Dealer negligence with brand new car
Discussion
Just out of interest did they cover the self tappers with those nice plastic covers? I see a lot of new cars without these on and it just looks shoddy with a plain screw head.Back to your issue though, I would be fuming if it was my car,the use of sticky pads is ok and indeed i have always found them a good way of attaching plates so why bother with the self tappers anyway?
There were caps on the screws on my car.
You'd be hard pushed to use sticky pads on it - the mount on the front is really for smaller plates, presumably the size they are in Korea. Not enough area to stick to for pads to be used.
I stuck the rear plate on though - it rattled when I closed the boot when it was screwed on.
You'd be hard pushed to use sticky pads on it - the mount on the front is really for smaller plates, presumably the size they are in Korea. Not enough area to stick to for pads to be used.
I stuck the rear plate on though - it rattled when I closed the boot when it was screwed on.
V8A*ndy said:
Did this with the wifes 1M. We did the prep ourselves and the car hasn't one swirl on it. However they did put the plates on and I told them to stick the front plate on.
They screwed it on and I havn't had the nerve yet to look at how it's been put on but there was no holes on the front in the first place. At least its plastic. Odd as they stuck my Z4 plate on with tape and also prepped it leaving it covered in swirls and scratches.
Dealers don't care period.
Probably because most owners don't care either apart from the badge and the number plate are correctThey screwed it on and I havn't had the nerve yet to look at how it's been put on but there was no holes on the front in the first place. At least its plastic. Odd as they stuck my Z4 plate on with tape and also prepped it leaving it covered in swirls and scratches.
Dealers don't care period.
thinfourth2 said:
Probably because most owners don't care either apart from the badge and the number plate are correct
I'm sure I'd have been sectioned if I'd requested to pick up a Kia Picanto un-prepped 
The dealer thought it was odd enough I was having them correct small things like an incorrectly mounted front plate, dirty marks inside, incomplete service book, etc
Quite an amusing story about number plates and dealers. About 7 years ago a friend had a 911 Turbo S with a private plate on which consisted of 3 letters followed by 2 numbers. Anyway the car was booked in for a service with a main dealer and a couple of days before someone had stolen the front numberplate off the car. (Don't know why it didn't spell anything or look like anything) Anyway owner thought no problem I will get the Porsche dealer to make me a new plate and sort it out when they service it, I must add that the rear plate was on the car and was fine.
Anyway car comes back from Porsche with a bill for about £1k as expected and of course a new front numberplate. However the front numberplate read something like "Z 6404", at first the owner thought it was some kind of joke!!! And they had also very kindly made sure that the rear numberplate matched the front and changed that to "Z 6404" also!!!
Owner went mad as expected and refused to pay the bill and told them to take it back and change it, it didn't help that he had been without the car for a while and was desperate to get it back. As it turns out someone had written down the code to the radio as the work they were doing involved disconnecting the battery and another person thought that this was the plate that needed to be put on the car!!! It is slightly worrying though that a car can come in with a 3 letter 2 number plate and go out with "Z 6404" on and no one blinks an eye or even thinks 'is that correct?' - hope they pay more attention to what they are doing when they are servicing the car. Porsche were very apologetic and knocked a bit off the bill.
Anyway car comes back from Porsche with a bill for about £1k as expected and of course a new front numberplate. However the front numberplate read something like "Z 6404", at first the owner thought it was some kind of joke!!! And they had also very kindly made sure that the rear numberplate matched the front and changed that to "Z 6404" also!!!
Owner went mad as expected and refused to pay the bill and told them to take it back and change it, it didn't help that he had been without the car for a while and was desperate to get it back. As it turns out someone had written down the code to the radio as the work they were doing involved disconnecting the battery and another person thought that this was the plate that needed to be put on the car!!! It is slightly worrying though that a car can come in with a 3 letter 2 number plate and go out with "Z 6404" on and no one blinks an eye or even thinks 'is that correct?' - hope they pay more attention to what they are doing when they are servicing the car. Porsche were very apologetic and knocked a bit off the bill.
Edited by F458 on Saturday 17th September 08:02
OP, as others have said, take the car back to the dealership. I would do this today (Saturday as it should be nice and busy and other customers will be interested in what is happening) and ask to speak to the dealer principal. Then say you are not happy with the work they did on your car (in the busy showroom) and you'd like to show him. Then take him out to your car and just show him the license plate and the holes. Then ask him what he is going to do about that.
