The Superb: Customer experience

[2009fsi]

No disagreement there, dArK5HaDOw. I use VAG in the sense VW Aust Group.

Why Australia is treated differently & customers serviced so poorly begs the question of why it is so. One nigger in the woodpile may be pre-existing agreements VW globally has with entities like Inchape, which has a fingers in all parts of the pie.

I note the closing sentence in Inchape's vision:

With a clear strategy for growth and a formula for success, Inchcape's Customer 1st jounrey will create incredible growth for our people, our brand partners and our shareholders.

If my experience with their Denlo Group is any example they are totally profit & shareholder focussed; staff & customers definitely at the bottom of the pile. Inchape's Customer 1st 'jounrey'(sic), epitomises everything wrong for customers of Skoda cars, imho. I would not be surprised if their dealer surveys are directed straight into their 'round file'.

[woofy]

Aren't Inchcape the SA company that brings in Subies and causes them to be overpriced here locally? I think unfortunately our market is too small here for SKoda to be direct but VWAs recent focus has been to grow SKoda and Audi as VW is pretty stagnant here. The trouble with the diesels hasn't helped there either although I thought their sales were fine last year. Zagames were over at Skoda HQ putting some fire under the boss there but apparently was happy with their future plans so we will see I guess. As for the delivery surveys etc, I sent in a shocker and heard not a peep from anyone.

[IMSancho]

Well I picked up my ex-demo 162tsi wagon today. Car was even better looking than I'd hoped (local dealer only had a new hatch in stock), and by buying an ex-demo that had mainly been used as the sales manager's familiarisation car I saved a lot off retail. I had a ~400km drive home ahead of me to get acquainted with my new car and chose a bit of a scenic route with a twisty climb and some rolling hills for some extra fun. Two problems straight out of the gate: Car was given to me with only 1/3rd of a tank, and as I pulled into the servo to top it off, the speed bump felt like I'd mounted a kerb o_0. I thought maybe it was just that I'm not used to the 19" wheels and might have tried to go a bit too quick, so continued to the pump, filled up with BP Ultimate and away I went. Then I hit a small pot hole - BANG. Damn, this is a bit more harsh than the demo I drove back home. I thought perhaps the dealer had left the driving mode in sport, checked it.....errr it's in 'comfort'. That's a worry.

Long story short my drive home was fantastic except for every small bump, pothole or railway crossing that left me feeling like I had almost no suspension at all. Upon arriving home I did a bit of googling and quickly found out that feeling was pretty close to home.

Turns out most VAG cars are shipped with plastic pucks inserted in the front suspension to prevent them moving while in transit, and the removal of these is one of the items done during the post delivery inspection (part of the 'dealer delivery' they try to slog you $2k for). I headed out to the car just now after reading about this, broke out the jack and lifted one of the fronts off the ground, and lo and behold:



The thing is, not only did I drive 400km like this, but the dealer drove this car around for 3000km without noticing something was wrong! This was the car they gave prospective buyers to test drive!

So if your Superb takes bumps like an overladen forklift, check your front suspension and then have a good yell at your dealer.

[blueSup]

@IMSancho - that's almost unbelievable! Driving like that for so long, and also not even doing the pre-delivery on their own car.
Amazing.
I'm starting to believe that I have found the better dealership of the lot.

[Lucas_R]

Funny how often these suspension blocks are left installed - this has happened to 3 or 4 family and friends now too.

[bobski]

Its amazing how often pre-delivery checks aren't done period. 1/3 of a tank of fuel is ordinary. Some dealers seem to think the delivery is putting a big bow on the car.

[2009fsi]

G'day IMsancho.
Have you sent those pictures to the dealer & to the mythical Skoda Australia? Probably not necessary; their trolls live here anyway. I'd send them to Skoda head office in Prague, actually. Let them see first hand what a pack of frauds their dealers are out here. One has to question the competence of service managers & the supposedly specially trained mechanics. Both make claims of they being an owner's guarantee of quality care, an absolute joke.

One tip from my own Superb experience is, get a wheel alignment asap.

All of these European brands now withhold technical information to try & force owners to propriety only servicing by their dealers. I think these service regimes are likely a misuse of market power, certainly anti-competitive in seeking to drive your local mechanic out of business. This one aspect of the car industry ASIC ought to be looking into. (A pity Mirrors Medcalf & his handful of seeing eye dawgs, rarely find a problem with anything they look into.) Let's make no mistake here, charging for delivery & not doing it comprehensively, is fraud. The same goes for work not done, or overdone, during servicing. We are talking big bucks here.

[IMSancho]

Pics and a quite firm email have been sent to the dealer, have also requested they get a copy of the post delivery report to see if these were checked off. The sales manager called and was very apologetic, said he didn't know they shipped them like and had never seen the pucks before, the inspections were done off site, etc, and that they would get to the bottom of it and keep me informed. Also logged a ticket with VW customer care and had them contact the sales and dealership manager. Will have to see what comes of it, what I've asked for is for them to pony up for a full inspection to ensure no damage has been done already, and written confirmation that any future problems caused by it will be covered.

[Gerrycan]

The transport pucks being left on have reported a few times in the Octavia forum and they only represent a small proportion of owners.
I wonder how many poor stiffs have never found out?

I've only recently started haunting the Superb 3 forums here and on Briskoda 'cos I've got a more than passing interest in the car.
I seem to remember someone selling their car after only a few days (I cannot remember which forum though) because it was so bad. Maybe he was a 'puck' victim?

[IMSancho]

My Skoda customer satisfaction survey arrived yesterday afternoon and I gave a thorough description of what happened as well as the VW customer care case number, and let them know that apart from that initial call from the sales guy I haven't heard a peep out of them since the 31st. Received a call from VW Australia first thing this morning and they seemed very concerned, and will be going after the dealer again. I've had good results from VW customer care in the past with our MKVII Golf (local dealer refusing to even lodge a request for a good will warranty claim 4 days out of the 3 year warranty, 1 call to VWCC and the dealer was ringing asking when was the soonest I could drop the car back to be fixed) so hopefully I can at least get a safety inspection and wheel alignment out of it.