Finally got my S3 back(audi s3)

[simonf]

Well i have finally got my Audi S3 back from the paint shop! It went in for a rear quarter and rear bumper on the 29th MARCH!! They have had it for more than two effin months! and the service i have received has been shambolic!!

Now anyone who knows me will tell you i am a calm, reasonable and rational kinda guy, but this has stressed me out beyond belief!

29/03/2008 get a phone call form the insurance company, you can send your car in. So i take it to their approved repairer. Now i know that i can choose where to send it but they say i will have to wait a foortmight for an assessor to inspect it! I thought (ironically) it will save time if i just send it into (and i am going to name and shame them!) Bussey's Accident Repair Centre (Ford Main Dealers for Norwich and pretty much all of Norfolk) So i take it in and give them the keys. Foolishly i declined their hire car because i don't want to drive around in a purple fiesta with look at me i have crashed my car so i have Busseys courtessy car written down the side.

For the purpose of narating the receptionist, could you please read it in the style of a nazal, flipant, dismissive and "its not our fault" type 50 something female

18/04/2008 I pop in on my rounds to pick up some things if had left in the glove box (sun glasses) and they haven't even started it!

"Whats going on?" i calmly enquire

"Oh, well, urm we ordered your S3 side panel and when it came from Audi it was labelled up as an S3 quarter panel but was actually just an A3!"

"Ok" i said "these things happen but surely it doesn't take a three weeks to get a panel, find out its the wrong one, send it back and get a replacement! I could understand if it had to be manufactured for something exotic from let say marinello, but an Audi S3 is a fairly run of the mill car!"

"Sorry says" the receptionist "we are at the mercy of our surpliers."

"Can i have a word with the manager?"

"no he is not in!"

"Ok" i said staying calm throughout this exchange "well call me when its ready for collection"

25/04/08 I call up Busseys

"Is my car ready"

"No we are still waiting for the quarter panel"

"That can't be right-How long does it take to get a panel from a surplier - you could have had it made at Audi, in Germany and had it carried by ox-cart and i would still have expected it here before now! Don't you think you should be calling me to let me know whats going on?" starting to lose my by patience now

"I will give it a chase" says the receptionist

01/05/08 I pop into Busseys - and not in the mood to be jerked around by the receptionist!

"I would like to see the manager please!"

"He is not in - but i can tell you that you panel is in and your car is in the workshop"

Slightly lifted by this news "could you get him to call me?"

08/05/08

Phone call from Busseys - voice mail saying "Your car will be ready for collection on Tuesday 13th Please pick it up as late that day as you can"

EXCELLENT!!!!

13/05/08 i drive into Busseys at 4.55pm

"Hi i have come to collect my car" big smile on my face!

"Oh, its not ready!"

"But you left me a message saying i could collect it today as long as i left it late in the day!"

"Yes, but i would have phoned you to confirm" she says smarmily

"YES BUT YOU DIDN'T PHONE ME TO SAY I COULDN'T!!!!! Is the manager available?!"

"No he has gone home!"

Later i phone the insurance company and tell them what a bunch of FukWits they are!

14/05/08

Phone call from receptionist at Busseys "We are now waiting for a bumper reinforcing panel"

"Why didn't you order that when you ordered the Panel?"

"We didn't know it needed one"

"Listen i have worked in a bodyshop, and i know that when you start taking the bits off, you make a list of everything that is split, bent, twisted or just needs replacing and you order them!"

"It will be in later this week"

19/05/2008

Phone call from receptionist message left on my voice mail

"Your bumber reinforcer is in and the car has been taken to SCA for a tracking test, i have to tell you that your front tyres are ILEGAL!" as if i were the scum of the earth for having front tyres on the limit (in my defence i had ordered some michelin pilots for HMT tyres a few days before the accident, but i am sure he has sold them by now!) "but the Battery is dead, we have got to order one"

21/05/2008

Phone call from Busseys

Your car is ready for collection, oh hang on someone is trying to tell me something, urm actually your car has failed its quality control and will need to be repainted!"

"THAT IS IT - SURELY YOU SHOULD HAVE QUALITY CHECKED WHILST WAITING FOR THE BATTERY, ARE YOU DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!!"

"There is no need to be like that Mr Freebrey, we will get it sorted within the next couple of days"

03/06/08

Phone call from Busseys

"Your car is ready for collection"

So i go to pick it up, there it is, i had forgotten what it looked like, i think to myself i will go and have a look at it before i pick up the keys, just in case.

WHAT A SH!T JOB - now i can say that i could do better, but i could match the quality and i would only have a garage and aerosols in which to spray it!! I storm in, the receptionist is with other customers, she takes one look at my face interupts the couple talking to her and says "do you want the manager?"

