update
Hi All
To update proceedings, to cut a long story short (hahahaha)
The techs at the main dealer (and i used the term techs VERY LOOSLEY, as I think my last apprentice was a good bit better than this lot on his first day) DID NOT fix the car by installing a steering angle sensor....
But they came back and said "we now think the fault lies with the steering ECU" hmmmmmmmmmm after two previous FAILED diagnoses I am by now not convinced of the technical abilities of these guys!!!
So the wife tells them to install the part, as this part will now be their THIRD attempt to repair the vehicle. & they now have to wait for the part coming from another of their outlets, which is only approx. 40 miles away but this is the arse end of the world, sorry Cyprus, it took three days to arrive!!!!
As the FAILED second diagnosis was on a Friday and they close at 2pm we now have to Jump to the following Monday, and drop the car off at 7:30 am and ask them to keep us informed of proceedings, they come back and finally tell us after we have harassed them for info that the THIRD diagnosis did not repair the car Doh!!!!!!! They now say that they have finally tracked the fault down to the steering rack module & to repair we must have a full steering rack installed for mucho €€€€€€€€€€.
By this time we are getting a smidgen pissed at the thought of these guys NOT APPEARING TO HAVING AN EFFING CLUE WHAT THEY ARE DOING and are just appearing to be throwing parts at the car in the VAIN hope of curing it, so they are told by the wife that she HAS NO CONFIDENCE in their technical abilities but to fit the rack, and the owner is thinking if this does not cure it then the incompetents are not being paid for parts or labour incurred that is NOT required due to their own miss-diagnosis
So we call a UK dealer for the parts cost and book time of the job that VW quotes to install a steering rack UK dealer quotes the required parts and an installation/coding time of 4hours
this is now on to diagnosis # FOUR
THREE DAYS LATER the car is still not finished!!!!! And the owner is told “this is a very technical and HUGE job to change a steering rack you know” uh Hu!!!!!!
Methinks you guys are only used to brakes, oil changes and the like……. So Friday afternoon 13:30pm we rock up to inspect the progress as they close at 2pm on a Friday.
We sneak round the side on another building and look in the open workshop door and the car is still approx. 30 minutes from full assembly 90 minutes later the car is dropped to the deck and they now tell us that all that is left to do is to “re-code” all the module’s.
So we watch the process from the waiting area looking through the glass, I observe the sad but laughable situation that i have seen many times in my past as a tech, the scene unfolding in front of me is one of initial optimism as they begin the process, but sadly one that you could tell from the “oh fark” body language and the fact that it went from One guy peering forlornly into the computer screen to THREE all with the same look of “why the Fark is this thing not working” and furious plugging in and unplugging of the diagnostic plug…. I relay to my missus that these guys are struggling & have still not repaired our vehicle, another hour later a dejected but oddly smiling lead tech finally comes in and tell us that they have 50% fixed our car!! (It appeared from his demeanour that he felt we should congratulate him) I’m thinking 50% that is as much use as a chocolate fire guard, as in effect the vehicle is still not repaired, so wearily as I’m becoming somewhat tired of this circus I ask what’s wrong now .
The guy steams off into his spiel that due to the car a 2005 model being “too old now” that they had to install a steering wheel (his words) module from a 2009 model and that the two were incompatible and that the ABS light was on and they could not get the part to accept re-coding. But that the steering assist was now operational!!!!!
So to allow me to understand the guy fully, I put it in my own words to him.
“You are telling me, that due to the fact that YOU GUYS fitted an incompatible & unrequired part to the vehicle (namely a steering wheel ecu, one that did not cure the fault I might add) that the vehicle is still not fully operational” ?
His reply was priceless and I think he needs an Oscar nomination, he said “well it’s not our fault that the battery was fitted incorrect causing this huge problem and this final fault is ANOTHER fault”
I ask him what his purpose in this establishment is ?
At this he looks a little puzzled and says “excuse me” so I tell him “I thought your ONLY remit as the approved V.W. repairer was to repair the vehicle & not to try side step your remit by making excuses your incompetence by attempting apportion blame elsewhere for the fault it does not fully matter to you how the fault occurred (other than for the purpose of obtaining information to make a complete and informed diagnosis of the fault) your only remit is to repair the vehicle NOTHING MORE.
Not sure if due to the language barrier & my strong accent that he fully understood me, but my Greek wife told him in a little more diplomatic term what I said...
He launched almost into obit and lost his cool…. “Nice! Very professional I’m thinking”
So we are now on the FOURTH FAILED diagnosis and having been in constant contact with V.W in Wolfsburg about the series of miss-diagnosis where I had already predicted that fitting all these parts would not affect a full repair to the vehicle, and having been continually asking for V.W’s technical assistance and intervention on the matter, as I felt the dealer was now very much out of out of their depth and comfort zone but could not stand back and admit that they required further assistance…. The initial reply from V.W was.
