Poor porsche customer service
Discussion
After complaining to Porsche UK & DE, I would park up outside the dealer on a Saturday (or there busiest day), get some leaflets printed up, maybe a foghorn & let the press know & make sure EVERY customer going into that OPC knows about your complaint. I would even contact a local temp agency & employ a bus load of people to distribute the leaflets & inform the OPC customers of the rubbish service this OPC provides.
Make a day of it, take a packed lunch & enjoy the day.
Ive been screwed around by both BMW & Porsche in the past, alas its always been sorted by the complaints to Munich & Stuttgart & so my 'Saturday' plans have never been realised, but one day..
Make a day of it, take a packed lunch & enjoy the day.
Ive been screwed around by both BMW & Porsche in the past, alas its always been sorted by the complaints to Munich & Stuttgart & so my 'Saturday' plans have never been realised, but one day..
Sounds like a good day out!!they sell There is quite a snobbery with these car companies. I indeed also had trouble with BMW and the same sort of service. Unless you are buying brand new cars of them you might as well not exist. It's not as if the second hand cars they sell are cheap!!!
Guess I should get in touch with Stuttgart, if only to let them know that they will be loosing lots of customers by this sort of attitude. Lets not forget, we may never have got as far as the new 997 GT2 if it were not for the humble boxter!!!
Guess I should get in touch with Stuttgart, if only to let them know that they will be loosing lots of customers by this sort of attitude. Lets not forget, we may never have got as far as the new 997 GT2 if it were not for the humble boxter!!!
nemeton said:
Complain to the local OPC principle first, then Porsche UK, then Stuttgart.
£20 says you won't get any joy out of any of them. Stuttgart will refer you to Porsche GB. Porsche GB will side with the OPC and refer you back to them. The OPC will carry on denying any responsibility and just turn their back on you. Unless you have a 'relationship' with your OPC (i.e. you are mates with someone influencial there or spend enough money with them to get on their list of special customers) then you will get no sympathy.
This is unfortunatley the way it is these days. If you want to get anywhere with a claim you have to be prepared to take legal action and follow it through to the bitter end.
Sorry about your problems. It'a all too common and not just with Porsche.
fastfreddy said:
nemeton said:
Complain to the local OPC principle first, then Porsche UK, then Stuttgart.
£20 says you won't get any joy out of any of them. Stuttgart will refer you to Porsche GB. Porsche GB will side with the OPC and refer you back to them. The OPC will carry on denying any responsibility and just turn their back on you. Unless you have a 'relationship' with your OPC (i.e. you are mates with someone influencial there or spend enough money with them to get on their list of special customers) then you will get no sympathy.
This is unfortunatley the way it is these days. If you want to get anywhere with a claim you have to be prepared to take legal action and follow it through to the bitter end.
Sorry about your problems. It'a all too common and not just with Porsche.
Ive had a few issues with Porsche, but a quick call to Porsche Uk has always sorted it.
I know there are two sides to every story, but it sounds like they missed something on this occassion. I`m sure Pistonheads technological know-how team will be along any minute to confirm whether they missed the flaming obvious or not ...
I know there are two sides to every story, but it sounds like they missed something on this occassion. I`m sure Pistonheads technological know-how team will be along any minute to confirm whether they missed the flaming obvious or not ...
My turbo arrived in March 07 and having had two Boxsters from new with no serious faults at all I could be forgiven for expecting a similar ownership experience with Porsche’s flagship model. I picked the car up on a Saturday and by Sunday both the off side front and rear tyres had lost 0.3 bar of pressure. There was also a squeaking noise coming from the off side wheel on left lock. Mentioned this to Mr Lane at Porsche West London and I agreed to monitor the situation for a week or so. There was also a few swirl marks in the paint and the left speaker sounded as if it had blown. I was driving past my local Porsche centre in Hatfield at 9am a week later hence thought I’d pop in and ask them to have a quick look at the tyres. A slightly harassed female customer service adviser initially asked me where I bought the car from and when I told her West London Porsche she then proceeded to tell me that they wouldn’t be able to book the car in for another 4 weeks and were very busy that morning. I sheepishly walked out and then booked the turbo in to West London Porsche a week later as this was the only slot available with a loan car. A very polite chap rang to inform me that their engineers had fixed the speaker, the front tyre was faultless, sorted out the squeak out by replacing the front offside suspension mount, and replaced the rear tyre which had a nail in it and Zymoled the car. I asked the service adviser how a suspension mount could fix a squeaking sound when the car went forward or backwards on left lock and he assured me he had driven the car and all was now well with it. I also quizzed him about the front tyre but was assured the tyre had not lost any pressure whilst in their custody. After the conversation I told my wife that I’d be back in an hour as I was popping down to see West London Porsche Centre who hadn’t fixed my car. At West London Porsche before handing the loan car keys back I asked the service adviser to accompany me to the turbo so I could move it forward on left lock. The squeak was still there and was audible at 50 paces. A Porsche engineer was then summoned and Porsche’s finest both looked a tad embarrassed and asked if they could keep my car for a few more days. I left in the loaner.