"Yes please" I reply trying to match her sarcasm

"Hi i am Wayne how can i help you Mr Freebrey?"

"Well come can come and look at the mess you call a spray job for a start!"

We walk out to the car

"There is a paint run here - there is orange peel in the base coat on the bumber - there is grit in the laquer here, here and here, there is holes in the skim coat here"

"Oh yes i see what you meen"

"Wayne can you tell me something? If this has passed its QA what kind of mess would it have to be in to fail?"

at that point i ask him to open the tail gate, i see that there are angle grinder scars inside that have just been sprayed over"

"Anyone looking to buy this car is going to think the worst, you have made this car worthless!"

"Well....well don't worry we can sought this all out"

"Wayne are you aware of the hassle i have had with this company? Are you aware that i have been asking to see you or for you to phone me?"

"Yes i am aware and as a good will gesture i will fill the tank up for you"

"Well thats something and i appreciate that" bearing in mind that i wasn't after any compensation because thats not my style, i just want the job to be done right without get greased up and shafted!

"The car will be ready for you Thursday night"

"Can i hold you to that!"

"Yes"

Thursday night-no car

Friday morning

I pick the car up- do you think i was happy with it? No! To be fair i have resigned myself to the fact that the spray job is as good as i am going to get! No runs, no grit, no orange peel, the door is a different colour due to them giving it another coat of laquer but i will live with that - no i am not happy because they have scraped the nearside wheelarch on a wall or something and somebody must have done a handstand on my bonnet coz they have dented that too! So when i say i have got my car back, i haven't really coz its got to go back!!!!!

Thanks for reading through my rant, i do feel slightly better for getting it off my chest, but am i right to expect my car back in less than two months and for it to be as if the accident never happened, and to get regular updates from a friendly and helpful member of staff and not getting fobbed off with its not our fault excusses?

Edited June 12, 2008 by simonf

[SE Owner :-D]

Sorry for you mate.

Does piss you off when people let you down.

[hilly]

If it makes you feel any better, you are not the only one who suffers from poor customer service like this from accident repair centres.

I have yet to have a car to be either be finished on time OR not require extra work.

The last repair I had at one of these insurance "approved" centres was a minor rear end shunt on my A4 causing the bumper to get damaged and the tailgate to get a dent.

Quote 1 week, which they did manage, but the problems started when I looked at the work.

I have learnt to think of everything that they will need work on and make a list to check over the car with.

I made a joke at work that the centre would screw up on 5 random things on the list, and I got 4 of them right.

They were......

1) a dent in the spare wheel well.

I knew they would not replace the panel as that is a BIG job, but I expected more than just whacking it with a hammer to get the spare to fit and then painting over it.

2) Destroyed the car build sticker

Now this is just a bit of paper stuck in the spare wheel well which lists stuff like engine code, paint code, trim code etc. It is is worth looking at when buying a car as it tells a lot about it.

You would think they would simply take it off (it is only stuck on at one end), do the repair and stick it back on, but no, they just poorly masked round it (to do the above bodge) and got paint all over it. Anyone looking in the boot would see the mess of 1) and the paint on the the sticker and see a very poor quality repair.

3) Under bumper plastic panel

My A4 is a 1.9 TDi which has a single exhaust. The 2.5 V6 has twin exhausts so to cover up the hole Audi fit a plastic panel. This panel got a corner broken off it where it fixed to the bumper.

Did they replace it, nope, they snapped off the broken bit and filed the edge straight, leaving it flapping about!!

4) Dent in the tailgate.

They completely forgot to fix that!!

5) plus a whole bunch of other stuff not on my "list" of 5 items.

When I discovered the above, the delivery driver was most pissed that I won't sign it off and had to take it back.

The following day I got a snotty call from the manager asking why he couldn't have his (dis)courtesy car back (it was a Daewoo Amica) to give to some other poor soul.

When I went down and pointed out the lousy workmanship he back tracked.

It then took a further 5 weeks to get it done as the under bumper plastic panel was on back order with Audi, hence why they bodged it.

If they had contacted me to say the panel was on back order (not their fault) I would be OK with that, it is the fact that they just bodged it hoping I wouldn't notice so they could get their car back.

And this is by no means an isolated case, I have had even worse tails of woe, I just can't be ar$ed to type it all out.

Unfortunately these repair centres are screwed down on repair costs by the insurance companies and rely on fast turn around (ie corner cutting) to make a profit and deserve the rubbish reputation they have.

A lot of people don't know what to look for when signing off a repair and hence they mostly get away with it.

