Apologies in advance for a wall of text!
So, my A4 needed some warranty (is it warranty when the damage was done pre-delivery?) work doing on the front bumper, and I needed to sort out a gouge I'd made in the nearside sill when I failed to see a rock on the side of someone's driveway.
Originally, I liased through Audi Macclesfield (who, other than using the bodyshop in question as their "approved" bodyshop, have done nothing wrong) to get my car booked in for the repairs on the bumper, and enquired about getting my booboo resolved at the same time. Obviously my thinking here was that assuming the costs were not prohibitive (they weren't really, £275 for the entire sill being repaired and painted), the work would have to be up to some sort of Audi standard, as any work done doesn't affect my paint and bodywork guarantee.
This was arranged in December for an early January repair (Christmas got in the way), however January came and went without so much as a peep from the bodyshop. Getting Audi to yet again contact the bodyshop, I finally got my car taken in on the 4th of Feb, being told it would be needed for 5 days, I had Audi arrange me a courtesy car (2012 A6 2.0TDI for what it's worth). The car was driven away, to a bodyshop over 25 miles from the dealership, and I noted down the mileage (as well as took photographs), and took photographs of the damaged areas (as a point of reference). The car came back with nearly 100 extra miles on the clock (now, when a car has only done 1800 miles, that accounts for
5.5% of the total mileage on the car!).
Friday the 9th arrived, and I was glad to be getting my car back (didn't get on with the new shape A6 at all), however all was not well. The sill could only be described as being finished in a paint quality something like sandpaper, rough sandpaper. And the bumper was covered in screwdriver gouges around the foglights, where they had clearly been unable to remove the plastic shrouds without damage. There were also a number of stone chips on the bonnet, masking tape all over the near-side of the car, and a discernable lip between the "new" paint on the sill, and the rest of the paintwork.
So this Wednesday (13th Feb), their senior estimator came to check the car over at work, and agreed that there is no way the car should have been released from the bodyshop, let alone sent to the customer. I was assured that this would be rectified swiftly, and to expect a call later that afternoon to re-book the car in. Sufficed to say, no call was forthcoming.
Thursday came and went without a call either, so this morning (15th Feb) I called the bodyshop to find out what was going on! I was informed that I was at the bottom of a very long queue of work (for the receptionist, not the bodyshop), and that she was meant to be calling me today. After a quick discussion about the fact that this call is now two days late, that my car had clearly been used for "personal" errands by whomever had the keys to it, and that I was really unhappy with the service so far, I was told that they would need my car for a further two days. I was quite shocked by this, seeing as there was now more work to do than there had been for the initial booking (removal of junk paintwork, respray of sill, respray of entire front bumper), yet they needed my car for less time. I was passed through to the "technical" manager who tried (and failed) to answer my questions, mainly about how long the paint will take to cure, and that I really don't want it driven back to me with soft paint. It was agreed that 2 days was slightly optimistic, and then I was handed back to whomever it was that was meant to be booking me in... only I wasn't, I was cut off.
So, I called them back. I was informed that the lady I needed to speak to was on the phone, and that she would call me back when she was done with that call. Over two hours later, still no call back. I rang again, only to be told almost exactly what I had been told before (either this is the worlds longest phone conversation, or she simply couldn't be bothered to perform simple tasks), yet again, no call-back occurred within another two hour window. I finally called them back after leaving work, this time refusing to wait for a call-back, and to be put through to "someone" immediately.
Now it gets interesting. I'm finally offered a slot to book back in, only to be told that I need to bring the car to them (it's 30 miles in the wrong direction for going to work, and nowhere near anywhere useful to me at all - Audenshaw), and that the only vehicle they can offer me is a VW UP. I'm pretty riled at this, and find it rather disghusting that due to their ****-up, I'm expected to drive around in a shoe, and deliver my own vehicle to somewhere miles out of my way.
So now I'm sat here waiting for yet another call-back from the manager, about sorting me out with a better courtesy vehicle, and someone (preferably someone who isn't completely brain dead) to come and collect my car.
Two questions then:
1) Will I ever recieve this mythical call-back?
2) If I want to try and resolve this without using this bodyshop (I forsee the re-repair being just as shoddy if I'm honest), what's my best route? Claiming off their insurance? Speaking to my Audi dealer? Speaking to Audi UK?
