Paula

No engagement with a potential customer

I visited several car showrooms in Kidlington in early April '25 to get physical sight of cars on my shortlist of mild hybrid 'possibles' for my next car. A VW Polo was high up my list, so I walked into this showroom. No one took any notice of me at all, so I waited in a queue at the reception desk, occupied by two female staff. When it was my turn, the woman explained that I could not be shown any cars as I had not booked an appointment, and would have to wait at least 30 mins to talk to someone. It seemed to me astonishing that the reception staff had not enough training/confidence/empathy to see that it was important to at least point me in the direction of their mild hybrids, so that I could walk round them myself. Thus they could have 'kept' me until a salesperson was free. I was so unimpressed that I went straight over to Ford Hartwell opposite, which was welcoming, efficient and well-informed. I booked a mild hybrid from them on the spot, and as a result, VW lost my business. When I collected the car today (9/4/25), I deliberately called into the VW showroom to feed back to them about my experience. I wanted to use the 'Pretty Woman' line: 'Remember me? Big mistake! Big, big mistake!', but once again, no one took any notice of me at all. I hung around hoping to speak to someone but it was as if no one saw me! Oh the irony.