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Help With A Complaint On New Car


AndyTitanium
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Hello guys and gals, ive been a long time viewer of the forum but now that I have just bought a brand spanking new Ford Fiesta Titamium 1.6 in sea grey I thought its time i joined. I love my new car to bits but the shine has been taken from it slightly as the car had a problem.

The bonnet was not quite sitting flush on the car when you looked at it from the front. One side was more raised than the other and when you went to the side of the car you could see it was slightly sticking out on one side. I rang the dealers I got the car from, Ford Prescot and they said to bring it in to the service team to have a look. I took it in and the guy had a bit of a mess around with the spacers which are on the underside of the bonnet but no matter how much he messed with them it wasnt doing any good. I was then told by the guy that sold me the car that I had to go to the body shop in Ford Peoples Bootle, as Prescot didnt have one, and they would do the work there and then while I waited.

So I go to the body shop the next day at 9 am and they tell me that it will have to be in for the day as its a big job. They would have to take the bonnet off and the bumper and re align some bar. The guy I spoke to reckoned that it would have been put together by a robot and it has somehow got through Quality control and god knows how many more checks. Arent the dealers meant to check the car before they hand it over to me?!! So i leave the car with them for a day and go home fuming and I call up Prescot and talk to the guy who sold me the car. I am understandibly angry and tell him that it is not what you expect when you pick up a brand new car. All he is bothered about is that I am going to give him good feedback on the form im due to receive from Ford marking him. He basically says what more could he have done but that doesnt make me feel any better. He tells me he will get his manager to call me but I havent heard from him.

Any way I got the car back today and all is well and I now have a new car that is perfect but where do I stand now? Whats the best way to complain and do you think I will get anywhere?

Apologies for rambling on but any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Andy.

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Alright mate. Nice to see another new titanium owner on merseyside! I got a 60 plate titanium from people in Speke. When I got my 08fiesta from peoples some of the trim inside would not shut, the glove box and the flap under the steering wheel. Peoples in Speke were quite helpful on sorting these but I have had friends who have revived very bad coustomer service from peoples. With your complaint mate I'd get streight on to ford coustomer service. It's not nice to pick up your new motor and it not to be right and to be messed around and fobbed off by the dealer.

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Hi, my new Fiesta is eight weeks old and the first thing that was wrong was a slightly damaged rear number plate. This was very quickly replaced. Anyway, today, I went back to the dealers (booked in) as the driver's door was slightly higher than the rear offside door. Nothing too serious but the beltline chrome trim accentuated the discrepancy. There was also a scratch on the windscreen.

A couple of hours later, the scratch had been polished out and the doors aligned correctly. It's always worth going back and pressing for your dealer to remedy anything with which you're not happy. It's your money and they can do without losing your future custom.

As for complaining, it's your right. You'll probably get a questionnaire from Ford about the work carried out, where you can vent your spleen or you can ask your dealer for a meeting with the manager. If you get no joy there, then perhaps putting it in writing to Ford UK may be the way to go.

Personally, if all work has been carried out to my satisfaction, I'd leave it at that but it is, of course, your right to complain, should you wish to do so.

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Yeah I agree with the post above. They fixed the problem after 1st attempt, yes its annoying but I don't really think you have grounds 2 complain. Of course you can contact the head office of your particular branch and let them know you had poor service, usually the result of this will be a phonecall from a general manager or similar, but to be honest, the car is fixed now so I would just put it down 2 bad luck and enjoy it. Don't stress yourself out unnecessarily. But of course its your choice! :)

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Agree with the above posts. Doesn't matter what you buy it can be faulty. And with something as complex as a motor car, I'm sure we could all find something wrong if we looked hard enough. You complained to the dealer and they sorted it next day at the first attempt. That's pretty damn impressive, I wish all dealers were like that.

The question I ask though is why didn't you notice this the day you collected your car? Yes I know everyone gets excited, they assume everything is ok and want to get out the dealership a.s.a.p. but it's always a good idea to take sometime and make sure everything looks right, there are no little scratches or dings, no imperfections on the paintwork, that all the electrics work as expected and then take the car for a test drive BEFORE signing the acceptance form.

I bought a new Merc from the dealer and found a slight scratch on the rear bumper. You wouldn't believe how fast they sorted that. I then handed over my cheque and accepted the car. A week later I found one of the foglights would mist up when it rained. It took the same dealership 3 weeks to fit the new foglight.

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Any way I got the car back today and all is well and I now have a new car that is perfect but where do I stand now? Whats the best way to complain and do you think I will get anywhere?

