Advice needed please guys! :(

[Sarah]

Sorry char only just got this message! Thanks for the advice

Right, update on this situation....
I'm currently sat in the service department again this morning as customer care have decided that they want a picture of the barcode/serial number on the back of my radio. They said that once they have this they can track where it came from. Can they actually do that???

Communications with this particular dealer have now also broken down as I received a call from them after customer care spoke to them telling me what they need to do, with the service guy also adding that he was annoyed that he was having to deal with my car again... (you can imagine I didn't take to lightly to that attitude...)

I'm ashamed to say that my rocco is starting to lose it's charm now. I want it to be fun and be able to enjoy it again. This situation has taken its toll

[Sarah]

Still with this issue...Need more advice please guys

just got off the phone to VW customer care and they have decided that it was most probably replaced by the previous owner because it was stolen or for whatever reason. (By the way, unfortunately I don't have it in writing but i was told by the dealer i bought this from that this car was previously owned by a friend of the MD at this franchise)

They decided to offer me a goodwill - Their idea of goodwill being that after they received a quote for this repair (replacing unit) of £2,500 that they (customer care) would pay £500 towards this, the dealer i bought it from would pay £500 and i can pay £1,500. Now i'm pretty sure that shouldn't be classified as goodwill, frankly as I said to the man on the phone - its bullshit.

They are refusing to pay for the repair of this unit even though they have admitted that they reckon the previous owner changed it and have admitted its not my fault.

I have asked to speak to the manager on this but she was conveniently away from her desk and so cannot call me until wednesday. I will be calling them on Tuesday as I refuse to wait any longer than that and they are not open on monday.

I am going to my local trading standards tomorrow and i am going to explain the situation and hopefully they can offer advice.

However, whilst I was on the phone telling them that I do not accept there offer and they need to re-think I also asked them to tell me information on how to get out of the finance contract of this car as i am very close to refusing to put up any more monthly payments even though I realise this will probably only affect me, its made me so angry that i just don't want to have anything to do with VW anymore.

he said that i can submit in writing a rejection letter to the dealer and they have to look into options of offering me a like for like vehicle or a full reimbursement - however it is up to the dealer whether they choose to do this or not - they are clearly going to say no, i don't see the point in that process at all.

So my question is, other than trading standards and court, does anyone have any advice on what kind of pressure i can apply to get them to fix this. or does anyone know how i can get out of the finance deal on this car as I am sick of dealing with this now. bearing in mind that i have only had the finance since december, I'm on a 3 1/2 year deal and i have done way over the mileage allowance....

as always thanks in advance for the help!
Sarah

[Gt12]

I'd suggest taking up the option of writing to the dealer, as if you do at some stage end up in court it may help your case. If you've only had the finance since December I'd suggest you will lose out pretty badly, however you should be able to call the finance company to find out - new law means you can do this, it's just if you're losing much money from it I can't say..

Sorry for not being much more use.

[Thommohawk]

I might have missed this, but rather than having continual conversations with the dealer that are going nowherw, have you tried actually writing to them stating all the facts and what you want to get out of this. Usually you will find companies are mucn more receptive to letters, and they are generally obliged to respond to them within a certain amount of time. Geneally people 'can't be arsed' with this route, and resort to a heated face-to-face or telephone conversations instead, which usually gets you nowhere. I suggest writing to the MD or suchlike, and possibly copying the same letter to VW customer care.

[Sarah]

I'd suggest taking up the option of writing to the dealer, as if you do at some stage end up in court it may help your case. If you've only had the finance since December I'd suggest you will lose out pretty badly, however you should be able to call the finance company to find out - new law means you can do this, it's just if you're losing much money from it I can't say..

Sorry for not being much more use.

