Shocking customer service at volkswagen garage in Westport

detoxkid

I am so frustrated at the lack of customer service in garages. I don't know if it is because I am a woman or because I drive a 10 year old crappy car but I might as well be invisible when I go into these places. My latest experience was in the Volkswagen garage on your way into Westport from Castlebar this morning. Brought the oh who knows a bit about cars. We both were dressed casually, not that I thought that would make a difference. The sales man was talking to a crowd of people outside the door when I got there- there seemed to be no deals being made, none of them were looking at cars, they just seemed to be a crowd of people chatting. Fair enough, I thought to myself, I used to work in retail for years, I know how these things go. We walked around the show room for a good 15 minutes, picked up a brochure for the new passat, meanwhile they were still outside chatting. Eventually we left the showroom, and they were still chatting outside the door, we had to look at the sales man to get him to move away from the door on the way out. He still didn't bat an eyelid at us. I mean, a simple 'I'll be with you in a minute' would have been fine at this stage but he just continued with his (non car related) conversation with his mates. I made one last attempt to open the door of a second hand passat I was interested in and possibly would have bought, but he still completely ignored me. After that we drove out. The thing is, after YEARS of saving I would have potentially spent ALLOT of hard earned money in there if he had made half an effort. A few years ago I would have thought it was a symptom of the Celtic Tiger, sales people basically thinking they were doing you a favor by courting your custom. But surely people should be working harder for this for their money at this stage?:mad:
Sorry for ranting, had to get that out and I think bad service like this should be highlighted. Anyone else experienced this or experienced really good service?

Cosmo Kramer

I have experienced similar service levels in the same place recently.

You'd think seeing so many dealers shutting down would change their attitude - Casey's in Castlebar went to the wall partly because of the ignorance levels of sales staff when dealing with the public (there were of course many other reasons too).

If you want a second hand VW try Kevin Connolly in Ballina, I found the service levels to be far better there. I won't be bothering Hastings in Westport again.

threebeards

detoxkid wrote: »

I am so frustrated at the lack of customer service in garages. I don't know if it is because I am a woman or because I drive a 10 year old crappy car but I might as well be invisible when I go into these places. My latest experience was in the Volkswagen garage on your way into Westport from Castlebar this morning. Brought the oh who knows a bit about cars. We both were dressed casually, not that I thought that would make a difference. The sales man was talking to a crowd of people outside the door when I got there- there seemed to be no deals being made, none of them were looking at cars, they just seemed to be a crowd of people chatting. Fair enough, I thought to myself, I used to work in retail for years, I know how these things go. We walked around the show room for a good 15 minutes, picked up a brochure for the new passat, meanwhile they were still outside chatting. Eventually we left the showroom, and they were still chatting outside the door, we had to look at the sales man to get him to move away from the door on the way out. He still didn't bat an eyelid at us. I mean, a simple 'I'll be with you in a minute' would have been fine at this stage but he just continued with his (non car related) conversation with his mates. I made one last attempt to open the door of a second hand passat I was interested in and possibly would have bought, but he still completely ignored me. After that we drove out. The thing is, after YEARS of saving I would have potentially spent ALLOT of hard earned money in there if he had made half an effort. A few years ago I would have thought it was a symptom of the Celtic Tiger, sales people basically thinking they were doing you a favor by courting your custom. But surely people should be working harder for this for their money at this stage?:mad:
Sorry for ranting, had to get that out and I think bad service like this should be highlighted. Anyone else experienced this or experienced really good service?

Take yourself to Kevin Connollys in Ballina and you'll get service. They recently had a favourable write up in one of the Sunday papers (could have been the Sunday World but not sure). After you make your purchase, you should put pen to paper to Tim Hastings, who it has to be said is a very nice man, and tell him of your experience and the fact that as a result of that you went and dealt with another dealer.

TheKBizzle

They are piss poor in Hastings.

