Car Dealership Troubles

21 Jan 2014

I just purchased a nearly new Ford Focus from an Evans Halshaw dealership in Shiremoor. (I haven’t provided a link because I don’t want to give them any credit other than naming and shaming them).

I hate dealing with car salesman or as they like to call themselves ‘Sales Executives’ because they have a very poor reputation. Like most sales people they’re out to make you pay as much as possible so their bonus is as high as possible. They claim to be ambassadors of Customer Service but in truth they promise you everything but invariable deliver nothing. Once you’ve paid and are out of the door they don’t give a shit. Take my recent dealings for example …

I went to look at the car on the Saturday and at the time enquired about the service history (there was a sticker in the window saying it was due at the beginning of January 2014). The salesman said he didn’t think it needed a service (although the car was being sold with full service history) but when I pointed out to him what was stated on the sticker he told me not to worry as it was bound to have been serviced when they took ownership of the car. During the purchase negotiations he agreed to provide some front & rear mats.

When I took delivery of the vehicle the following Tuesday surprise surprise no mats were in the car. Unbelievably it has slipped his mind that he had agreed to provide them and even had the cheek to ask me if it had been agreed. As we were waiting for the mats I obviously started poking round the car and noticed that what I thought was the owners manual and service history book was actually Motability documentation from the previous owner complete with their name, address and drivers licence details. Unbelievable. When the salesman returned I asked him where the owners manual and service book were and almost casually he suddenly remembered that he had something to tell us and that was they’d been lost and a new set had been ordered for us.

After a couple of days I noticed the following

• The interior dashboard clock was 1 hour ahead
• The tyre pressures were under-inflated (although at least they were all the same)
• The front side-lights on both sides were not working

I called the salesman on the Friday to point out the above issues but had to leave a message which I was assured would be passed on. As you’d expect it wasn’t so when I’d heard nothing I called into the dealership on the Saturday as I was passing that way. I wasn’t surprised to see the salesman at work and as I marched over to see him he recognised me and enquired how I was to which I replied not very happy as he hadn’t called me. He obviously knew nothing about it as the message had never been passed on but made absolutely no apologies for this which I though was shocking. I told him about the side-lights and he said I could take the car to any Ford garage and have the lights fixed under the warranty. How crass is that. It’s you’re problem mate not somebody else’s. He then told me that the service department had gone home for the day so I’d have to ring back on the following Monday. I reminded him about the owners manual and service history book and even more shocking was that he then seemed to have a memory relapse and forgot, in the space of 7 days, what car I’d bought and the fact that he was meant to be chasing these things up for me. I sloped off thinking I’d just been mugged but vowed to be on their case when Monday arrived.

I called the service department on Monday and was given a waiting appointment the following Thursday which I though was too far away. After a snotty email to the salesman asking for details of his managers name and email address (which he still hasn’t replied to) I was contacted by the local service department and offered an appointment the following day. I took the car in on Tuesday and they replaced both bulbs. After all that it was that simple. I also took the liberty of reminding them again about the owners manual and service history book just to hammer the point home. I also pointed out that I didn’t believe that they had actually serviced the car although once again I was assured that it had been (they quoted Sept 2013 which is way in advance of the actual date).

I guess I’ll just have to take their word that it was serviced and accept whatever they stamp in the book although to be honest I won’t believe them. I was at least given a small boost by the fact that Ford, who offer a free 30 point check, gave it a clean bill of health when I took it to a local service centre - Blyth Valley Ford

Now you may think I’m being petty but all of these things should have been sorted out before I got the car. This would have given me the confidence that someone had actually taken the time to give the car a once over instead of it looking like all they’d done was to get some yopper ¹ to give it a wash and hoover.

At the end of the day I believe I have bought a great car at a reasonable price but the overall buying experience has been soured by the dealerships sloppy service.