I was then called a few days later and informed that the front offside tyre had not been fitted properly at the factory and that there was a substantial chunk missing from the inner lip. This was why the tyre had been losing pressure too. I’d had my wife and kids in the new car on the motorway hence was beginning to get mildly irritated at this point. I asked them to check all the tyres by removing them from the wheels and informed them that I personally also wanted to inspect the rear tyre with the nail in it. They checked the other tyres by taking them all off from the wheels which were fine but told me the nailed rear tyre had already been thrown away hence I could not inspect it myself. At this point the car had been off the road for 10 days in the first month of ownership.
I arranged to meet the service adviser the next day at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane to swap cars. Driving one hundred yards down Park Lane I realised the steering wheel was now off centre. Furthermore the car tugged slightly to the left both in and out of gear and under braking. It had come back with one more problem than it went in with! I couldn’t be bothered to speak to Porsche neither that evening as it was too late nor the following morning and left it to the Monday to call them to ask him for an explanation.
The adviser asked me how many miles I’d racked up in the car since he returned it to me a few days earlier at which point I pointed out his question was completely irrelevant as the fault was there as soon he handed the car back to me. He then told me they would be happy to check its geometry set up but the powers that be were chasing him for £300.00 which I owed them for a rear tyre and that the car tracking left may not be anything else other than the car following the natural camber of the road. I informed him that I’d pay the £300.00 over to them once the steering geometry had been sorted as I’d driven the car on flat roads and the cars geometry set up was definitely out. I had been told it was a couple of hours work to sort the geo set up correctly but the car was with them for a further four days (I had no loan car on this occasion) and when Mr Charles Grant (senior service adviser no less I think?) said the car was ready he wouldn’t send it back to me until I had paid for the rear tyre in advance. I have to say having just handed over a six figure sum for my new purchase a few weeks earlier I’m hardly a credit risk and with all the early niggles experienced I found his attitude a little bit churlish but you never get anywhere if you’re not nice to people hence thanked one Mr Charlie Grant for being such a helpful service adviser for finally sorting my car out and promptly paid him. Oh and you’re not going to believe this - the turbo was still tracking left with steering wheel slightly off centre whilst driving straight ahead – thank God for those anger management/executive coaching sessions at work.
I wonder whether other owners have had issues with their 997 turbos as there are currently circa 20 cars for sale on Porsche’s own website which is a bit odd for a car that’s had such long waiting lists. I remember 996 turbos were as rare as hen’s teeth for 18 months after release unless buyers were willing to pay a healthy premium to jump the 18 month waiting queue hence something seems to have gone wrong recently wIth turbo sales. Is Porsche forgetting customer service now that’s its making record profits every year and also forgetting its core client base (dyed in the wool enthusiasts) who were loyal to them during the 80s and 90s when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy now that its on the verge of becoming a mass producer with the take over of VW looming? It will be interesting to watch Porsche post acquisition of VW over the next 3-5 years. Car was only finally sorted in third month of ownership and no apology from Porsche Customer service!!?
I was then called a few days later and informed that the front offside tyre had not been fitted properly at the factory and that there was a substantial chunk missing from the inner lip. This was why the tyre had been losing pressure too. I’d had my wife and kids in the new car on the motorway hence was beginning to get mildly irritated at this point. I asked them to check all the tyres by removing them from the wheels and informed them that I personally also wanted to inspect the rear tyre with the nail in it. They checked the other tyres by taking them all off from the wheels which were fine but told me the nailed rear tyre had already been thrown away hence I could not inspect it myself. At this point the car had been off the road for 10 days in the first month of ownership.
