Bad customer care and damages to my vehicle

Item: Group 1 Nissan Kuils River
Rating: 1
Author: kalaharigaming K

So right off the bat my experience with Group 1 Nissan (Kuilsriver) was horrific. The sales lady pushed hard to get the sale cleared and that was it. I dealt with a lady called Mel Smith (I think its smith atleast) who drove hard to get the sale through which was good... HOWEVER; 1. The sale went through and I was told I could collect the car on a Wednesday, by the following week, I was still waiting on the vehicle, just to be told that they couldn't release the vehicle as it had "chafe marks" on the on end.. I explained that I was hoping it would be done as I was planning a holiday with the vehicle (which is why the sale was so urgent). NEVER before that point was I told that the vehicle had damage on the body - else I would've cancelled the sale and gone else where. I managed to keep calm as she said she'd deliver the vehicle and fix it in January 2016 when I returned. I got back in January and immediately touched base with her but got NO answer. In the meanwhile, my wife and I realised that the license was about to expire in APRIL!! Which means the licensing had not been even been done. If it had been, the disk was never switched out. 2. So months go by and still not a word, in April the license expired and I out right refused to renew it as it was supposed to be done by the vendor at the time of the sale. I kept mailing her throughout the year and got responses such as "I'll arrange to have this sorted", and then NOTHING... as usual... In the meanwhile, the vehicle hit the 15k mark for the service, however on this day, Mel was not in so I couldn't corner her. 3. Come end of July. I finally manage to get hold of Mel with a warning that "Should I not receive any feedback I will be escalating to Nissan SA", which immediately got her attention. I asked about the repairs to the body, the license and the number plates (as she mentioned they'd have to be changed when I got back in January and are not mine but the dealerships). She responded with that she would need the vehicle for 2 -3 hours to have the repairs done and we arranged to have the vehicle brought in. Now, here is where I really started losing my cool! Hold on to your hats! The repairs: So, the vehicle is delivered and for repairs and I had to make alternative arrangements as apparantly, they cannot give me a loan vehicle / driver?! So, now on the day the vehicle is to be fixed, I'm stuck without transport.. AND to top things, I'm told after mid day that the vehicle repairs will take 1 - 2 days to be done... WHAT HAPPENED TO 2 - 3 HOURS?! It portrays that the vendor has no idea how these processes work. So, as I have meetings the following day I had to rush to the vendor (traffic is horrific in CPT at 5) to get my vehicle and make alternative arrangements. SECOND Repair day: Following this mock up, we arranged that the vehicle goes into Nissan on the first following Friday and that it would be delivered on the Saturday. Great! Finally something is happening! I mentioned that we still had to sort out licensing and plates at which point the response (have all coms on mail) was "I'm confused..."..... honestly?! The license expired... in APRIL.... so how are you confused? It clearly has not been done!? Regardless, I'm met with an empty promise that we'd resolve it come Monday and on we went. So come Saturday, I'm contacted by Mel and notified that she's not in (after she told my wife and I she would be working on Saturday), but the vehicle has been fixed up as was supposed to have happened about 8 months prior and was delivered at the OPEL DEALERSHIP?!?! Like WHAT?! .. Absolutely drained of trying to reason or argue with this lady, I decide to just thank her and collect my vehicle, atleast we made progress... or so I thought. COLLECTION OF THE NEWLY REPAIRED DATSUN: So I get to the OPEL Dealership, just to be told my vehicle is not there, and NOBODY knows about it. I lost all my toys and demanded they start making calls to find out. Fortunately, a sales guy comes out from the back and says "Yeah, for some reason the vehicle was delivered but they moved the car to Nissan around the corner and gave them they keys." So now, not only has the vehicle been delivered to another dealership all together, but they had driven my vehicle without my knowing! Regardless, off I go to Group 1 Nissan to collect my car. I walk into the shop and stand there looking for someone to assist me and I'm met only by other clients. I stand around as a sales guy walks in and ignores me flat! Then another guy walks up to me and I have to actually stop him to ask him if he knows anything about my vehicle. I tolerated this however as he went to fetch my vehicle and I walked out of the dealership to drive off in my repaired vehicle. SO .... As I get around the corner, this little devil on my shoulder tells me to stop and inspect the vehicle... this was too easy. So, I stop the vehicle and start walking around the car... guess what... it's a MOCK UP... AGAIN! So not only is the vehicle now littered with scratch marks, but the there is another scratch on the bumper (deep one) under the driver side head light, the bumper doesn't line up the way it did when we got the vehicle and the headlight itself is no longer aligned with the body of the car... the car is DIRTY as hell (I gave them a clean vehicle) with what looks like it was wiped off with a brown dusty wet cloth. This was it. I've had enough! Not only are they not doing Quality Checks, but they have successfully degraded the value of my vehicle. It looks like an old car thats been fricken accident damaged! SO, here we go again. I contact the dealership early in the morning and I'm told there is no manager available by whom ever answered the phone. So back on the mails to Melanita. I sent her a mail where I tried to keep my calm as best I could regarding this matter and essentially said, something needs to happen, or I'm contacting the HQ. So I get a phone call with an apology and some or other comment about how she is appauled... SHE IS APPAULLED? I'm the client!? Then, further insult to injury, she explains that she spoke to Henk (the repair guy) who says he knows nothing of the head light? So I need to contact their repair guy and explain to him what I mean about the head light because A-FRICKEN-GAIN she's confused or at a loss for words or what ever. This was the absolute last straw. I spent the entire day in meetings at work wondering, what exactly the point was. I'm the client. I sent my vehicle for repairs, and it came back with scratches all round the vehicle, a headlight that wasn't lined up properly and a pumper that didn't sit right and now I need to contact the fricken repair guy / contractor???!!!! WHAT KIND OF SERVICE IS THIS? So following this, I sent a mail to Mel where I really lost my marbles. I explained how I felt and that I'd like a manager \ superior involved with this asap. I explained that regardless of whether she can comprehend the damages to the head light or not, it happened, and I will not be made a **** by her, a contractor OR anyone else for that matter. And that something will have to happen or I'll be escalating matters further. So... onto Nissan SA's website to look for a complaints forum and guess what... NOTHING! So, to sum up... I was sold a damaged vehicle which was not licensed, and had license plates belonging to the company. It took 8 months of nagging to get the vehicle finally repaired, just to get it back in just as bad a shape, if not worse! After complaining, I'm essentially told that I now need to resolve the matter myself... and essentially called a **** for mistakes that are with them!? No quality assurance in place what so ever. They leave the vehicle in the care of other dealerships (whom cannot be held accountable if something goes wrong) AND they let said dealership drive you vehicle.... This is not on. I'm hoping someone from Nissan see's this and contacts me to rectify, because to be absolutely honest, I don't even want to struggle with this vehicle any longer. I just want the vehicle fixed and then possibly even sell it off or trade it in for a vehicle \ brand where you are provided a proper level of support and are treated as a valued client... not an idiot. That's my story.. hope to hear from Nissan.

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