Pathetic & VERY BAD Customer Service

I own a VW Caddy 1.9tdi which was making a rattling noise when you eccelarate and thought of taking it to the manufacturer for repairs. I called VW Claremont on the 15th July 2021 for a booking to do a diagnostic and was asked to bring in the vehicle on a Tuesday 20th July 2021.

On the 19th July 2021, a day before my booking I received this...

(Claremont VW reminds you of your service appointment tomorrow.Please remove all valuables.Check in from 07:15am up until 08:30am. Please be advise that the Shuttle service are not in operation Regards Azi)

On the actual day of my booking, I arrived very early and was the 2nd customer on the queue, I arrived at 06:40am as they work on a 1st come 1st serve basis thinking I will be getting my car back the same day. When the Service department opened, the service agents were so professional, taking the vehicle in and assuring me that they will fix my car. Later during the day, I recieved another sms from my service advisor...

Good day,

(My name is Azi, just to let you know that your vehicle is in safe hands and I will be your Service Advisor for today.

PS : DO NOT REPLY TO THIS SMS

Azi Claremont Volkswagen. ***)

So far everything looked and felt great.

A few minutes later my service advisor called and she explained that my car crankshaft/pistons and head were damaged. She said they should open the engine and they need permission from me. She gave me a quotation of R10 900.00 to open and quote. I gave the her the go ahead.

On the 21st July 2021, I received another sms from Vw...

(Good day

Just to let you know that your vehicle is currently being stripped on in the workshop and I will be in contact with you as soon as we done & the head sent to engineers. PS : DO NOT REPLY TO THIS SMS Kind regards Azi Claremont Volkswagen ***)

With no feedback or communication from my advisor Azi since my last sms from her, I called her on Friday and she said the head was sent to the engineers and she should have feedback the following week between Monday or Tuesday.

On Monday 26th July i decided to go to the branch for the feedback. To my surprise, the car was standing in the yard with no sign that anything was done. The engine was never opened and the head was still intact, so the story of the head sent to engineers was a lie.

I asked to speak to the supervisor Genevieve or Geraldine and i demanded my car back. She begged me to give them another chance and she said she will have it checked the next day.

Indeed she called me on Tuesday very early at 08:15am and she gave me a feedback that my car was beyond repair.

She gave me two options that either they can fix and the bill will be R130 000 or more or I buy a 2nd hand engine and get it fixed for about R110 000 or more.

I decided to take my car back since it was too high to pay for those prices.

I took my car to Dunlop tonnesons Wynberg and they told ź aqme my Camshaft was broken/damaged and also I should get a new catalyst converter. They changed my converter and they referred me to another mechanic Graham who specializes in Vw and Audi cars for the Camshaft to be replaced.

I booked my car with Graham yesterday 2nd August and today I got my car back - repaired and it's driving as good as new after the Camshaft, Camshaft followers, oil filter and oil were changed.

As a customer and if i look back at Vw, I am very disappointed and disgusted with their service that I will not buy a VW car or even refer anyone. I wish I could speak to anyone who is responsible for customer services and give them this advice in person - What's happening on the inside of a company is being felt on the outside by the customer.

If a service advisor can lie to a customer, clearly she can ***** as well. To anyone who takes their vehicles to Vw especially in Claremont, please watch out for Azi. Pathetic service, pathetic. To think that we are in a pandemic and some of us go all out for business.

I wish Vw employees can take their responsibilities seriously. Remember if you loose one customer, you loose 10. You lose 10....you loose 100

Shame on you Vw Claremont.