I arranged to meet the service adviser the next day at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane to swap cars. Driving one hundred yards down Park Lane I realised the steering wheel was now off centre. Furthermore the car tugged slightly to the left both in and out of gear and under braking. It had come back with one more problem than it went in with! I couldn’t be bothered to speak to Porsche neither that evening as it was too late nor the following morning and left it to the Monday to call them to ask him for an explanation.
The adviser asked me how many miles I’d racked up in the car since he returned it to me a few days earlier at which point I pointed out his question was completely irrelevant as the fault was there as soon he handed the car back to me. He then told me they would be happy to check its geometry set up but the powers that be were chasing him for £300.00 which I owed them for a rear tyre and that the car tracking left may not be anything else other than the car following the natural camber of the road. I informed him that I’d pay the £300.00 over to them once the steering geometry had been sorted as I’d driven the car on flat roads and the cars geometry set up was definitely out. I had been told it was a couple of hours work to sort the geo set up correctly but the car was with them for a further four days (I had no loan car on this occasion) and when Mr Charles Grant (senior service adviser no less I think?) said the car was ready he wouldn’t send it back to me until I had paid for the rear tyre in advance. I have to say having just handed over a six figure sum for my new purchase a few weeks earlier I’m hardly a credit risk and with all the early niggles experienced I found his attitude a little bit churlish but you never get anywhere if you’re not nice to people hence thanked one Mr Charlie Grant for being such a helpful service adviser for finally sorting my car out and promptly paid him. Oh and you’re not going to believe this - the turbo was still tracking left with steering wheel slightly off centre whilst driving straight ahead – thank God for those anger management/executive coaching sessions at work.
I wonder whether other owners have had issues with their 997 turbos as there are currently circa 20 cars for sale on Porsche’s own website which is a bit odd for a car that’s had such long waiting lists. I remember 996 turbos were as rare as hen’s teeth for 18 months after release unless buyers were willing to pay a healthy premium to jump the 18 month waiting queue hence something seems to have gone wrong recently wIth turbo sales. Is Porsche forgetting customer service now that’s its making record profits every year and also forgetting its core client base (dyed in the wool enthusiasts) who were loyal to them during the 80s and 90s when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy now that its on the verge of becoming a mass producer with the take over of VW looming? It will be interesting to watch Porsche post acquisition of VW over the next 3-5 years. Car was only finally sorted in third month of ownership and no apology from Porsche Customer service!!?
IMI A said:
My turbo arrived in March 07 and having had two Boxsters from new with no serious faults at all I could be forgiven for expecting a similar ownership experience with Porsche’s flagship model. I picked the car up on a Saturday and by Sunday both the off side front and rear tyres had lost 0.3 bar of pressure. There was also a squeaking noise coming from the off side wheel on left lock. Mentioned this to Mr Lane at Porsche West London and I agreed to monitor the situation for a week or so. There was also a few swirl marks in the paint and the left speaker sounded as if it had blown. I was driving past my local Porsche centre in Hatfield at 9am a week later hence thought I’d pop in and ask them to have a quick look at the tyres. A slightly harassed female customer service adviser initially asked me where I bought the car from and when I told her West London Porsche she then proceeded to tell me that they wouldn’t be able to book the car in for another 4 weeks and were very busy that morning. I sheepishly walked out and then booked the turbo in to West London Porsche a week later as this was the only slot available with a loan car. A very polite chap rang to inform me that their engineers had fixed the speaker, the front tyre was faultless, sorted out the squeak out by replacing the front offside suspension mount, and replaced the rear tyre which had a nail in it and Zymoled the car. I asked the service adviser how a suspension mount could fix a squeaking sound when the car went forward or backwards on left lock and he assured me he had driven the car and all was now well with it. I also quizzed him about the front tyre but was assured the tyre had not lost any pressure whilst in their custody. After the conversation I told my wife that I’d be back in an hour as I was popping down to see West London Porsche Centre who hadn’t fixed my car. At West London Porsche before handing the loan car keys back I asked the service adviser to accompany me to the turbo so I could move it forward on left lock. The squeak was still there and was audible at 50 paces. A Porsche engineer was then summoned and Porsche’s finest both looked a tad embarrassed and asked if they could keep my car for a few more days. I left in the loaner.