Thanks for the help gt12.
Yea to be honest I'm thinking the same at the moment, looking like im the only one losing out

[Sarah]

I might have missed this, but rather than having continual conversations with the dealer that are going nowherw, have you tried actually writing to them stating all the facts and what you want to get out of this. Usually you will find companies are mucn more receptive to letters, and they are generally obliged to respond to them within a certain amount of time. Geneally people 'can't be arsed' with this route, and resort to a heated face-to-face or telephone conversations instead, which usually gets you nowhere. I suggest writing to the MD or suchlike, and possibly copying the same letter to VW customer care.

I was going to write letters but the only addresses I could find to contact were the ones for customer care and I've spoken to a few people there now and non of the seem to actually offer an help. I think I will write a letter this weekend and atleast give it a try. Hopefully trading standards will be able to advise me on it, not convinced on the amount of 'power' trading standards
have though to be honest...

[voyager]

I suggest you write to customer care and set out the facts as you know them in a very dispassionate unemotional way, detailing the problem and all you have done so far to resolve it; I also suggest that you copy the letter to the dealer, the finance company (who may have an interest as they have financed a non-standard car which they may not be happy with) and Trading Standards, making a point of adding 'copy to' etc at the bottom of the letter to ensure that VW customer care know that you have passed the letter to others and that you have no intention of letting the matter rest. I also suggest that you give them options, ranging from undertaking the full repair at their cost or replacing the vehicle with another.

[Sarah]

I suggest you write to customer care and set out the facts as you know them in a very dispassionate unemotional way, detailing the problem and all you have done so far to resolve it; I also suggest that you copy the letter to the dealer, the finance company (who may have an interest as they have financed a non-standard car which they may not be happy with) and Trading Standards, making a point of adding 'copy to' etc at the bottom of the letter to ensure that VW customer care know that you have passed the letter to others and that you have no intention of letting the matter rest. I also suggest that you give them options, ranging from undertaking the full repair at their cost or replacing the vehicle with another.

Thanks Voyager, I like that plan, ill do that today

[Sarah]

Just one more thing.
I said on the phone to them yesterday after they decided the previous owner has changed it that its up to them to do the checks that the car is still standard before they resell the car and tell the next owner (me) that it is a standard warrantied car. The guy on the phone said they would of done the "usual checks" however something like this would not have been visible to them. is this correct or should they of done checks such as this to find out whether things such as the radio would have been changed/damaged in some way. Does anyone know what these kind of checks are that they are supposed to undertake, is it just a general visibility check to see if the body work etc is in good nick or does it delve deeper?

Thanks guys.

[voyager]

When you buy a car from a dealer you should expect that car to be to the standard manufacturers spec unless the dealer specifically identifies the changes from the original spec or sells it 'as seen'. The dealer saying that the changes would not have been visible to them says more about the competence of the dealer than the car itself.This is important as any changes could impact on the value of the car and its insurance as most insurance companies will ask whether there any any modifications - this means any changes from standard spec and unless the dealer has told you, you won't know; it may also impact upon the warranty as it is a non-standard car - you should make all these points when you write to vw customer services.

[Sarah]

When you buy a car from a dealer you should expect that car to be to the standard manufacturers spec unless the dealer specifically identifies the changes from the original spec or sells it 'as seen'. The dealer saying that the changes would not have been visible to them says more about the competence of the dealer than the car itself.This is important as any changes could impact on the value of the car and its insurance as most insurance companies will ask whether there any any modifications - this means any changes from standard spec and unless the dealer has told you, you won't know; it may also impact upon the warranty as it is a non-standard car - you should make all these points when you write to vw customer services.

yea it was sold to me as approved used not sold as seen.
I really don't see how they have a leg to stand on here at all, even looking the VW T&C's they should repair it!

Think this is a case of huge company trying to get away with picking on the little guy.

[Sarah]

Does anyone know how much - cost wise - it should be for the replacement of the full radio unit - including parts and labour?

Sorry for all the questions!

