Is this the norm?

happyoutscan

Just a question. Herself brought the car to a Audi main dealer (to keep the service history with Audi) that would be located nearer to us than the dealer we purchased from a year ago. Nothing major, just the oil change.

On her arrival home, I noticed they had removed the licence plate holders - bearing the name of the dealer we bought from - and had replaced with holders with their own dealers name/details. Also, they placed their own stickers on the back window, removing the original dealers in the process.

Is this the norm?

standardg60

Sad thing is they probably paid more attention to that than they did the oil change.

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058260210/is-this-the-norm

Never seen it before to be honest with my Audi but I wouldn’t really care either

After I buy a car I remove all

the cheap sh**e stickers off the windows

happyoutscan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517050#Comment_119517050

Herself asked them to check the motor on one of the wipers. Instead they replaced 3 wipers and charged €65 for doing so.

XsApollo

I’d be back in and complaining , doesn’t make a difference obviously but who do they think they are?

I would also check the defogger on the rear window is working as it was and that they didn’t pull off a piece of one of the elements, provided they are on the glass and not in the glass.

Atlantic Dawn

I'd have completely lost it and wanted the old ones restored with compensation, no business altering them and turning the car in to their own tarted up ad mobile without permission.

mickdw

It's not normal for dealer to do that as stickers always reflect supplying dealer.

The wiper thing wouldn't surprise me at all. You need to specifically refuse all this type of work at the main dealer or else the bill will seriously rise.

User1998

Its standard procedure when a car is taken as a trade in or when a car is being retailed. But during a service, not so much.

Not a big deal really, a bit cheeky yes but the above comment is a bit OTT.

It would be different if you had reg plate holders/disc holders that you had purchased yourself.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517084#Comment_119517084

Well unless you go back and speak to the manager and tear him a new a-hole nothings going to change OP. You could actually argue that by changing the plate surrounds they have actually de-valued your car as it could be interpreted as the car having suffered accident damage.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517162#Comment_119517162

Ah FFS.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517183#Comment_119517183

Great contribution there.

One of the first things i look at when buying a used car is if it has it's original reg plates and surrounds.

JoyPad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517218#Comment_119517218

How do you know if they are the original ones or not?

mickdw

Because nobody goes looking for replacement of original supplying dealer plate surrounds.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517218#Comment_119517218

If you’re relying on plate surrounds to know if a car has been crashed or not, then you’ve bigger problems to sort out.

Do you check the wear on the floor mats to establish if it’s been serviced on schedule?

fryup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517050#Comment_119517050

😁

wonder did they change the furry dice as well?

Larbre34

Nah man, that's bullshyt carry on actually.

Nobody asked them to interfere with your personal property in any way other than to carry out the service and attend to the other items referred by the owner.

I'd be spitting over either the reg surrounds, or the failure to deal with the wiper motor as requested, but both together amount to a piss take.

I'd be writing letter to the dealer principal, asking him what he thinks his people were at. And I might, if feeling generous, accept a fix of the wiper motors and some blank rego surrounds, gratis, by way of an apology.

And do write a letter and send it in the actual post, nobody ever reads emails.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517527#Comment_119517527

What do you rely on? History checks? If the repair was done without recourse to insurance then it won't appear.

You do know that don't you?

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517162#Comment_119517162

No it couldn't

bazz26

I've let my car in dealerships for servicing plenty of times even though it had different dealer plate surrounds and it hever made a blind bit of difference to them, neither did they change them to theirs.

I bet someone working on your car stupidly thought it was a trade-in being prepped for resale.

wingnut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517084#Comment_119517084

I would make it clear when servicing that any additional work needs to be agreed upton, to at least get a second opinon/price around.

ba_barabus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517162#Comment_119517162

First thing I do actually on a first walk around a potential car. Do the front and rear plates match. If not, why not. Just helps me to focus and look further. My own daily has non matching plates from the original dealer, reason is a stone took out the front plate before a service. Dealer stuck on a newer type plate.

Wouldn't bother me that original plates weren't on it unless it's a classic car and even then its just bonus points for originality if they are.

Miscreant

I think everyone is getting caught up in the whole number plate thing here. The plate surrounds and sticker are completely secondary and don't affect the function of the car in any way...

The bigger issue, IMHO, is the fact that the OPs OH took the car to an Audi main dealer to have the wiper motor checked out and all they did was change the wipers and charge her €65 for the pleasure. I would be going back in there and asking what they found wrong with the wiper motor to bring them to the conclusion that the wiper blades themselves needed to be changed!

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119518661#Comment_119518661

I agree that non matching number plates are a red flag, but changing the plates from ‘Audi x’ to ‘Audi y’ isn’t really the big deal some people are making out

Ubbquittious

With the wiper thing it's because we are living in Tiger times and it's assumed everyone is awash with money

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119518782#Comment_119518782

It wasn't consented to is the point really. OP's partner paid very good money to do a job, advertising their business on top of that is taking the piss big time. But you're right, you can be damn sure they ignored what she had to say and did the wiper blades anyway.

My own anecdote.... I dropped my car to BMW last week. Wrote up a detailed description of the symptoms of the problem on the online form. I was very specific not to try and diagnose the problem as I didn't want to lead them down one path which I could then be responsible for investigating, since I know so much stuff is interdependent on inputs from an seemingly unrelated system. The service advisor (who hadn't driven the car), crossed it all out in front of me and said "it's better coming from me (him) instead of the customer". They had no issue in being so blatant in ignoring what I had to say.

They also washed the car, which I didn't ask for, and seems fine at first. But I can visibly see the scratches on the paint left from a brush, and the crappy tyre paint they used rather than cleaning them is now all over my suede shoe that I rubbed off it accidentally. Doesn't inspire much confidence in their work, if they can't even wash the car properly.

ba_barabus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519113#Comment_119519113

100% agree, was just pointing out that there is a logic behind it as some are rubbishing the idea.

erlichbachman

On a level of 1-100 of inconvenience I'd place this at 2 and move on with life

happyoutscan

According to the manager, it is all part of the Customer Welcome Pack.

mickdw

Tell him you didn't like his welcome if that is the case.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556415#Comment_119556415

Never heard such horseshyt.

Its part of the Dealer's free advertising pack.

Tell him you want it changed back and no messing around.

If he's already chucked your previous surrounds, which he has I'm sure, tell him you want blank carbon black or silver ones, on him.

snowcat

Not good. If someone did it to me id look for the old ones back and sizable compo if they have been binned. Being a classic car guy its the small things like this that make an original car original.

Hurrache

Gowan Motors on the Navan Road once done that to my wife's car at the time (not the stickers though), thought it was a petty dick thing to do. Probably charged for the labour time it involved too.