Dealer service stories

[scoutleader]

Originally Posted by Hartlepool Mariner

I cant find anything positive to say about my experiences with main dealer servicing at Mill (Stoneacre) at Stockton.

After parting with the thick end of £500 for a 36,000 mile service they missed a warning light on the emissions control system, got the the tyre tread depth wrong, overfilled the engine oil, missed a low adblue level light and botched the cabin air filter replacement.

I don't think Volvo care about their customers. Roll on March 2021 when the lease expires on my XC90

I also live in Hartlepool but try not to use Mill (Stoneacre), nor does my father who drives an XC40. We both use Riverside in Hull for sales and servicing! Well worth the drive as we also receive the same excellent service as others have mentioned about their Doncaster branch.

Only times I have used Mill is to replace 'powerpulse' pipes - two of which were replacements of their replacements ,which I suspect were incorrectly fitted!!

On mentioning this thread to my father he commented that a friend of his has just had his V90 into Stockton Stoneacre for first service and they managed to send it back with problems!

[Davebbass]

Originally Posted by m2srt

We have been very happy with Clive Brook Huddersfield. Can't fault them at all.

I'm also very satisfied with Clive Brook Huddersfield. From my initial visit to "have a look", right through to aftercare has been top notch. I bought my V90 in May, it was Fiona the salesperson's first day (she'd moved over from the Bradford branch, so been with the company a good while), and she was fantastic. Very knowledgable and friendly, and kept me well up to date through the purchase process.

Unfortunately a month or so a go, the car developed a couple of faults, all easily fixable under warranty. The front of house and service staff were all great, I had a decent courtesy car (XC60) for the majority of the week that mine was in for, and they simply run a policy where you just need to return it with the fuel it came with in it. It's the little things that count, such as walking in and being greeted with "Hello Mr Butterworth" before I've even said hello and that I was here to collect my car. The service is way above RRG Skoda Rochdale, who my previous Superb was with.

It's just been in again this week, one of the faults it went in for (steering wheel button pack, surprise surprise), and as soon as I rang up to book it in, they were very apologetic and wanted to get the car booked in as soon as possible. I took it in yesterday, had a very clean and well presented courtesy car again and great service from the team. When I picked it up I have various questions to ask as well, things like retrofitting Apple Car Play, service plans, extended warranty, breakdown assist... and despite supposedly finishing just as I arrived to collect the car, the advisor was more than happy to take me through everything and have a general chat, and also for when it's in for the repair next week (part ordered), do I have a particular requirement for a courtesy car... I remember taking a Skoda Superb in for some warranty work, and had a few days with a CitiGo

I'll easily give Clive Brook Huddersfield 110%!

[Petey80]

Unfortunately a bad experience with my local Volvo dealership - Mill, Stockton [or Stoneacre]

As I had no record of my A/C system ever being serviced, I decided to take advantage of Mill/Stoneacre's Summer A/C Service offer.

You could have a Gold or Platinum Spring Service, can't remember exactly, but both provided an A/C health check, re-gas, bacterial clean and test etc. and the more expensive option included a pollen filter change.

I opted just for the cheaper package without the pollen filter change as I do that myself.

Booked it in and dropped the car off [V50 D2]. Was given a V40 as a courtesy car, however only received "it's petrol and replace any that you use". No going over the car or anything.

Then during the day I received the "Health Check" video by the tech. Confirmed the system had been re-gassed and that all my tyres were wearing on the inside edge.

No mention of wheel alignment needed, or offered, just "4 new tyres".

Returned to the dealer to collect the car and spoke to the kids on the front desk. Tried to check that the re-gas, check, bacterial clean had all been done as advertised when booked in over the phone. They couldn't tell me what had been done.
Asked for the keys to my car, the girl had a blank look on her face, hunted around the desk and realised they must still be in the workshop.
She went to fetch those and also the tech that worked on my car.

The tech came out, and this is the best bit, explained that the A/C system failed a pressure test, but was re-gassed anyway. Surely if it failed a pressure test, there's a leak in the system?? which he also mentioned, as supposedly the A/C system on the D2 is a bit of a pain to work on. So he just broke the law there then didn't he???
Then he explained that the 1 available lift wasn't working and only got the car so far off the ground. This begs the question on how much of the "Health Check" was actually carried out.