The thing I have learnt is to ALWAYS have a courtesy car (no matter how crap it is) from them because all the while you have got that they can't get more work in and hence you are hitting their turn over.

If you don't then your car will always be lower priority to a customer who is keeping hold of one of their courtesy cars.

Hilly

Edited June 12, 2008 by hilly

[andydclements]

Simon I know the feeling.

I've never used Busseys, but have used Hartwell the local Vauxhall dealer. Again insurance company approved.

The Peugeot was hit in the rear, not badly, tail gate wasn't dented, bumper was dented, but because the A Hole that hit my car (he is a complete......... even his family say he is) did so at speed but braking heavily his car's front bumper hit my exhaust.

I had to take the car off the road immediately as the exhaust was not road worthy, leaking at every joint and hitting the floor of the car.

They had it approx 3 months.

The usual delays, they finally told me it was ready, I went to look and they'd fitted the wrong bumper, it blocked the exhaust with no outlet hole. i was told I was lying and that was the correct one "I've got another one of those cars in the body shop" so we went and looked, at the hole in the bumper on that car. I also complained about the paint finish and way the bumper wasn't fitted correctly, and other little bits.

I inspected the car several times, each time work was done, just very poorly.

They finally gave in and after discussing it with the insurance company the car was moved to another repairer that I knew and trusted.

They got it to a reasonable standard.

The original firm and offered to pay the excess as compensation (I had to inspect the car during the working day each time). I accepted that offer, but said I would need a receipt to claim the excess form the other person, or else I would loose my NCB.

After 3 more visits to try and get the receipt I gave up at the body shop site, and complaint to their head office. I rec'd a "not my problem" type of response, but did get the name of the manage of both Norwich sites, and found he was at the location closer to me.

It took several visits, each time he was unavailable, and despite several attempt I never received a call from him.

SO.

I walked into the dealership, straight past reception, up the stairs to their offices, and summoned him.

I guess that's a bit shocking, and he soon understood the only way I was leaving (short of the police) was for him to resolve the issue. Surprise Surprise! I picked up the receipt 2 days later.

Alternatively there is the repair on another car done by a firm in Letchworth, Peugeot, Citroen, and Honda dealers, the car leaked, had the bumper fitted poorly, and the rear panel was the wrong length where they put a section in. They had lots of attempts to fix it, lots of visits by the assessor, who got fed up with it and we both agreed they hadn't got a hope of getting it right. Another firm put it right at their expense (slightly more than the original firm were allowed to claim for the first repair). The original firm never found the water leak, despite having the car for several weeks, and me having the Civic hot hatch.... I found it a year later, the rear window hadn't been bonded in correctly.

I've used East Anglian Sheet metal in Norwich- they're as bad as both above put together, deep scratch marks in the filler, paint over-spray, primer showing, trim falling off, bonnet hinge broker.. the list goes on. they were only a few min walk from the NU insurance office where the assessor worked, after visit no 3, he agreed in future he'd go without me, he could see it was going to take more than one more visit. they finally got it right, but I doubt they stayed on the approved list after the things the assessor said.

There is one local (Norfolk) insurer approved repairer who I've seen do a good job.

East Bilney coach works, as well as being competent, they delivered to their time-scale, and called to keep me updated when they promised.

They did a repair for me and repaired a colleague's Smart Roadster after the local BMW muppets (approved repairer) failed to get the structural components right and the car kept scrubbing tyres and going out of wheel alignment.

[GasketsGone]

This type of slack customer service and dont give a sh1t workmanship sums up modern day UK (unfortunately) and is probably the 2nd reason (the first being the scum bags that just dont bother with insuring their cars!) why we honest types who all pay through the nose for insurance have to pay so much....i cant imagine that Busseys didnt charge your insurance company for any less than 2 months worth of work!

those of you here who may be in the motor trade please tell me i'm wrong and this is (yet another??????) one off for the likes of poor Simon...

Edited June 12, 2008 by GasketsGone

[andydclements]

I should have added I had some fun with East Anglian sheet metal.

My brother used to be a car painter, and vaguely knew the guy who owned the firm. We went there together, al the time that I was giving the guy grief he was trying to work out who my brother was and how he knew him (Is he from an insurance company, is he from the VBRA etc etc?).

[chats371l]

Sounds like a story for watchdog Si!!!.

I had interesting problems with the Busseys in Fareham. Surfice to say, I never used them again!.

Chats

[arbell9]

Makes me glad mine is at the factory getting fixed. The insurnace company tried with the we have a garage we use routine with me this week, but as soon as I said are they experts in Lotus type glass fibre technology, and understand how certain parts of the body shell are critical in order to retain strength etc in the event of a crash and so unless they do, its going where I want it to. I got the choice then of which garage I want.

