Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

REPLY FROM VOLVO CUSTOMER SERVICES!!!!!

Thank you for your email. I have taken the time to read the comments from other users and it seems to me that the majority put the handling down to being a feature of 17" wheels and that 16" wheels resolve the issue for them, in some cases even diffent tyres on the 17" wheels help to remedy the matter. The impression that I got from the contributors to the forum was that this is a subjective matter and for some it is an issue and others it is not. Some vehicles too have had a technical issue which has been diagnosed by their dealers and corrected. I am conserned that two of our dealers investigated the matter for you, one before the independant inspection was carried out at your request and our expense and one after. Subsequent to the latter inspection at which some correctives action was taken, you indicated to our dealership that the handling was much improved but that you may prefer to have 16" wheels. At the time we were unable to source 16" wheels for the reason previosly given.

I appreciate your predicament, however, when you decided to buy your car it was in the knowledge that it had 17" wheels. Unless the steering has deteriorated due to a manufacturing or material defect, then repairs to it cannot be made under warrenty. Your dealer is best placed to investigate your conserns and to take any corrective action that they believe necessary. I can only recomend that you bring any current issues to their attention. The recent recall for the volvo V70/S60/S80 was with regard to the ball joints and is only applicable to model year 2004 cars within a specific chassis range. Research and development is an ongoing process and inhancements continue to take place during the whole life cycle of the vehicle. This is not to say that the previously used components were faulty.

I am sorry Mr Page, that you remain dissapointed with the handling of your car. If you believe that changing from 17" wheels to 16" ones will better suit you, then i am affraid that this is a decision that only you can make. I do not believe that we have a responsibility to replace those wheels with smaller ones, I am therefore going to have to decline to purchase or assist with the supply of 16" wheels as requested in your second email recived today.

I am sorry that i cannot help you any further.

Veronica Knight
Customer Relations Consultant

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Thank you for reading this email that i have recived from volvo.
Please can you email me back with your comments on this email that i have recived from volvo.

Mr Kevin Page (minuteman)

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

Minuteman,

I haven't seen the e-mail that you sent to customer services but from the response I gather that you have seen an improvement in the driveability of your car and the only issue you now have is that the 17" wheels are causing a problem of some sort.

In all fairness, Volvo seem to have done a fair bit to rectify the situation and I don't really think it would be reasonable to expect them to replace the wheels of your car when you personally chose 17" wheels to be fitted to the vehicle. It's a well known fact that larger wheels affect comfort and ride quality.

Maybe you could ask Volvo if you could borrow a set of 16" wheels to try out on your car before you decide whether or not to replace your current wheels. If you do decide to replace them you may find that you can buy a second hand set from somewhere like Ebay and then sell yours, possibly for more than you paid for the replacements.

As mentioned previously, my comments are based on what I THINK you have said to Volvo. I may have mis-interpreted the response from Volvo but as far as I can determine, the technical issue has been resolved and the only remaining issue is ride quality which appears to be as a result of the wheel size. Therefore, if the technical issue has been resolved I don't think Volvo are being unreasonable by refusing to replace the wheels.

Just my opinion though.

Regards

Andy

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

I can't believe Volvos attitude on this.

I work in the service industry and if the customer isn't happy you try and resolve the issue as their lack of custom in the future will affect the business in the long term.

I sourced 18'' V70R alloys from the states for less than £70 each. The trade cost of them would clearly be less than that.

I would have thought that Volvo could pay for a set of new 16'' alloys as a gesture of goodwill to keep the customer or swop the existing 17''s for a set of 16''s off a second hand car sat on a dealers forecourt.

Volvo should try and keep customers and attract new ones, not irritate existing ones.

Just my opinion ;-)

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

As far as I can see, the email states that the technical problem (pulling to one side) has been rectified - is that so?

If the only remaining problem is ride comfort, then I'm afraid that is a factor with large wheels - some like the firm ride as I do, but some find it too "crashy" over potholes etc.

A possible solution is tyre choice - Michelin Pilot Sports are much better for ride than some other 45 profile tyres such as Kumhos and Falkens (and Bridgestones apparently) so if you go to your local tyre specialist, you may find a partial remedy.

The other is to put your 17" up for sale and get some 16" wheels as has been suggested - you may be able to do a swap with someone who wants bigger rims for a big brake kit (talk to Kalmar Union about this, as Don sells big brakes and a wheel swap might well be a deal-maker for someone who wants the brakes but still hasn't the wheels to fit round them).

I am disgusted with Volvo UK's reply for a different reason than others - the spelling is atrocious and should not be tolerated from a customer service person in a major company!

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

And I thought I was the only one that had to put up with poor spelling from an English based company. Perhaps they re-route our letters via a call centre in India!

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

While I agree that the average standard of today's spelling (and grammar) leaves a lot to be desired, our desire for instant answers means that we have to expect less than perfect written English most of the time. While our email software package may have a spell check facility, it's rare to find it linked to a forum board where grammatical and spelling errors are very common. But that's the price of immediacy and I doubt if I would like to be judged by the grammar and spelling of my posts all the time. But I think you will find that the standard of written English from countries like India where English is taught properly is rather higher than we can expect at home. So let's have less of the prejudice guys - let he who is without sin cast the first stone!

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

While the subject of spelling does not contribute to the technical content, the odd comment seems appropriate.

I would state that I have of necessity had a good deal of correspondence with Volvo Customer Service. While the quality of responses sometimes failed to meet expectations on technical merit, in fairness to them and the likes of Veronica, spelling could never be criticised.

I would agree with Simon J comments about typing direct, unless you are much practiced, hitting the wrong key is quite easy and errors in text do not always stand out, but you can always go in again and edit. Suspect Kevin may not have copied in his transmission, only he knows whether he re-typed!

Also for what it is worth, I worked in India some time back and many of the standards were in advance of some of our own.

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

Obviously you have not had the pleasure of dealing with a call centre in India. I appreciate it is not their home language, I am just annoyed that all these unpatriotic British companies are exporting jobs. As a result of the loss on revenue to the treasury, the chancellor will be looking around at ways to recoup that money and the first people he will hit yet again will be the motorist!

RE: Volvos Customer Service Reply to S60 D5 STEERING PROBLEMS
 

I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent, so I think I shall withdraw from this particular debate!


Simon J

Totally agree, spelling in the e-mail was shocking