Go from there.
Go from there.
Ask the dealer for a new, unmolested, pair of original plates too. When it comes to selling it the DVLA are 99% sure to reissue the original number to the car when you take your private plate off. Save you having to buy new ones or opening up the self tap holes again! Also a good starting point when you complain...
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 17th September 09:17
F458 said:
Quite an amusing story about number plates and dealers. About 7 years ago a friend had a 911 Turbo S with a private plate on which consisted of 3 letters followed by 2 numbers. Anyway the car was booked in for a service with a main dealer and a couple of days before someone had stolen the front numberplate off the car. (Don't know why it didn't spell anything or look like anything) Anyway owner thought no problem I will get the Porsche dealer to make me a new plate and sort it out when they service it, I must add that the rear plate was on the car and was fine.
Anyway car comes back from Porsche with a bill for about £1k as expected and of course a new front numberplate. However the front numberplate read something like "Z 6404", at first the owner thought it was some kind of joke!!! And they had also very kindly made sure that the rear numberplate matched the front and changed that to "Z 6404" also!!!
Owner went mad as expected and refused to pay the bill and told them to take it back and change it, it didn't help that he had been without the car for a while and was desperate to get it back. As it turns out someone had written down the code to the radio as the work they were doing involved disconnecting the battery and another person thought that this was the plate that needed to be put on the car!!! It is slightly worrying though that a car can come in with a 3 letter 2 number plate and go out with "Z 6404" on and no one blinks an eye or even thinks 'is that correct?' - hope they pay more attention to what they are doing when they are servicing the car. Porsche were very apologetic and knocked a bit off the bill.
I would of probably died laughing Anyway car comes back from Porsche with a bill for about £1k as expected and of course a new front numberplate. However the front numberplate read something like "Z 6404", at first the owner thought it was some kind of joke!!! And they had also very kindly made sure that the rear numberplate matched the front and changed that to "Z 6404" also!!!
Owner went mad as expected and refused to pay the bill and told them to take it back and change it, it didn't help that he had been without the car for a while and was desperate to get it back. As it turns out someone had written down the code to the radio as the work they were doing involved disconnecting the battery and another person thought that this was the plate that needed to be put on the car!!! It is slightly worrying though that a car can come in with a 3 letter 2 number plate and go out with "Z 6404" on and no one blinks an eye or even thinks 'is that correct?' - hope they pay more attention to what they are doing when they are servicing the car. Porsche were very apologetic and knocked a bit off the bill.
Edited by F458 on Saturday 17th September 08:02
but i don't get angry or shouty enough to get into a job where i could buy a 911
thinfourth2 said:
V8A*ndy said:
Dealers don't care period.
Probably because most owners don't care either apart from the badge and the number plate are correctOP, you're one out of every 1,000 people who care enough how their plates are mounted, other than that they are not wonky and don't fall off. A motor dealer (and not even a particularly busy one) will put out 500 cars a year. 5 minutes for the technician to screw plates in as you describe on a new or approved used car vs. double that to get out a template etc. 5 mins x 500 cars = 2,500 minutes. Around 42 hours, or in other words an entire week of productivity, which to the business is of greater significance and value than 1 person every couple of years for whom it presents an issue.
However, the service department will still invoice the sales department 0.3hrs labour to fit plates, the last place I worked, to supply and fit a set of plates internally was £42.00 + VAT. When you could also order them direct from Hills for £5-7 and as salesmen fit them ourselves (as the old templates are still in the workshop and most of us can operate a drill and screwdriver), however that affects aftersales profitability, so doesn't happen.
That extends to valeting too, new cars aren't detailed for delivery. Perhaps if everyone paid MRRP then things might be able to change, instead of everyone chasing th elowest common denominator of cheapest price and maximum customer service, when the two are irreconcilable so a balance must be reached. Instead new cars are quite often a break-even or loss-making aspect of the business for them, so there simply isn't the money in the pot to justify the care and attention to detail people expect. That comes from over a decade of working in the business and is an insight into the perspective that as a customer, you probably won't have of the situation.