Thank you for your message. We kindly request your understanding that it is not possible for us to attend to all our customers from our headquarters in Wolfsburg, but count on the competence of our world-wide network. Consequently, we have forwarded your correspondence to our Importer, responsible for all matters concerning sales and service of Volkswagen in your country, asking them to look into your issue and
get in touch with you directly. Please expect further communication from them.
Hmmmmmmmmm this is all well and good but how can I feel rest assured that the importer will undertake an impartial investigation of themself!!!!
I call Wolfsburg and explain the situation; they agree with my assessment and promise that they will be in further contact with the importer’s customer service department head, and that he will promptly be in contact with me with regards to the matter.
Guess what IM STILL WAITING!!!!! NO call has come from their customer service department, I have called them EVERY work day they are open to request to talk to their department head of customer services, on EVERY occasion I have been fobbed off being told ;he is in a meeting, the toilet, out to lunch, etc. etc. And that he WILL call me back very soon…. I’m NOT holding my breath.
So on Friday afternoon the head tech promises to re-code the offending module and that he WILL call us BEFORE noon on Saturday, I leave saying I do not believe in the competency of him or his technicians.
Saturday noon comes and Go’s……………… but much later in the afternoon a dejected tech calls and says that they still have not repaired the vehicle and that it will have to be taken to their “main branch in the capital Nicosia to be repaired” so the missus says “you are admitting that you have been unable to correctly diagnose the vehicle fault?” the guy just cannot say “yes im sorry we need help on this one to repair it” it would appear the mind-set is one of “not knowing when to admit they need help”
By this time I am thinking “what if the vehicle did not require a rack? Am I expected to pay a huge amount for a non-required part?” so as the missus was going back to work offshore on her 5 week rotation on the Monday, her father took her to the airport and I went too as we would have to pass the local V.W. workshop on our way to the airport drop off, as the father in-law is full Greek he did the talking the look of “horror” on the face of the lead tech’s face when we asked to take the “old” rack away to have an independent inspection undertaken of its operational status was priceless!!! But I at this point found that my vehicle was still on the premises and being worked on!!
I had already predicted that they would refuse… which they did on the grounds of the bill not having been paid, we said ok, you still have the vehicle as collateral for any unpaid bill and that you will be retaining the vehicle until such time as any bill is paid in full, Oh man….
If there had been a pram full of toys they would have been right royally destroyed.
This train of thought too was refused, so I requested that I see MY vehicle, they took me to the vehicle but steadfastly REFUSED to allow me to Touch MY vehicle, I told them I wished to inspect MY vehicle fully and that I had every right to inspect MY vehicle, they seemed not like this but allowed me to touch my vehicle telling me that the faulty steering rack was stored in the boot, as the vehicle was plugged in to the V.W diagnostic tool I decided to have a little look at what was on their diagnostic screen But I DID NOT touch their equipment. Another guy entered the area and saw me looking at the screen and his immediate words were are YOU the technician who was previously working on this vehicle, I thought “that’s a funny thing to say” but I also understood that you can look at someone and tell if they kind of understand what they are looking at.
The guy then turned the screen away and asked why I had made this fault and their initial dignosis public knowledge on THIS forum; I made him aware that I was making a provable truthful statement as to the condition of my vehicle and making “in my opinion” a truthful estimation of your company’s current performance.
I thought the guy was going to hit me, he filled with colour like a glass of red wine.
But after all the problems and faffing about they had done in continually failing to diagnose the fault, not keeping us fully appraised of the situation, not having had any contact from their customer service, their refusal to provide a courtesy car and their attempt at blaming instead of fixing the vehicle I was past caring.
So I decided to inspect the rack “faulty” rack and I got my camera out at the sight of the camera I thought they were going to physically remove me from my vehicle, as they began shouting at me “what are you doing, why are you taking pictures, if you wished to see the part numbers, we can provide them” I explained that I wished to make sure that when the vehicle was returned to me that the part I obtained with my vehicle was the VERY same part I had inspect by taking a picture of the serial number, they asked “why” my reply was “I am sorry I have NO confidence in your abilities after your continual failure and that if my vehicle is finally repaired that I still wish to have my original steering rack inspected by an independent and impartial inspector to ascertain its status and that if I found that a steering rack was not required that I would be seeking recompense for having to pay for a part that was not required.
Well that did it, I didn’t even need to be asked to return to the waiting area the look of “we are going effing kill you mate” said enough. I thought retreat might be advisable at this point, and made the tech aware that the “cut-off point” for their involvement with any attempt to repair the vehicle was Friday.
So this is the point we are at, I’m thinking I am left with a vehicle that the approved repairer has not a clue how to fix, and I am left thinking “where do we go from here?”
I know one thing,
I WILL NEVER EVER OWN ANOTHER V.W.
