[Colin Lambert]

I have written to Skoda U.K. Executive office outlining the problems that are being 'suffered' by members of this forum.
Namely.......
Wheels, appalling dealer service, order lash~ups and removal of paints from an already dismal selection.
Hopefully my request to pass my comments on up the line to the 'Biggest Cheese' will result in some positive action, at least to resolve the poor dealer service, even if Skoda U.K. Cannot have any affect on Skoda-Auto.
We shall see how much they really do care!!
If those of you who have serious complaints about their dealers performance, lack of information, unhelpfulness etc would be prepared to name the dealer with address and nature of complaint, I am quite happy to pass the names on . Obviously it would be beneficial if I could do it as one big list rather than in dribs and drabs.

Frankly, If I could get hold of Herr Bernhard Maier's (Skoda CEO) email address I would send it to him as well.

Unfortunately this can only be for U.K. as I have no contacts above Skoda U.K.

 

[Colin Lambert]

I have now written to Skoda H.O. [email protected]
sending them the same email I sent to U.K. Executive Office.
That's it. Can't do anymore.
Mines a pint! :lol:

 

[KodiaqGirl]

Yesterday I sent a letter by email to Mr Maier (using [email protected]) and copied Mr Movassaghi ([email protected]) outlining my frustrations. Neither was returned as undeliverable, but maybe they get sidetracked to the Skoda Black Hole Department! To be fair, I think the dealerships are almost as much in the dark as us, although it doesn't excuse sloppy admin work, something perhaps due to a lack of incentive on their side. I feel most of the blame for this fiasco lies with whoever is running this show from the Czech Republic. That could be marketing, the strategy folk, the factory, even down to lack of supplies, or a combination of any. Whatever, it casts Skoda in a very different light to that in which they basked a few years back.
If I get a reply, and I am not holding my breath, I will share the outcome with our group. Meanwhile I am off to my dealer Friday to "clear the air"!

 

[Colin Lambert]

Well Done you!
Who is the
[email protected]
chap? what position does he hold? I haven't heard of him.
When I get your reply I'll send him the one I sent to U.K & Czech R
STOP PRESS!
Oh stuff it. I have sent it to both Maier and Duncan Movassaghi.

 

[Emma M]

Really impressed with you both, Colin & Kodiaq Girl. Thank you for doing this, I think everyone is frustrated and hopefully your efforts might shed some light on this whole debacle.

I don't know who you are Kodiaq Girl, but I like your attitude!

 

[thomas419924]

Wow no stopping Kodiaqgirl and Colin. Hope you get a reply. :!:

 

[KodiaqGirl]

I think his title is: Brand Director, SKODA UK at Volkswagen Group UK Ltd, which I would think / hope is about the top Skoda job in the UK.
As long as he really does answer mail addressed to him (not like our Prime Minister who never gets to see hers - it is passed as far down the line as possible! before being acknowledged by a clerk), then if he gets enough pointers that not all is rosy, then he should be able to get some answers.

Emma, I have been around long enough to know that when up against bureaucracy, incompetence, inaction and the like you can't do more than aim for as high as possible!

 

[thomas419924]

Well put 👍

 

[logibear]

Good work Colin and KodiaqGirl. Interested to hear what sort of response you get. Hopefully better than what I got from the dealer - been a week since I threatened to pull out of the sale and not a peep from them.

Best of luck guys.

 

[Colin Lambert]

How about written complaints about poor service from your dealers to
[email protected].
If they get enough they might actually sit up and take notice?

 

[Savage]

Good work you two
I haven't any grumbles about my dealer so far (early days but has been very helpful and have done what they promised), but I have complained to CS about the wheel debacle, they took my details but I am doubtful I'll get so much as an acknowledgement.

 

[neilysump]

Ditto - good work in complaining; been following this forum for some time, and the only thing that's holding me back from placing my order is the wheels: I love the look of the diamond cut trigalavs in the press shots (as we all do) and it'll niggle me like hell if I just accept the polished ones (private buyer, probably be keeping the car for >5 years). i'd rather wait until the situation changes, even if that means missing out on build for 6+months (rare patience on my part). I suspect they're keeping the wheels back for the sportline now to differentiate that line from the SEL/Edition. Poor form on Skoda UK's part of leading buyers to believe that's what they'd get.

 

[romanv]

In Slovenia, the configurator is still changing. Right now Columbus Business disappeared. What that really means? Is my order still valid?

