Preamble
I realised I hadn't written a new rant for a long time, and haven't really been prompted to feel like ranting about anything recently (what's the world coming to?)Anyway, over a year ago, I bought a new car. The process of getting it was an utter farce, which I documented in a long opinion for dooyoo. Figuring that having it only visable there meant that I haven't got any control over it (dooyoo may suddenly sign an agreement with Fiat and remove anything scathing, for example) so I've decided to make a copy of it available here.
Remeber, this was written in September 2001, so any references to "a week ago" refer to a week before the original text was written
The Fiat Pre-Sales Saga
Firstly I'd like to make the point that this rant is about the service given by Hylton of Worcester, the Fiat dealership that my car came from, rather than Fiat as a whole. I can only hope that my experiences aren't typical of the quality of customer service that Fiat provide.
This whole saga started about a month ago, when I decided to start looking for a new car. Firstly I took a test drive of a second hand 106 at the Worcester Peugeot dealers. This went without a hitch - I phoned up and said I wanted a test drive, turned up, handed over my driver's license, took the keys, and went for a spin, with my Dad in the car for a second opinion. I don't know if it's just because my Dad has bought cars from them in the past, so they trusted us, but it seemed a very courteous and friendly service.
Later that day (it was a Sunday), we drove past the Worcester Fiat dealer (Hylton of Worcester), which was sadly closed, and had a peer in the window. One thing that caught my eye was the 3 years interest free credit option that they were doing on new Seicentos.
Forward winding to the next Saturday, I got my Dad to phone up, and book a test drive on a Seicento (I was driving back to Worcester from Leamington, so didn't have a phonebook handy.) When I arrived home, I found my Dad had gone out to take the dog for a walk, so I met him at the showroom.
Now maybe part of the problem here was that my dad was dressed in full hill walking regalia, and so didn't look particularly respectable, but that's still no excuse.
We announced ourselves at reception, and we were told that someone would be with us shortly (I'll call him "P" so as to protect his identity, but considering he's the manager of the branch, it shouldn't be too tricky to track down who he is, if you so wanted).
Whilst waiting, we took a look at the cars in the showroom, notably the Seicento SX that was sat by the window, with an electric canvas sunroof (similar to the roofs that 2CVs have, but powered) and also a CD player, which will become important later on in this story.
"P" eventually arrived, apologized for keeping us waiting, and went into full sales mode. From what I can tell, he was only prepared to offer us a test drive once he had ascertained that a sale would be happening (quite unlike the man at the Peugeot dealer, who was perfectly happy to give me a drive when I told him I was just looking at all the available options)
To get to the point, he went straight to the hard sell, basically telling us that Fiat ran the interest free credit deal on a month-at-a-time basis, and he couldn't be sure if the offer would be valid past the end of the month. However, he told us that the car we'd looked at (with the electric roof) was basically available immediately - they'd just have to run it through some pre-sale tests, and slap plates on it, and we'd be able to take it away in a week.
Now that he was sure I was interested, he took us to a vehicle to test drive, put his trade plates in the windows and sat in the passenger seat (instantly showing a different level of trust to the Peugeot experience.) I got behind the wheel, and drove away from the showroom. However he was quick to point out that the car didn't have much fuel, so we couldn't go too far (unlike the Peugeot, which had plenty of fuel.) Having driven for a minute or so, he said it would probably be a good idea to turn around here, so I reversed round, and we returned to the showroom.
Luckily for Fiat, I really liked the car, which must be the only reason I put up with the rest, rather than just taking my business elsewhere.
So when he asked what I thought, I said that yes, it seemed like a very good deal, and I'd take it. We went through to his office (or rather his desk in the Audi showroom that is attached to Hylton's Fiat showroom) and filled in the paperwork (and gave the £200 deposit on the car). Actually, the switch wouldn't go through, but he took my card details
During the week (I think it was the Tuesday), I got a phonecall from "P" telling me that he'd managed to make the transfer go through, so my deposit was paid fine. I asked to check how the car was going, and he said, to be honest with me, he couldn't be certain that it'd be ready for Saturday, but I should phone and find out.
