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Monday 22 July 2013

Fixing the Freelander

The first Landrover dealer I spoke to emphasised how busy they were, but were willing to squeeze me in. The second dealer I phoned were so busy, that when they put me through to the service department, the phone just rand and rang and rang, until I got fed up. I hung up and redialled, and explained the situation, and they siad they'd get someone to call me back. That happened three hours later, by which time I'd gone to a third dealer.

I don't like doing business with people who are too busy to talk to a potential customer. I feel that A) it's likely to have an impact on how long it takes them to do the job, and B) adding to their already excessive workload would not be doing them a favour. If you have too many customers, as is clearly the case with these two, I'll help you by not becoming one of your customers.

Meanwhile, I called the AA, who explained that because I'd already had a callout on that breakdown, there would be a £50 charge, plus £2 per mile, which I agreed to. They said I'd get visited in two hours time, at 12pm; the car transported actually arrived at 1:30, and (of course) it wasn't actually the AA. I suspect I could have gotten it heaper if I'd gone direct to the transported company.

Of course, it would have been cheaper still if I'd got someone to tow me to the dealer, which is only five miles away. But with the engine not working, the power steering and power brakes aren't working, and although you can steer and brake the car (I know, because I had to do it once), it is extremely heavy, and you have to drive really carefully. And if the towing car had to stop suddenly, would I be able to stop the Freelander in time? Maybe not. So I forked out the extra £64.

The dealer is charging me £50 just to look at the car, and then I'll get an "estimate".

And yes, they have very big windows.

2 comments:

  1. Now, that was mildly amusing, or did i misunderstand your subtle hint at violence!!

    I've just checked, there aren't any main dealers within a stones throw of your place :(

    ps I would have looked at your car for £35, even less if you just sent me a photo!

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  2. The very big windows are so that they can see me coming, as in "They saw me coming".

    See next post ...

    ReplyDelete