VW Van Centre Speeding and Damage

[TheBops]

I've recently had a pretty poor experience with a VW Van Centre and I would be interested in hearing what other people's reaction would be if the below had happened to your vehicle. What would you expect (if anything) for the van centre to put things right? I've not posted the name of the particular centre as this is still ongoing.

We've owned our T6.1 for a year now and recently a warning appeared on the dashboard saying that an oil change was needed. I booked the van in to the service centre and on the day, the person I dealt with said that a software recall/update was needed on the van, but due to the low mileage, they would just delay the oil change to the 2nd year service. There were a variety of issues following the software update which meant that they would need to then keep the van for a few days, so I headed home.

After a couple of days I get the van back and it is covered in dirt like it has been off-roading. This makes me suspicious, so I check the vehicle tracker logs and find that it was taken on 7 short journeys where speeding was regular (including 88 on a motorway and 52 in a 30 zone) and it was taken to a shopping centre a number of residential properties. Finally, when moving the van back on to our driveway we see a 6-inch scratch of the lower side of the van that wasn't there previously.

I immediately phoned the VW van centre and spoke to the manger. They asked me to detail everything in an email to them, which I have done and they have now replied to say that they have dealt with the speeding internally with the staff members involved and they will repair the scratch. Apparently the short journeys were needed to 'test the vehicle through its various parameters'.

So, with all of the above, how would you react? I'm not sure I am happy with the outcome the manager is offering, but I also am not sure what it is I expect as its not really a monetary loss and more just a general trust in VW as a brand. Maybe I just put it down to experience and never use VW again for anything to do with my vehicle? Would appreciate your thoughts

 

[Bav]

Take their offer to repair the scratch and, once you're happy it's sorted to your satisfaction, name & shame on here. I'd also be submitting online reviews on various review sites describing what sort of service people can expect if they use this van centre and, of course, don't use then again.

 

[dandan88]

There is no chance on this earth I would accept anything in the matter of testing as they may call it!
The fact you have the logs- the world is your oyster.
How can one accept that someone from the workshop decided that todays a goood day to take someone’s pride and joy for a joy ride? No chance

 

[Bav]

There is no chance on this earth I would accept anything in the matter of testing as they may call it!
The fact you have the logs- the world is your oyster.
How can one accept that someone from the workshop decided that todays a goood day to take someone’s pride and joy for a joy ride? No chance

You might not accept it and, of course, the testing excuse is complete & utter BS, but what are you going to do about it? What does "not accepting it" look like?

 

[Paynewright]

Send all correspondence to VW UK. If anything it will prompt a more thorough internal investigation and generate a load of grief for the dealer principle.

 

[Crazymind]

I think the Garage handled it well. They took responsibility for what happened and they are going to repair your Van.
I have got many people working for me. They are Human beings and they make mistakes (as do I). it’s not acceptable they ruin the reputation of my business and once the damage it’s done the only possible option is : trying to repair the broken confidence of the client.
In this particular situation they already know they have lost a client but still took responsibility and they are going to repair the damage. Another garage in the same circumstances would have told you the scratch wasn’t their responsibility.
In my opinion they did well.

 

[Sackmycook]

Your van was Twoc'd. You or the van centre didn't authorise those journeys. I'd be asking them to supply the offenders details for a police investigation. Naughty

 

[Peatey]

I had a lad who was working for me about 10 years ago and left early to pick up his car from Mercedes and met his vehicle overtaking oncoming traffic and being thrashed by a mechanic when he was on the to collect it following a service, at the service desk he said I've just seen my car being thrashed down the road to which the garage reponse was it cant be sir its around the back i will fetch it for you, he said dont worry i will stand out on the front and wait for it to come down the road and see whos driving it, then you can stick your service bill up your arse and cancel my new vehicle order

 

[Chippy1970]

My dealer isn't far off that, had so much hassle from them including a dent in my bonnet they did last summer while doing warranty work . They still haven't fixed the dent after all this time and after me contacting them a few times about it. Last VW I will buy

 

[Bav]

Your van was Twoc'd. You or the van centre didn't authorise those journeys. I'd be asking them to supply the offenders details for a police investigation. Naughty

Agree, technically it's TWOCing, but can't see the police would do owt tbh - read of one case (not sure if it was on the forum) where the owner had internal dashcam footage of a garage employee speeding whilst on a mobile phone, but no action was taken due to the driver's face not being visible.

You'd also be reliant on the garage being prepared to throw their employee under the bus by stating the journeys weren't authorised by them (which, from their previous "testing the vehicle" response, would seem unlikely).