 

[Colin Lambert]

HOORAY!
I have just had a 'phone call from my 'Best Friend' in Skoda U.K.
They got my original email addressed to 'Best Friend'
AND

They have got Kodiaqgirl's and my emails to Maier and Movassaghi. Whether those two gentlemen will actually get to see them is questionable. Movassaghi may as he is CEO Skoda U.K.
They are looking into the comments we made. It may take some time to find out why the wheel and the paint situation together with the weird build week disparities can be answered as the factory will have to be questioned about this.
I was also told that if anyone has any SPECIFIC complaints about dealers to write to [email protected]
I was told that it was very difficult for them to deal with specifics on fora as there were no personal details. Hence the request to email customer services on a personal basis
I am passably happy, I don't really give a stuff about the wheels, bit miffed that Jungle has been cancelled but V. chuffed that my car IS coming off the line shortly!

 

[OlivierW11]

FYI I have added my complaints to these two gentleman to your list:
Dear Mr Movassaghi,

I am writing you to complain about the specs proposed on the new Kodiaq. I currently own a Yeti L&K 2.0TDI.

It has been a very frustrating process so far, that has ended with me purchasing a Kodiaq anyway, but not feeling like I have been treated very well, and certainly not heard by the dealer, (Trans City, Walthamstow), who to be fair didn't seem to know much of what was happening.

My main annoyance, repeated on many occasions to the dealer but also to the marketing lady in attendance during the presentation evening, revolves around the colour palette and the wheels available.

I have ordered an Edition, that came with only one option of wheels, Triglav, but in Silver, not in the nice dark magnesium and black finish showed during various promotional films. To make matters worse, an OK alternative would have been to swap them for Sirius, available as standard in SE L guise. SE L gets the choice of a free upgrade to Triglav, but Edition doesn't get a choice of a free downgrade to Sirius???!!!! Why???? Why are you punishing clients of the higher specced models??? Also you presented the car with beautiful Cradle black wheels, that have not been made available in the UK, not even as an option!!!! Again, why not?

On another note, the colours…. Could you get them more repetitive and boring? Why isn't there any way to get nice deep reds, nice icy blue, grey/green stone? Just look at the colour palette proposed by Land Rover on the Discovery Sport! I ended up going for Jungle Green, only for that colour to be discontinued a couple of weeks ago… well done….

All in all, I still think the Kodiaq is and will be a fantastic car, but Skoda UK specs and Skoda's colour policy, along with the lack of communication and clarity towards the dealers has made the whole process less than enjoyable. (Again not blaming the dealers, they seemed to have be caught in all of this and tried to keep up the appearances&#8230

Thanks for your attention.

Olivier Wery

 

[Colin Lambert]

Well said that man. When I read yours out to SWMBO she said "was that you"? :lol:

 

[Murphy3]

Just added my complaint to those already sent, although it's not about Colour and wheels

On 19th January I placed an order (No. XXXXXXX) via Simpsons Skoda in Preston for a Skoda Kodiaq 1.4TSI 4X4 DSG.

Part of the reason for placing an order (at that time) was Skoda's reputation (via JD Power) for customer service, yet I now find myself very disappointed.

I have ordered the vehicle on a personal lease basis over 3 years financed through Skoda Finance.

My first issue was the about announcement that orders placed before the end of Feb would get a free VIP upgrade of the the Canton sound system and a few other options. Yet when I contacted the dealer, and subsequently Skoda Customer Service I was told "the offer is only applicable to Retails Sales " so already Skoda are classing me as a second class customer.

Part of the reason for placing the order on 19th January was due to the dealer advising me if price rises effective from 24th Jan. Therefore imagine my surprise, when the dealer rang me a week ago to state that due to changes in the VED, my monthly cost would be increasing by £9 per month. My only options at this stage were to cancel the order or agree to the increase.

Having investigated further, new new VED rates were published on 8th July 2015 so the tax cleanses should not have been a surprise to Skoda Finance. When that is combined with the fact the the UK launch date for the Kodiaq is 6th April, and therefore every vehicle would come under the new tax regime, I am at a loss to understand why the price quoted to me in January did not account for the tax changes.

Furthermore, for the vehicle I have ordered, the taxation changes are as follows:
Year 1 - increased from £185 to £500, thus us £315, which equates to the additional £9/month that I have now been asked to find
Years 2 & 3 - decrease from £185 to £140, therefore a reduction of £90, yet that does not seem to have been passed onto myself.

