Expensive with bad service

I'm very disappointed with this dealership and my advice would be to avoid them at all costs. They're expensive and client service is not high on their list of priorities.

My son took his 2018 VW Polo with less than 60,000km to them towards the end of 2022 and got the vehicle back with the standard Volkswagen radio head unit displaying garbled characters.

When he went back to the dealership, they told him the reason was that he had an amplifier and "non standard" speakers installed, which was probably the reason, and that they would only be able to help him in a few weeks time, at his cost.

He took the vehicle to a sound dealer that afternoon, they reset the standard Volkswagen head unit (took a few seconds) and the radio has been fine since then.

...then his airbag light came on, so he went by Barons Bellville again to hear what the options were. They told him the vehicle had likely been in an accident and the previous owner had soldered a resistor into the system which was causing the issue.

Really? ***? What they didn't know, is that the vehicle had been specifically checked and cleared as accident free when we purchased it, and that we had already checked the fault code, which indicated a faulty seatbelt pre-tensioner. They also forgot to mention the multiple recalls that have been done on Volkswagens for faulty airbag systems. Why on earth did they find it necessary to start speculating on soldered resistors on an accident free vehicle that they hadn't even inspected yet?

He also asked for a quote to replace the aircon compressor, as the aircon is not blowing cold and it has already been regassed, to get an idea of the potential cost.

The quote for the compressor was for R19,000 + nearly R5,000 for fitment. When he saw the quote, he walked back in and asked them if they are sure they didn't make a mistake. The response was everyone smirking and telling him "dis maar wat dit kos seun".

My issue? - "Dis eintlik nie wat dit kos nie oubaas", a compressor costs around R5,000 from most parts suppliers. - ...but we all know the agents have ridiculous markups on their spares, that's not the main issue. The issue is the dealer's condescending attitude when their prices are queried, which is disrespectful and unacceptable.

Hate the place, hate dealing with them, won't ever go there again.