Even worth complaining to VWOA?

[KevinC]

From my past experience, VWoA will tell you it's between you and the dealer and basically do nothing. If the GM is blowing you off, I'd track down the owner of the dealership and get through to him directly, which might be challenging but likely worth it if you can get him to hear you out. Good luck!

 

[cornercarver]

During the signing of paperwork did they give you a carbon copy receipt titled "we owe you"? If not the dealership could say that the fogs were only agreed to during the preliminary negotiations. Based on the experience with them which you advised, If you did not get an we owe you document then I would expect them to attempt to get out of any agreement that was not signed during the purchase.

 

[yosoydan]

If you and the dealer entered into an agreement (documented in writing), and they're not holding up their end of the bargain, I recommend contacting your state's consumer protection bureau. Submit a formal complaint with all documents and tell them what happened. They will get in contact with that dealership. Hope you get this resolved quickly.

 

[TheGreekFreak]

Which leads me to the question, are they even needed with the lighting package in the event of fog

As far as the dealer giving you the slow shuffle goes, they possibly had an "Oh Crap" moment when they discovered they may have to replace the whole front fascia, change the wiring and install a new switch etc, etc. The salesman that agreed to that deal may be on a boat to Siberia now. You may want to forget this and love what you have. Just saying.

Fogs were a must for me. I've had them on all of my cars and love them, for aesthetics more than purpose I suppose.

I offered to make things easy on them to avoid that hassle and just have a separate little switch installed so that they don't tap into the OEM electrical components, as long as it wasn't ghetto looking. I did insist on the actual LED lights being OEM but didn't if it was tapped into the OEM switch or not.

There is no way I would fold on the light issue. I would dog 'em until they installed those lights perfectly, no matter how much they tried to dodge their responsibility.

I'm with you, no way I'm letting this one go. Like I said, I'm generally pretty passive and let things slide but when someone rubs you the wrong way long enough, you say screw it. I'll eat the time/inconvenience it takes just to get them to do what they promised.

From my past experience, VWoA will tell you it's between you and the dealer and basically do nothing. If the GM is blowing you off, I'd track down the owner of the dealership and get through to him directly, which might be challenging but likely worth it if you can get him to hear you out. Good luck!

So I filed a formal complaint with VW of America over the phone today in addition to the letter. They told me they would contact that dealer and a regional something something would contact me tomorrow to update me.

During the signing of paperwork did they give you a carbon copy receipt titled "we owe you"? If not the dealership could say that the fogs were only agreed to during the preliminary negotiations. Based on the experience with them which you advised, If you did not get an we owe you document then I would expect them to attempt to get out of any agreement that was not signed during the purchase.

They did not, only cuz I didn't know that even existed. I had them put that the fog light install was included in the notes section of the initial agreement I signed when I gave my deposit.

In fact, they tried to screw me out of my deposit later, saying it was part of the agreed price when it was not. I pointed back to that agreement and they gave me the refund right away. Don't see how that is not binding when my deposit was given on the basis of that agreement. Forget the name of it, I'll find it when I get home.

If you and the dealer entered into an agreement (documented in writing), and they're not holding up their end of the bargain, I recommend contacting your state's consumer protection bureau. Submit a formal complaint with all documents and tell them what happened. They will get in contact with that dealership. Hope you get this resolved quickly.

That would be the next step. Tbh, I don't think they're trying to get out of it. I just think they are so incompetent and care so little about their customers, they just neglect to return calls and brush things aside as long as they can.

They also seemed generally ticked off with me about my requests (no holes in the bumpers, don't let anyone wash the car, make sure it has no more than 100 miles on it, no tire polish, etc). I know I may not be their normal customer who doesn't give a crap, but it should make no difference in how they treat me. Especially when they've messed up so many times.

 

[Stickman]

Fogs were a must for me. I've had them on all of my cars and love them, for aesthetics more than purpose I suppose.
/QUOTE]

Not to be argumentative but if that was the most important thing to you why not just get the S or the SE and avoid all this? Volkswagen builds them their way as of 2017 not the buyer's. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but you set yourself up for this debacle by asking for something that they can't deliver. A confluence of naiveté' if you will. Further, you must be dreaming if you think any dealer is going to carve up a new car under warranty to cobble together some feature it wasn't intended to have. You can stamp your feet and hold your breath all you want but this will never happen.

