Dispute with Citroen dealer
Discussion
The answer may be to get on with my life, but this has left a bad taste in my mouth. All our vans are serviced at correct times etc.
2018 plate Citroen Relay goes into Citroen service (end of June) as lacks power on inclines. Some confusion, told initially might be new engine, then told it needed injector #4. Subsequently needed a specialist to drill it out (extra £££). Road tested ok - but remained at dealer as I didn't have time to collect.
6th July drop a 2020 Relay in to same service dept for a software update (on recall - nowt wrong with the van). Update has stopped the van from starting (it's still there).
As 'luck' would have it, the 18 plate van was there and drove it back - although obvious the fault remained. Dropped back to them and asked for a courtesy van/car or something. Much head scratching and awaiting a re-diagnostic.
Nothing happened with the 2020 plate so someone in service said use the complaints channel to see if could get some attention. Nothing then happened with my complaint either. So I made a complaint about the 2018 van too and then emailed the head of Citroen UK (his email is on the complaints page) to be a bit more of a nuisance.
Reply about a week after the 2018 went back in with a major plot twist. The service dept told Citroen complaints I was advised to have all injectors replaced but chose to have only one done. This never happened.
Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
I immediately rang the service manager who agreed it sounded ridiculous but, a week later when I was chasing news, he has now taken the side of his service guy (at least officially).
They still have both vans, I have a courtesy small van. I'm really smarting with their fabricated story as basically it calls me a liar. It bothers me more than having the vans off the road. I'd really like an apology or something, but probably not going to happen. Do I need to get on with my life?
2018 plate Citroen Relay goes into Citroen service (end of June) as lacks power on inclines. Some confusion, told initially might be new engine, then told it needed injector #4. Subsequently needed a specialist to drill it out (extra £££). Road tested ok - but remained at dealer as I didn't have time to collect.
6th July drop a 2020 Relay in to same service dept for a software update (on recall - nowt wrong with the van). Update has stopped the van from starting (it's still there).
As 'luck' would have it, the 18 plate van was there and drove it back - although obvious the fault remained. Dropped back to them and asked for a courtesy van/car or something. Much head scratching and awaiting a re-diagnostic.
Nothing happened with the 2020 plate so someone in service said use the complaints channel to see if could get some attention. Nothing then happened with my complaint either. So I made a complaint about the 2018 van too and then emailed the head of Citroen UK (his email is on the complaints page) to be a bit more of a nuisance.
Reply about a week after the 2018 went back in with a major plot twist. The service dept told Citroen complaints I was advised to have all injectors replaced but chose to have only one done. This never happened.
Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
I immediately rang the service manager who agreed it sounded ridiculous but, a week later when I was chasing news, he has now taken the side of his service guy (at least officially).
They still have both vans, I have a courtesy small van. I'm really smarting with their fabricated story as basically it calls me a liar. It bothers me more than having the vans off the road. I'd really like an apology or something, but probably not going to happen. Do I need to get on with my life?
22 said:
The answer may be to get on with my life, but this has left a bad taste in my mouth. All our vans are serviced at correct times etc.
2018 plate Citroen Relay goes into Citroen service (end of June) as lacks power on inclines. Some confusion, told initially might be new engine, then told it needed injector #4. Subsequently needed a specialist to drill it out (extra £££). Road tested ok - but remained at dealer as I didn't have time to collect.
6th July drop a 2020 Relay in to same service dept for a software update (on recall - nowt wrong with the van). Update has stopped the van from starting (it's still there).
As 'luck' would have it, the 18 plate van was there and drove it back - although obvious the fault remained. Dropped back to them and asked for a courtesy van/car or something. Much head scratching and awaiting a re-diagnostic.
Nothing happened with the 2020 plate so someone in service said use the complaints channel to see if could get some attention. Nothing then happened with my complaint either. So I made a complaint about the 2018 van too and then emailed the head of Citroen UK (his email is on the complaints page) to be a bit more of a nuisance.
