Useless sales executives!

[Andy665 0]

Sonicriot13 - you have PM :lol:

[Jim 2]

I just have to put in a big thumbs up for Listers VW in Coventry. I primarily deal with their parts department (obviously!) and the guys behind there (Ian and Heath) are absolutely great - happy to deal with silly long parts lists of nuts and bolts, happy to show you parts on the screen / share part numbers, and generally very flexible on ordering / payment. Nothing is ever too much trouble. If they know you're a club member and likely to come in on a fairly frequent basis, you're more than likely to get a discount too.

 

Seemingly poles apart from some of the horror stories in this thread!

[vwdeviant 0]

Same experience at various local dealers a few years ago..

 

Was given a 22k LIST budget to spend on a co car and told to go out and see what I could get.

 

Best service was from Rover/MG garage (shame the cars were cr@p) and Vauxhall.. Salesman at Ford garage kept calling me "Mate" so I left..

 

TBH VAG experience was pretty good, the Audi guy (was looking at A3 TDi Quattro) was top class not too pushy asked what I had to spend and what I wanted to test drive.. and then let me lose in the A3 and a A4.... same with VW lass too (but she really didn't like me getting the tail out on teh Passat TDi sport!)

 

I purposefully went dressed everywhere in jeans/jumper/trainers as I do for all "top end" purchases. Not scruffy but not suited and booted either. Find this is the best way to see what any shop's salesman is like...

 

Oh and I picked the Audi, until the Co told me no German (inc whole VAG Skoda/Seat)/Italian (there went the Alfa)/Japanese (Mazda 626) and had to be diesel and an estate.. so either Mondeo/Vectra/or French! Told them to stick the job if i couldn't fully choose the car I was due to spend the next 3years/100+ thousand miles in! :lol:

[craigowl 0]

Yes, there are some good ones out there, too.

 

I have to say Advantage VAG of Stirling have been very good to me for parts orders.

 

Two of the sales guys out admiring the C when I got back to it came over as decent guys who would not be likely to ignore a customer.

 

However, it's funny how I can still remember walking out of the local Peugeot garage 16 years ago when the salesman seemed so unhelpful with my genuine interest. I was in the market for a new 205 and he lost a £9.5k sale which went to a rival in Edinburgh where his opposite number was an absolute gent.

 

Elephants have long memories, but so, too, do car buying punters taking the difficult step of buying such an expensive item as a new car.

[Sonicriot13 0]

It is good to see you guys posting pleasant experiences and giving shout outs to good dealers. It was never my intention for this thread to only become a naming and shaming forum for poor salesmen. Although I am in the trade myself now, on that particular day I was just another member of the car buying public, wanting to ask about the Iroc or just see what kind of a deal they could do me on a Mk5 GTI for when I'm settled in my new role and my disposable income has increased somewhat. I'm glad it has turned out to be a discussion of how we are perceived by the salesmen, whether they get it wrong or right. There are probably just as many good experiences listed as bad ones, and when you consider how easy it is to criticize others that makes me feel a lot better about it.

[boost monkey 0]

I remember a jaunt I had to the dealers last summer.

 

Basically, Prodigal was out of the country on business and his brakes needed doing. Me and his missus got cracking as she's into cars too. Long story short, bleed nipple sheared on a caliper so I went to pick up a new caliper exchange at one of the dealers in Oxford-ish area (can't remember which one for the life of me, might have been North Oxford / Kidlington way?)

 

Anyways, I get there and park up. Walk out of the carpark and through the showroom to the parts desk out the back somewhere, all the time carrying a dead caliper in a latex gloved hand! You would have thought the Salesmen were gonna call the bomb squad with the amount of looks I got as I walked through! :lol:

 

So i get to the back and hand this caliper over. Get chatting to the guy and yep they have the caliper in and it's the right one. Top quality bloke behind the till and had a little natter about old VWs and stuff before I paid and wandered back out to my car.

 

Another long story short, I had managed to park in the Fleet Cars area and subsequently someone had put a brand spanking new Passat right across the front of me!

 

(Question: if you saw a G-reg Grey Mk2 Jetta in the Fleet Cars section, would you think that maybe this is _NOT_ in the right place, and is _NOT_ a fleet car?)

 

Anyways, I go back in and find a really really helpful guy who turned out to be a driver and he said he would happily move the Jetta out of the space for me, as if he were to hit anything it would be a no-fault as he worked at the Dealership. So I did.

 

2 mins later I was on the road back home. No patronisation, condescending behaviour from anyone. Just tons of people willing to help :)

 

Note to self: find out name of VW dealership from brother.

[Jay2 0]

Had various different responses from my local VW Dealership, Hayseldens.

 

Obviously owning a C I'm at the parts desk quite alot.

 

One of the guys knows a bit about Corrado's and he is happy to look through the computer system, has even previously rung to see if its possible to still get the parts from Germany. Although even he has off days, as I enquired about some small bits of plastic trim and he never rung back after calling and then going into the dealership in person. Probably because the cost of the phone call would be more than the trim piece! :(

 

But I have also been to the parts desk to be met by sum yoof who had never even heard of a 'Corrado'! How did he get a job at a VW garage!!! :shock: