Sigh. Are all car dealerships the same?

ScaredJimmy · Jun 22, 2018

Car has been at an OPC since Friday to get some "after-sales" issue resolved. Nothing serious, but niggles that take the edge off for me.
They had 5 items to do. They only did one and came up with fairly feeble excuses for not doing the rest. I didn't chase them, no badgering, arrived at OPC at 5pm today at their request (bit of a trog, 2 hours drive) to find the car in the workshop being checked out from the ONE job they did.
I always ask dealers not to clean my cars. Judging by the condition of the car, it's just sat in the lot all week until they realised they needed the Macan I had back!

I'm patiently waiting for the email survey. Doubt that will do any good either.

I'd understand if I was a moaning minnie type, but I'm not. I'm a pragmatist and very easy going. This is making me sad.

keithn · Jun 22, 2018

Depressing to read of your experience which sadly I recognize. It should not be like this with a premium brand. I marked down my survey recently but I am not sure it will change anything. I hope you get things resolved and still enjoy the car.

chrishak · Jun 23, 2018

From experience, it appears that Porsche Reading take the survey's very seriously and make life most uncomfortable for OPC's when there are negative scores or comments. I recently completed one after a vehicle health check on my 986 - and even though the criticism wasn't directly aimed at the OPC but at the lack of flexibility when quoting for repairs (without going into detail it was Porsche standard repair vs. perfectly acceptable alternatives) subsequent phone calls from said OPC suggested that Reading had been in touch...

Dave jones · Jun 23, 2018

Talk to the service manager about your problems

ScaredJimmy · Jun 24, 2018

Dave jones said:
Talk to the service manager about your problems

Oh I will Dave, my point is I, or anyone else here, shouldn't have to.

mphillips · Jun 24, 2018

Urg, bad luck chap. My 991 is my first Porsche, and a recent service experience left me wondering how it was any better than BMW ownership (which, incidentally, was only ever excellent in the 10 years I had Beemas). So I brought it up with the service manager. I too am an easy going pragmatist, so I was kind about the feedback I gave. Had a good chat with the service manager, who explained they'd had staff churn (I had noticed lots of new faces, in all fairness) and they were just working to back to the right standard. I felt he was genuine, and it wasn't excuses. I'm hopeful of an improvement next time the car is in.

My point being it could be worth have a chat with your service manager. Small details count with a premium product IMHO, and unless customers bring up niggles they may not even notice something needs tending to.

--Mark

AndrewCS · Jun 25, 2018

A Porsche newbie ... two used OPC cars in the past two years - cars excellent - workshop attention very good - enquiries / communications terrible - whilst negative survey feedback is pounced upon by Reading, leading to immediate OPC calls ... nothing changes. Dealer Principal next time methinks !

Off to a rival brand tomorrow for a test drive ...

mullinsm · Jun 26, 2018

ScaredJimmy said:
Car has been at an OPC since Friday to get some "after-sales" issue resolved. Nothing serious, but niggles that take the edge off for me.
They had 5 items to do. They only did one and came up with fairly feeble excuses for not doing the rest. I didn't chase them, no badgering, arrived at OPC at 5pm today at their request (bit of a trog, 2 hours drive) to find the car in the workshop being checked out from the ONE job they did.
I always ask dealers not to clean my cars. Judging by the condition of the car, it's just sat in the lot all week until they realised they needed the Macan I had back!

I'm patiently waiting for the email survey. Doubt that will do any good either.

I'd understand if I was a moaning minnie type, but I'm not. I'm a pragmatist and very easy going. This is making me sad.

Which OPC is this?

Motorhead · Jun 26, 2018

Just to point out that naming and shaming is against forum rules; more's the pity.

Living in north Beds I'm almost equidistant time-wise from three Centres, of which I have experience of two. I've had consistently good service from the supplying dealership for more than 8 years but had a very bad experience with the other who supplied and fitted two rear tyres. The mess the technician made of my (pristine) wheels - excessive rubber residue on the rims and greasy fingermarks all over the wheels - was the worst I've experienced in more than 50 years of motoring. I'm also convinced that minor damage was caused to the inner rim of one wheel during the tyre fitment but could not supply any evidence. You can guess that I won't be going anywhere near them again, nor will I be recommending them to Regional Members. Vote with your feet..!

Jeff

mullinsm · Jun 26, 2018

Motorhead said:
Just to point out that naming and shaming is against forum rules; more's the pity.

Good job you told me as I hadn't realised that was the case. Begs the question: Why?.....

I'm in Norfolk and have had mixed experience from one "local" OPC whilst I had my Cayman which I bought from them. Nothing seriously bad, just poor communication on a few occasions. having said that, on my last couple of visits I've been very impressed by them. I recently had to take my 2017 car back to the original OPC that sold it - it was their ex-showroom car and the service interval was incorrect on the dash- which was a couple of hours away. I was blown away by the service there as nothing was too much trouble. I'm a bit torn as to who to use in the future......

I think they're all very busy which may explain some of the lapses, but with cars this good that's no surprise.

Motorhead · Jun 26, 2018

Mike, I think that it's just fear of litigation.

Re your final point, they may be busy but that's no excuse when they're charging around £150/hour labour. For that money I think I'm entitled to a premium service, not something I'd expect from a back street garage.

Jeff

tscaptain · Jun 27, 2018

mullinsm said:
Good job you told me as I hadn't realised that was the case. Begs the question: Why?.....

Because it's forum rule 3.1.2, which you agreed to abide by when using it.[

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And yes, it's all to do with litigation.