So, my A4 needed some warranty (is it warranty when the damage was done pre-delivery?) work doing on the front bumper, and I needed to sort out a gouge I'd made in the nearside sill when I failed to see a rock on the side of someone's driveway.
Originally, I liased through Audi Macclesfield (who, other than using the bodyshop in question as their "approved" bodyshop, have done nothing wrong) to get my car booked in for the repairs on the bumper, and enquired about getting my booboo resolved at the same time. Obviously my thinking here was that assuming the costs were not prohibitive (they weren't really, £275 for the entire sill being repaired and painted), the work would have to be up to some sort of Audi standard, as any work done doesn't affect my paint and bodywork guarantee.
This was arranged in December for an early January repair (Christmas got in the way), however January came and went without so much as a peep from the bodyshop. Getting Audi to yet again contact the bodyshop, I finally got my car taken in on the 4th of Feb, being told it would be needed for 5 days, I had Audi arrange me a courtesy car (2012 A6 2.0TDI for what it's worth). The car was driven away, to a bodyshop over 25 miles from the dealership, and I noted down the mileage (as well as took photographs), and took photographs of the damaged areas (as a point of reference). The car came back with nearly 100 extra miles on the clock (now, when a car has only done 1800 miles, that accounts for
5.5% of the total mileage on the car!).
Friday the 9th arrived, and I was glad to be getting my car back (didn't get on with the new shape A6 at all), however all was not well. The sill could only be described as being finished in a paint quality something like sandpaper, rough sandpaper. And the bumper was covered in screwdriver gouges around the foglights, where they had clearly been unable to remove the plastic shrouds without damage. There were also a number of stone chips on the bonnet, masking tape all over the near-side of the car, and a discernable lip between the "new" paint on the sill, and the rest of the paintwork.
So this Wednesday (13th Feb), their senior estimator came to check the car over at work, and agreed that there is no way the car should have been released from the bodyshop, let alone sent to the customer. I was assured that this would be rectified swiftly, and to expect a call later that afternoon to re-book the car in. Sufficed to say, no call was forthcoming.
Thursday came and went without a call either, so this morning (15th Feb) I called the bodyshop to find out what was going on! I was informed that I was at the bottom of a very long queue of work (for the receptionist, not the bodyshop), and that she was meant to be calling me today. After a quick discussion about the fact that this call is now two days late, that my car had clearly been used for "personal" errands by whomever had the keys to it, and that I was really unhappy with the service so far, I was told that they would need my car for a further two days. I was quite shocked by this, seeing as there was now more work to do than there had been for the initial booking (removal of junk paintwork, respray of sill, respray of entire front bumper), yet they needed my car for less time. I was passed through to the "technical" manager who tried (and failed) to answer my questions, mainly about how long the paint will take to cure, and that I really don't want it driven back to me with soft paint. It was agreed that 2 days was slightly optimistic, and then I was handed back to whomever it was that was meant to be booking me in... only I wasn't, I was cut off.
So, I called them back. I was informed that the lady I needed to speak to was on the phone, and that she would call me back when she was done with that call. Over two hours later, still no call back. I rang again, only to be told almost exactly what I had been told before (either this is the worlds longest phone conversation, or she simply couldn't be bothered to perform simple tasks), yet again, no call-back occurred within another two hour window. I finally called them back after leaving work, this time refusing to wait for a call-back, and to be put through to "someone" immediately.
Now it gets interesting. I'm finally offered a slot to book back in, only to be told that I need to bring the car to them (it's 30 miles in the wrong direction for going to work, and nowhere near anywhere useful to me at all - Audenshaw), and that the only vehicle they can offer me is a VW UP. I'm pretty riled at this, and find it rather disghusting that due to their ****-up, I'm expected to drive around in a shoe, and deliver my own vehicle to somewhere miles out of my way.
So now I'm sat here waiting for yet another call-back from the manager, about sorting me out with a better courtesy vehicle, and someone (preferably someone who isn't completely brain dead) to come and collect my car.
Two questions then:
1) Will I ever recieve this mythical call-back?
2) If I want to try and resolve this without using this bodyshop (I forsee the re-repair being just as shoddy if I'm honest), what's my best route? Claiming off their insurance? Speaking to my Audi dealer? Speaking to Audi UK?