I was then called a few days later and informed that the front offside tyre had not been fitted properly at the factory and that there was a substantial chunk missing from the inner lip. This was why the tyre had been losing pressure too. I’d had my wife and kids in the new car on the motorway hence was beginning to get mildly irritated at this point. I asked them to check all the tyres by removing them from the wheels and informed them that I personally also wanted to inspect the rear tyre with the nail in it. They checked the other tyres by taking them all off from the wheels which were fine but told me the nailed rear tyre had already been thrown away hence I could not inspect it myself. At this point the car had been off the road for 10 days in the first month of ownership.
I arranged to meet the service adviser the next day at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane to swap cars. Driving one hundred yards down Park Lane I realised the steering wheel was now off centre. Furthermore the car tugged slightly to the left both in and out of gear and under braking. It had come back with one more problem than it went in with! I couldn’t be bothered to speak to Porsche neither that evening as it was too late nor the following morning and left it to the Monday to call them to ask him for an explanation.
The adviser asked me how many miles I’d racked up in the car since he returned it to me a few days earlier at which point I pointed out his question was completely irrelevant as the fault was there as soon he handed the car back to me. He then told me they would be happy to check its geometry set up but the powers that be were chasing him for £300.00 which I owed them for a rear tyre and that the car tracking left may not be anything else other than the car following the natural camber of the road. I informed him that I’d pay the £300.00 over to them once the steering geometry had been sorted as I’d driven the car on flat roads and the cars geometry set up was definitely out. I had been told it was a couple of hours work to sort the geo set up correctly but the car was with them for a further four days (I had no loan car on this occasion) and when Mr Charles Grant (senior service adviser no less I think?) said the car was ready he wouldn’t send it back to me until I had paid for the rear tyre in advance. I have to say having just handed over a six figure sum for my new purchase a few weeks earlier I’m hardly a credit risk and with all the early niggles experienced I found his attitude a little bit churlish but you never get anywhere if you’re not nice to people hence thanked one Mr Charlie Grant for being such a helpful service adviser for finally sorting my car out and promptly paid him. Oh and you’re not going to believe this - the turbo was still tracking left with steering wheel slightly off centre whilst driving straight ahead – thank God for those anger management/executive coaching sessions at work.
I wonder whether other owners have had issues with their 997 turbos as there are currently circa 20 cars for sale on Porsche’s own website which is a bit odd for a car that’s had such long waiting lists. I remember 996 turbos were as rare as hen’s teeth for 18 months after release unless buyers were willing to pay a healthy premium to jump the 18 month waiting queue hence something seems to have gone wrong recently wIth turbo sales. Is Porsche forgetting customer service now that’s its making record profits every year and also forgetting its core client base (dyed in the wool enthusiasts) who were loyal to them during the 80s and 90s when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy now that its on the verge of becoming a mass producer with the take over of VW looming? It will be interesting to watch Porsche post acquisition of VW over the next 3-5 years. Car was only finally sorted in third month of ownership and no apology from Porsche Customer service!!?
Very instructive. I was then called a few days later and informed that the front offside tyre had not been fitted properly at the factory and that there was a substantial chunk missing from the inner lip. This was why the tyre had been losing pressure too. I’d had my wife and kids in the new car on the motorway hence was beginning to get mildly irritated at this point. I asked them to check all the tyres by removing them from the wheels and informed them that I personally also wanted to inspect the rear tyre with the nail in it. They checked the other tyres by taking them all off from the wheels which were fine but told me the nailed rear tyre had already been thrown away hence I could not inspect it myself. At this point the car had been off the road for 10 days in the first month of ownership.
I arranged to meet the service adviser the next day at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane to swap cars. Driving one hundred yards down Park Lane I realised the steering wheel was now off centre. Furthermore the car tugged slightly to the left both in and out of gear and under braking. It had come back with one more problem than it went in with! I couldn’t be bothered to speak to Porsche neither that evening as it was too late nor the following morning and left it to the Monday to call them to ask him for an explanation.
