Garage messed up, course of action?

Housey · 5 Nov 2015 at 20:48

Good, nail them now, DP needs a kick in the **** frankly based on that response.

bainbridge · 5 Nov 2015 at 20:56

Well done for escalating the issue to director level.

They got caught bang to rights and even then rather than giving a sincere apology they tried to wriggle out of it.

ivrytwr3 · 5 Nov 2015 at 21:08

semi-pro waster · 6 Nov 2015 at 07:43

Russinating said:
Couldn't be bothered to moan much on site when I picked the car up because at the same time tweeted Kia PR, got an email from their Director of Corporate Communications a couple of hours later and have since spoken to a member of their team and sent them a link to the video. Currently awaiting to hear from them now.

Shame I missed the boat on tonight's Watchdog featuring the motor repair industry!

Seems perfectly fair, you gave them a chance to sort it at a reasonable level and the manager has shirked his responsibilities so take it further. You shouldn't have to moan about it either really, the evidence was there so you could expect them to take the appropriate action without further prompting - what they decided to do would govern your next action and the manager messed it up again.

PhillyDee · 6 Nov 2015 at 08:10

You just kicked it up a notch

. Destroy them.

Puzzled · 6 Nov 2015 at 09:53

OP completely on your side here but out of interest are there any implications on recording mechanics without their knowledge?

In this case they could see the cam but in general I thought recording people without permission was a bit of a dodgy area.

NoNameNoNumber · 6 Nov 2015 at 10:12

They were fully aware of the camera... They had every opportunity to turn it off or at least not be total scum...
They've made this bed

Richie · 6 Nov 2015 at 12:43

semi-pro waster said:
Seems perfectly fair, you gave them a chance to sort it at a reasonable level and the manager has shirked his responsibilities so take it further. You shouldn't have to moan about it either really, the evidence was there so you could expect them to take the appropriate action without further prompting - what they decided to do would govern your next action and the manager messed it up again.

Absolutely. You gave them a fair chance with the evidence presented and they failed to come up with a fair and proper resolution so I agree with the OP on escalating it.

Logsi · 6 Nov 2015 at 13:09

I think this is more reason for me to have a dash cam than any other. Nearly enough every headache i've had with a car is due to taking it in to a garage.

MooMoo444 · 6 Nov 2015 at 13:38

It's great that you've got the attention of Kia's management. That should really help you get a good result here. Keep the thread updated

azibux1 · 6 Nov 2015 at 13:43

NoNameNoNumber said:
They were fully aware of the camera... They had every opportunity to turn it off or at least not be total scum...
They've made this bed

Turning it off is not wise... This is what my issue (mentioned above) was partly related to.

It didn't go well for the mechanic

Russinating · 6 Nov 2015 at 15:53

Another halfway update.

Bizarrely Kia aren't really prepared to do anything. To quote:

However, it is right for me to say clearly that under Block Exemption regulations we do not have direct control over the policies and procedures of our dealers – they are business partners rather than direct representative over whom we hold the power of veto or control. The General Manager has assured us that he is taking steps internally to deal with this behaviour in general terms as they do represent our brand and also took the view, specifically, that the matter should be resolved with regard to your vehicle.

He advised us that he had instructed that the repair – which I am told would have had a retail cost of around £400 – should be undertaken to put right what was done incorrectly. He does, as I believe has also been advised to you, feel that this action has resolved the actual problem – even if you are dissatisfied with the attitude displayed by the technicians., although he informs us that he has taken internal action on that front.

I am afraid that we cannot force [Garage] Kia to take any further action, though of course we are now aware of this unacceptable lapse in standards and this matter will remain on our agenda for some time.

That's a snippet from the Director of Corporate Communications today.

As true as it is it's a bit blinkered, considering anything that goes to press about the garage in question will either directly or indirectly impact Kia's PR as a whole seeing as they're an authorised dealer.

Anyway, time to go big! Shame I missed Watchdog's thing last night about rogue car repairers

.

tom_e · 6 Nov 2015 at 16:00

Seems mental that they're unprepared to really do anything, as you say it has an impact on the whole Kia brand not just the dealer and lets face it if they wanted to they will almost certainly have ways to apply pressure to get what they want from dealers.

Glanza · 6 Nov 2015 at 16:01

Surprised at that hand washing. Especially when Kia is supposed to have one of the best warranty's out of the manufactures.

Russinating · 6 Nov 2015 at 16:03

Glanza said:
Surprised at that hand washing. Especially when Kia is supposed to have one of the best warranty's out of the manufactures.

And the fact that you have to go to an authorised dealer to maintain that warranty. I bought my car from the garage in question and the next closest is an hour each way.

Richie · 6 Nov 2015 at 16:56

I'm not entirely sure what more you want Kia to do. They have obviously spoken to the dealer themselves as they are aware of costs etc and have been advised by the dealer that:

1. the repair will be made (its unclear by the wording if this will be FOC)
2. the dealer has done internal actions in respect to the technician
3. Kia will be monitoring things for a while to ensure it doesnt happen again.

What was the outcome you were looking for yourself?

Peerzy · 6 Nov 2015 at 18:13

Just thank Kia for their time and briefly explain that The Sun want to feature the story so might be contacting them for their side of the story.

Won't be long before they're putting in a bit of extra effort for a loyal customer.

Bluecube · 6 Nov 2015 at 18:15

"I am afraid that we cannot force [Garage] Kia to take any further action, though of course we are now aware of this unacceptable lapse in standards and this matter will remain on our agenda for some time."

This bit here is corporate speak for saying that Kia are a tad peed off at what's happened. They're not going to do anything for you but the garage is going to suffer at some point...

iaind · 6 Nov 2015 at 18:24

I'm on the same page as Richie here - It's a poor experience but I don't know what else you'd expect them to do. They've apologised and put the problem right... Short of actually giving you something I don't know what more of an outcome you'd want or expect. You don't and probably won't know the outcome of the internal "discussions"

Russinating · 6 Nov 2015 at 20:39

Richie said:
I'm not entirely sure what more you want Kia to do.

Not sure/nothing in particular. Throughout, both to their dealer and Kia HQ, I've said I'd rather go to the press than be offered anything but have given the opportunity for them to do... something. As you say I don't know what's been done internally so can't guarantee that anything has been done. I've a few friends who work in PR and their mouths dropped when they listened to the video so meh. Have contacts at a few national outlets so will so if they're interested.