However I am sat at home awaiting a courtesy car which should have been here at 9 AM. Which means I am late for work. I am currently trying track them down. Poor service as they have my number and could call to say they are held up.

I am not sure why many british workers like to produce shit work. I assume its pressure to do it as cheapo as possible from bosses but I think thats an over simplification. Its something in the mentality of many people. Like they feel they have won if they manage to fob you off.

update on hire car

4 phone calls inc Avis international and I am still none the wiser.........

After 5 phone calls, last being to insurer who called Avis. Avis branch in Manchester said they never recieved the email from the insurers who insist that it was sent. I dont believe it is lost in cyber space, one of them will not admit to ballsing up.

Now I have lost a half days holiday unless my boss is sympathetic and undestands its not my fault.

So I lose the esprit for several weeks, now I am down 1.5 days holiday because of this. And to think the woman who hit the car said....."Its only a car get a life!" - yeah doesnt matter, I am out of pocket and well peed off . Happy Days eh!

Edited June 13, 2008 by Alex --GT3--

[SE Owner :-D]

I am disgusted but not surprised.

Friday 13th.

Bitch

[Kimbers]

Why oh why is it that you have a 20 year Automotive expert on site and you don't speak to me?

Number one, At Honda we told, on handover, owners not to accept Insurance company "Approved Repair Shops". They are cheap and don't give a stuff about you or any time frame.

Number two, the insurance company cannot refuse you if you tell them it has to be repaired at an approved manufacturers body shop. Lets not forget most modern cars come with at least 10 year paint warranty. If Busseys aren't an Approved Audi repair shop you've just invalidated your warranty (If they wanted to be picky).

Number 3, never use a Ford or Vauxhall Dealership for anything. Remember they are mass produced cars in the true sense of the word. Dealers are targetted on getting numbers sold/serviced/painted, not on Customer satisfaction like the premium and quality brand manufacturers.

Number 4, Insurance companies have many repair shops in every area, you are under no obligation to accept their first recommendation or even to keep the car there if you are dissatisfied.

Number 5, I know the motor industry inside and out, not just in Norfolk but throughout the UK. Just ask, I can and will help with advice, known paintshops etc.

Lastly Number 6: Write a letter to your insurance company (I'd copy and paste your above post as a good basis, especially with the conversations you've had with the receptionist). Claim that it has unduly caused issues and you only refused the courtesy car because you were assured that the car would be done much quicker. Also stress you have been inconvienienced in driving backwards and forwards, because they weren't contacting you and you have incurred charges. Lastly specifically state that you are putting in a formal complaint and you can't believe that they endorse such a shoddy and low quality service and threaten to remove your business from them.

That should get a result for you and get your car done properly, possibly get you some recompense and get some come back on those who have, frankly, done a poor job and keep on giving the industry a bad name.

Also ask for a different paint shop to do the work. The Bodycentre is my recommendation, or Paul Marshall Bodyworks.

[OwenGT3]

There is one local (Norfolk) insurer approved repairer who I've seen do a good job.

East Bilney coach works, as well as being competent, they delivered to their time-scale, and called to keep me updated when they promised.

They might have good customer service, but the owner is a total *osse*! I worked for them for 2 1/2 years, finally had enough I walked in one Saturday and told them to stuff their job where it doesn't shine, don't worry, I had another job to go to. I think his son runs it mostly now, but it's the father I hated, he's a ####$$%

Edited June 13, 2008 by OwenGT3

[Simon350S]

Hey Rog..... That's a little harsh calling Alex a bitch....!!!!

LOL

Don't get me started on body shops or anyone in car maintenance etc.... There are so many shit ones and very few decent ones.....

If it wasn't for the fact I'm typing this on my iPhone I'd tell a good story but I am so I won't....

Useless bunch of wa**ers.....!!!

Simon

[SE Owner :-D]

Si you ought to have your own garage mate.

I'd let you loose on the Red Beast.

You (Punky and Dodgy) ought to take a bit more credit in the whole bigsi thing.

And you would do a better job than most of the twats around.

My Bitches.

[simonf]

Thanks for the heads up Kimbers! You are right of course, i should have talked to you, but i thought i was doing the right thing at the time.

Someone mentioned East Bilney Coachworks - They did some work on my boxster and that had to go back 3 times!

Don't know why these bodyshops can't just GET IT RIGHT! It is their job after all!

[OwenGT3]

Simon, have you finally come into the 21 century and got broadband, you're posting rather late in the evening, or are you in the office still?

Owen.