My very first job in the trade was as a Vehicle Progressor for BMW. Every car has factory holes in the rear plate recess (same on all models, so one template needed), and a variety of them on the front plate mount, that varies with each model. On top of that, different lease companies have different rules about how thei rplates are fitted etc, which are checked and need to be correct. With a ten car range at the time, fitting plates was a relatively time-consuming part of my job for a dealership putting out over 1,000 cars a year (both new and used), to the extent that once management realised I was doing it by the book - ordered that I just use self-adhesive strips for the front and the rears are all the same, so drill those. Frustrating as someone who took pride in what they did, but there we go.
Zwoelf said:
OP, you're one out of every 1,000 people who care enough how their plates are mounted, other than that they are not wonky and don't fall off. A motor dealer (and not even a particularly busy one) will put out 500 cars a year. 5 minutes for the technician to screw plates in as you describe on a new or approved used car vs. double that to get out a template etc. 5 mins x 500 cars = 2,500 minutes. Around 42 hours, or in other words an entire week of productivity, which to the business is of greater significance and value than 1 person every couple of years for whom it presents an issue.
However, the service department will still invoice the sales department 0.3hrs labour to fit plates, the last place I worked, to supply and fit a set of plates internally was £42.00 + VAT. When you could also order them direct from Hills for £5-7 and as salesmen fit them ourselves (as the old templates are still in the workshop and most of us can operate a drill and screwdriver), however that affects aftersales profitability, so doesn't happen.
That extends to valeting too, new cars aren't detailed for delivery. Perhaps if everyone paid MRRP then things might be able to change, instead of everyone chasing th elowest common denominator of cheapest price and maximum customer service, when the two are irreconcilable so a balance must be reached. Instead new cars are quite often a break-even or loss-making aspect of the business for them, so there simply isn't the money in the pot to justify the care and attention to detail people expect. That comes from over a decade of working in the business and is an insight into the perspective that as a customer, you probably won't have of the situation.
My very first job in the trade was as a Vehicle Progressor for BMW. Every car has factory holes in the rear plate recess (same on all models, so one template needed), and a variety of them on the front plate mount, that varies with each model. On top of that, different lease companies have different rules about how thei rplates are fitted etc, which are checked and need to be correct. With a ten car range at the time, fitting plates was a relatively time-consuming part of my job for a dealership putting out over 1,000 cars a year (both new and used), to the extent that once management realised I was doing it by the book - ordered that I just use self-adhesive strips for the front and the rears are all the same, so drill those. Frustrating as someone who took pride in what they did, but there we go.
Pig Skill said:
I think our friend is a RRS driver. That explains a lot 
You're a Hypocrite! 
You slag off RR Sport drivers, (of which I am not one BTW) but if someone DARES to criticises your car their a Cock? Yeah Ok!And a Megane with those stickers is the modern day equivilent of a Escort Turbo with Tiger Stripes
Classy
For reference, to all the Megane rimmers who assume that disliking a car means you must drive a Diesel. Last peformance car I owned was this. (Sadly sold in 1 day on this site)
REAL wheel drive. Not Wrong wheel drive nonsense for weak men.
EDIT: ANYWAY, back OT
To the OP. You should have no problems getting that rectified IMO. But I'll point out that nowadays a lot of dealers have "someone" that will fit plates on cars. It may not be a technician even. "Maybe" Just one of the cleaners with a cordless drill.
Edited by Rich_W on Saturday 17th September 12:18
Rich_W said:
Pig Skill said:
OP - Go have a moan and get something for free; like a service. Then take off the plate and dab some paint into the holes and fit a new plate correctly. Job done and no harm done. You will have more stress and grief having them repair it or swap it.
I bought this car back in 2009 and specifically told them to deliver it to me unprepared — not even washed. I did it all myself so I knew it would be done properly. It's the only way unfortunately
I'd be EMBARESSED to own a car like that. What are you? 12?I bought this car back in 2009 and specifically told them to deliver it to me unprepared — not even washed. I did it all myself so I knew it would be done properly. It's the only way unfortunately
I was at a track day recently in a fully race prepared Honda Integra and I was struggling to keep up with a road reg'd one of these. Very, very rapid car.
Personality clashes aside, I think this is emerging as possibly one of the strangest and most boring 'massive storm in a teeny teacup' threads ever.