After buying my van there I always go to Connollys in Sligo - they are much easier to deal with

PogMoThoin

Volkswagen have been cleaning up this year and last with people deserting Toyota after all the recalls (which incidentally turned out to be driver errors). Bet you'd get unbelievable service in a Toyota garage these times.

Cosmo Kramer

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Volkswagen have been cleaning up this year and last with people deserting Toyota after all the recalls (which incidentally turned out to be driver errors). Bet you'd get unbelievable service in a Toyota garage these times.

Actually the service levels in Kellys Autopoint in Castlebar weren't great either I found, which surprised me alright. Found massive differences between garages as I went around looking. I found Connollys in Ballina (VW) and Monaghans in Castlebar (Mazdas and Hyundais) to be the best. Hastings were easily the worst.

mickdw

Yes have called into hastings myself and been totally ignored.
When they did come to me, I got the impression that they didnt think I had the funds to buy the particular car I was looking at so I walked away.

yop

Have bought in Hastings for my wife a good number of years ago, but that was off the owner himself and he was more than helpful even though I was only spending 1500 euro on a small car.
Personally, I would pick the phone up and ask to speak to him, explain what happened and see what he can do. I only say that as I found him very nice to deal with.

Never dealt with Connollys myself, only thing I have heard is that they are very expensive, friend went to him 6 months back to buy a 6 month old A4 S-line, he didn't help her a bit she found and ended up taking one in from UK. BUT as said here everyone has their own experience.

Monaghans I have had no joy with previously on 2 cars. I owned a Mazda 6 MPS (they are a 260bhp petrol) so they required a bit of knowledge to service.
I rang them and asked them could they service it and how much. Told me "Of course we can, they are the same as all Mazdas (they are not!!) and that for the work it was going to cost 560 euro.
I then decided to check a few forums and rang a garage in Cookstown, they gave me previous experience on the MPS and also they did the car for 296 euro, they also valeted and washed the car.
I rang Monaghans and told them the price in case they wanted to do it in the future, they told me "not to contact them if anything went wrong"
Latest was last year when I had cash in hand, I spotted an Octavia VRS that had been sitting on his court for 9 months, he wouldn't budge a bean on the price and told me I wouldn't find cheaper, I did in about 4 other garages.

Again thats MY experience, so each to their own.

whitey1

See if you can turn it to your advantage.

Call up and ask to speak to the man himself.

Tell him what happened-and email him over the link to this thread.

Tell him you're willing to give them a second chance, but you want to deal with him directly-see what type of deal he can put together for you. It could be a win win situation-he gets a chance to redeem himself, you get a great deal-AND come back on here and tell how they remedied the situation.

(If I were a business person in this economy, I would be eternally greatful for someone to bring such an issue to my attention)

hondavfr

I went into Hastings years ago to buy a car i liked and the sales man(that still works there) treated me very poorly to say the least.It was my first car as well. I bought a car a week later in castlebar.I never went back again.I have since bought my cars in cosgraves and i have found their service to be very good especially if there is any warranty work to be done. The most thing i have liked about cosgraves is when it is time to trade they never criticise my old car and to be honest i usually make a deal over the phone which is allways better than the main dealer and i have owned V/W, opel,ford and toyota. I find the v/w overated and troublesome anyway.

artieanna

hondavfr wrote: »

I went into Hastings years ago to buy a car i liked and the sales man(that still works there) treated me very poorly to say the least.It was my first car as well. I bought a car a week later in castlebar.I never went back again.I have since bought my cars in cosgraves and i have found their service to be very good especially if there is any warranty work to be done. The most thing i have liked about cosgraves is when it is time to trade they never criticise my old car and to be honest i usually make a deal over the phone which is allways better than the main dealer and i have owned V/W, opel,ford and toyota. I find the v/w overated and troublesome anyway.