[voyager]

To prevent this dragging on for ages I suggest that you seek advice from Trading Standards in the first instance and if they're on your side you then seek formal legal advice from a solicitor, it shouldn't cost much for an initial consultation and at least then you will know where you stand. A letter from a solicitor may convince the dealer and VW customer care to reconsider their decision and that you are not going to simply go away. In my experience the main thing is to convince the dealer and VW that you are not going to let the matter rest and that it would be less trouble for them to do the work than to continue a long drawn out tug of war with a dissatisfied customer. VW and the dealer have already tipped their hand by offering to partially cover the cost, they would not have done this if they were confident that they were in the right.

[Thommohawk]

I would still go down the letter avenue first, what is the point in involving the cost of a solicitor before getting a letter set out as mentioned above?? What you have to remember is that the people who answer the phones are generally NOT the sameones answering letters, this will usually fall with somebody further up the tree unless it isa standard response acknowledgement letter that anyone can print off. I suggest in this case they would have to respond to the individual concerns withon the letter provided thought is put into it to make sure it is well constructed and isn't seen as an pffensive rant.

[voyager]

That could work but I believe in going in hard with a rock-solid case after you have got your ducks in a row, including legal back-up rather than giving VW the opportunity to fanny about for a fortnight then fob you off with a 'we have reconsidered your case but our decision stands' response and then wasting more time getting legal advice at that stage. Both VW customer services and the dealer have already had plenty of time to be reasonable but that's obviously not worked so I see little point in going around that buoy again; the aim should be to put them in a position where they have to seriously reconsider their options knowing that they are not simply dealing with another disgruntled customer who's trying their luck. OK so it might cost a few quid but legal costs should be recoverable and we're not talking peanuts here, sarah's looking at a £2,500 bill to fix something that the dealer should have fixed before he sold the car and even if she takes vw's offer the bill to her will be £1,500 which is simply not on.

[Sarah]

Thanks Voyager, thats a good point on them already offering partial costs coverage. I do agree that the legal route may be the only way to get through on this one, honestly its not something that I want to do however I will hint in letters that I am prepared to take any action necessary and if that doesn't work, it looks like i will have to go legal.

Thanks Thommohawk. I am going to send letters and also contact trading standards.
I have a total of 7 different people im sending the letter to so hopefully it will ruffle enough feathers to get a decent resolution/response from them.

Im being constructive with the letters rather than aggressive hoping that angle will work in my favour but we shall see. Must admit, ive been very patient up until this point, I got pretty angry on the phone yesterday though! its so frustrating.

[Dobbin]

Sarah, only just spotted this thread so this advice may be coming a little late sorry. I have had first hand experience with a situation almost indentical to yours, but not with VW thankfully. If you bought the vehicle on finance then you have the right to withhold payments for goods that have been mis-sold or are not fit for purpose. Simply contact the finance company and tell them you are not prepared to make any further payments until the problem is resolved. Provide them with all the relevant contact details for the dealer working on your car and essentially make it the finance companies problem on your behalf (they probably have a bigger legal team ).

From past experience I have found trading standards people to be pretty much useless, they are usually over worked local government bods that genuinely do not have the time to take up your cause.

I have found that getting the finance company on side has helped with other retail purchases not just cars. I was given that advice by a copper too

[maisbitt]

If they agree that you haven't messed with the Radio unit yourself and it was an approved used VW from a VW dealer then i'm pretty sure they're obliged to fix it. You may be able to reject the vehicle if they don't.

One last thing to do before going down the legal/solicitor route - carefully worded letter (as others have said) to the dealership, the dealership group's head office and VW UK. Send recorded delivery or hand deliver so they can't deny receiving it. I wuold give them 5 working days for a full considered response and would make it clear in the letter that they have a time limit and that you have contacted VW UK (who are quite useless by the way - but you have to be seen to have exhausted all options prior to initiating legal action if you want to recover all your expenses. Yes you should definitely contact the finance company. I wouldn't stop paying unless they authorise you to do so - you don't want to get credit black-listed for something that isn't your fault. They might have an easier route that forces the garage into action or puts the onus on teh finance company to resolve it by whatever means (even if that means they have to pay for it).

