Porsche Customer Services UK

[APOLO1]

So how do we feel they have dealt with things..

EFA, not a fair reflection of the Brand at times......

Edited by APOLO1 on Friday 21st March 07:44

[Carl_Docklands]

APOLO1 said:

So how do we feel they have dealt with things...For me I think they are worse than Fxxkin useless

It's a tale of two companies.

In terms of their upper management and PR teams, they have demonstrated all the hallmarks of an arrogant, slightly dysfunctional company who seem to be far removed from the enthusiasts buying their 'top' sports cars.

This does not tally with the feverish work and passion that is no doubt still going on behind the scenes in the Porsche AG workshops and engineering departments to identify and now roll-out the fix. Alot of sweat and toil ahead for those guys. Neither does it tally with some of the stories of UK OPC's doing the right thing.

I think Porsche UK and Porsche AG central management and PR have not covered themselves in glory.

In the days of the internet and social media, there is no excuse for allowing customers to speculate or hear updates via third parties or with interviews with someone at a car show stand, neither should the North American customers seen to be given priority on updates - this is not the first time this has happened either!

The speculation still goes on now in terms of warranty and the future, it's easy to sort these types of basics right now, so why is the speculation still going on? It's down to poor management from executives.

I still don't agree with OPC's trying to flog broken GT3's either, its sharp practice imo, wait until the cars are fixed and the warranty question is answered ffs!

[mrdemon]

If they cannot even get a N spec pilot SS tyre to market or let any one fit a SS at an OPC.
you can see why any issue is going to be hard work.

[993AL]

You’re flogging a dead horse, PGB are not telling us anything because they genuinely don’t know anything because no info is coming from PAG. It’s not right but that’s clearly the way it is. PGB will be well versed on what they can/can’t say.

Everything’s been said, we either need to swallow that we’re being kept in the dark, wait for an undetermined amount of time for the car because we think it’s going to be epic, or we bail out. People who’ve already had their car delivered have other things to consider but everybody knows where they stand…we’re in the dark for up to 3 weeks. IMO

[APOLO1]

993AL said:

You’re flogging a dead horse, PGB are not telling us anything because they genuinely don’t know anything because no info is coming from PAG. It’s not right but that’s clearly the way it is. PGB will be well versed on what they can/can’t say.

Everything’s been said, we either need to swallow that we’re being kept in the dark, wait for an undetermined amount of time for the car because we think it’s going to be epic, or we bail out. People who’ve already had their car delivered have other things to consider but everybody knows where they stand…we’re in the dark for up to 3 weeks. IMO

completely missing the point..

[smudger911]

FWIW and my 2 pennenth PAG have become a company of two halves - the engineering heritage is still there and will continue to produce good products (near term issues aside) while those staff and engineers are valued and research investment exists. Customer services and generally the whole "front of house" is broken and run by the bean counters. No full remit to sort long term and well regarded customer issues, sales guys dining out on the options list of up selling. All very BMW, Merc & Ford i.e to become a volume producer, if some loyal customers are lost along the way then there are 10 new ones they will pick up in other geographies / product lines.


It's a shame, but things change...

Edited by smudger911 on Thursday 20th March 11:41

[franki68]

I'm afraid your experience is reflective of mine over the years.When the 996turbo caught fire Porsche took the car away to examine it,they never spoke to me again about it.
Then when my 997 turbo played up and was off the road for several months ,I arrived back from a month long holiday expecting it to be ready only to be told the factory had sent the wrong part and was now shut for holidays,on top of which they did not have a car they could give me,when I complained they offered me a peugeot 205 ,I told them I hadnt spent £110k to drive a peugeot so they caved in and gave me the managers c180 merc to drive around in (whoopee).When I made them take the car back I said I would be happy to take another 997turbo from stock ,when I found one with a similar spec to mine they agreed to supply it to me and the next day they rang and told me they couldnt as they had since sold it to someone else.

throughout the entire dealings with them they came across as totally uninterested in the issues and totally arrogant.

As much I love the cars I cant bring myself to spend serious money with them.A boxster for the missus is my limit.

[993AL]

APOLO1 said:

993AL said:

You’re flogging a dead horse, PGB are not telling us anything because they genuinely don’t know anything because no info is coming from PAG. It’s not right but that’s clearly the way it is. PGB will be well versed on what they can/can’t say.

Everything’s been said, we either need to swallow that we’re being kept in the dark, wait for an undetermined amount of time for the car because we think it’s going to be epic, or we bail out. People who’ve already had their car delivered have other things to consider but everybody knows where they stand…we’re in the dark for up to 3 weeks. IMO

completely missing the point..

Fair enough

[smudger911]

franki68 said:

I'm afraid your experience is reflective of mine over the years.When the 996turbo caught fire Porsche took the car away to examine it,they never spoke to me again about it.
Then when my 997 turbo played up and was off the road for several months ,I arrived back from a month long holiday expecting it to be ready only to be told the factory had sent the wrong part and was now shut for holidays,on top of which they did not have a car they could give me,when I complained they offered me a peugeot 205 ,I told them I hadnt spent £110k to drive a peugeot so they caved in and gave me the managers c180 merc to drive around in (whoopee).When I made them take the car back I said I would be happy to take another 997turbo from stock ,when I found one with a similar spec to mine they agreed to supply it to me and the next day they rang and told me they couldnt as they had since sold it to someone else.

throughout the entire dealings with them they came across as totally uninterested in the issues and totally arrogant.

As much I love the cars I cant bring myself to spend serious money with them.A boxster for the missus is my limit.

