Warrentee claim

To whom it may concern,

This is a letter of complaint to the relevant authorities within the VW group of South Africa. Having exhausted all avenues in seeking recourse for the shoddy service I have received at one your dealerships, NNT Krugersdorp, I have opted to escalate the matter. My experience with the service center reflected poorly on the quality of training and workmanship being delivered by the dealership.

On the 25 May 2018 I booked my vehicle in for service for the mandatory 85000 kilometers check. In addition to the mandatory service, I explicitly highlighted to the custodians of the car at the dealership that the ABS light on the cluster and the headlights were no longer functioning as expected. The service was coincidentally timed with the observed deteriorating lighting.

The assumption was made that since the vehicle remains under warranty, these minor defects would be attended to. Especially that these observed defects were made known before the technicians would attend to the vehicle at the service centre. The expectation was that the service center would be cognizant of the lodged complaints (defective lighting and braking) and remediate the mentioned issues to the satisfaction of industry standards on the particular vehicle make.

Upon collection of the vehicle I was alerted that the headlight switch had melted due to my installation of “aftermarket” light bulbs. Not understanding what the rendered assertion was, I enquired of the conclusion made by the report received. I investigated with the technicians and logically questioned how the so-called “aftermarket” bulbs could be installed in the vehicle, when the vehicle has never been maintained nor serviced anywhere else but at VW South Africa service centres, specifically NNT Krugersdorp. My questioning of the service centre’s conclusion of “aftermarket” light bulbs having been the cause of the headlight switch failure left the dealership management and technicians with no other explanation, but that their conclusion is incorrect.

As a customer who had to conduct an accusatory inquisition with the management team of the service centre left me absolutely disappointed and offended by the unsaid accusation that I may as a client have made modifications/alterations to the vehicle privately. At the previous service session before the abovementioned, the vehicle was serviced by NNT Krugersdorp wherein they changed one headlight. I asked them to retrieve invoices so they can see that these “aftermarket” headlights were installed by them. The retrieved invoice clearly stated that the headlights were changed by them. Even after that conclusive evidence, the NNT Krugersdorp management team stood by the disproved version of events given by their mechanics, claiming that the bulbs that had supposedly caused the lighting failure were “aftermarket” products.

The used product, retrieved from my vehicle, that had supposedly caused the defective lighting was a headlight manufactured by the brand Philips. Again, I had to enquire of the branding of headlights used by the service centre’s parts department. Management frustrated the formal enquiry into assessing whether the inserted bulbs from the previous service session were in actual fact “aftermarket” bulbs supp**** by NNT Krugersdorp. Upon asking a Manager working within the spares department of the brand of headlight bulbs used in vehicles such as my own, it was discovered that the NNT Krugersdorp did use the so-called “aftermarket” headlights made by Philips, the exact specification as the bulb retrieved from my vehicle.

Upon this discovery the hostile management team conceded that though the headlights found in my vehicle were their product, they further refused to take any accountability for the defect caused by their workmanship, stating that VW South Africa had not given the specification around Product Change catalogues. And until such a time that this ratification of the product change coming from VW South Africa, they could not be held accountable for the said defect.

The Manager at NNT Krugersdorp further conceded and made a promise to revert back to me once the approval from VW South Africa is received. He made the commitment that upon receiving the confirmation he would send me notification to bring my vehicle to the service centre for remediation of the lighting defect. To date, I have not received any communication from the said service centre. I have exercised patience beyond what is reasonable. I need my vehicle fixed and restored to the state/condition I have been given a promise to enjoy by entrusting it to VW South Africa approved service centres.

My vehicle has remained impractical to use due to these defects. I attend to this matter now after a long time of waiting on false promises.

I would appreciate seeing this matter resolved as amicably as possible, without any legal action being pursued.

Regards,

Aggrieved Customer: Phetogo Monametsi

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