simonc6875
Member Since: 11 Jun 2011
Location: Mintlaw
Posts: 23
  
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Disappointing sales experience, here's the time line -
Nov 2013 - ordered a MY14 XS discovery
Mid Jan 2014 - sign V5 so private plate transfer and paper work can be put in place for 1st march pick up.
First week in Feb - give them a copy of new insurance certificate for road tax.
4pm 28th Feb - recieve a call saying that private plate will not be on vehicle for pick on the 1st. A bit pee'd off but told would take a week to come thru and could use 7 day free insurance to cover use till then.
4:30pm 28th feb - call back again to be told vehicle won't be ready till 3rd march, even more pee'd off now.
1st march - drop off trade in as road tax had run out on the 28th, got an apology saying salesman had made a mistake. Wouldn't say what he'd done.
3rd march - new discovery delivered to house, with full tank of fuel, box choc's and bottle of champagne. Was told again new v5 will be thru in a week.
18th march - phoned Dvla to see if paper transferred yet. To be told private plate on trade in vehicle hasn't been received. Pee'd off is not the word now. Called garage, but salesman never called back
19th march - emailed salesman asking what's happening.
20th march - phoned twice, eventually salesman called back. Apparently someone within Peter Vardy had lost the V5 which they received mid jan. (When were they going to tell us??) I know have to call Dvla to order new V5 for old car (which they will cover the £25 charge), before any of this can be resolved.
To say this has been a nightmare is an understatement. Plus on top of this in the 3 weeks we've had the discovery we've never had one courtesy phone call from them. This certainly isn't a good review of Peter Vardy's sales and after sales
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 22nd Mar 2014 8:54 am |
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Hairy Dan
Member Since: 19 Jan 2011
Location: Co. Durham
Posts: 12319
 
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That is a sorry state of affairs, I think I would be getting in touch with the dealer principal for a comment on the service the company has provided and I would drop a line to Pete at LR Customer services  Cheers Ian
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Club N.E.R.D.S
Kielder 4x4 Safari
Discoless
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| 22nd Mar 2014 10:11 am |
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robbo770
Member Since: 29 Jan 2013
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 2294
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this is unfortunatley the way the sales team in Aberdeen Peter Vardy (old Town and county) operate!, because they get so many coperate comany cars they have zero customer service anything.
once you have signed they just don't care, parts are really good, Big up for Andy and Glen!, as is the service department the times I have used them, although they have a tendency in service to charge the earth and warranty is a last resort for them, they rather the customer pays.
Frank Ogg in Elign provides a much more personal services and the parts department stock even prop shafts on the shelf
the North east is just stuck with them unfortunately, when PV took over all other garages that ordered cars via TC got their orders rejected at take over and refunded deposits, and told sent your customers direct thank you!!
shocking ethos to operate with!. FFRR SC 4.2
Rejected!! RRS2
Fit TDV6 intercooler hoses
Fast Road intercooler
De-Cat pipe
D3 to B4 front end Upgrade
OEM TV/DVD Screens+wireless Headphones!
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| 22nd Mar 2014 11:09 am |
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seddie
Member Since: 23 Mar 2010
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 415
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Reg Vardy Jaguar in Aberdeen are also shocking, I went in with SWMBO to buy an XF, it took a salesman 15 minutes to approach us and ask what we wanted, when I said I was interested in a 2.2 XF he asked if I could make an appointment to test drive one. He then asked if I had a trade-in, which I had, and he said I should make an appointment to get it valued, at this point we walked out.
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| 22nd Mar 2014 1:35 pm |
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Jward
Member Since: 12 Feb 2014
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 72
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My experience and this is certainly not limited to LR is that sales staff want just that, a sale. So expecting anything more beyond the initial sales pitch is unfortunately expecting far too much. The attitude is always once you've commited then everything else is someone else's problem (service/parts).
BUT I've had plenty of joy in the past raising my concerns to the guy in charge (dealer principals) as they are usually oblivious to the abysmal service and attitude that you are getting after the sale. There salesmen are very guilty of painting them a picture of happy well looked after customers who are getting great service and good communication.
Personally the best one for me was when I had an ongoing email complaint with a sales manager, he had repeatedly failed to reply when he had promised he would, when I BCC'd the dealer principal into the email trail it was amazing how much the service improved.
The problem is with franchises is that many customers can't differentiate between the manufacturer and the franchise. Do you slate Samsung for the way you are treated in Currys or Argos? People tend to complain to the wrong people.
It's always worth going and havin a sit down with the dealer principal and explain that moving forward you won't use them again if this is the way your experiences are going to be. The thought of losses of services, parts orders, new vehicle purchases can away them much more than some would think.
Good luck!
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| 23rd Mar 2014 11:58 am |
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Dexter
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 1394
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Disappointing to read the review as my experience of buying a new D4 from Peter Vardy in Aberdeen last September was very positive. Very keenly priced and all went perfectly well, the sales guys I dealt with could not have been better including the follow up.
I hope things haven't changed that much in 6 months?
Dex
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| 24th Mar 2014 4:09 pm |
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Boisee
Member Since: 03 Oct 2013
Location: Stonehaven
Posts: 180
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What I have found in the past is that in Aberdeen there is a very high proportion of Company/Lease cars and that leads the dealers to be rather lazy when it comes to providing a positive experience.  I guess that they don't have to work quite as hard as dealer outside the city.
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| 24th Mar 2014 5:34 pm |
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simonc6875
Member Since: 11 Jun 2011
Location: Mintlaw
Posts: 23
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I think it's the perks of the success of the oil industry in Aberdeen. A lot of money is earnt in Aberdeen, you just have to look at the amount of audi's, BMW's etc.. driving around the city. It's easy pickings for the big dealerships, only way to get a really good deal is to venture Dundee way or further.
We only went back to land rover in Aberdeen as we had bought 2 cars in the past from Town and County land rover and got great service from there sales team. Peter Vardy is a different kettle of fish. I've since emailed Peter Vardy head office with a complaint about the service supplied. I doubt I'll get a suitable reply, but hey got to start somewhere.
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| 24th Mar 2014 7:12 pm |
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Joyride4life
Member Since: 14 Jun 2013
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 245
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Got to say that when I went to buy my new D4 the sales staff were some of the least knowledgable people I have ever come across selling such an expensive product. The vacuum cleaner seller at John Lewis knew more about the ins and outs of his various Hoovers than the lot I ended up speaking too. And I'd bet he covered Kenwood mixers and blenders and all sorts!
They didn't seem to be particularly interested on selling the vehicles let alone the accessories. I asked about some things like what the carpet packs were like and they didn't have any in the showroom. I asked about the roof rails and they didn't seem to understand the question. So I rephrased along the lines of, what advantage is there to the OEM Land Rover rails over say Thule. They looked blankly back at me and I knew these people didn't deserve my custom. They only sell 7 models of vehicle at best and this is the best they could come up with.
Needless to say I looked elsewhere for my vehicle.
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| 24th Mar 2014 7:17 pm |
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davess1402
Member Since: 07 Jul 2013
Location: Grampian
Posts: 175
 
