“It was pleasant to deal with staff, however as soon as you bought a car nobody has time to talk to me. Little bit disappointed with after sales service so wouldn’t go back 😏”
“Nice showroom and staff have all been good but had a few problems with the car since buying it which really should of been solved before it was passed through there supposed checks, that they keep mentioning to reassure you that your broken car will be ok in the end but we will see”
“Craig was very polite and very helpful with buying my first car but unfortunately after having the car for 4 days it is already having problems
But overall I was very happy with the sales people”
“Great car buying experience, absolutely no issues buying the car, Ritchie our sales person was a thorough professional. However the after sales hasn’t been too great, chip/crack noted in windscreen and no urgency has been forthcoming, hopefully it will get better to get the windscreen replaced as recommended by national windscreens”
“Being a first time buyer I went in with no clue what I wanted but the salesman I had really helped and didn't put any pressure on me and left me and my partner to have a look. He told me the pros and cons of some cars that I was looking at which really helped me.”
“I collected my new car on Monday. On getting it home I noticed multiple scratches on it - which were visible within the 2 metre rule you have in place. When I was out on Thursday, my windscreen was a little dusty and dirty, tried my windscreen washers and they don’t work. I was offered to book in the car in 11 days time to resolve the problem - which I felt was unacceptable. I called and spoke directly to the manager who was very apologetic and arranged for a team member to collect my car, fix it and returned all in the same day. He also spotted my key had a low battery and replaced this, so happy with that as I was unaware of the issue. I still feel this should have been picked up before delivery of the car happened, however mistakes happen, and the manager dealt with it efficiently and swiftly”
“Initially, I was happy with the service. Tony was helpful and pleasant when we were buying the car and I genuinely felt confident that I'd have no problems with dealing with you if anything came up. How wrong I was. Overall, the aftersales service is appalling. In fact it's non-existent. I've had a horrendous time when trying to call to book in repairs and I've had to persistently chase to get something that should have either come with the car, or been disclosed as being missing before I bought it. I've had a battle on my hands at every stage and it has completely ruined my first experience of buying a car and what is actually the biggest financial commitment I've ever made.
I received absolutely no contact after I bought the car to make sure everything was ok, despite this being promised. Given that I'd made it quite clear this was my first experience at buying a car like this, on finance and through a major dealership, there was just no care given whatsoever. It was as though you were only interested in getting my custom and then I'm just another number. Really, that's absolutely disgraceful.
The quality of the vehicle check then was clearly lacking. There was a cigarette burn on the back seat and the air conditioning hadn't been checked at all (it didn't work). It took me 2 hours on the phone, being transferred all over the place, hung up on and going through to the wrong people, to book it in. Then when I arrive for the appointment, I discover that they'd booked it for a time when the person who does the upholstery repair wasn't even there. So another trip was necessary. They did at least give me back some petrol for this but really it was just a huge waste of my time, and even when I was in, nobody actually seemed bothered that any of it had happened. One thing to also note was that I was told this was the purpose of your 3 month warranty - to spot things that weren't working. This obviously presents all sorts of questions, but that's a dangerous position to take and it's completely irresponsible for staff to be saying that to customers. These weren't faults that appeared after I bought the car, they were already there and had been missed. It's not my responsibility to check that your quality assurance team are actually doing their job.
Lastly I discovered that there was no SD card to operate the navigation system. When I asked about this and explained that it should have been included as it's provided with the car when it's new, I was told no, as it wasn't specifically advertised. I explained that this was irrelevant, as it's actually a feature of the car and one look inside the vehicle tells me it has a nav system. Without the SD card the nav system is unusable. I contacted Ford on my own and they confirmed you were at fault and it was your obligation to disclose that the SD card was not present (it had clearly been removed by the person who traded in the car), as it is included with the car, not an optional extra. So, as it stood, you were telling me I had to go to another dealership to pay £260 extra for a card that you should have been supplying. I disputed this, said I wouldn't accept it and was told my further comments would be passed on to see what the admin team said. I didn't hear back after a week so I called back again. After explaining it to someone else and emphasising what Ford had told me, I've now been told that you will in fact supply it and I'm currently waiting for a call to let me know when I can collect it. I should never have had to push this and the onus certainly shouldn't be on me to prove that you haven't met your responsibilities for disclosure. And had I not been persistent and just accepted the first reply, I'd have been spent £260 on that.
Really, it's been one of the most appalling service experiences I've ever had and I've not even had the car 2 months. It's immediately evident that customer care is not one of your priorities. It's just so disappointing.
Edit 30/12/17: I’ve received follow up contact from Justin at the branch, who wanted to try to put right some of the above. To be fair, he couldn’t undo what had happened but he was apologetic and has offered me a gesture that I have accepted and goes some way towards making up for the inconvenience and poor service I’ve received. I do appreciate the call and Justin has at least tried to demonstrate that there’s are some people there who care about customers.
I’ve upped my original score based solely on Justin’s efforts and I’ve changed the recommended score to a 3 as I would consider recommending you. Initially I wouldn’t have dreamed of it. That again is down to Justin.”
“Brilliant service from Ross Couttie even emailed me on his holiday 😂 when picking up car it was away to get a valet, upon receiving my car I found a melted Brownie in my glove box and melted chocolate in my arm rest, great valet from your team not.”