Hold the phone. Your 996t caught fire. Porsche looked at it and never spoke to you? So they still have the car and you went a got ya self a 997 turbo instead?! What happened with the 996?

[SimonOcean]

APOLO1 said:

So how do we feel they have dealt with things...For me I think they are worse than Fxxkin useless

If you were in charge of Porsche UK, how would you have handled it?
Slightly different, if you were CEO of Porsche AG, how would you have handled it?

Not being a smart arse, but genuinely asking the question. I understand how customers / enthusiasts are disappointed, but my impression is that their response so far has been reasonable.

(As background I cancelled an order and had my deposit returned for a 997.2 GT3 a few years ago when Porsche Mayfair di*ked around with delivery dates on me , so I am not questioning it idea of walking away from the car; just how should this unfortunate mess have been handled? I also have no other agenda in asking... I am not looking for a 991 GT3 slot, but I may look to buy a previously enjoyed one in a few years time).

[paranha]

KNC = Kings New Clothes-What problems? Now we are Family VAG--What problems?.

[AndyBrew]

In my view Porsche should be putting a lot more emphasis on making people happy about the situation by taking their minds of it, a bit of bribery would work wonders. I understand there is a problem, and I understand that information is scarce but I would of thought that as part of the many bloody letters they keep sending out they could have included in that a complimentary VIP trip to one of the many Porsche participating race events this summer, how much would that actually cost them and would at least make you think you were actually on their radar.

I had a cracking day at Silverstone with VIP hospitality at Stowe Corner a couple of years ago, courtesy of Nissan and they hadn't fked up!

[SimonOcean]

APOLO1 said:

...The problem is communication or rather to lack of it, not just in relation to the GT3 either.....

Edited by APOLO1 on Thursday 20th March 20:36

Okay: so you would communicate earlier / or to a greater degree. As an communications / PR analogy, look at the mess the Malaysian aviation authorities have gotten themselves into with the world media in relation to MH370: by making comments based on imperfect or incomplete information they have raised and lowered relatives emotions wondering if their loved ones have any chance of survival. Arguably by sticking to confirmed facts and limiting the degree of speculation they could have minimised the hurt to the people directly affected. As for communicating to people waiting for repair or late delivery of a new car Porsche has no doubt had PR agencies and lawyers advise them on how much to say and when. Generally the advice would be to limit yourself to facts you know and to promised you can keep.

Anyways, I hope you don't have to wait too long. I am sure you will enjoy what sounds like a terrific car. I can't wait to try one.

As for Porsche Mayfair... well... the dealer principal wrote me an apology and explanation that was understandable. So I know why. It was just that I did not want to wait. And they refunded my money without any hassle so I was fine with it.

[isaldiri]

AndyBrew said:

In my view Porsche should be putting a lot more emphasis on making people happy about the situation by taking their minds of it, a bit of bribery would work wonders.

the gt3 represents a total production run of ~4k cars which compared to the 160+k cars per annum Porsche sell. How much do the powers that be at Porsche AG really bother especially as they know most people would probably still stay with their orders....?

[The Moose]

isaldiri said:

AndyBrew said:

In my view Porsche should be putting a lot more emphasis on making people happy about the situation by taking their minds of it, a bit of bribery would work wonders.

the gt3 represents a total production run of ~4k cars which compared to the 160+k cars per annum Porsche sell. How much do the powers that be at Porsche AG really bother especially as they know most people would probably still stay with their orders....?

The more relevant figure is how much do they add to the bottom line?

[BertBert]

Really? Porsche customer service is related in what way to MH370 exactly? Get a grip.
Bert

[isaldiri]

The Moose said:

The more relevant figure is how much do they add to the bottom line?

If one believes businessweek's recent article, PAG makes an average of Eur 20k per car sold and i'd be quite surprised if they didn't make rather more from a cayenne/panamera on average than a gt3.

[SimonOcean]

BertBert said:

Really? Porsche customer service is related in what way to MH370 exactly? Get a grip.
Bert

I'll spell it out for you Bert. I'll try to use simple words without too many syllables for you.

1) Explaining MH370 S&R efforts and GT3 repairs are both public relations / communications challenges.
2) The underlying problems are completely different.
3) The seriousness of the underlying nightmare of MH370's disappearance illustrates the relative insignificance of some car customers disappointed by engineering problems on a new car.

Get a grip yourself.

Edited by SimonOcean on Thursday 20th March 23:28

[s2000db]

isaldiri said:

The Moose said:

The more relevant figure is how much do they add to the bottom line?

If one believes businessweek's recent article, PAG makes an average of Eur 20k per car sold and i'd be quite surprised if they didn't make rather more from a cayenne/panamera on average than a gt3.

I doubt it, there was a very reliable quote somewhere a few years ago, that stated that it only cost Porsche £6k more to build a 997 Turbo, than a Boxster!

[AndyBrew]

isaldiri said:

AndyBrew said:

In my view Porsche should be putting a lot more emphasis on making people happy about the situation by taking their minds of it, a bit of bribery would work wonders.

the gt3 represents a total production run of ~4k cars which compared to the 160+k cars per annum Porsche sell. How much do the powers that be at Porsche AG really bother especially as they know most people would probably still stay with their orders....?

That may well be the case, BUT if you ask every GT3 owner how many Porsches they have bought I wonder what that would equate to, I have only recently got into the Porsche brand and I have bought 4 cars and was looking at a Panamera for next year to replace the C63....

oh fk it you're right I will still buy the Panamera regardless LOL!!