BN
Member Since: 18 Mar 2005
Location: Here
Posts: 6463
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Thought you might like to read this, from Cape Times - South Africa.
March 11 2005 at 07:39AM
By Karen Breytenbach
Land Rover South Africa on Thursday admitted it deserved having a poor after-sales reputation, after the disgruntled owner of a Range Rover accused the company of poor service in an open letter published in the Cape Times on Thursday.
"We admit we have had some serious problems with our customer care department and after-sales services," Land Rover SA head of customer services Mike Dawson said on Thursday.
He blamed the company's poor service on the fact that it has "changed hands too many times in the last few years", but said efficiency has been improving since BMW sold the company to Ford in 2000.
'No one follows up. No one EVER phones you back'
Since 1988 Land Rover has been owned by British Aerospace/Honda, BMW and Ford.
The response came after retired founder of Gray Security, Andy Gray, publishing a damning half-page letter to Land Rover's management, after receiving a piffling response from Land Rover's customer care to various serious complaints about his vehicle.
The last straw was the breakdown of Gray's two-year-old "unreliable and very expensive vehicle" outside Victoria West.
The vehicle, which was under full warranty, was first sent to Beaufort West, then to George, where-after it was kept at Land Rover Oudtshoorn for more than a week without being repaired.
During this time Gray contacted Land Rover Oudtshoorn and Land Rover SA's customer care repeatedly to find out if and how his car would be fixed, but got no response.
Eventually Gray notified customer care that he would go to the extreme measure of publishing a complaint in the media unless his demands were met within a few days.
When he received no response, he proceeded to publish.
In his letter Gray wrote: "Whenever the vehicle has a problem I am amazed anew by the disinclination of Land Rover South Africa to communicate with me in any way. No one seems to take responsibility.
"No one seems to really know what they are doing. No one keeps you informed. No one follows up. No one EVER phones you back."
In response, Dawson acknowledged on Thursday that "nothing in Gray's letter is untrue, unfortunately".
"Unfortunately this is what happened. The future of the Oudtshoorn dealership is under review," he said.
Dawson confirmed receiving Gray's warning to publish "well in advance", but said the company neglected to respond within a reasonable time.
"Mr Gray did warn us and we should have responded. We regret to say we have been wrong. This should not have happened to him or to anyone else," he said.
Meanwhile, the vehicle was transported to Gray's original dealer, Land Rover Stellenbosch.
Dawson said he had personally organised the transportation of the vehicle, but this statement was met by disbelief by Gray's personal assistant, who said Gray had made all the arrangements himself.
"It's strange that he should take credit for it," she said.
According to Dawson, Land Rover SA paid for the transport.
Dawson said all the parts needed to repair Gray's Range Rover had been couriered to Stellenbosch. He added that the manager of Land Rover Stellenbosch, Herman Marks, would have Gray's vehicle ready later on Friday.
"We got a list of problems from Oudtshoorn and then ordered the right parts.
"I sent Mr Gray an SMS to notify him."
Dawson added that he would give "Gray or anyone else who requests it, a written response" and said his company hoped to maintain a good relationship with Gray.
Gray was on a flight to India on Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on March 11, 2005
Not too encouraging is it, but we are not alone and I think the item does explain a global problem LR CS has.
Take a look at this as well. Good old English sense.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...518671.stm
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 29th Jun 2005 7:35 am |
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nobbyclark
Member Since: 03 May 2005
Location: Perth, Scotland
Posts: 1268
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I'm still waiting for a call from Mini/BMW CS re a seatbelt pre-tensioner that needs replacing on my Cooper S. That was over 2 years ago...
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| 29th Jun 2005 7:52 am |
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