 

[TheGreekFreak]

Not to be argumentative but if that was the most important thing to you why not just get the S or the SE and avoid all this? Volkswagen builds them their way as of 2017 not the buyer's. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but you set yourself up for this debacle by asking for something that they can't deliver. A confluence of naiveté' if you will. Further, you must be dreaming if you think any dealer is going to carve up a new car under warranty to cobble together some feature it wasn't intended to have. You can stamp your feet and hold your breath all you want but this will never happen.

Fair question. While fogs were a must, they weren't "the most important thing". Most important I would say was the color, PP, LP, and cloth seats which the sport has.

Dreaming that they would do this? Why would the manager agree to it when the salesman brought him the offer and why would they put it on paper that they would do it if they can't deliver? Whether its smart on their part to agree to this or not is their problem, not mine. Other dealers told me flat out NO which is fine. If you can't deliver the goods, don't lie and say u can, right?

As to whether it will ever happen or not, we'll see. I'm not letting it go so, if it comes to it, one of us is losing in court. I feel like I have the paperwork and email trail to justify my gripe in terms of the law.

 

[TheGreekFreak]

Update: Found the paper I was talking about. It IS an official "We Owe", printed on an official form SA-1506, and it lists several things we agreed on including the LED fog lights installed, no bumper holes, AND a specific note that the car is to be factory ordered!

Now, like I said, I let the factory order thing go but this paper alone proves everything I'm saying to be true. All with the manager's signature on the bottom.

It actually includes more things like applying a previous GTI $1000 rebate when the car arrives, which they did honor.

Glad that's settled, I'll bring this up with the VW rep tomorrow and hopefully get these in within the week and be done with that place for good.

 

[-Dutch-]

Good for you. Stand your ground and get yours.

 

[bpw]

So, eat another $400 + install (so, say $500 total), on top of the $200 paint correction (which is a steal in this area for the work the guy is doing)? Plus lose the 3yr warranty on the fogs? Why should I let them get off the hook that easy?

Sure, its a headache, but I refuse to eat this one. For both the money and principle. I'll happily take that 500 bucks and spend it on other mods knowing it didn't get wasted because of them.

I'm not aware of the entire situation i guess, I was just thinking you had to pop some fog lights in which takes less than a hour. My bad.

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Give me a "we owe you" document? These guys couldn't get the purchase and sales agreement right! It was a 4 day ordeal of long periods of silence on their end and pissed off visits by me to get them to correct their stupid mistakes and send the paperwork to my insurance/credit union on that one mess up alone. Incompetence to the highest degree. I do have the fogs in writing from when I put down the deposit as I refused to sign until it was on paper along with no holes in the bumpers.

Like I said, I'm usually extremely patient and forgiving with people, especially when I see they're trying to make a living. But come on, enough is enough.



Thank you for your understanding. Its crazy, we work so hard to make money, it shouldn't be this hard to spend it!



Ya, I threw a little jab about the swirl marks in my letter but it is not something I want them to correct. My main complaint was the things they lied about and their awful communication. Like you said, they would end up making it worse. I don't mind biting the bullet on that one, but no way in hell I'm paying for LED fogs when they were promised to me.

I would feel exactly like you at this point, I too am very patient, I mean, I had to wait over a year to find out what the hell was happening to my TDI lol. But, lies, no return calls or emails, not following through, dragging their feet, all reasons for a VWoA FOM(Forward Ops Manager) and auditors to come knocking on the door...

I'm guessing they have purged your email from their system so you stop getting surveys also. That way you can't nail them on those. Ass hats. Sounds like a doomed dealer to me, their days are numbered.

 

[TheGreekFreak]

I would feel exactly like you at this point, I too am very patient, I mean, I had to wait over a year to find out what the hell was happening to my TDI lol. But, lies, no return calls or emails, not following through, dragging their feet, all reasons for a VWoA FOM(Forward Ops Manager) and auditors to come knocking on the door...

I'm guessing they have purged your email from their system so you stop getting surveys also. That way you can't nail them on those. Ass hats. Sounds like a doomed dealer to me, their days are numbered.

Exactly, you guessed it right. No surveys coming my way lol.

So, another update: To be fair, VW customer care has been GREAT and on top of the whole situation from the time I called. They promised they would call me within 24 hours and have delivered. Woo hoo, I get a call back as promised, who knew that was possible???

Interestingly, I get a TEXT from the manager I'm having issues with this morning saying how he's left me all these messages/texts (LIE) and how I WAS THE ONE not returning his calls. I didn't waste my breath telling him I would be happy to show my call/text logs and untouched voicemail box to his boss if it came down to that.

Before I could decide how to respond to this ass clown, I get a voicemail from the general manager saying he wants to talk to me and clear everything up today. I called him back, left a message, still haven't heard back but I'll give it another day or two before I start fuming again.