 

[Pete C]

I would be looking for more - free services etc.
Only you know where the short journeys were to/from, but if they were testing the van then it should be out from the garage and back again.
You also need to warn the garage that if you get notification of a speeding fine, then they need to work out now exactly who was driving on each trip.
I would name and shame.

Pete

 

[Huba]

My van was in for work at a VW dealer. I wont go into every detail of the whole drawn out affair but having a tracker was a great evidence gathering device.

There was problem with a repair they did, so they came to collect the van at their cost
My van was picked up and then driven back to dealer, breaking pretty much all the speed limits - I got an apology and a 'gift' for that
My van went on some odd journeys, I finally worked out they had forgotten to MOT it a week earlier and the head mechanic had taken it in 'secret' to get Mot'd when they were sorting the previous problem. I got some 'free' fuel for that and the mechanic responsible was dealt with by HR

There was more to it than that but after a couple of weeks of back and forth between me and the service manager I decided to drop it. Things go wrong which I understand, some employees aren't good and lie to their bosses, what annoyed me immensely was they just refused to tell the truth for weeks, having a tracker meant I could prove what had happened.

When it was happening I got the same 'taking it for a test' line, I even had them say 'Its on the ramps I can see it now', when it was driving down the bypass.

What I learnt is that this particular dealer would do anything but tell the truth, it was a last resort. My warranty runs out in October and I can get another 2 years of the all in warranty, but at present I'm not sure what to do, before the events above they were okay, and there's a lot that can go wrong with these vans

 

[TheBops]

Thanks for the insights everyone. It’s interesting to see such a varied set of views and confirms in a way that it’s not an easy one to answer

 

[Amymax18]

If you do take this up with VW be prepared for them to promise the world and deliver very little. I had an issue with a dealer not carrying out a full service properly, complained to vw and opened a case. I was told I would have contact regarding the case within 48-72 hours. It took almost 4 weeks..... with me phoning every other day for every excuse under the sun. I'm just biding my time until week 8 (another week or so) then I'm going to the motor ombudsman.

 

[JIMIE_NW]

I've recently had a pretty poor experience with a VW Van Centre and I would be interested in hearing what other people's reaction would be if the below had happened to your vehicle. What would you expect (if anything) for the van centre to put things right? I've not posted the name of the particular centre as this is still ongoing.

We've owned our T6.1 for a year now and recently a warning appeared on the dashboard saying that an oil change was needed. I booked the van in to the service centre and on the day, the person I dealt with said that a software recall/update was needed on the van, but due to the low mileage, they would just delay the oil change to the 2nd year service. There were a variety of issues following the software update which meant that they would need to then keep the van for a few days, so I headed home.

After a couple of days I get the van back and it is covered in dirt like it has been off-roading. This makes me suspicious, so I check the vehicle tracker logs and find that it was taken on 7 short journeys where speeding was regular (including 88 on a motorway and 52 in a 30 zone) and it was taken to a shopping centre a number of residential properties. Finally, when moving the van back on to our driveway we see a 6-inch scratch of the lower side of the van that wasn't there previously.

I immediately phoned the VW van centre and spoke to the manger. They asked me to detail everything in an email to them, which I have done and they have now replied to say that they have dealt with the speeding internally with the staff members involved and they will repair the scratch. Apparently the short journeys were needed to 'test the vehicle through its various parameters'.

So, with all of the above, how would you react? I'm not sure I am happy with the outcome the manager is offering, but I also am not sure what it is I expect as its not really a monetary loss and more just a general trust in VW as a brand. Maybe I just put it down to experience and never use VW again for anything to do with my vehicle? Would appreciate your thoughts

This doesn't happen to be Tewkesbury does it? They took my van out last year and had it over a week. Came back dirty inside and out and scratched on every single panel like it had been driven down tiny lanes.

 

[DXX]

I use Timestamp Camera app’ whenever I leave my van with a third party, records time, date and location.
Get a 20 sec‘ video of the bodywork and dash’.

 

[Lumbo]

The MetaTrak S5 that I have fitted records every single journey. It even records a 'score' out of 100 for each journey based on how hard it was being driven (acceleration, braking,cornering) and speed. Would be very handy evidence in the case is any claim methinks. I made sure I had a look at the app when I got it back from the van centre having my battery coded in...... Actually I need to check with metatrak that this recording still happens when it's in service mode .....