The adviser asked me how many miles I’d racked up in the car since he returned it to me a few days earlier at which point I pointed out his question was completely irrelevant as the fault was there as soon he handed the car back to me. He then told me they would be happy to check its geometry set up but the powers that be were chasing him for £300.00 which I owed them for a rear tyre and that the car tracking left may not be anything else other than the car following the natural camber of the road. I informed him that I’d pay the £300.00 over to them once the steering geometry had been sorted as I’d driven the car on flat roads and the cars geometry set up was definitely out. I had been told it was a couple of hours work to sort the geo set up correctly but the car was with them for a further four days (I had no loan car on this occasion) and when Mr Charles Grant (senior service adviser no less I think?) said the car was ready he wouldn’t send it back to me until I had paid for the rear tyre in advance. I have to say having just handed over a six figure sum for my new purchase a few weeks earlier I’m hardly a credit risk and with all the early niggles experienced I found his attitude a little bit churlish but you never get anywhere if you’re not nice to people hence thanked one Mr Charlie Grant for being such a helpful service adviser for finally sorting my car out and promptly paid him. Oh and you’re not going to believe this - the turbo was still tracking left with steering wheel slightly off centre whilst driving straight ahead – thank God for those anger management/executive coaching sessions at work.
I wonder whether other owners have had issues with their 997 turbos as there are currently circa 20 cars for sale on Porsche’s own website which is a bit odd for a car that’s had such long waiting lists. I remember 996 turbos were as rare as hen’s teeth for 18 months after release unless buyers were willing to pay a healthy premium to jump the 18 month waiting queue hence something seems to have gone wrong recently wIth turbo sales. Is Porsche forgetting customer service now that’s its making record profits every year and also forgetting its core client base (dyed in the wool enthusiasts) who were loyal to them during the 80s and 90s when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy now that its on the verge of becoming a mass producer with the take over of VW looming? It will be interesting to watch Porsche post acquisition of VW over the next 3-5 years. Car was only finally sorted in third month of ownership and no apology from Porsche Customer service!!?
Sadly just take a look at their order books and the number of apologists for poor UK OPC behaviour and that might be an explanation.
I nearly bought from this OPC..... I never will. But it doesn't matter because someone else will have taken delivery of my original production slot!
Had a similar experience this week with my 996 TT at this dealer - in for an O2 sensor under warranty and a minor yearly service. Sensor hadnt been ordered so that delayed a day, then they ordered the wrong one so that delayed another day then they told me that whoever fitted the sports exhaust (another Porsche dealer) hadnt fitted the sensors the right way round and that had caused the issue. (who knows). Had the usual main dealer upsell patter about windscreen wipers needing replacing blah blah.
Picked the car up today to find that the wheel i had just refitted after a refurb had been kerbed whilst in their posession so had to take it back (metal filings from the wheel in hand) to prove that this had happened v recently. So now I am going to have to get the wheel refurbed again
which they have agreed to pay for. Was told car was going into be washed last night. I turned up this morning and they gave it back filthy dirty with an offer to wash it within half an hour- very useful when already pushed for time on way to work.
Don't think i'll be returning there.
Any experiences with AFN Guildford?
cheers
Picked the car up today to find that the wheel i had just refitted after a refurb had been kerbed whilst in their posession so had to take it back (metal filings from the wheel in hand) to prove that this had happened v recently. So now I am going to have to get the wheel refurbed again
which they have agreed to pay for. Was told car was going into be washed last night. I turned up this morning and they gave it back filthy dirty with an offer to wash it within half an hour- very useful when already pushed for time on way to work.
Don't think i'll be returning there.
Any experiences with AFN Guildford?
cheers
foxworth said:
Any experiences with AFN Guildford?
cheers
Guildford is where a lot of my problems started, although to be fair I don't have recent experience of them so they could be better/the same/even worse now.cheers
I then moved to another OPC for service which started out better but rapidly went downhill as soon as I had a major problem they refused to accept responsibility for.
It's usually down to the management in these places. Guildford actually functioned without a service manager for at least 6 months during the period I used them. How could the Dealer Principal or Porsche GB allow that to happen? Back street lock-up garages care more about service than this lot!
