Hi all,

Thought I'd post on here for a bit of advice - will name the dealer as part of the feedback in due course once this is resolved.

Long story short (as much as possible) - my car went in sometime in August to the nearest branch of a national LR franchise to have some repairs done after the poor smart repairs and preparation done by the selling dealership (all at the selling dealership's cost), replacement of windscreen and some minor warranty work as well. Kept my car for 10 days, came back with most of the work done but with some slightly new scratches, some missing pieces related to the windscreen and was also told that whilst they could replace my peeling smartkey, my receiver was faulty and that was on back order so I'd need to bring in the car once again when the part came in. somehow dealership managed to dirty up interior and used a quarter tank of fuel but forgot to replace it whilst making it clear that i return the courtesy car with same fuel as what i got.

1.5 months later, receiver in so car booked in to get that and smartkey replaced, the scratches looked at and windscreen issues rectified. kept the car for over a week, service technician called a couple of times to discuss some issues and promised work would be done and manager would look at scratches and make a decision. made it clear that i wanted to hear back from manager before i picked up the car the following weekend and not turn up and find scratches weren't being fixed.

lo behold, i turn up, scratches still there, and no work done at all other than valet in to clean up mess they left last time. lost it, especially as dealership all the way on the other side of london (takes 1.5 hours to get there) and i'd been patient and even offered to come to them a couple of times to show their service technician exactly what i wanted fixed. wrote a long formal complaint to dealership, copying in service manager, dp, etc. customer relations manager got in touch to promise they would fix asap by booking car in and i also mentioned i was expecting something to make up for the hassle and the fact that somehow they forgot to do the work whilst keeping the car, made a mess and used up fuel with lame excuses like oh we needed to transport to our bodyshop and back.

car currently with the dealership for the third time getting list of issues fixed. once it's back, will call manager to discuss compensation but before i do, wanted to get thoughts of forum members on what I should ask for in this situation so I come out fair? any suggestions welcome

sorry for the long post MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

I assume scratches were present when you agreed to buy the car & asked for these to be sorted when you collected it? Worse things happen at sea! Well thats what swmbo said when WRENS came to sea!!!

Sorry if I was unclear - car was bought from another dealer in same franchise. They had the car to do some follow up work and on its way back to me their driver incurred various stone chips and scratches. So I had local dealer of same franchise fix at other dealers cost. They fixed the previous damage but now these scratches are new and were caused by the local dealer after the repair work was done by their bodyshop. Probably one of the service guys who was doing warranty work on that side. Hope that makes sense MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

What are you looking to be compensated for, is it out of pocket expenses or just a good will gesture from the dealer for your inconvenience?
If they have completed all the work satisfactorily (in the end) and have supplied you with a courtesy car while yours was with them, then the only thing you're likely to get is out of pocket expenses if you're looking for money. You could always pull the "regular customer" card and ask for a free service or something like that but I wouldn't hold out too much hope of getting much TBH. 

fair point.

not really looking for money and can't do out of pocket expenses as none really other than fuel which is negligible.

it's for all the inconvenience, rubbish service, having to send the car two more times than was necessary and generally not having my car for about 4 weeks in total.

they've made a fair profit fromthe work charged to the other dealer so they're not losing out on anything. courtesy car is standard service if booked in for warranty work, it's not extra. might try the free service or costs towards next one and LRE vouchers. normally i'd ask for costs towards accessories but i already have the stuff i need. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Forget complaining to the dealer / franchise. Make your complaint directly to Jaguar Land Rover.

Mention in your correspondence about your loyalty to the brand and that the dealership is not living up to the perceived quality you expect.

I did this a couple of years ago. After receiving a letter from JLR, the dealership got back back in touch taking the matter seriously all of a sudden.

The upshot of it was they asked how I'd like to be compensated and I received a considerable amount in accessories.

Organ grinder - not monkey !

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Thanks TugRR - you have a PM.

I want to give them this final chance to get things done right, but yes if they do mess it up this time round, I'll definitely go direct to JLR instead.

On a related note, Liam/Mike on here from LRCRC are quite good as they helped me sort another issue out very amicably and without having me compromise on the solution. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

PM replied to . . .

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Good advice, TugRR. I will remember that if I have issues.

Is the dealer Lookers by any chance?

No it isn't Lookers. I have not yet dealt with their servicing team but I have been to the sales side and can only say I was extremely unimpressed by them, bordering on the furious at the way they treated my mum. But that's another story...

I'd like to avoid naming them yet until this issue is resolved and will update with the full story then though. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

update for those of you interested...

both service technicians who were apparently looking after my car have left without notice or not turned up to work for 2 weeks and no one at the dealership bothered to tell me or assign someone else until I called today (fifth time in last 2 weeks) and asked for the CS Manager straightaway..

he seemed to have "conveniently" forgotten that he had promised we would discuss compensation and said it should be enough that they sorted out my issues - despite 2 issues still not being sorted...

on a side note, apparently asking someone to "inspect" the upper tailgate for rust and whether it needs to be replaced is just that - i.e. an inspection - and they have no obligation to report back to you on their findings or even bother to ask if they should repair it - the customer should book the car in again for the work and not just to "inspect". now any sensible person would have realised that if there was rust, obviously the customer would want it fixed and so they should ask...

I've told them i'm fed up, I will sort out the rest of the issues myself - car now booked to go into Hadley Green soon (after seeing some positive feedback on this forum) - and as compensation I want them give me one more year LR extended warranty and not some half-ar ed offer to pay 50% but the whole thing... let's see what happens...otherwise will take TugRR's advice and write to LR directly

Cr@p dealer identity to follow soon... MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

update - they have offered to pay 2/3 of extended warranty for one year...I've written back referencing specific words and promises on their website and saying if they agree to pay for one full year (not a huge cost to them) then I will drop the complaint....

I think this would be more useful than asking for accessories...

let's see what they say otherwise will send to LR UK MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Final update - so they agreed to pay for one more years warranty, in full. Result IMO

To be fair their customer service manager got this sorted and was a decent chap in the end although did try make it hard and involved a bit of negotiating and firm emails. Shame it took a very lengthy formal complaint copied to everyone in the dealership I could find to get here though.

The benefits of keeping clear and accurate records helped so they really couldn't argue much.

As its done, dealership in question was Guy Salmon Thames Ditton. Service side is utter s and all over the place. Seems like they are having a few problems with certain personnel. No opinion on sales side though.

Moved all business to Hadley Green and service manager has already been very helpful , even answering emails at 9pm if needed. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

I started using Guy Salmon Thames Ditton for servicing after the worst servicing experience ever on any vehicle with Lookers Park Royal. They were good at first but in the last year or so have really gone down hill for some reason. When I tried to get a service done earlier this year it was almost impossible to get through to them, they never answered the phone. Then when they did they always had to get someone to call you back for any question other than a simple booking and then no one ever called. I gave up eventually and went to Wimbledon instead.

The problem with most London dealerships (and this applies to other marques as well) is that they have so much business customer service is simply not a priority its all about putting as many cars through the workshop as they have capacity for. They all have inadequate parking facilities too which is why cars often get damaged.

I find you get a better price and often better service if you go out of town.