tug 0 Posted February 21, 2005 I was visiting a mate in Aberdeen at the weekend, and he had to take his Mk4 Golf GTI in to the VW garage on Saturday morning for an MOT. They were already charging him about £40 for the MOT, which I suppose isn't too bad, but what happened next was... The service receptionist woman came over after about half an hour to let my mate know that his car had failed its MOT. One of the number plate lights was out and both headlights were a little low. VW: "9 times out of 10 you'll find that the number plate bulb holders are broken, they're £4.90 each + VAT. The mechanic will also have to put the car on a special headlight alignment machine, so there will be a half hour labour charge, which is £29." 5 minute argument between her, my mate and me then ensued, with my mate pointing out that it might be a good idea to check if the bulb holder is broken before charging him for it, and me telling her that I'm familiar with the 'special' headlight alignment machine and that there's no way it should take half an hour to carry out the work. She went off to speak to the mechanic and by some miracle, the bulb holder wasn't broken and he somehow managed to get the work done in 10 minutes... Can't help thinking that if we hadn't questioned her, VW would have been quite happy to fleece my mate for another £40 on top of his MOT. :mad: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackcat 0 Posted February 21, 2005 Don't get me started, I could moan about VW for hours after the service I received from them :mad2: Sadly, I have heard of many people with similar experiences. Suffice to say I will never go to a vw garage again. They are all a bunch of ...(v. rude word). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
godskitchen 0 Posted February 21, 2005 Here is an idea, get the work done somewhere different! thats what i have started doing! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kerrinmay 0 Posted February 21, 2005 You won't catch me back at the dealers again either (unless I'm at the parts desk). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeVR6 0 Posted February 21, 2005 With my first Corrado (also my first VW) I decided to drop it round to the Stealers for a full service and to get a new wishbone and front shocks fitted. Went back to pick it up with £280 in my pocket, thinking that would be more than enough since I had supplied the parts. Service reception girl gives me invoice for £420! I explain to her that I haven't enough on me, can I drop the rest in the next day? She taps on her keyboard for a minute or two and prints a new invoice. £280 will be fine sir! WTF!? Wish I'd told her I'd only a tenner on me. :) Strangely I haven't been near a Stealership since! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted February 21, 2005 You can normally get them to back down by asking for a full breakdown of work done by the minute, part by part and then add it all up in front of you :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tug 0 Posted February 21, 2005 Best of it is, my mate has extended VW warranty, but none of the work was covered by it. What does the warranty cover exactly?! Also, the cylinder head on my little sister's 1.6 Mk4 Golf started playing up a few months ago. VW wanted her to prove that the problems were caused by a fault with the head and not just wear & tear before they would cover the work under warranty. Took weeks of complaining to VW Customer Care before it was eventually sorted out... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JT 0 Posted February 21, 2005 never again, took my mk2 to the stealers to have a three inch coolant pipe replaced as i could'nt get it anywhere else, "no problem sir 98 pound + vat, will take a couple of days to get the parts i give you a call" great did'nt need the car no problem went back 2 days later 300 quid wtf " yeah it took 4 hours and this and that" no sorry where was the phone call etc etc finally paid 200 but a far cry from 98, fu**ers basically never again!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
godskitchen 0 Posted February 21, 2005 i would have made them take the coolant pipe back out and taken the car somewhere else Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