Put in a complaint to Volvo UK, who bounced it back to the dealership, who tried to call me back once within a 2 week period of bringing it to Volvo UK's attention. Then Volvo UK said I should call them, which I declined as surely if a customer is unhappy with service, THEY should be the ones to chase it up???

Was a bit pee'd off as I had previously spent £500 and over £1000 with the dealership having DPF pressure pipes and sensor replaced and then the DMF, Clutch & SC replaced.

Anyway, I let it go. Got new wheels and tyres and wheel alignment done elsewhere. Learned my lesson and won't use that dealership again for servicing.
The parts department on the other hand are excellent and I'll continue to use those guys.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Petey80

Unfortunately a bad experience with my local Volvo dealership - Mill, Stockton [or Stoneacre]

As I had no record of my A/C system ever being serviced, I decided to take advantage of Mill/Stoneacre's Summer A/C Service offer.

You could have a Gold or Platinum Spring Service, can't remember exactly, but both provided an A/C health check, re-gas, bacterial clean and test etc. and the more expensive option included a pollen filter change.

I opted just for the cheaper package without the pollen filter change as I do that myself.

Booked it in and dropped the car off [V50 D2]. Was given a V40 as a courtesy car, however only received "it's petrol and replace any that you use". No going over the car or anything.

Then during the day I received the "Health Check" video by the tech. Confirmed the system had been re-gassed and that all my tyres were wearing on the inside edge.

No mention of wheel alignment needed, or offered, just "4 new tyres".

Returned to the dealer to collect the car and spoke to the kids on the front desk. Tried to check that the re-gas, check, bacterial clean had all been done as advertised when booked in over the phone. They couldn't tell me what had been done.
Asked for the keys to my car, the girl had a blank look on her face, hunted around the desk and realised they must still be in the workshop.
She went to fetch those and also the tech that worked on my car.

The tech came out, and this is the best bit, explained that the A/C system failed a pressure test, but was re-gassed anyway. Surely if it failed a pressure test, there's a leak in the system?? which he also mentioned, as supposedly the A/C system on the D2 is a bit of a pain to work on. So he just broke the law there then didn't he???
Then he explained that the 1 available lift wasn't working and only got the car so far off the ground. This begs the question on how much of the "Health Check" was actually carried out.

Put in a complaint to Volvo UK, who bounced it back to the dealership, who tried to call me back once within a 2 week period of bringing it to Volvo UK's attention. Then Volvo UK said I should call them, which I declined as surely if a customer is unhappy with service, THEY should be the ones to chase it up???

Was a bit pee'd off as I had previously spent £500 and over £1000 with the dealership having DPF pressure pipes and sensor replaced and then the DMF, Clutch & SC replaced.

Anyway, I let it go. Got new wheels and tyres and wheel alignment done elsewhere. Learned my lesson and won't use that dealership again for servicing.
The parts department on the other hand are excellent and I'll continue to use those guys.

Firstly there is no such thing as a Volvo Air conditioning service , they require no servicing whatsoever .
If they are cooling adequately they are ok ...
you don't need to change a pollen filter as they are changed every year on the service so are always clean ...

Failed a pressure test? you cannot measure AC gas content by a pressure test ... if it was genuinely "low" then you would have no cooling going on ....
The only way to measure gas content is to remove it , the machine weighs what comes out , AC gas amount is measured by weight , nothing else ...

Bacterial clean .... Only needed if you have foul smells coming through the vents ** . Volvo Evaporators have an anti bacterial coating and I have never had a case of bad smells in the last 10 years with any volvo .

This is purely a money making exercise just like fuel "cleaner" ,
"Air conditioning treatment"and other similar "offers"

** foul smells are 99% Bacteria in the washer bottle due to not using the volvo SPIRIT based wash fluid which prevents Bacteria growth .

May you stay cool for many many years :-)

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Petey80

Unfortunately a bad experience with my local Volvo dealership - Mill, Stockton [or Stoneacre]

As I had no record of my A/C system ever being serviced, I decided to take advantage of Mill/Stoneacre's Summer A/C Service offer.

You could have a Gold or Platinum Spring Service, can't remember exactly, but both provided an A/C health check, re-gas, bacterial clean and test etc. and the more expensive option included a pollen filter change.