Thus far, the VW rep has been great. He told me they are trying to negotiate a way for the dealership to just pay another in the area that I want to deal with and have me take it there to get the fog lights in (covered under warranty with the new dealership), as I expressed that I do not want my car serviced at the original dealership and will only take it for the fog lights if there is no way around it.

I regret not contacting VW customer care earlier when the whole order fiasco happened. Sometimes its better to go over someones head and get what you want off the bat. Another lesson learned. They are also sending me a $200 VISA card for my troubles. Its not much but anything at this point helps bring my blood pressure down.

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Fogs were a must for me. I've had them on all of my cars and love them, for aesthetics more than purpose I suppose.
/QUOTE]

Not to be argumentative but if that was the most important thing to you why not just get the S or the SE and avoid all this? Volkswagen builds them their way as of 2017 not the buyer's. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but you set yourself up for this debacle by asking for something that they can't deliver. A confluence of naiveté' if you will. Further, you must be dreaming if you think any dealer is going to carve up a new car under warranty to cobble together some feature it wasn't intended to have. You can stamp your feet and hold your breath all you want but this will never happen.

Usually if the part isn't a VW accessory from the Parts Department catalog, they won't, correct. Mudflaps, lowering springs, those are fair game. But unfortunately(I also looked into when buying mine) fogs are not

 

[PouncingPanzer1]

Exactly, you guessed it right. No surveys coming my way lol.

So, another update: To be fair, VW customer care has been GREAT and on top of the whole situation from the time I called. They promised they would call me within 24 hours and have delivered. Woo hoo, I get a call back as promised, who knew that was possible???

Interestingly, I get a TEXT from the manager I'm having issues with this morning saying how he's left me all these messages/texts (LIE) and how I WAS THE ONE not returning his calls. I didn't waste my breath telling him I would be happy to show my call/text logs and untouched voicemail box to his boss if it came down to that.

Before I could decide how to respond to this ass clown, I get a voicemail from the general manager saying he wants to talk to me and clear everything up today. I called him back, left a message, still haven't heard back but I'll give it another day or two before I start fuming again.

Thus far, the VW rep has been great. He told me they are trying to negotiate a way for the dealership to just pay another in the area that I want to deal with and have me take it there to get the fog lights in (covered under warranty with the new dealership), as I expressed that I do not want my car serviced at the original dealership and will only take it for the fog lights if there is no way around it.

I regret not contacting VW customer care earlier when the whole order fiasco happened. Sometimes its better to go over someones head and get what you want off the bat. Another lesson learned. They are also sending me a $200 VISA card for my troubles. Its not much but anything at this point helps bring my blood pressure down.

VWoA Customer Care is fantastic. I was drunk one night and had a TDI buyback question. I called at like 1am and the lady was super friendly, and was glad to deal with this(at the time) distraught Polack. Lol. I have also seen customers who fried their ECMs from jumping the battery backwards, or misfuel their TDIs complain to customer care and get the jobs covered anywhere from 50-100%. So, there is something to calling them.

As I mentioned in an old thread http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27510 customer care is a great resource you all can use 24/7 with or without a dealer. This thread may also be an interesting read for you since you recently have had HORRIBLE dealer experiences.

 

[armedferret]

VWoA Customer Care is fantastic.

I hope so. I had the same issue as mesaboogie (same place in fact) with the dealer wash bay swirling up my paint something horrible. That's the *ONLY* place my car has ever been washed (and i told them twice not to take it through their wash bay because I know better--they did it anyway). Nowhere else since I got it late January.

They're fixing mesaboogie's paint. Told me it was "normal wear and tear" for scratches and swirls and they weren't doing anything.

So far it's been voicemail tag with the woman assigned to my complaint.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

Back in 2005 my 2002 Jetta GLI went into "limp mode" when a couple of its ignition coils died on me. No biggie I thought and had it towed into the dealership. VW paid for an el cheapo rental, but after a week, I was starting to get feisty. It seems that VW's supplier of ignition coils sent them a massive amount of defective ones and there was a national back-order on the parts. After my second week without my car, and countless "we expect to get the part any day" excuses from the dealership, I tracked down the home address of the head of VWoA out in the Detroit area (thank you, internet!), and sent him a registered letter asking for somebody to get my car running again. I received a rather terse response, pretty much saying "we're sorry about your situation, but don't contact me at home again." Two days later the dealership called me telling me that my car was ready to go. I can't be sure that my letter actually made things happen, but then again. . . Just sayin.