Reply about a week after the 2018 went back in with a major plot twist. The service dept told Citroen complaints I was advised to have all injectors replaced but chose to have only one done. This never happened.
Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
I immediately rang the service manager who agreed it sounded ridiculous but, a week later when I was chasing news, he has now taken the side of his service guy (at least officially).
They still have both vans, I have a courtesy small van. I'm really smarting with their fabricated story as basically it calls me a liar. It bothers me more than having the vans off the road. I'd really like an apology or something, but probably not going to happen. Do I need to get on with my life?
I feel your frustration, I've had plenty of issues with main dealers, all of them down to their incompetence. Really frustrating when you're paying a premium for their "service" over much better independents.2018 plate Citroen Relay goes into Citroen service (end of June) as lacks power on inclines. Some confusion, told initially might be new engine, then told it needed injector #4. Subsequently needed a specialist to drill it out (extra £££). Road tested ok - but remained at dealer as I didn't have time to collect.
6th July drop a 2020 Relay in to same service dept for a software update (on recall - nowt wrong with the van). Update has stopped the van from starting (it's still there).
As 'luck' would have it, the 18 plate van was there and drove it back - although obvious the fault remained. Dropped back to them and asked for a courtesy van/car or something. Much head scratching and awaiting a re-diagnostic.
Nothing happened with the 2020 plate so someone in service said use the complaints channel to see if could get some attention. Nothing then happened with my complaint either. So I made a complaint about the 2018 van too and then emailed the head of Citroen UK (his email is on the complaints page) to be a bit more of a nuisance.
Reply about a week after the 2018 went back in with a major plot twist. The service dept told Citroen complaints I was advised to have all injectors replaced but chose to have only one done. This never happened.
Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
I immediately rang the service manager who agreed it sounded ridiculous but, a week later when I was chasing news, he has now taken the side of his service guy (at least officially).
They still have both vans, I have a courtesy small van. I'm really smarting with their fabricated story as basically it calls me a liar. It bothers me more than having the vans off the road. I'd really like an apology or something, but probably not going to happen. Do I need to get on with my life?
Can't help any more than that I'm afraid, just rest assured you're not alone.
Beetnik said:
Is the confusion between:
4 No. injectors &
No. 4 injector?
That would make sense, but when it was road-tested after having just one - why say it was ok? 4 No. injectors &
No. 4 injector?
When it went back to them, there was much head scratching not "you silly billy, we told you to have all four done". When I was told it needed work, I said to do it. There should have been no confusion. If there was a decision to do one injector it wasn't made by me. Surely it would have been questioned even if I'd said something along those lines. I still don't know if it's even possible (and to expect a repaired van).
The new narrative only appeared after they'd been contacted by Citroen head office and had their noses put out of joint.
22 said:
Beetnik said:
Is the confusion between:
4 No. injectors &
No. 4 injector?
That would make sense, but when it was road-tested after having just one - why say it was ok? 4 No. injectors &
No. 4 injector?
When it went back to them, there was much head scratching not "you silly billy, we told you to have all four done". When I was told it needed work, I said to do it. There should have been no confusion. If there was a decision to do one injector it wasn't made by me. Surely it would have been questioned even if I'd said something along those lines. I still don't know if it's even possible (and to expect a repaired van).
The new narrative only appeared after they'd been contacted by Citroen head office and had their noses put out of joint.
It had only had an MOT 4 weeks earlier and had passed!
If your 20 plate is still under warranty and it is repaired under warranty, get a like for like hire and Citroen UK will refund you after a small fight. Circa £10K in hire fees for us in the last year.
3 new engines, injectors galore, boost pipes, radiators. God only knows what engineering catastrophe happened when they stuck that Ford 2.2 in there but the dealer told me it is hitting them hard.
We have had many issues of 'misunderstanding' or blatant lying from Citroen dealers but the one thing I've learned is that Citroen UK and Citroen dealers hate each other and are aware the other will bare faced lie at the drop of a hat.
3 new engines, injectors galore, boost pipes, radiators. God only knows what engineering catastrophe happened when they stuck that Ford 2.2 in there but the dealer told me it is hitting them hard.