Lee Howe at Porsche East London is excellent - if I'm low on oil/washer fluid etc or anything like that he'll top it up and charge nothing. Had RMS done on my Boxster and he put a new clutch in the car for free too as its silly not to replace when doing this job apparently. He'll also stand around for 30 mins or so telling yuou about all the new developments/cars coming out etc - genuine enthusiast and can talk Porsche for England. Usually take my car to him but as I bought this car from West London and the problems occured within a day of first picking up brand new motor and Hatfield's attitude thought West london should look at it. Funnily enough the sales side is better at West London (Richard Lane)IMO and when they got a senior engineer called Paul Giovetti involved 3 months later he was excellent and sorted the car quickly & professionally but will always stick to East London in future.
Perry Robb is the main man at Hatfield. A real nice chap and a total Porsche nut. The problem is much like any business you are only as good as your worst employee. I really feel sorry for you guys that suffer these problems, after forking out lots of hard earned you get treated like 3rd class citizens. It worries me that your turbo has an off centred steering wheel and pulls. Would indicate to me that something has been hit fairly hard and bent. I would be looking at going to an indepedant that you are comfortable with to find out what has gone on and get a report done.
Personally if given the choice then I would always look elsewhere other than OPC but warranties preclude this. Porsche are very lucky in that they are selling lots of cars, their service bays are full, probably with lots of warranty work and they don't have to try hard at all.
Talking to other mates in the trade but not Porsche most other makes are struggling.
Personally if given the choice then I would always look elsewhere other than OPC but warranties preclude this. Porsche are very lucky in that they are selling lots of cars, their service bays are full, probably with lots of warranty work and they don't have to try hard at all.
Talking to other mates in the trade but not Porsche most other makes are struggling.
Car's fine now thanks. I've had the car on milbrook mile straight and it tracks straight under braking from 170 mph with no hands on wheel hence it now spot on. Wheel alignment and tracking can be put out by speed hump or simply a pot hole. . Why spend money on an independent when some monkey at Porsche service has caused the problems? If the problem couldn't have been fixed they were warned that I was going to back the car and wanted a full refund.
Me again. It's not only there servicing customer relations that is bad. Like the gentleman said before so is theirs sales. The not to be mentioned OPC North of the border left a bit had arranged for me to come and test a boxter S. Something I was quite excited about as I am only young and the prospect of owning a porsche seamed well out my reach. Well by the time I got there, they sold it to someone else.
They are fast becoming the new BMW. Mass sales, selling all their cars and not really giving too much about the customer. They don't have to the sales don't lie!!!
Quite sad really, as the gentleman quite rightly said before, they were kept afloat by the loyal customers who stuck by them in the eighties and nineties when they almost dissapeared.
They are fast becoming the new BMW. Mass sales, selling all their cars and not really giving too much about the customer. They don't have to the sales don't lie!!!
Quite sad really, as the gentleman quite rightly said before, they were kept afloat by the loyal customers who stuck by them in the eighties and nineties when they almost dissapeared.
I agree - Reading are hopeless. I have a wedge of cash waiting for the right 996 TT and have called them twice, spoke to 2 different sales guys who promised to look and call me back and have heard bugger all since. I have now given up on going down the line of an OPC. Tried guildford too but not much better.
Interesting enough I had a call from a bird who was doing a customer service asssment since I had recently been in touch with both dealers (funny she managed to get my details and call me but the sales guys couldn't be arsed). I told her that it was the most shocking experience of my car buying life and that I was still looking for a motor. I figured that because she worked directly for porsche (I asked) that this may hve got someone somewhere to call me but did they? no prises for guessing that they didn't
Hopeless.
Anyway still looking for a sensibly priced 996TT and this 50K is is going nowhere near an OPC.
Interesting enough I had a call from a bird who was doing a customer service asssment since I had recently been in touch with both dealers (funny she managed to get my details and call me but the sales guys couldn't be arsed). I told her that it was the most shocking experience of my car buying life and that I was still looking for a motor. I figured that because she worked directly for porsche (I asked) that this may hve got someone somewhere to call me but did they? no prises for guessing that they didn't
Hopeless.
Anyway still looking for a sensibly priced 996TT and this 50K is is going nowhere near an OPC.
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