Lack of both service and s****s

Worst Experience ever!!! If I could rate less than one star, I would!!

I purchased a Polo TDI Bluemotion from a dealership, "Dealership". Due to the vehicle dropping into “Limp mode”, I returned to vehicle to "Dealership" for assistance/repair. This was done on the evening of the 12th. Thereafter, due to word of mouth, "Dealership" took my vehicle to Archman Power Trade on the 15th of October.

Since the 15th of October, right through to this past Monday, the 19th of November, my vehicle was at Archman Power Trade. Last week, on the 13th of November, I started to get rather concerned on the time taken to fix the car. I feel that until then, I was rather patient and very accepting to the reasons provided for the delay.

So on that day, 13th of November, I contacted "Dealership", Archman Power Trade and finally "Turbo Engineer", in that order. I did this, as each company directed me to the next for further feedback.

Due to the miscommunication I detected, after speaking to all parties, I decide to email all of the parties requesting feedback and a good flow of communication between all. Within my email, the subject line was stated as Complaint, and within my email, I explained my experience and clearly requested some solutions and way forward. This was not the case, as I did not receive much feedback thereafter.

After my second email, which came off a lot more demanding, and my frustration noted; I then received feedback from "Turbo Engineer", and telephone call from Archman Power Trade advising they did respond. Noting my mistake and acknowledging their response, I found the email from Archman Power Trade and responded apologetic and thanking.

Thereafter, no further communication was received from Archman Power Trade. On the other hand, "Dealership" and "Turbo Engineer" kept in communication, not only by email, but multiple calls, trying to be of any assistance.

A note that I would like to add, is that even when I went through the effort of telephonically following up with Archman Power Trade, the response was in such a tone of no interest, and at one stage I was even told, and I quote “Well, I will have to look at it after lunch”. I am an unhappy client requesting feedback, yet they show no interesting is trying to assist, or better their service.

Due to my complaint, the manager of "Dealership" got involved and contacted Archman Power Trade. Note this is not my experience, and I was only informed of the incident. According to a source from "Dealership", the manager too got frustrated during the telephonic discussion with Archman Power Trade due to no direct answers been given with regards to the vehicles status. "Dealership" therefore requested that the vehicle rather be given back, so that they can take the vehicle to another mechanic for a second opinion.

According to "Dealership", they were then invoiced R6000 for labor. Note no parts were placement/purchased by Archman Power Trade. For a vehicle that is returned in the same condition it was brought in, and no spares/parts replaced, R6000 is little high in my opinion. "Dealership" therefore requested that the invoice be reduced, due to the above reasons, and to my shock, Archman Power Trade apparently declined the request due to my complaint, in which they stated as a “threat”.

Even though the vehicle was taken to Archman Power Trade by "Dealership", I am still the owner of the vehicle and am therefore a customer. I am the customer whom is without a vehicle for a month, and suffering the additional expenses for alternative means of transport. With that said, I remained patient for more than a reasonable amount of time, before insisting on proper updates and encouraging urgency. Being in this predicament, Archman Power Trade showed no sympathy, and instead responded to my complaint with arrogance and lack of interest.

The above concentrated more of the service and experience. Concentrating more on the s****s side of things, please acknowledge the following points.

After two weeks of having my car, Archman Power Trade advised my car is fixed and ready for collection. "Dealership" collected the vehicle, began driving away, only to return the vehicle as it was still in “Limb mode”. According to Archman Power Trade, that lack of power is normal as the car is a 1.2l engine. How can diesel mechanics work on a vehicle without understanding the vehicles performance?

Moving on, Archman Power Trade blamed the delay on the "Turbo Engineer" as they worked on the turbo. According to Archman Power Trade, the turbo is still the issue and the turbo would need to be returned to "Turbo Engineer". "Turbo Engineer" thereafter had to advise/guide Archman Power Trade on some checks with regards to the turbo. Should Archman Power Trade not already have this knowledge?

As said previously, my vehicle was collected on the 19th of November from Archman Power Trade. That evening it was taken through to "Alternative Mechanics". I received a call yesterday afternoon from "Dealership"advising that the "Alternative Mechanics" found an issue with the electronics. Note issue is not the turbo. The car has also been fixed, and is ready for collection. "Dealership" collected the vehiclethis morning and all is running well. In just two days, The "Alternative Mechanics" were able to fix the same car that Archman Power Trade could not fix within a month period.

No customer should ever go through such bad service, and I hope this review prevents that.