 

[Bav]

The MetaTrak S5 that I have fitted records every single journey. It even records a 'score' out of 100 for each journey based on how hard it was being driven (acceleration, braking,cornering) and speed. Would be very handy evidence in the case is any claim methinks. I made sure I had a look at the app when I got it back from the van centre having my battery coded in...... Actually I need to check with metatrak that this recording still happens when it's in service mode .....

Good to know, given I've just made an appointment to have one of these fitted by Chris @Dav-Tec.

 

[Dav-Tec]

The MetaTrak S5 that I have fitted records every single journey. It even records a 'score' out of 100 for each journey based on how hard it was being driven (acceleration, braking,cornering) and speed. Would be very handy evidence in the case is any claim methinks. I made sure I had a look at the app when I got it back from the van centre having my battery coded in...... Actually I need to check with metatrak that this recording still happens when it's in service mode .....

Yes everything is the same it's just they won't ring you if the battery gets disconnected or if the tilt sensor goes off in the tracker

 

[Sioux101]

Ok not a VW. Best mate was going out with a girl and he was to pickup her dad and give a lift to the Ford dealership. His Escort died going to fetch the Xr4i Serria. He called me and nipped out of office and picked them up, it was Easter weekend and closing.

Driving up to Roundabout and the XR4i has only been released 2 weeks, his pride and joy.

Through the roundabout comes screaming XR4i with the same reg as Alan’s?

Alan nearly had a heart attack and I joined on in my 1.6s Opel Kadett giving chase. It was heading towards Ford dealership. We could just about keep it in sight waging through traffic on dual carriage undertaking.

Finally filtered into left turn at lights right behind it. Alan wanted to jump out and beat 7 colours out of young mechanic, lights changed and round the corner 200yds to dealership entrance.

At the enterance there were two steel poles were a chain was hung across when closed. ( not much car theft here in those days).

There was lugs on the steel poles with a hole for the padlock.

Mechanic turned fast, a Transit was coming up the hill and Mech turned tight to avoid transit and in doing caught front wing, passenger door, rear side panel right to tail light and removed rear tail light. I couldn’t drive in because of transitindicating to come out but seen it drive down the back round into workshop.

Got in and parked, we got out, Steve and me thought he was going to have a stroke or heart attack!.

Tried to calm him down, walked in glowing like red traffic signal and asked the nice lady to collect his car,”Of course sir I will get them to bring it round have a seat.”

I swear I could hear steam coming out of his ears.

10, 15,20 minutes passed. Phone rang and lady answered it and called him over,”It appears we will need to do further work and it won’t be ready today.” You called me 40 minutes ago and told me it’s all done and come and pick it up as we are closing at 2pm. He lost it and exploded like a .

Steve had to restrain him as I thought he was going to murder Some one.

The poor lady was visibly shaken,”I am sorry about his out burst but we followed his car raked across the carriage way like it was stolen, we could just about keep it in sight, who ever was driving racked it in through the enterance served ripping a gash in 2 week old car that he waited 9 months to get from the front wing, door, rear panel and tail light. He’s a wee bit upset. Can we see the service manager please?”
He’s busy at the moment. A loud colourful out burst from Alan and two sales reps approached. I explained that we had watched his 2 week old XR4i had been gashed the length of the car on the steel post. Bemused one called Danny the service manger to come up.

Danny arrived into the melee, Alan was going critical like an unstable nuclear reactor and Steve was trying to keep him calm.

Having told Danny what happened,”That couldn’t have happened.”

How about Danny we go down the back to the workshop and have a wee look?

Public aren’t allowed. Okay then we will call the police and report criminal damage and maybe you might let them down the back?

After a short pause Steve, Alan and I was escorted down to the back, it had been parked over in the corner tight! Against the wall, on walking towards it Danny says,”It looks fine!”

Have a look at the passenger side. Danny shuffled between the rear bumper of XR4i and escort and the colour drained from his face. “So do you think that will buff out?”

Danny called a couple of apprentices to move three cars to get it fully out.

Danny now look peaky and angry at the same time began to stutter and apologise.

The workshop foreman had heard there was a big problem brewing so came out,”You won’t fix that easily!”

Danny called down the branch manager, Alan began to cool a tiny bit.

The ending was the Bodyshop manager son had taken the keys and took the car for a spin without his father permission.

The Bodyshop manager paid for the car damaged and repaired it and sold it on. The short fall had to be made up by his son. They also banned the son from driving any vehicles they owned outside the site.



Dealership I don’t know how got a brand replacement one in 6 weeks and provided car.