Forward wind again to the next Saturday (i.e. the day the car should have been available)
When I phoned up in the morning, I was told by "P", that there had been a problem, and the car that he'd told me was mine had already been sold to someone else (by a colleague who'd been on holiday for weeks) but not to worry, as he'd got an identical model on order, which should be delivered soon. He was glad I'd phoned, since he had only found out about this on Friday.
It wasn't until after I hung up that one thing dawned on me - I'd have to get the insurance changed, since on Thursday morning last week I'd phoned up to find out the chassis number of the car (since Direct Line had told be on Wednesday night that they'd need either that or the reg # in order to insure the car). I had phoned up and was told that it was "P"'s day off, but the guy on the phone found my file, and told me the chassis number. I phoned up direct line, and gave them this number, and all was ok.
Now returning back to Saturday, after hanging up the phone after talking to "P", I realised that I'd be insured to drive the wrong car.
By this point my Dad was suitably outraged, so we drove over to the showroom (Menacing awkward shopkeepers is one of my Dad's hobbies). Of course he made a point to wear a smart suit this time!
On seeing us, "P" looked slightly uneasy (Evidence "A", M'lud) but said he'd be with us as soon as he'd finished dealing with his current customer.
When he was finally ready to see us, one of the first things I mentioned was that because I was now going to get a different car, it meant that the chassis number that I gave to Direct Line would be wrong, thus making my insurance invalid.
"But - I never gave you a chassis number" was his response (Evidence "B") - it seems odd that he somehow expected me to insure a car when he knew I had no way of identifying it to the insurer.
I explained that I had phoned up on Thursday, but he wasn't there, but a colleague of his had been helpful enough as to find the number for me. He looked visibly shaken by this.
We then went on to question as to when this replacement car would be delivered. He told us that he had hoped it with this morning's delivery, which it wasn't. We asked if we could have the chassis number (or registration) of this new car, so I could get the insurance sorted.
He took us into a small office, with a (laughably outdated) computer that was hooked up to their central network. He keyed in some details (with very shaky hands - Evidence "C") which then took the system to a screen asking him to wait. It took about 5 minutes for it to finally come up with any details (I suspect that he was hoping that it would time out, so he could blame the system, and we'd go away).
He pointed some bits of information out (like the bit that said Seicento, and the colour, which matched what we were expecting.) He also pointed at the bit that said "Delivery status" telling us that that meant that the car was somewhere within the system waiting for, or in the process of being delivered. My dad queried why it said that the delivery date was the 1st of August, and he stuttered that it was "Worst Case" delivery date.
He then told us that the system only records the last 8 digits of the chassis number, but that shouldn't be a problem, since that's usually all the insurer needs. He offered to copy it down for us, but my Dad pointed out that there was a printer attached, so couldn't we just have a hard copy.
His response to this was "Why?" adding, "I can't possibly see what benefit that would give you." (Evidence "D"). My Dad told him that he was Dyslexic, so rarely trusts things written down by hand, since it's easy to make mistakes, and, begrudgingly "P" gave us a printout. My Dad (jokingly) suggested that they aught to provide a CD changer after messing me about so much, but "P" settled on offering us a full tank of petrol as a "good will gesture". I also made certain that my car would have the CD player, since I had since noticed from the Fiat literature that the CD player wasn't an available option on the SX model (it was only available on the higher range Sporting model). He assured us that it wasn't in their interest to mess around their customers, and that he'd ensure that the car did have a CD player. We said our goodbyes, and he told me that he'd phone when the car was ready.
It wasn't until we'd nearly reached my Dad's car to go back home that I thought to compare the number we'd just been given with the one I had been given the previous Thursday by phone. It won't take a great guess to realise that the numbers were in fact the same. (Or rather the last 8 numbers I'd just been given, tallied with the last 8 of the entire number I already had - this was fair proof that I hadn't just copied out the number, and claimed that I already had it). This was beginning to look like more than just an honest mistake.
We turned round, and went back again, my Dad went directly back to find "P", whilst I got a cup of coffee from their vending machine, and noted that If I was American, I'd sue over how full the plastic cup was, and how it was impossible to hold without scalding yourself on the hot liquid.