I opted just for the cheaper package without the pollen filter change as I do that myself.

Booked it in and dropped the car off [V50 D2]. Was given a V40 as a courtesy car, however only received "it's petrol and replace any that you use". No going over the car or anything.

Then during the day I received the "Health Check" video by the tech. Confirmed the system had been re-gassed and that all my tyres were wearing on the inside edge.

No mention of wheel alignment needed, or offered, just "4 new tyres".

Returned to the dealer to collect the car and spoke to the kids on the front desk. Tried to check that the re-gas, check, bacterial clean had all been done as advertised when booked in over the phone. They couldn't tell me what had been done.
Asked for the keys to my car, the girl had a blank look on her face, hunted around the desk and realised they must still be in the workshop.
She went to fetch those and also the tech that worked on my car.

The tech came out, and this is the best bit, explained that the A/C system failed a pressure test, but was re-gassed anyway. Surely if it failed a pressure test, there's a leak in the system?? which he also mentioned, as supposedly the A/C system on the D2 is a bit of a pain to work on. So he just broke the law there then didn't he???
Then he explained that the 1 available lift wasn't working and only got the car so far off the ground. This begs the question on how much of the "Health Check" was actually carried out.

Put in a complaint to Volvo UK, who bounced it back to the dealership, who tried to call me back once within a 2 week period of bringing it to Volvo UK's attention. Then Volvo UK said I should call them, which I declined as surely if a customer is unhappy with service, THEY should be the ones to chase it up???

Was a bit pee'd off as I had previously spent £500 and over £1000 with the dealership having DPF pressure pipes and sensor replaced and then the DMF, Clutch & SC replaced.

Anyway, I let it go. Got new wheels and tyres and wheel alignment done elsewhere. Learned my lesson and won't use that dealership again for servicing.
The parts department on the other hand are excellent and I'll continue to use those guys.

Stoneacre. I say no more.

[cassell]

Hi,

I am fortunate in having Holdcroft Stoke as my local dealer, no negative experiences at all, in fact I would say that during my Volvo ownership lifetime of 9 models over something approaching a 30 year period they are the best I've ever experienced.

Here's just a small example of the simple gestures they make to give superb customer service!

[deepsix]

Originally Posted by cassell

Hi,

I am fortunate in having Holdcroft Stoke as my local dealer, no negative experiences at all, in fact I would say that during my Volvo ownership lifetime of 9 models over something approaching a 30 year period they are the best I've ever experienced.

Here's just a small example of the simple gestures they make to give superb customer service!

That's terrible. How dare they move your seat!

[Deman77]

Mine returned the car with open sunroof. That was after keeping it overnight. Luckily this was before the recent deluge. I bet if it got flooded it would somehow be a seal failure issue and not covered by the extended warranty.

[soupytwister]

Originally Posted by cassell

Hi,

I am fortunate in having Holdcroft Stoke as my local dealer, no negative experiences at all, in fact I would say that during my Volvo ownership lifetime of 9 models over something approaching a 30 year period they are the best I've ever experienced.

Here's just a small example of the simple gestures they make to give superb customer service!

The Volvo dealer in Edinburgh uses this as well so assume is a Volvo UK templated gesture. I kind of see through it as that - it's not really "special" to be follow a guideline to leave a bottle of water and some mints in the car - especially when paying main dealer prices

[AndyJudge]

A few posts back somebody asked what do dealers do to get a good rating, so here's what I've had with Ray Chapman in both York & Malton

Free Coffee & Danish (I tend to drop car off 1st thing in morning)
Free Mints
Free Water
Free Courtesy Car
Service department ring me before the car goes in to check no additional works required
Car is always cleaned & hoovered, even if like with the previous XC60 it went in for a new battery
Discount on any parts fitted without having to ask
They've also shouted me a bacon sarnie in the past
When I got this car I had to return it to get a Window fault resolved, they topped up the fuel to compensate me for having to make the journey to them.

Whereas the one time I went to what was Mill Sunderland

No Courtesy Car offered, OK it was warranty work but I did book it in advance
Could only get a lift to work, was advised I'd have to find my own way back
Service quote they gave me was over twice the price of Ray Chapman as they told me the Cambelt needed replacement despite the car not hitting any of the trigger points.
Car came back with dirty handprints on the bonnet

Think that covers everything