We have had many issues of 'misunderstanding' or blatant lying from Citroen dealers but the one thing I've learned is that Citroen UK and Citroen dealers hate each other and are aware the other will bare faced lie at the drop of a hat.
Edited by The Vambo on Friday 28th July 18:54
Citroen are replacing the ecu on the 2020 plate as it was their software update (on recall) that borked the van. ECU has landed in the UK "However, as this is a coded part, they are awaiting delivery of certain components to enable the production of the coded part to commence." (from Citroen Head Office).
The 2018 is having the other 3 injectors done at cost of parts alone - still a chunk of change. I've said it needs a thorough road test including hills and enough time for any reset engine management lights to reappear.
Relationship with this dealer is over obviously once I have the vans back.
The van I have is the service manager's. He wants it back, maybe I should get the hire van to give them a bit of financial pain.
The 2018 is having the other 3 injectors done at cost of parts alone - still a chunk of change. I've said it needs a thorough road test including hills and enough time for any reset engine management lights to reappear.
Relationship with this dealer is over obviously once I have the vans back.
The van I have is the service manager's. He wants it back, maybe I should get the hire van to give them a bit of financial pain.
22 said:
The service dept told Citroen complaints I was advised to have all injectors replaced but chose to have only one done. This never happened.
Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
When my parents had a fault on their diesel Golf and it turned out to be an injector, the garage did say 'it's quite possible the other three injectors may fail before too long, do you want to replace them all now?'Now, I can't imagine this is even a thing. Could that be done? Why would I? Even if it happened, I would have asked ramifications, and the service desk guy would have known? I even wanted them to give me a part-ex value on the van, why would I cut corners on a repair at the same branch? How did we decide injector #4 - rock, paper scissors? Did he choose or me? And then why wait a week to mention this? Also no mention of it on their own diagnostic and service narrative from the original work - and why road test (and reported all good) when I had asked for a repair that wouldn't fix the problem.
I.e. it's not an implausible story for a garage to have replaced a failed injector and offered the customer the choice of doing the rest now to save possible hassle later, or not as they haven't yet failed.
It's a bit like if a spring snaps, you could replace just that one, the pair on the axle, or all four depending on your attitude to preventative maintenance, on the grounds that if one has failed the other three are likely nearing the end of their service lives too.
I'm not disputing what you're saying at all, just that annoyingly their lies are somewhat plausible.
Interesting thanks. We want the vans out working, so have never cut corners with repair. It had been to an independent before who scratched his head. Citroen also scratched their heads without giving a definitive answer before injector #4 was considered the suspect.
The issue remaining was immediately obvious when I got in the van. Although it sat in their yard for a while, this was the next time the van was driven after their apparently successful road test.
The issue remaining was immediately obvious when I got in the van. Although it sat in their yard for a while, this was the next time the van was driven after their apparently successful road test.
samoht said:
When my parents had a fault on their diesel Golf and it turned out to be an injector, the garage did say 'it's quite possible the other three injectors may fail before too long, do you want to replace them all now?'
I.e. it's not an implausible story for a garage to have replaced a failed injector and offered the customer the choice of doing the rest now to save possible hassle later, or not as they haven't yet failed.
It's a bit like if a spring snaps, you could replace just that one, the pair on the axle, or all four depending on your attitude to preventative maintenance, on the grounds that if one has failed the other three are likely nearing the end of their service lives too.
I'm not disputing what you're saying at all, just that annoyingly their lies are somewhat plausible.
I.e. it's not an implausible story for a garage to have replaced a failed injector and offered the customer the choice of doing the rest now to save possible hassle later, or not as they haven't yet failed.
It's a bit like if a spring snaps, you could replace just that one, the pair on the axle, or all four depending on your attitude to preventative maintenance, on the grounds that if one has failed the other three are likely nearing the end of their service lives too.
I'm not disputing what you're saying at all, just that annoyingly their lies are somewhat plausible.
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