon as it was done.
The charge for the courtesy car was described as exactly that, no mention of insurance when I was told, I wasn't particularly bothered about paying it - it's £12 after all. It's that the service manager (After immediately deflecting the blame elsewhere - which whilst probably true, doesn't excuse the time taken to notify me) felt that the knocking the £12 charge off next time was an acceptable way of apologising for the wasted time and fuel. I have yet to bring the cigarette smell to their attention though have cleaned and vac'd the interior this morning and I can't smell it any more thankfully.
The bit of the rim that is the issue is the perforated leather where my right hand rests at 10 to 2.
This is another Twingo with a similar issue in the same place, though significantly worse. I wanted to nip it in the bud now before it got worse and the warranty ran out.
I could understand (And would be significantly less pissed off) if they had noticed the cock up then rung me immediately, not left it for 7 hours knowing full well I had asked to be rung as soon as it was done.
The charge for the courtesy car was described as exactly that, no mention of insurance when I was told, I wasn't particularly bothered about paying it - it's £12 after all. It's that the service manager (After immediately deflecting the blame elsewhere - which whilst probably true, doesn't excuse the time taken to notify me) felt that the knocking the £12 charge off next time was an acceptable way of apologising for the wasted time and fuel. I have yet to bring the cigarette smell to their attention though have cleaned and vac'd the interior this morning and I can't smell it any more thankfully.
The bit of the rim that is the issue is the perforated leather where my right hand rests at 10 to 2.
This is another Twingo with a similar issue in the same place, though significantly worse. I wanted to nip it in the bud now before it got worse and the warranty ran out.
Kiltox said:
rallycross said:
Not very good service from them, to change steering wheel on most cars is quite easy;
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
remember to always keep your fingers crossed the airbag wont go off in your face as you are un-doing the steering wheel and wiring.
Then refit new one with old airbag, re-set airbag light and off you go.
- disconnect the battery, avoiding the airbag-face-interface risk and the airbag light coming on, no? Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff