I\'ve had a particularly bad experience purchasing a Subaru WRX from Virgin Cars. To cut a very long story short - Poor service throughout the process - calls not returned, delivery cancelled at late notice final straw.... car eventually delivered with [different] seats. Virgin denied responsibility. This despite a print-out I had of vehicle spec and the sports seats being specified on delivery note!
I would not recommend Virgin Cars to anyone.
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Hi,
Really sorry to hear about your experience with Virgin cars. They appear to be a good firm but they have had a significant amount of problems recently.
I dont know if you are aware of the bad press they have had recently? - Watchdog has had several people complain about the company for various reasons and they had the head of the department go on the program.
I feel if you were to write a long detailed email to them they would be able to rectify it for you and possibly get you some form of compensation as a result.
Also, Auto Express has a Watchdog section who im sure would like to hear of your experience - at least if you cant get any compensation you can warn others and give them a bit of bad press.
Good luck whatever you decide to do, and enjoy your car - a WRX is a great car no matter what seats are in it!
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I have edited your note so as to retain what you wanted to say without anything that could be objected to.
I am a little surprised that you would post such a note and use a meaningless username and hide your e-mail address, but that is your perogative.
Mark (RLBS)
Moderator at Work
mailto:mark_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk
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Mark (moderator) has done the right thing. Because of similar complaints, Virgin links have been removed from this website. But Virgin is now moving from pre-orders to stock cars, so if you are buying from stock you should not suffer the same problems.
HJ
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Only problem is that you wont get the nitty gritty choice with options with stock cars even though delivery is better - but i personally wouldnt deal with virgin now after all the bad press they have had. I think its important to at least please your existing customers who have had a bad experience and they havent dont that in your case.
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I disagree - everything I said in original posting was 100% accurate & backed up by documentation.
Furthermore the car I bought was from stock so I have less confidence than HJ that things will improve.
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I have to admit that the stories I have read both in this thread and in magazines / publications have been consistent with my own experience when I imported my car through Virgin in 2001. Calls were not replied, poor excuses offered for the vehicle being late (in the end 10 weeks late on a 16 week lead time) and documentation not necessarily appearing on time.
My car was to the specification I requested however and I was pleased with the price I paid. Unfortunately it was a lot more hassle than I expected and I had to do a lot more chasing by email, letter and telephone than I had thought. I believe they are trying to change their operation to improve their customer focus now.
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It is refreshing to see that HJ has removed links to Virgin Cars from this site in response to the reported poor service. At last we have a website with morals rather than just advertising others because they pay for it.
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Isn't Virgin Cars now operated by Derek Cook (ex DC Cook who went bust a few yrs ago)? If that's correct then I wouldn't expect things to improve any time soon.
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>>I disagree - everything I said in original posting was 100% accurate & backed up by documentation.
Well, I tell you what then. You get it all certified as genuine by a Notary, stamped & registered please, and send it all to me. I will then hire someone to check out its all true, and of course charge that to you.
At that point I can be confident and reinstate your comments knowing that all is as you say.
Or you could live with how it is to protect ourselves.
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here's an idea, how about not posting the same thing in multiple places. Mark.
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here's an idea, how about not posting the same thing in multiple places. Mark.
1)Mark probably dosn't have time to read every single post in every single thread .
2)Most people don't read every single thread from start to finish.
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I am afraid that the conclusion of most people is that the motor trade has a disproportionate number of rogues within it. I think this would be much less of a problem if the trade would be more transparent as to car prices, service costs and what actually goes on in their workshops but they choose not to do this. I think that the majority of unhappy customers such as the initiator of this thread have genuine grievances and need to be able to air and share them. However I also do understand the need to take care not to fall foul of the law on libel.
My feeling is that as motor traders get bigger and bigger, as the guys at the top get greedier and more distant from their customers and "shop floor" workers, customer dissatisfaction rises rapidly.
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I'm sure we would all like to buy our cars from genial people who would show us transparently how much they paid for the car, and its preparation. They would then sell it us for a modest, or little profit.
When we come to service it, smartly dressed fellows armed with Phds in science from Cambridge will come and pick up your car and service it thoroughly following every last recommendation of the most pedantic engineering literate customer. Of course, this would be done at bargain basement prices.
In practice, of course, the dealers are there solely to make money. If they don't, they close.
In the servicing side of the business which I know a little more about, among the biggest problems is attracting intelligent people into the workshop. Most career officers at schools will guide anyone with a glimmer of wit down the A level route. Most parents will throw up their hands in horror at the thought of little Johnny becoming a 'grease monkey'. Of the very few who do come through into the workshops, a large proportion, including myself here, flee when they realise that it isn't a brilliant long term career option - especially when a fair proportion of the public automatically assume that you are a rogue!
number_cruncher
p.s. don't think I am defending the company involved in this thread at all. I'm just injecting a little retail motor industry realism.
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Got to admit i applied for a job there and the organisation seemed very poor and unproffesional.
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As someone who was involved in the retail motor trade (albeit a few year ago now, as an independent) my impression of the 'big boys' is not too good.
Years ago (before pressure on car prices from the likes of the Consumers' Association) the profits were fat and easy to pick up. A friend of my father got a SAAB franchise and became a millionaire in short order. Similary, in the late 1970's, a local trader with a bit of 'rogue' reputation picked up a Datsun franchise and sold up within not many years to live abroad on the proceeds.
Nowadays a lot of franchise dealers are actually part of big groups and indeed many are owned by the manufacturer or importer. They try to run them like an Asda and use all the expected techniques to keep costs down and profits up.
Many young people will not entertain the thought of becoming a technician because the pay is not too good and the general work environment and management style is unpleasant. If you have the brains to understand how modern automotive electronics operate than you can find a better job than working in a garage. Coupled with this, further and higher-education is closing down engineering training courses right and left in the name of 'market forces' (engineering courses cost much more to deliver than media and business courses and need inconvenient and costly things like workshops and support technicians).
In general I think UK business is becoming more and more amoral - the only thing that matters is the bottom line - sod the customer.
For example, I was really angry the other day visiting a Nissan dealer to pick up some parts. A young lady was in with a nearly new Almera. Apparently the air bag warning light was on and the car needed a new airbag ECU at great cost (service manager was quoting £500-600). She was nearly in tears because he was explaining that the warranty wouldn't cover the ECU because the car 'had been involved in an impact'. I made a discrete inspection of the car and there was a small dent (about the size of half an egg) on the front wing. No way would this have affected the airbag system (the service manager would have known this) and yet they were trying to wriggle out of the claim. Anyway, I advised her to get the AA to do an engineer's report and consider small claims. Very poor behaviour on the part of the dealer though.
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??
strange how this thread got revived after lying dormant for 2 years?
aprillia:In general I think UK business is becoming more and more amoral - the only thing that matters is the bottom line - sod the customer.
so which country would you suggest is not thus affected ?
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?? strange how this thread got revived after lying dormant for 2 years?
Not really, given that it was on Watchdog on Tuesday night, which is when it was revealed that the guy from D C Cook was now indeed in charge.
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Not really, given that it was on Watchdog on Tuesday night, which is when it was revealed that the guy from D C Cook was now indeed in charge.
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pdc -
"not really ... when it was revealed"
imo really stuff and nonsense. you readily dismiss the fact that honestjohn got there first on 21 oct 2004 :
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=26...9
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