Had the exact same neg experience with hastings and bought a few cars from cosgraves, v nice to deal with...also fam members dealt with connollys and judges ballina very positive...

nuac

Hi DetoxKid - before posting this complaint did you attempt to contact the firms owner or management? It is rather unfair on any business to post a complaint without giving the firm a chance to respond.

Hastings are in business in Westport for generations. They would not have survived so long unless they were looking after their customers.

I and members of my family have dealt with them for various car purchases over the years and would go there again.

detoxkid

nuac wrote: »

Hi DetoxKid - before posting this complaint did you attempt to contact the firms owner or management? It is rather unfair on any business to post a complaint without giving the firm a chance to respond.

Hastings are in business in Westport for generations. They would not have survived so long unless they were looking after their customers.

I and members of my family have dealt with them for various car purchases over the years and would go their again.

Hi Nuac, no I did make every attempt to speak with them yesterday, but was ignored completely, hence my complete frustration and the above vent. I wouldn't want to be unfair to any business, particularly in this environment, though if the thread shows anything it's that the way I was treated was similar to many other people's experience there. That kind of service is not acceptable anymore. Thanks for all your replies.

steph1

Seems like some sales people working in garages need to be sent on a crash course in customer service.
Connollys are good in Ballina and I have dealt with them on a few occasions however I know go to an independent mechanic for any servicing because they are just too expensive.

yop

detoxkid wrote: »

Hi Nuac, no I did make every attempt to speak with them yesterday, but was ignored completely, hence my complete frustration and the above vent. I wouldn't want to be unfair to any business, particularly in this environment, though if the thread shows anything it's that the way I was treated was similar to many other people's experience there. That kind of service is not acceptable anymore. Thanks for all your replies.

From what I gather its the one sales man who seems to be the issue, spoke to a friend of my Dad's yesterday as I knew he had bought there, he just told your mano what he thought and asked for the head man. So it might not be the first time that this salesman has been a bit unhelpful

ShadowHearth

Si many people unhappy by that salesman... I bet someone had a complaint about it... He is still there thought.... Maybe somebodies son... You know... Untochouble..

kermitpwee

Dont bother wasting your time and money contacting Hastings. The reality is that the if the owner actually gave a ****e he would have his sales people pulled over the coals a long time ago, if they have this attitude about sales what are they going to be like behind closed doors when your getting your car seviced there. Go else where.

testicle

nuac wrote: »

It is rather unfair on any business to post a complaint without giving the firm a chance to respond.

I'm sure they'd be quite welcome to respond here.

Ricardo G

Not acceptable at all tbh, most "salesmen" start selling with little or no previous experience. Before anyone sells a car they should do a course (most franchises provide these) in customer care/satisfaction. I worked for a BMW dealer and despite my previous 8 years carsales experience i was told "you will not sell any vehicle here before doing this course" !! and rightly so. A customer will make his/her mind up whether they will purchase a car off this individual within 2 seconds of talking to them so first impressions last.
I would have no problem contacting the dealer principal here and telling them how appalling you found the lack of service, if he/she has any sense that excuse for a slesman will be given a stern verbal/written warning. As stated by the OP you have made the effort by saving your hard earned money and travelled to purchase a motor from them, the least they can do is sell you one !!

neiphin

i was into connollys last week
salesman there with a northern/donegal accent took a look
said he had to talk to boss and would ring me back in the evening
not a dicky bird since

called into keane"s (i think) volks in roscommon yesterday monday
guy there was very helpfull

missus told me last month that there was no way that we were going to hastings, she had heard nothing but bad things about them

johnos1984

I have a rather large list of garages I'll never enter again due to the ignorance of sales staff in either product knowledge, how they dealt with me and how they treated other people while I was there.

In all cases I voted with my feet and happily advise people to go to garages where I was dealt with in a good manner, and also I happily advise them where I was not.

One garage turned a very bad experience good in after sales and even though my experience was bad (poor used car) I still recommend them and use it as a tale to warn other to be vigilant in any garage, good or bad.

Shop with your feet OP

neiphin

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