I need to send a letter of complaint about a Subaru dealer.

Does anyone know who I need to write too, I do I just write a letter address to the Manager of said Dealership?

Thanks.

Lucy

 

I would send it to the dealership first.Then if the problem isn't resolved to a satisfactory level send it to Subaru UK (i would also inform the dealership that you intend to do this).

I suppose it depends on the problem itself - are you able to enlighten us?

 

Address to "Dealer Principle"

 

Agree, address to dealer principle, I would put on the bottom "cc Subaru UK (IM Group)", don't actually send it to them YET, but I've found the little threat can works wonders...you can alwasy send it on to IM later!

Simon

 

Consumer Direct have some good standard letters you can download too if you want some hints.

5t.

 

Would someone mind if I pm them the problem i have to see if I'm wasting my time ?

 

Just phone up the garage and ask the receptionist who the manager is.

I once wrote a letter of complaint about my local Ford Garage a few years ago as they couldn't fix (after 5 atempts) a common problem with my Focus RS.

What you should do though, is write to Subaru customer services with your complaint, and send a copy of the letter to the manager of the Dealership. You'll get further with customer services than the Dealership.

That's what I did. Ford bent over backward to help. Transported my car to another Dealership (one of there trusted dealers) and as compensation took the 2 small car parking dents out of the door and 6 months later phoned me up offering me a free service.

The only thing negative that came out of it was I'm not welcome at the Ford dealer anymore. Made worse as I've known the owner and his son for many years.

 

You'll get better feedback just printing it on here.

 

I dunno if it still happens, but Ford Dealers get a VERY stroppy letter from their Customer Services, known as a "red devil" since they are printed in red, if they receive complaints.

Trust me, the dealer DOES NOT want too many of them, as there are sanctions

I'd write to Dealer principle, cc IM.

And I agree, post on here waht you feel the problem is, but don't name any names. You'll then get balanced, (and some un-balanced ) advice

Alcazar

 

Ok here goes. I'm not sure I have a leg to stand but it just makes me angry as its added expense due to someone elses incompetence.

I bought my scoob from a main dealer 3 years ago. Before I picked the car up they did the big service which involved the cambelt.

My car was in booked in today for its next cambelt change (a specialist garage who have done my car for the last year).

Anyway they have come back to me with:

Upon removing the Cambelt covers (there are 2) there are some of the captive nuts which are housed in the backing plates, which are broken. This means that these backing plates will need replacing. I have had an estimate of £30 each (there are 2), but it is not clear yet whether the covers will need replacing too (similar price). I didn’t want to go any further with stripping the parts off as that would render the car immobile and Subaru want 2-3 days to order the parts (unless they can be bought from somewhere 2nd hand?). As it stands, it may be possible to re-assemble the car, order the parts, then tackle it at a later date.

As the dealer was the last person to touch it they obviously fecked it up and had some spanner money doing the job.

Its been three years and I know I'm angry at the mo and probably have no comeback but will feel better if I rant

and breathe

 

id very much doubt they would even entertain you.

3 years is a long time.

 

Hmmmmm. I'm not sure whether you will get away with that because its unlikely you can prove that its not been tampered with since. The dealership will be able to say that you could have taken it to a monkey in the last 3 years. At least its only a case of £100-150 as it could be a lot worse.

Steve

 

Yeah as thought.

I'll just go around bad mouthing them instead to make me feel better

 

Hmmm.

Right. I'd be tempted to walk into the dealership and have a word with the Service manager. State what has happened and ask the specialist to write a report that you can present to the service manager.

They could argue that it could have been tampered with, but if you're polite and forthright you can put your case over that why would you have tampered with it?

At the end of the day even if they don't admit blame, you might get them to contribute to the cost in some form. More so if you say you are waiting for the new Impreza to come out as you were planning on buying one from that dealership.

Try. What have you to lose?

 

Or even, "Dealer Principal", which s/he will probably prefer...

 

Yeah its not nice, but end of the day it cant be that much of a problem its lasted this long without causing any harm?

 

this is the person you need it to get to.

 

whats to say that they didn't break as the ham fisted ape you gave it to undone them due to them all being rusted up.

you will get no where with this as it can't be the dealerships fault they went rusty.

 

Depends how busy you are Lou. If you can afford the time, a letter to the dealer manager might be worth a shot on the basis of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. And if that fails, you still have the badmouthing option to fall back on

 

Can I suggest you ring up the garage and ask for the dealer principal's [this is the correct spelling by the way] name so you write a personal letter starting:

Dear Mr ...............

Reference: Car Reg and date or something similar

Blah Blah


Yours sincerely

Make sure you send it by recorded delivery and keep a copy obviously!

Give him 7 days to respond from the day the letter arrives.

No response?

Send another letter, with a copy of the first

Dear Mr..............

Reference: My letter to you dated ........, copy attached

Am I to be afforded the courtesy of a reply?

Yours sincerely

No response or inadequate response, then contact Subaru direct, but again try and get a name to write to.

Good luck!

 

Erm it is a problem hence the cost to fix it.

I'd rather not take any chances with a cambelt

 

1. I trust this garage 200% and know they wouldn't lie. Whereas dealerships are renowed for employing ham fisted apes.

2. Where does it say they were rusted up? Seems you know more than the garage

 

Worth a go I s'pose but as said 3 years is a heck of a long time, most likely just be wasting your time. There's no way for you to prove that no one else has had a mess around since it was looked at originally. Hope you do get a result but it'd be quite a surprise. Good luck!

 

I know but as cambelts are only done every few years they knew full well I wouldn't find out until the next one.

Anyway I will feel better sending a letter to the dealership and IM

Oh and I'm already bad mouthing them to anyone who will listen

 

True. As said, good luck with it mate. Let us know how you get on. Personally it seems to me that customer service is totally dead as of recent years so it would be nice to hear of someone getting a decent result!!

 

Yeah will keep you updated. IM may have had complaint letters about this dealership before so another will add a nail in the coffin if thats the case

 

Well just sold my car and told the new owner to keep away from the Main Dealer

Told them what happened so they will spread the word too

 

i'm pretty sure they wouldn't want you as a customer either!

 

ahhh so you admit they were rusted up now your like one of those dodgy customers that blame the garage for the slightest thing that goes wrong with a car,

customer: you fitted a headlight bulb to my car 3 yrs ago and now the rear wiper doesn't work it's all your fault and i want a new car as compensation.

i got a feeling you might get told where to go if you do send a letter.

 

I say again, where does it say they were rusted up and where do I admit they were rusted up?

I await your reply