ScaredJimmy · Jun 27, 2018

**Update**

1) No Survey
2) Left message for Service Manager to call me on Monday morning. No call either.

Phillip Wright · Jun 27, 2018

I submitted a scathing feedback response after buying my brand new E3 Cayenne. That was a month ago and still no response/contact from PCGB.
I also submitted two queries about unsettling aspects of the car directly to PCGB and am still waiting for a response after 4 weeks.
This is my 3rd Porsche and will definitely be my last. Like someone earlier, I shall be going back to BMW. At least they wanted my business and wanted me to be happy with my car. With Porsche, my feelings have been that I am lucky to have one so stop complaining!

mullinsm · Jun 27, 2018

tscaptain said:
mullinsm said:

Good job you told me as I hadn't realised that was the case. Begs the question: Why?.....

Click to expand...

Because it's forum rule 3.1.2, which you agreed to abide by when using it.[]
And yes, it's all to do with litigation.

You're right insofar as I agreed to abide by the rule when using the forum, but I can't see how making a factual statement about "dealer X" not returning phone calls could be construed as malpractice that would lead to litigation. However, I appreciate the heads-up.

On the subject of BMW, I drove them for 10+ years before buying my first Porsche and I loved them. My wife still drives one and the service from the dealer is very good indeed, but until they can make a car like the 911, or the Cayman or the Boxster, Porsche will continue to get my custom from now on.

mphillips · Jun 27, 2018

mullinsm said:
You're right insofar as I agreed to abide by the rule when using the forum, but I can't see how making a factual statement about "dealer X" not returning phone calls could be construed as malpractice that would lead to litigation. However, I appreciate the heads-up.

On the subject of BMW, I drove them for 10+ years before buying my first Porsche and I loved them. My wife still drives one and the service from the dealer is very good indeed, but until they can make a car like the 911, or the Cayman or the Boxster, Porsche will continue to get my custom from now on.

Not wanting to appear all "me too” this is my sentiments on both accounts. I’m not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine how "naming and shaming” poor service results in litigation against the club. Surely if proven as a false statement at worst it would be libel against the person posting? At best I’d hope it would mean arrogant dealerships alter their attitude

There’s no place in modern society for the kind of experience we’re hearing about here IMHO. Michelin rated restaurants have changed their attitudes over the years, modernising with the times, as has Savile Row. Shouldn’t be hard for a motor manufacturer and its network to do the same - regardless of the product demand.

I came very close to not buying my 911 last year because of the Porsche arrogance on pricing (not fixed at time deposit is placed) - it was only down to negotiation with the dealers that I went ahead (I have no complaints about my dealers

) BMW never caused me to ever feel like "I should be lucky” to own one. But yes, echo your thoughts here - the 911 *is* a superior product, to absolutely everything else on the market.

Still, a company can have a superior product *and* be nice about it.

ScaredJimmy · Jun 27, 2018

Ok, so there appears to be a bit of a skew towards "I pay a lot, I should get good service". and I worry about this.
The best service I get is for my least expensive car, the MINI JCW. MINI's attitude and no commission sales works wonders as they sell their cars on the "experience", which in the motor trade is a novel approach that seems to work. They consistently (I think) have high customer satisfaction surveys (JD Power etc).

As a brand, Porsche have a difficult customer base. "Our demographic" have a high tendency to be challenging customers, after all, the majority of us are business owners, senior managers etc and we, as a rule, thus demand an exalted level of attention. Some dealers deal with this very well, Rolls Royce and Bentley for example are experts in the art of flattering large amounts of money out of people and prostrating themselves at the feet of customers they have "wronged". (Incidentally they have for many years factored in "apology costs" into their service pricing. Nothing is ever free). The same cannot be said for Porsche franchises. My sales experience was a nightmare of calls not returned, appointments forgotten and foreshortened and frankly insulting offers for my trade in. If it hadn't been for my deep seated love for the Porsche marque, I would have bought the V10 R8 Audi were offering me at nearly 20% below list price! (Splendid car btw, thoroughly recommend it)

Eventually, I found the 911 I wanted and just pushed on with it, with the understanding that a few "faults" would be rectified the next time I was able to get the car back to the OPC, and here we are.

In my business (and I suspect yours too), every customer is precious. My industry has a tendency for the hard sell, so our customers are very pleased and refreshed with our approach and ethos of being an MSP instead, I think the "premium brands" could learn a lot from this. My experience of HQ at Reading senses that this is the wish of Porsche AG also. I just think it's a real shame that this doesn't seem to filter down to the Franchise Groups.

End of waffle.

tscaptain · Jun 27, 2018

mphillips said:
Not wanting to appear all "me too” this is my sentiments on both accounts. I’m not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine how "naming and shaming” poor service results in litigation against the club. Surely if proven as a false statement at worst it would be libel against the person posting?

I'm sure ex Club chairman and now legal advisor, who is a lawyer, would be happy to elaborate.

Lancerlot · Jun 27, 2018

tscaptain said:
I'm sure ex Club chairman and now legal advisor, who is a lawyer, would be happy to elaborate.

Not a civil lawyer, but no doubt colleagues are available for informed advice. However this is a catch-all ruling, isn't it?

To allow mild forms of rebuke would sooner or later lead to grey areas needing more debate - and there are often 2 sides to a story.

Better not to get involved in the first place. Do we really want public pillories in these columns? Far better for individuals to take up their grievances direct with those concerned and contact Porsche Cars Customer Services if escalation becomes justified. We are always interested to hear about problems, but don't need names to sympathise or discuss them. [

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Regards,

Clive