“*This is an edited review by myself, at Peter Vardys request, and changed from 1* to 3* to reflect the subsequent efforts made by the team to rectify the situation(s)*
The salesman we'd arranged to meet on day 1, was on his way out the door to go home at our appointment time, so did a rushed handover to a young lad called Sean who was fairly new. Sean was great, chatty and friendly, and very helpful.
We got the impression no figures would be discussed until we'd decided on a vehicle.
I was receiving calls from Sean, and also the man we were supposed to have dealt with in the first place. I didn't know who I was supposed to be speaking to at first.
Having eventually decided on a car, figures were discussed, and income details taken.
I asked if he wanted my total income or just the income from my work, and was told it was just from my work, which I wasn't convinced was right. But I went with it, a manager called Scott was brought over and a deal was finally reached that I was very happy with. I shook hands with Sean and Scott, signed the paperwork and went home happy, awaiting a phone call about the finance decision.
I then got a text message the next morning to say that the finance had been declined. I suggested they include my total income, but heard nothing more from them that day, despite leaving a message asking for an update.
I then got a call the next morning from Sean congratulating me, saying that I could collect the car that evening as the finance had been approved. We emptied our car, printed the utility bills we needed (which weren't even asked for in the end), and paid for a copy MOT certificate when I couldn't find the original. We were really excited and very happy!
I then got a call from the manager, Scott, that I'd shaken hands with, to say there had been an issue but they had "found a resolution", which meant my monthly payment was going to go up from £150 to £201. The incorrect settlement figure had been entered into the computer when the deal was made, meaning there was a difference of £2000 to find, the only solution being to increase the monthly payment by a third. I declined as it was way above my budget. He offered to reduce it to £175 for the first 18 months. I said no. He suggested if he could get it to £175 for the duration, would we go for it? We reluctantly agreed, if he could do it for that.
I then got a call from Scott to say that the best they could do would be £178 a month for the duration. I asked if he could waive the £100 handover fee as a gesture of goodwill but he said no. I asked for some free car mats at least, which he did agree to. We appreciated the effort that went into getting us this deal, albeit highly disappointed it wasn’t the deal we’d already agreed on.
So we set off to collect the car, in a foul mood instead of the excitement I've always had collecting new cars before. We were expecting to be greeted by Scott at least, with an apology and proper explanation of how such an error managed to bypass everyone until the last minute. But there was nothing. We were sent to the handover area, and were expected to just sign the papers and be on our way. But we asked to speak Scott, and he eventually came over to speak to us. He apologised and explained, but it would have been nice to not have to ask for it. Sean was temporarily transferred to the Perth store that evening, as I found out later.
I mentioned at handover, that the next payment on my old car would be due to come out of the bank in five days time. The girl assured me that the payment would be refunded by my finance company.
We signed the paperwork, did the super cheesy music and disco lights unveiling process despite our muted mood, asked for the free car mats they'd forgotten about, and drove the car away with our free duck teddy. So far it's been a great car, it's just a shame the handover was spoiled by errors and poor customer care.
After the payment came out of my bank for my old car, I phoned the finance company to find out when my refund would be paid. They said there was no refund due on the account as a secondary settlement figure had been paid, instead of the original one. I then phoned Scott but was told he was in a meeting and that he’d phone me shortly. A few hours later I’d heard nothing, so called back only to be told it was actually his day off. I then asked to speak to someone with a higher authority to try and get this sorted out, and was put through to a man called Justin.
On our first call, he seemed helpful enough and promised to look into it and call me back within the hour. Which he did. He then turned into the rudest and most unfriendly person I’ve ever spoken on the phone to, who is supposed to be working in customer service. Talking over me, repeating himself constantly and raising his voice. I got really angry when he insisted on talking over me very loudly, despite me asking him to stop and let me speak. So I hung up as we were going round in circles and getting nowhere. I rang back and asked to speak to anyone other than Justin who had any kind of authority. I was put through to a lovely man called Jordan, who listened to the whole sorry tale, explained properly what had happened and promised to get Scott to call me back the next day before 11:30am.
No call from Scott, however I did get a call from Sean at 3pm, who I was glad to hear had been transferred back to Dundee. He explained what had happened and that technically there was no refund due, however he arranged the refund of £130 as a gesture of goodwill, to be sent by bank transfer, which is all I’d wanted in the first place as I was promised this at hand over.
If they put as much effort into doing things properly as they do into their cringey "personal videos" and mortifyingly cheesy handover process, they'd be on their way to being a half decent car retailer.
Sean will make a great car salesman, he’s honest and fun to speak to, I think Peter Vardy just need to spend more time on training.
Scott made a great effort behind the scenes so that we could drive away in the car we wanted, perhaps just a bit more attention to detail is needed.
Justin should not be working in customer service. Instead of explaining calmly and placating the situation, he made it 100 times worse.
Jordan was calm, friendly, very helpful and definitely did his best to put things right.
Would I buy from there again? In all honesty, probably not. They eventually went to great lengths to rectify a series of situations that should never have occurred in the first place. However, we do have a great car that was clean and tidy.”
“"Wouldn\u2019t say I was happy during the whole sales process but my salesman sorted everything out in the end even though most of the other staff weren\u2019t very nice and seemed clueless. "”
“"Tony was fantastic, best sales man I have ever met ! Would love to him 5 stars but there is only one rating on this review so overall have to give overall score ...Chips on the car did not all get fixed, the ones that did were done poorly. One of the keys has no power and does not open or close the car "”