Four pages so far about two small holes that should never have happened that notwithstanding can be satisfactorily dealt with and completely hidden under a new numberplate.
If the OP is old enough to go out and buy a new car, he or she should be old enough to decide for themselves what they want doing and to have the skills to get it sorted at no cost to themselves. It's called being a grown-up.
And if it ever got so bad that I had to PDI a new car myself, I simply wouldn't buy one. I've had about 20 new cars over the years and I've only had two which had PDI issues; but then again, as prior agreed with the supplying dealer, I don't and won't pay or take delivery until I've been over it with a fine tooth comb. If I'm not happy, I won't pay for it and/or accept delivery, simple as that.
Four pages so far about two small holes that should never have happened that notwithstanding can be satisfactorily dealt with and completely hidden under a new numberplate.
If the OP is old enough to go out and buy a new car, he or she should be old enough to decide for themselves what they want doing and to have the skills to get it sorted at no cost to themselves. It's called being a grown-up.
And if it ever got so bad that I had to PDI a new car myself, I simply wouldn't buy one. I've had about 20 new cars over the years and I've only had two which had PDI issues; but then again, as prior agreed with the supplying dealer, I don't and won't pay or take delivery until I've been over it with a fine tooth comb. If I'm not happy, I won't pay for it and/or accept delivery, simple as that.
OP sorry about the slight thread hijack.
No one has the right to swear at someone because they work in customer service, and why should they expect for that to happen?
If one of your work colleges swore at you every time you'd done something wrong would that be OK too? I doubt it!
I don't work in the motor trade but i work in retail and am happy to accept that people are upset when things go wrong, however if someone was to swear at me or start to use derogatory terms I would ask them to speak to me again when they can talk about the problem in a more civilised manor!
It's that people like you think it's OK to treat others like dirt because they think that being customer facing and having to deal with customer service issues means it's OK to talk to them in whatever manner you see fit! It is not and I have personally found recently that the level of unreasonableness and rudeness shown by an ever increasing number of people is not acceptable, you should treat people you are dealing with in the same way you would expect others to treat you, your job shouldn't make any difference!
Personally I'm happy to accept that sometimes people are upset when things go wrong so they will be angry, stressed and disappointed so this will effect their attitude towards me, but being outright rude is not acceptable and ultimately will not help anyone.
When was that last time you went to customer services and congratulated them on what wonderful service you'd had or if someone went out of their way to help you out when using their services?.............
I thought not.
/hijack
OP
I wouldn't have been happy either, you'd have thought that if the fixings where in a standard place it would have taken 10 minuets to make a template that could be used again and again? Just smacks of laziness, but the garage may consider this to be acceptable, so you may have a bit of a fight on your hands.
If you go back and explain what's happened and what your expecting them to do correct it, as long as it's a reasonable request they should do it if for no other other reason than to keep you as a regular customer.
If not maybe a call or email to the dealer principle will get things moving if all else fails.
johnpeat said:
and you herein open the can of worms that is "why should I help someone with that attitude"...
The answer is "because it's your job DUH".
Working in after sales/customer relations means you'll often deal with people who are unhappy/angry/sarcastic and maybe even a bit sweary and rude. There's a limit, of course, but there's FAR too much of this "I'm not going to help you unless you're much nicer to me" bulls
t and I think it's time that customer relations accepted that they have to deal with angry customers and that being po-faced or 'school teacher'y isn't going to help.
So what gives someone the right to speak to someone else in a derogatory manner using demeaning descriptions about others?The answer is "because it's your job DUH".
Working in after sales/customer relations means you'll often deal with people who are unhappy/angry/sarcastic and maybe even a bit sweary and rude. There's a limit, of course, but there's FAR too much of this "I'm not going to help you unless you're much nicer to me" bulls
t and I think it's time that customer relations accepted that they have to deal with angry customers and that being po-faced or 'school teacher'y isn't going to help.No one has the right to swear at someone because they work in customer service, and why should they expect for that to happen?
If one of your work colleges swore at you every time you'd done something wrong would that be OK too? I doubt it!