[Sarah]

Sarah, only just spotted this thread so this advice may be coming a little late sorry. I have had first hand experience with a situation almost indentical to yours, but not with VW thankfully. If you bought the vehicle on finance then you have the right to withhold payments for goods that have been mis-sold or are not fit for purpose. Simply contact the finance company and tell them you are not prepared to make any further payments until the problem is resolved. Provide them with all the relevant contact details for the dealer working on your car and essentially make it the finance companies problem on your behalf (they probably have a bigger legal team ).

From past experience I have found trading standards people to be pretty much useless, they are usually over worked local government bods that genuinely do not have the time to take up your cause.

I have found that getting the finance company on side has helped with other retail purchases not just cars. I was given that advice by a copper too

Thanks for your reply Dobbin. It's nice to hear that there is atleast one other person that has been in this situation, I was beginning to think I was the only one in this case! However i'm also sorry you have had to deal with this to. Its exhausting!
After an extremely heated discussion with a manager at customer care today I took your advice and called finance and told them the situation. They were helpful and have opened a case, they agreed that they should fix it as its not my fault and said they would deal with it for me but to be honest im starting to lose hope on this now so I hope they arent just talking crap and do actualy help me with this...

I agree with trading standards, I have been unable to get contact and so sent an email and then I got an automatic reply asking me to send my email to another email address....

[Sarah]

If they agree that you haven't messed with the Radio unit yourself and it was an approved used VW from a VW dealer then i'm pretty sure they're obliged to fix it. You may be able to reject the vehicle if they don't.

One last thing to do before going down the legal/solicitor route - carefully worded letter (as others have said) to the dealership, the dealership group's head office and VW UK. Send recorded delivery or hand deliver so they can't deny receiving it. I wuold give them 5 working days for a full considered response and would make it clear in the letter that they have a time limit and that you have contacted VW UK (who are quite useless by the way - but you have to be seen to have exhausted all options prior to initiating legal action if you want to recover all your expenses. Yes you should definitely contact the finance company. I wouldn't stop paying unless they authorise you to do so - you don't want to get credit black-listed for something that isn't your fault. They might have an easier route that forces the garage into action or puts the onus on teh finance company to resolve it by whatever means (even if that means they have to pay for it).

Thanks maisbitt.

I spoke to customer care again today and the woman on the phone was very annoying! She kept saying she agrees its not my fault but its also not VW's fault so they don't see why they should fix it, and they feel that they gave me a fair offer of offering to pay £500 each. I told her that it was wrong of her to say that when she agrees its not my fault they should then pay for it in full as I bought it from an approved dealer and bought it in good faith. I said I wouldnt of signed the contract if I had of known and that the dealership should have checked before they re-sold it.

The thing thats annoying me most is they say the dealer doesnt know anything about it, but the dealer openly told me when I bought the car and on the phone that the guy who previously owned it is a friend of the MD. Yet the car was manufactured with a different unit. It just doesnt fit right that they say this dealer is ignorant in this, I feel like hes just lying.

I told the woman from customer care that I was unhappy given all of the above and that I felt like she was just 'sticking up for one of her own' as such and trying to get rid of me, I asked to speak to someone higher up and she refused and would not pass the phone. I must admit she annoyed me and I got a bit sarcastic with her asking her if she was the MD of VW and if not she should pass me over to someone else.... She just wound me up so much!!!

Finance seemed helpful, complete contrast to customer care.. as I said above, they agreed with me when I told them what I was told by customer care and that they said the previous owner had changed it but I should pay for it. She said that something like the radio been changed would have shown up on there checks when the dealership got the car back from the first owner... which I have been told should have been obvious when they get it back and plug it in by other people too....

It sounded pretty positive from finance but I really am losing faith... Now I have spoken to finance I'm tempted not to send letters but I'm also thinking ill be shooting myself in the foot if I don't...