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Just picked up on this thread after trawling through for other info, purchased some clips for wheel arch liners £7.50 for 5 , experience have had with the previous mob T & County absolutely shocking had hoped that it would be better with Peter Vardy by all accounts nothing changed! Growing up is optional, growing old is mandatory !
08 Discovery 3
GSX1402
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| 21st Apr 2014 8:11 pm |
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simonc6875
Member Since: 11 Jun 2011
Location: Mintlaw
Posts: 23
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My original problems at the start of this thread are still on going, waiting to hear back this week from the new sales manager to see what excuse they have this time. Have got another complaint ready to send to head office if nothing sorted by the weekend.
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| 22nd Apr 2014 1:40 pm |
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Aberdonian44
Member Since: 03 Apr 2014
Location: INSCH
Posts: 14
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Too late now I suppose but the main dealer in Elgin Frank Ogg is a smaller outfit than T and C and does try hard. I went into T and Country when I was about to trade my D2 in for a D3 but did not feel comfortable there so left. Went to Elgin where the response was civil and positive. I now recommend F. Ogg to folk who ask me.
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| 22nd Apr 2014 1:49 pm |
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Joyride4life
Member Since: 14 Jun 2013
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 245
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I often wonder where the benefit in a US style of legal system is when stuff like this happens. Their process of discovery used to build a case for a lawsuit would see any correspondence drawn up out of their files and off their servers. I'd put money on it that would result in a  quick resolution of this with a pile of cash as hush money.
Maybe ask them to demonstrate the paper chain to enable you to understand things better.... If they fail to show you, ask if they would show your legal representatives. Bluff and bluster is important in this sort of thing as you will need to push their buttons. Then finally ask them what they are going to do to make this problem go away?
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| 22nd Apr 2014 1:52 pm |
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simonc6875
Member Since: 11 Jun 2011
Location: Mintlaw
Posts: 23
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Already been offered 2 years free servicing, and told letter would be sent out to confirm this. Still waiting 3 weeks later. At the moment they have mucked up the transfer of the private plate. If they can't sort this out, they can compensate for a new one.
Between lost paper work and them making promises of sending out a cheque (for money owed) and the reg plates for the private plate, twice I've been told these have been sent out and I'm still waiting. I've come to the end of my patience.
I've heard of a number of very good land rover customers who have used T&C over the years, and spent a considerable amount of money on land rovers / range rovers. Have said they will use frank ogg next time.
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| 22nd Apr 2014 2:19 pm |
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