When he was told this (about the chassis number, not the coffee,) he looked a bit shaken again, and suggested that we could check the new number against the number of the original car (which was still parked on the forecourt. Incidentally it hadn't been given number plates yet, which seems odd, considering you'd expect all of that to have been ready by Friday, when the mistake was discovered - Evidence "E")
Whilst he was routing around in the offices trying to find the keys, I realised that the chassis number was also marked on the windscreen, so I noted this down.
He returned, and apologised, saying that he couldn't locate the keys. I told him that he probably didn't need to worry anyway, since the chassis number appeared to be marked on the windscreen too. He told me that it wasn't the chassis number, but some kind of new European registration code, that was now being put onto car windscreens for security. (Evidence "F")
We then went back inside, as he realised that he had all the vehicles paper records stored somewhere. He eventually found these, and showed us the original car's chassis number was indeed different from the one I'd just been given (But oddly it was identical to the "European Code" - Evidence "G")
Now moving on the next Saturday (a week after the car should have been available in the first place, and a fortnight since the test drive).
I phone in the morning, and am pleased to hear from "P" that the car is ready, and I should come and collect it.
So, we arrived at the showroom, noting that the original car was still sat on the forecourt, and went inside. When "P" finished doing whatever it was he was doing , he took to his desk. I handed over the bankers draft for the initial payment, and signed numerous forms to do with the finance, being certain to keep clear of the extra insurance package he tried to push (in case I became unemployed, and couldn't keep up the repayments.) I pointed out that I had enough money saved to be able to buy the car straight away, without going through finance at all, and I was just picking the interest free option as it was much more convenient, and allowed my savings to sit in their high interest account for longer.
Once everything was signed, I was handed the pack of manuals for the car. I noticed that one of the manuals was for a radio cassette player. I pointed this out, saying "shouldn't this be a CD player manual". Again, "P" looked worried, and said he'd just go and check. About 5 minutes passed (we spent this time sitting in all the Audis) when "P" was spotted (looking slightly flustered) heading towards the garage with a CD player in hand. About 10 minutes after this he returned, and handed me the CD player manual and removable fascia, and commented "Don't say I haven't done anything for you" (trying to pass off his own oversight as a favour to me!)
He then took me to the car, and took me though all the controls (which are well laid out) and warned me to always remove the CD player fascia, otherwise it's clock would flatten the car's battery (actually the manual states that you just need to turn it off by pressing the off button for a couple of seconds, but I'm beyond expecting him to know any of the products he's supposed to be selling)
At this point I noticed that it barely had any petrol in it, and reminded him that he promised me a full tank. He provided a credit note for a local petrol station (after being reminded again on the way out) and topped up without a hitch (after making sure the 1/4 of a tank that was in there was used up first!).
So there you have it. I'm still not sure if it was an honest mistake, or if there is something odd going on. It certainly looks like it was known on Thursday that I wasn't getting the car that I expected, since the guy who gave me the chassis number over the phone told me that he had found it in my file. If Thursday was "P"'s day off, then he'd have had to have known about this on Wednesday at the latest, in order for that to be on file. It seems odd that if a mistake had been discovered, it hadn't been relayed to me as soon as possible.
Also his continued uneasiness strongly look like the symptoms of someone lying through their teeth. He also appeared worried when he realised I had been given a chassis number, and was reluctant to give us a printout of the new car's details, things that wouldn't bother someone who was just trying to do his job and be helpful.
I suspect that, for some reason he had decided that I wouldn't actually buy the car, or that I wouldn't be able to get the insurance on the car (which I wouldn't have been able to do, had I not got the chassis number) and that he knew that the car in the showroom wasn't actually available at all (perhaps some kind of trick to make me hand over my deposit there and then, instead of when a car was actually ready)
Postamble
I originally planned to write this out more formally and make a proper complaint to Fiat head office, but somehow it all slipped my mind. I guess the fact that I really liked the car (and still do, a year on) made up for all the hassle it took actually getting the thing. I took it for it's first Annual service last week (Back to Hylton - what was I thinking!) but they actually did it quickly, without any major problems, bar them forgetting to wash it afterwards, but they did that while I waited (and drank more of their coffee, which now seems to be filled to a proper level in their plastic cups.)I'll probably try and find a different dealer to do it's 2nd year service, and it's MOT..