I don't work in the motor trade but i work in retail and am happy to accept that people are upset when things go wrong, however if someone was to swear at me or start to use derogatory terms I would ask them to speak to me again when they can talk about the problem in a more civilised manor!
johnpeat said:
I'm tired of dealing with Customer Services staff who get shirty if you're even mildly sarcastic - they need to accept that customers are irate and they need to deal with the result of that (as I said, upto a point).
Otherwise, it's a bit like a mechanic complaining that he only ever gets broken cars to work on or refusing a car because it's "mechanically knackered"
It's not about complaining that you have to deal with people who are upset that something that's gone wrong.Otherwise, it's a bit like a mechanic complaining that he only ever gets broken cars to work on or refusing a car because it's "mechanically knackered"
It's that people like you think it's OK to treat others like dirt because they think that being customer facing and having to deal with customer service issues means it's OK to talk to them in whatever manner you see fit! It is not and I have personally found recently that the level of unreasonableness and rudeness shown by an ever increasing number of people is not acceptable, you should treat people you are dealing with in the same way you would expect others to treat you, your job shouldn't make any difference!
Personally I'm happy to accept that sometimes people are upset when things go wrong so they will be angry, stressed and disappointed so this will effect their attitude towards me, but being outright rude is not acceptable and ultimately will not help anyone.
When was that last time you went to customer services and congratulated them on what wonderful service you'd had or if someone went out of their way to help you out when using their services?.............
I thought not.
/hijack
OP
I wouldn't have been happy either, you'd have thought that if the fixings where in a standard place it would have taken 10 minuets to make a template that could be used again and again? Just smacks of laziness, but the garage may consider this to be acceptable, so you may have a bit of a fight on your hands.
If you go back and explain what's happened and what your expecting them to do correct it, as long as it's a reasonable request they should do it if for no other other reason than to keep you as a regular customer.
If not maybe a call or email to the dealer principle will get things moving if all else fails.
markswebpages said:
It's that people like you think it's OK to treat others like dirt because they think that being customer facing and having to deal with customer service issues means it's OK to talk to them in whatever manner you see fit! It is not and I have personally found recently that the level of unreasonableness and rudeness shown by an ever increasing number of people is not acceptable, you should treat people you are dealing with in the same way you would expect others to treat you, your job shouldn't make any difference!
I'm sorry but you're talking balls...When you take a role in Customer Services/AfterSales, you are representing a company and you have to take the brunt of what that company has done/failed to do.
If a company has f
ked someone around, done a crap job, overcharged or whatever - a customer has every right to be angry or upset. Asking customers to calm down and be polite before you'll help them is insulting, it's rubbing salt into the wounds - they're upset for a reason and that's upto you to deal with that.Sometimes you'll need to take both barrels and you don't get to complain about it - in the same way that mechanics fix broken cars and plumbers work knee-deep in water and s
t, you have to deal with sarky and rude customers - live with it.Note: I'm not suggesting you should have to take personal attacks, insults or threats of violence, but this idea that everyone should be polite and nice-as-pie before they'll get what they've likely already paid-for, is really just another way of screwing them - the entire mentality is wrong, you should WANT to solve the problem - hell you shouldn't have caused it in the first place!
Asking people to always be polite and calm is the same as asking companies to be competent and professional - in the ideal world this would always happen but we don't live in that world...
markswebpages said:
When was that last time you went to customer services and congratulated them on what wonderful service you'd had or if someone went out of their way to help you out when using their services?.............
Doesn't happen - in almost every avenue of employ you will get all the bad news and little of the good news - that's what "Customer Services" means (we used to call it 'Complaints' - we never had a 'Praise' department) It's also irrelevant to your point - do you think because no-one kissed your ass you shouldn't have anyone be rude either?
If the company you represented did a better job, you'd get less abuse - simple as. Work on that...
markswebpages said:
When was that last time you went to customer services and congratulated them on what wonderful service you'd had or if someone went out of their way to help you out when using their services?.............
We tend to send in a letter if we think we've had great service etc. and we almost invariably get a reply thanking us for our comments. As above though unfortunately if you are in customer services then it's your job to deal with the customer and their complaint. Further, 9 times out of 10 if a customer is p**ed off with your company, being polite and trying to help them will calm them right down and they will soon be far more polite, it's difficult to be rude to someone who is being as helpful as can be. But being ar**y with them will as likely as not escalate the matter.
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