The important thing is they fixed it for you. Writing to the manager would let him know their processes need to improve, and you might get a freebie or at least an apology. You are absolutely right that they should check the car over and not give you a car with an obvious fault.

But you'll also be getting a survey form in a few weeks from Ford that gives you some opportunity to comment on the dealer as well as note faults with the car. You should mention this in there.

If people don't complain then nothing gets fixed.

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Thanks for your help and advice guys. I did check the car over when I got it but to be honest it was a quick check on the wheels and the paint work etc, i just took it as a given that the bonnet would be on properly, how wrong I was!

When I first contacted the dealer it took a further four phone calls to the same guy until he got the service team to call me so that was pretty poor. I just got the feeling that he had my money so he wasnt that bothered.

I have calmed down quite a bit since finding the problem but I still think I will be writing a letter of complaint so I will keep you updated. Hopefully some kind of freebie will help to calm me down after such a stressfull ordeal haha!

Thanks once again for the advice and I will get some pics up of the new motor soon as to bore you with.

Cheers

Andy.

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I would write a letter to the Manger/dealer principal about your experience you had of trying to get your car repaired when you found a problem. I would explain the process you went through and the number of phone calls you had had to make to get the problem resolved to your satisfaction. I would be clear that you expected more from them as you had had good service when buying the car ( always good to praise them to make them see that you hold them in good regard ;) ). I would suggest that they review their procedures for such a problem to ensure things are dealt with more speedily next time.

A positive but direct approach is always the best in these cases, I think.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi all,

I hope I'm in the right place but I've just had the worst experience buying a nearly new fiesta from a peoples dealership in the Edinburgh area and I'm in need of some help.

It all started when I'd sat for a few days searching for a used car on ford direct and had put a list together of a few cars I liked. I took this to the dealership only to be told I'd wasted my time as they were all old ads and probably weren't there anymore!

They pulled their "live system" and showed us what we could have. I accepted a 2011 fiesta zetec 1.6 TDCI with upgraded 16x7.5 5 spoke alloys, front and rear parking sensors, curtain airbags, privacy glass and perimeter alarm, also had 4000 miles on the clock.

After being approved for the finance we got our delivery date and left happy.

The short story is that we found out the salesman had forged my wife's signature onto a new finance agreement as he applied for the wrong amount in the first place!

We got the diamond bright coating inside and out and also a free service to try and compensate for this!!!!!

We waited over a week to be told our car was still in England as there wasn't enough cars on the transporter to warrant bringing it up.

We originally wanted the titanium spec for the the rear Speakers but settled for a zetec after being told there were rear Speakers. No rear Speakers or wiring!

It's missing the front parking sensors too!

They have also doctored their system to match what is missing to make us look like lyres.

They have also "lost" the form with the forged signature, how convenient.

I also noticed one of the tyres looked soft so checked the psi in all of them, front 31 and 23 psi, rear 22 and 21 psi!

We have taken all this to the director of peoples ford in Scotland who couldn't care less. What can I do now?

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If you have the copy of the original agreement and that differs from the new one ?, theres your proof. Do you have any print outs of your accepted deal on the car stating front parking sensors , rear Speakers etc.

That garage sound like a terrible bunch of so and so's. If you have the evidence go direct to Trading Standards.They may take up the case , there may also be " date Modified " on the saved file if they have changed some details if it was a single data base file (long shot).

Forging Signature is a criminal offence so get a copy and take to the Police station , and contact the finance people as they should have the completed form.

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I was thinking about the police route but wasn't sure, I'll definately take it to trading standards though.

You'd have thought they would do their best to sort it out as we've bought 3 cars from them in the past 2 months and at least 6 other fords from them in the past.

They kept the original form on the computer and it was signed with one of those electronic signature things on the desk. They won't show us our file on the car and conveniently lose the exact documents we are requesting from them.

Also on the plate inside the drivers door it says my car is a titanium but comes up as a zetec on the insurance and all other paperwork, it also says zetec on the back???

Confused!

I'll update with any news soon!

Thanks

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Sounds a little strange Titanium/Zetec !

Electronic or not the Finance company will have the copies , as your paying them not the dealer. Dealer would have all ready been paid the full ammount.

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Back to the original post, I would say they have done everything they needed to do for you, ie sort out the bumper. The problems lies in the way they dealt with you on a personal level, ie telling you they would do it whilst your wait when that was far from the truth and lack of communication. Use the feedback from that the dealer gave you and be honest on it and if that means criticising the salesman,then so be it, that's what it's for.

You won't get anything for it, you have no right to compensation from what I've read, just give them the feedback and leave it at that.

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