Delay in repairs to factory fault

t has been ongoing now since 3/01/2020 and I was told today it can still take 4 to 8 weeks. My question is how can Renault sell vehicles with a factory fault and not notify the owners of potential fault or stock parts of the faulty units in the country if they have sold these vehicles. I have been told by several employees of Renault that this is a factory fault on all Renault Captur vehicles.

This whole issue is very inconvenient and it is costing me a lot of money. As mentioned in my complaint below I have listed all the expenses I have since the vehicle broke down and it is still ongoing.

I do not reside in South Africa permanently (I stay and work in China) and returned to visit my daughter and my family but now I am stuck in Cape Town and my daughter had to return to Johannesburg to work.

This is totally unacceptable and I have spoken to Lebo (team leader) at Renault Head Office customer care line and requested a full report and exactly what was done by Renault Somerset West and then also a day to day work report of what Herm**** branch has done because I cannot believe it took them 10 days to figure out what the exact problem is. She said she will get the reports and email them to me but I have not received it yet.

They have now arranged for a rental vehicle that was supposed to be delivered on Friday but that also did not happen. I had to call the rental agency on Saturday and I was informed that the booking was not confirmed because they require a delivery fee of R1500.00 which I am not prepared to pay. If the vehicle broke down due to poor maintenance from my side I would gladly do that but the vehicle has a full-service history and has been taken care of. I have not once been given customer support or customer service by any of the staff at Renault since this problem occurred. Original complaint logged: On 9 December 2019 my Vehicle Renault Captur DX52YY GP was taken to Alberton Renault for the 75000km service and the vehicle has a full-service record.

On 27 December 2019, we left on Holiday to Pearly Beach in Cape Province. About 250km before our Destination the vehicle gave an error message CHECK AUTO GEARBOX.

I immediately stopped. I phoned Renault Alberton and spoke to the Service Manager and he informed me that all the Renault Captur has a Factory fault on this Error message. He said we need to reset the vehicle and we just had to go to a Renault outlet for them to replace the control panel. Also, he informed me if we have any problems to contact roadside assistance. After restarting the Vehicle the error message was gone.

I made and booking with Somerset West Renault Service department and got a booking for 3 January 07H30. Left in Pearly beach at 05H00 to be on time for the Service booking. My Vehicle was one of the first vehicles check in the Somerset west. At 08H30 they said the checks were done and all error messages were cleared we can take the vehicle but we should also monitor for any errors. Which I find distressing and unacceptable behavior from a service department of Renault. How can they just clear an error on the computer box without doing a thorough check to see if there is really no problem? If they have done the correct tests and done what they were supposed to do this would have been detected by Somerset West branch and I would not be sitting with all these problems. We drove back to our holiday destination and about 22km from Herm**** the error message again appeared and I couldn't drive the vehicle as it had no gears. I immediately phone roadside assistance (CAS-652657-N6X5S3)(Pule) and they booked a call to collect the vehicle and take it to Herm**** Renault.

I waited next to an extremely busy and dangerous road for 2 hours after making several calls to roadside assistance to inquire where is the towing company is before the loading truck arrived, also I have to say I was surprised as the driver had on some beach clothing and sandals and in no rush whatsoever. It did not seem to bother the driver that he took so long and nobody ever followed up to find out if we actually arrived at our holiday destination safely.

When I arrived in Herm**** the Service manager informed me that they will do their checks and inform me on what is the outcome. At 15H30 the service manager informed me that the channel between the gears and clutch on the Automatic gearbox is faulty and will only be able to repair the vehicle by latest Friday 25th January they will push as they know we are on holiday and we need to return to Gauteng to start work. At Renault Herm**** when we spoke to the Branch manager Gerrie du Plooy my daughter asked him why this happened and he told her to keep quiet and not to make a noise in his shop. I find that very unprofessional. Simphiwe at head office assisted us in getting a courtesy vehicle a few days after the Captur broke down. I was given incorrect information by Athena which caused more problems. Then dealing with the service department manager, Nicole, the first 2 or 3 days after the car was towed in and I did inquiries she just kept screaming at us that we should not interfere in her department, she was not friendly and helpful at all. Only after we received a courtesy vehicle she became more approachable. The major issue is that we were stranded in Herm**** 22km from our home(Holiday Destination Pearly Beach). Renault Herm**** offered taxi services but didn't make an effort to contact any services for myself and my daughter to reach our destination. Roadside assistance said they cant assist. All the Vehicle rental companies in Herm**** had no vehicles for hire. We had to take an Uber which cost us R580. We were stranded in Pearly Beach with no transport whatsoever. We were not able to reach any supermarkets etc. Courtesy vehicle was only provided to us on 8th January but still, I need to return to JHB and nobody has seemed to realize or care in assisting me to get my vehicle repaired or to offer any other alternative plan. It's costing me for accommodation R1500 per day. I had to fly my daughter home as she is a student Teacher and need to start working on 13 January it cost me an extra R999.00 for the flight. I had to travel to and from Herm**** 3 times before I was given a courtesy vehicle. Each time I had to go to Herm**** using an Uber. R580 one way each time, in total 7 Uber rides to and from Herm**** at R580 each. I have asked if I can return to Johannesburg with the courtesy vehicle and I was told I cannot. I should have been back in Johannesburg on 8 January already. If I do not work I do not get Paid. So in total, my additional expenses due to the poor work done by Somerset West Renault and lack of customer care by Herm**** is as follows: Flight ticket for my daughter so that she can at least start working: R999 7 Uber rides at R580 one way to Herm**** R1500 accommodation per day - that is without daily living expenses which I would not have had if I could get home in time. R2500 - R4000 per day loss of income due to the fact that I cannot work. (I do online consultation and all my data, files and equipment is in Johannesburg)

Is this the kind of service that Renault an International company provides? Why didn't Somerset west Renault do the required work properly? Why can Renault not provide a solution to my problem? I cannot sit in Pearly beach, I need to get back to Johannesburg and work. What is so difficult for people to understand?

Unhappy customer Kind regards Andries van Greunen