I raised the issue around taxation via the Contact Us facility on your website, under the category "Complaints" and was given case ID SD305518X - Complaint. Yesterday I spoke to one of your representatives called Abdul, who said they only dealt with complaints about dealers or vehicle issues, and therefore could do nothing. He then asked me to ring Skoda Finance on another number, stating quite the case number and they will have all the details.

After 1 hour on the phone speaking to 2 different ladies, neither could assist me. Both said they couldn't access the case, and both said that without a vehicle registration number or credit agreement number they couldn't help.

In summary my first impressions of dealing with Skoda are not very positive, and whilst I hope the service can only improve from here, I would appreciate a formal written response around the taxation change, and how skoda has handled it.

I sent this to the two email addresses already on this thread, together with customer services.

Let's see what happens

 

[OlivierW11]

Now.... that's interesting....
Just got a call from Skoda head office, the resolution department... Very apologetic... Case number, direct phone number to the lady who reports to the big boss... They'll try to sort out something when the car reaches the UK, she said... mmmhhhh.....

That's some kind of result I guess....

 

[Colin Lambert]

I have, this afternoon, received a reply from Head of Customer Quality & Network Development.
Not very impressed.
My reply first his incoming below.
Dear Mr J
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Just a couple of points if I may.
I have a code 20 build week of week NINE which ends tomorrow and you say it should be built by the end of March. I have always been led to believe that a code 20 is a FIRM build week, not to be altered. If you are correct and the car has not been built by tomorrow there is no point in the factory using production codes and then not sticking to them.
Steph Keenan told me yesterday that it was 'on the line'.
Tom Sexton (MEADENS)checked today and said it is not yet built and hopefully would be tomorrow..

Personally I am not fussed about the wheels. But the appallingly boring colour palette is frankly a disgrace on such a wonderful new flagship model. Why on earth did they not at least use the green of the Vision S?
I am not overjoyed that the least boring colour I chose (Jungle) is already discontinued. What ARE the factory playing at?
With all the messing about with what is generally considered by all those I have spoken to to be a complete cock up of a launch I was at one point going to buy a Subaru instead. It is only because of my loyalty to Skoda & Tom Sexton that I have put up with the situation..
I only hope the Kodiaq lives up to my expectations. So far, not very impressed!
Yours sincerely,
Colin Lambert.
On 3 Mar 2017 16:30, [email protected] wrote:
Dear Mr Lambert

Thank you for bringing these questions to the attention of Duncan Movassaghi, Director of ŠKODA UK from the Kodiaq forum. We are able to provide the following answers for you.

The Kodiaq Edition model has been specifically produced as a Hero Car for the UK market, which provides extra equipment over the SE L trim, with a customer saving based on individual option prices. Therefore, we are unable to offer alternative wheels on the Edition model. However, alternative wheels will be available as a dealer fit accessory at launch. There are a number of alternative wheels which will be made available as a dealer fit accessory which will be published in the coming days.

In relation to your query regarding the exterior colours available, Corrida Red and Jungle Green are being removed from the colour options for Kodiaq later this year, with replacements due. This affects all cars built at the Kvasiny plant, which also includes the Yeti and Superb.

We're pleased to say that your vehicle will take 12-13 weeks to build, and should be completed by the end of March, with delivery expected before the end of April. We are monitoring your order and will do everything in our power to expedite this to the Retailer for the earliest possible delivery date.

The Kodiaq launch has always been scheduled for 6 April, and no cars will be delivered before this date.

On average, the order to delivery schedule for a customer without any production restrictions would be 10-12 weeks. However, Factory enforced restrictions, where certain items of equipment are limited by production can extend these lead times. This can result in longer build and delivery times.

At ŠKODA UK we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and communication. We would urge any Kodiaq forum members wishing to discuss their order progress to contact the Customer Service Team directly on 0333 00 375 04, who will be more than happy to assist with any questions.

Kind regards

Head of Customer Quality & Network Development

 

[Paymaster]

Colin, not good news, I suppose I can kiss goodbye to my week 11 build then. Skoda are doing a huge disservice to their dealers who hand out those codes and tell their clients that the vehicle will be built on time only to have to explain that this was not true. Customer services phoned me this morning and stated that the factory guaranteed that my vehicle would be built w/c 13 Feb, I won't hold my breath!