Renault Paarl: Good sales-service but stalled and mired warranty performance by insolent/disrespectful staff.

The motor vehicle in question (a Renault Captur) is a good vehicle and the service at the sales department at Renault Paarl (“RP”) is well organised but that is where my compliments end. RP is *****ed by its after-sales service. The root of its problem lies in the attitude of the staff and RP’s consequent inability to appreciate and then address the inconvenience we had to endure as result of several claims arising from a manufacturer’s warranty. Let me say from the outset that it is not our or RP’s fault that the motor vehicle had warranty problems, but RP represents Renault SA and is deriving commercial gain from its relationship with that brand. For this reason, it would be wise to treat the client respectfully and with utmost regard for the inconvenience suffered as result of defects by the brand RP represents. Let me give three examples: Within 2 years of buying the car it inexplicably and randomly failed to start. My wife was left stranded several times in the middle of nowhere. The problem turned out to be faulty wiring, but it took us 3 months to convince Renault Paarl and its stroppy service manager that the fault had nothing to do with us. The more agitated we became with RP’s unwillingness to put themselves in our shoes, the s****** and more insolent the ****y service manager reacted towards us. We were treated as ********* and prevaricators for no logical reason and, since then, feared to make the call when the inevitable service was required or a breakdown occurred. I can only explain this belligerent attitude by inferring that it arises from a climate at RP that the client is out to get RP and must be staved off at all costs. Another example arose where the car’s air-conditioning unit broke down but was, after some effort to establish a warranty claim and more than 9 weeks of waiting, repaired under warranty. The unsympathetic attitude from RP during the hottest period of summer was that we simply had to wait until they received a part that serially failed to arrive. No semblance of an effort was made, except for the usual feigned apology, to alleviate our discomfort. Updates on delivery was only made grudgingly and only when we called. The most recent example is where the battery that was installed at Renault Paarl less than 18 months ago failed. According to RP it required a “12-hour testing cycle” by RP before it would be sent to the supplier for a possible exchange. The battery was, according to RP, no longer under warranty with RP itself but amazingly still under warranty by the manufacturer! Despite this RP had to test the battery before it could send it out. From experience a “12 hour testing cycle” is RP-code for about two to three days of delays. Thereafter the battery had to be passed on to RP’s “suppliers” for yet another uncertain outcome. That, in my experience, could take a further 2-3 days. Needless to say, no battery for 6 days meant no car for 6 days and more inconvenience for us. Exactly the opposite was experienced a week prior to this with my Toyota where the battery was replaced within half an hour by the technician of the battery retail establishment (Dico Paarl) where it was bought 24 months ago. Instead of receiving a similarly speedy resolution of my problem at RP to resolve my warranty I had to fight my way past a disinclined and ill-informed receptionist just to arrive at the cheeky service manager once again. With his usual stuck-up attitude, this time infused with sarcasm (“we do not manufacture batteries”), he did not make any attempt to address the warranty or the discomfort we clearly and logically would suffer as result of something that is clearly not our fault and still under warranty. The little fellow was bent, once again, on neatly side-stepping or frustrating our warranty claim and making me out as a ****. I’m not interested in a business that is not interested in giving me friendly, respectful and honest service. I’ll take my business elsewhere and suggest everyone else do so too when it comes to Renault Paarl.