SER1 Fw: [za-lro] Land Rover admits to car owner's claims

>From IOL.

Hi all
Sad the things that owners have to resort to - in order to get Dealer(ship)s
to do what they're supposed to as a matter of course.
On one of our forums we call dealers "Stealers"  ;-)
Regards
Mike B
----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoff Hill" <ghill@xxxxxxxxx.xx.xx>
To: "Za-Lro (E-mail)" <za-lro@xxxxxxx.xxxx.xxx>
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 10:43 AM
Subject: [za-lro] Land Rover admits to car owner's claims

>From IOL.

Geoff

Land Rover admits to car owner's claims

    March 11 2005 at 07:39AM

By Karen Breytenbach

Land Rover South Africa on Thursday admitted it deserved having a poor
after-sales reputation, after the disgruntled owner of a Range Rover accused
the company of poor service in an open letter published in the Cape Times on
Thursday.

"We admit we have had some serious problems with our customer care
department and after-sales services," Land Rover SA head of customer
services Mike Dawson said on Thursday.

He blamed the company's poor service on the fact that it has "changed hands
too many times in the last few years", but said efficiency has been
improving since BMW sold the company to Ford in 2000.

'No one follows up. No one EVER phones you back'
Since 1988 Land Rover has been owned by British Aerospace/Honda, BMW and
Ford.

The response came after retired founder of Gray Security, Andy Gray,
publishing a damning half-page letter to Land Rover's management, after
receiving a piffling response from Land Rover's customer care to various
serious complaints about his vehicle.

The last straw was the breakdown of Gray's two-year-old "unreliable and very
expensive vehicle" outside Victoria West.

The vehicle, which was under full warranty, was first sent to Beaufort West,
then to George, where-after it was kept at Land Rover Oudtshoorn for more
than a week without being repaired.

During this time Gray contacted Land Rover Oudtshoorn and Land Rover SA's
customer care repeatedly to find out if and how his car would be fixed, but
got no response.

Eventually Gray notified customer care that he would go to the extreme
measure of publishing a complaint in the media unless his demands were met
within a few days.

When he received no response, he proceeded to publish.

In his letter Gray wrote: "Whenever the vehicle has a problem I am amazed
anew by the disinclination of Land Rover South Africa to communicate with me
in any way. No one seems to take responsibility.

"No one seems to really know what they are doing. No one keeps you informed.
No one follows up. No one EVER phones you back."
In response, Dawson acknowledged on Thursday that "nothing in Gray's letter
is untrue, unfortunately".

"Unfortunately this is what happened. The future of the Oudtshoorn
dealership is under review," he said.

Dawson confirmed receiving Gray's warning to publish "well in advance", but
said the company neglected to respond within a reasonable time.

"Mr Gray did warn us and we should have responded. We regret to say we have
been wrong. This should not have happened to him or to anyone else," he
said.

Meanwhile, the vehicle was transported to Gray's original dealer, Land Rover
Stellenbosch.

Dawson said he had personally organised the transportation of the vehicle,
but this statement was met by disbelief by Gray's personal assistant, who
said Gray had made all the arrangements himself.

"It's strange that he should take credit for it," she said.

According to Dawson, Land Rover SA paid for the transport.

Dawson said all the parts needed to repair Gray's Range Rover had been
couriered to Stellenbosch. He added that the manager of Land Rover
Stellenbosch, Herman Marks, would have Gray's vehicle ready later on Friday.

"We got a list of problems from Oudtshoorn and then ordered the right parts.

"I sent Mr Gray an SMS to notify him."

Dawson added that he would give "Gray or anyone else who requests it, a
written response" and said his company hoped to maintain a good relationship
with Gray.

Gray was on a flight to India on Thursday and could not be reached for
comment.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on March 11,
2005

_______________________________________________
ZA-LRO mailing list
ZA-LRO@xxxxxxxxxx.xxxx.xxx
http://oryooki.caloccia.net/mailman/listinfo/za-lro

To change subscription see www.landrover.net/series1/mail