i think this letter perfectly discribes how arnold clark treat their customers after the sale
I am writing on behalf of my partner Richard Clark concerning a complaint he would like to pursue regarding your branch in Newcastle-under-Lyme.On Saturday 20th of June at around 9.30am Richard arrived in his Alpha Romeo 147 to get, what he understood, a free service as he thought it was part of the contract upon purchasing the car in June 08. Once there he was told he did not have a free service on the vehicle and so would have to pay. My partner kindly refused and was advised to see the sales manger a Mr Chris Hargreaves. My partner took the advise and did see him. At this point he was shown a contract which did not match his own. Upon discussion the sales manager agreed with Richard that something was wrong and he would see what he could do for him. Mr Hargreaves told Richard he would ring him on Monday the 22nd of June in the morning to discuss the outcome of his inquiries. My partner then left at this point thinking the matter would be resolved with a positive outcome. Monday came and Richard awaited a phone call from Mr Hargreaves all morning whilst at work. Disappointed at no phone call Richard decided to ring the branch himself at 2pm to see what was happening, the secretary kindly told him that Mr Hargreaves was busy and she would ask him to ring him back in half an hour. He waited an hour and there was still no phone call. He rang the branch at 3pm and eventually spoke to Mr Hargreaves to be told he the sales manager had not got round to it and would get back to him and the conversation was ended. 5 minutes later the sales manager did ring back and stated that the original contract was invalid and that a later contract that was signed in July 08
was valid.When signing this agreement Richard was not made aware that any modifications were made to the original document and so was misled. He then rang the customer service department at your head office to lodge a complaint as he felt he had been treated unfairly. He was told to speak to the general manager to see if any agreement could be made before pursuing his complaint any further. At around 3.15pm my partner rang the branch to make them aware he would arrive to discuss the contract. At about 4pm on the 22nd of June 2009 my partner and his father went to discuss the service agreement with the general manager of the branch Mr Bob Bentley. Upon arrival he made the secretary aware he was there to see Mr Bentley and was told he would only be 10 minutes. Half an hour later Richard and his father still had no consultation and so he politely asked the secretary to ring again. She did and 5 minutes later the general manager approached him asking him to follow him to his office. The outcome of the prolonged discussion in the office was that of the original outcome he would still have to pay for the service and if he did not his warranty contract on the car, which was brought for £300 - £400, would become invalid. Unhappy at the level of customer service and respect shown my partner told Mr Bentley, when leaving, the conversation between himself and Richard had been recorded....this is when he lost his temper with him. He grabbed him round the neck and threatened him, his dad warned him to get off. He squared up to him, wanting him to fight. He left the showroom shocked. That was not the end though he decided to follow him and his father outside and continue to threaten them, shouting 'come on big boy if you think your hard enough'. This foul behavior was then encouraged by one of the security guards they have working there. He ripped his off his tie then shouted 'come on then' and also threatened that he new where he lived. Disgusted and intimidated by this behavior Richards father threatened to ring the police when they got a reply of "the general manager' s colleagues would back him up". When realising it would be pointless to pursue the matter with the police he and his father sensibly got in their cars and drove away. Unfortunately this is not the only complaint my partner wishes to pursue. As Richard purchased the car in summer he did not check the heating system to see if it was working correctly. Once the colder months arrived its was discovered the heating was not working correctly at all it was only blowing cold air. With an 11 month baby he decided that it was unacceptable to have no heating. He contacted the service department at the branch in Newcastle-under-Lyme to ask them to find the problem. An appointment was arranged and once the car was looked at he was told that it was a flap that controls the airflow and it was not covered under the warranty Autocare, but, as a gesture they would adjust the flap to fix it to a hot setting to get him through the winter months when he expressed he had a child under 1, and they did. He was then told to fix the problem it would cost £600 - £700. Not having that high amount of money at the time Richard refused to have the works completed to his car. This however did not resolve the problem a month later the heating was blowing back cold. My partner decided to get a second opinion and went to an authorized Alpha Romeo Dealer called Platts in Stoke-on-Trent. They did a diagnostic on the car which cost £70. They discovered that it was not actually the flap that was proposed by Arnold Clark it was the heatermotor, which incidentally is covered by the Autocare warranty. Richard was told coincidentally that this as quoted by the Arnold Clark service department would be £600 - £700. My partner was asked how long the millage had been flashing for, to which he replied since he had the car. He was informed that the heating was the reason for this. The mechanic went on to say that the heater motor was found stuffed up the dash board and wrapped in electrical tape to attempt to secure it in place. Astonished at this finding Richard felt that the Arnold Clark dealership in Newcastle-under-Lyme had again tried to mislead him and rip him off £600-£700. He immediately went to the dealership and they agreed to fix the car once they were shown what Platts had found. Richard questioned the first diagnostic done by Arnold Clark and was told that they do not have the resources to find that kind of problem. My partner thinks he was deliberately misled on this occasion. Again ,unfortunately, this is not the only complaint Richard has regarding his treatment by your Newcastle-under-Lyme branch. To comply with his Autocare warranty he took his car to have an MOT to the service department. He was charged full price for the MOT but Richard expected this. When taking the car to be serviced he was told by the secretary in the service department he did not have a free service the only thing he had was a half price MOT. Richard replied he had not had that and the secretary checked and agreed. He was told it could not be reimbursed but it could be past on for the next service. I would now like to quote parts of your mission statements. "WE AIM TO PROVIDE GENUINE VALUE FOR MONEY AND CREATE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION" I do not see how on any of these occasions your Newcastle branch have tried to offer this. On every occasion Richard feels he has been tried to be ripped off. "PROVIDE ACCURATE AND RELEVANT INFORMATION IN A CLEAR AND FAIR MANNER" Again on each occasion Richard feels your Newcastle branch have failed to meet this requirement stated in your mission statement. Richard would like to know what you intend to do about the way he has be treated, on all 3 occasions. Richard would like to get this matter resolved ASAP but his confidence is greatly diminished in Arnold Clark so much that he intends to speak with trading standards to seek their advice in this matter and act as a third party on his behalf. He also intends to contact several newspapers unless the matters are not dealt with appropriately and he feels he has been offered genuine value for money and the highest level of customer satisfaction. Thank-you
Yours faithfully
Stacey Mudry
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Jun 24th, 2009
helpful by (100%):
