John R

Worst Customer Experience EVER!

Worst Customer Experience EVER! 5 month update after initial purchase of car, since getting my car it's been a disaster, 5 months wait to get a courtesy car available, 2 bookings cancelled for repair work, a whole week of it sitting in their workshop with no work actually done, finally got a courtesy car, what a shambles, I wasn't shown round the courtesy car to check on condition, and found it to be dirty, full of bits of crisps and child's toy, feet marks all over back of front seats, had to spend time cleaning inside , So here's more on this very unpleasant ordeal, I purchased a car from vardy at Hillington in May 2022, i traded in my immaculate car in order to get a dog friendly car, and then the issues started, brakes were inadequate, issue with elec folding mirror, blown rear tail light cluster (condensation inside due to prior damage to bodywork which forced the lights out of alignment) So I had to return a few days later in order to get the brakes sorted, 2 days later same issue came back, was told they had cleaned them with pneumatic air hose, dust apparently, clearly not just dust, so I was told the pads were to replaced, Mirror was fixed but the issue with tail light cluster would turn out to be more problematic, they had to order in new light units, a date was agreed albeit several weeks after due to no courtesy cars available (telling in itself), I would tend to think if they took more care of cars they were bringing in to sell this would negate all their courtesy cars being unavailable, So as mentioned initially the date for lights and brakes to be fitted came (Monday), was told it would take 2 days, on afternoon of 2nd day I had to phone to ask when it was available to be picked up, was told by a fill in aftersales chap from their Motherwell branch that it hadn’t been fixed as their bodywork staff were unable to fix the panel and fit lights, he knew nothing about it but he would do his best to address the issue and get back to me, I waited and waited and had to phone up on Thursday afternoon to see what the holdup was, all I was told was they were short staffed so it was now Friday to be done, I was stunned, kept getting told “it’s a family business, we want the customer to have a great experience with high standards”, So another date was agreed on for a 3rd parts bodywork specialist to address the bodywork issue and fit lights, this was now several months on now from initial purchase due to need of courtesy car, That date came and I was hopeful all had been remedied. I went to pick the car up on the Friday after being without it for another full week only to find they had replaced the wrong half of the rear light clusters ( you couldn’t make this up) I wasn’t happy at all and said so as politely as I could, so another date for the correct lights to be fitted was set, finally November I get the car back, During this this time I left a review giving 1 star, was asked to email customer services and was also phoned by after sales with an offer of a free service and yrs warranty as a gesture albeit if I removed my 1 star review (Blackmail you ask ?), So after approx. 30 phone calls to Hillington and about 6 forty mile journeys and all the stress and hassle I considered their offer, I told them I had no faith in their offer judging on their issues from day 1, I’m not blaming any one person in particular , it doesn’t take an expert to say their whole after sales system is dreadful, And don’t hold your breath in their customer services team assisting you with any attempt at a realistic compensation ( for me it would have recompense for fuel and time wasted), I got a fob off from them saying the warranty/service were offered which I declined, you only need to take a look at reviews from other customers to relate horror stories of services etc, I know folk say its only bad reviews which people post but I review on Google quite often and the majority are positive reviews, So this is the worst review I’ve ever had to post, I now tell all friends and work colleagues this tale as I don’t want anyone else to go through this after sales hell and will do for many years to come,