Marquis customer service (or lack of)

Thanks Micky, your so right, it's not beyond the wit of man to get on top of this problem. With used vehicles the issue falls back to the dealer…..if it was a few £k, you might sort of accept some small issues, but we are talking 5figure sums and that makes it serious from the purchasers point of view. Hence the need for tighter legislation, weighted in favour of the customer.

From what I've seen from personal experience, and from reading this and other forums, it seems to me that in some cases it's the branch managers who need a hefty boot up the backside. 

Certainly in the case of Marquis and Browhills, it's obvious that there are big discrepancies in the service offered between the branches. Some are excellent, while others drag down the reputation of the company as a whole.

This has to be down to the leadership, or lack of it, in the branches! One would think the bosses at Head Office would be aware of it, and would want to either "encourage" or get rid of their liabilities.

Perhaps it would have some effect if those facing interminable problems were to contact Head Office along those lines, pointing out that Xxxx branch has an excellent reputation, compared with their own branch which is a total discredit to the company.

I have tried to find out more info.  Trigano is the big guy in Europe.Not keen to mention AS from my inquiry's. They have AS but it is run by the old directors of AS and Marquis.  It may be  the dealers are franchise operators of those two Directors.
The only way to get somewhere,IMHO, is an investigation by the trade.  MMM, if they are independent  ?

regards

Micky

Hi Gromit save some energy from your hefty boot for the quality control bods at A/S! They deserve every last hefty  application! Journeyman , you got it 100% correct , we are not all Arab investors in football clubs with money to burn. When your £50+ k investment turns out to be a lemon and the company turns their back on you it does hurt. I'll say no more...

Very interesting reading. Something I will be understanding in more detail as I start to look for a new van in the next few months:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

We should have this as a massive big banner across the site :-)

30-day right to reject

Under the Consumer Rights Act you have a legal right to reject goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, and get a full refund - as long as you do this quickly. 
This right is limited to 30 days from the date you buy your product. After 30 days, you will not be legally entitled to a full refund if your item develops a fault, although some sellers may offer you an extended refund period. 

kaspian wrote:Hi Gromit save some energy from your hefty boot for the quality control bods at A/S! They deserve every last hefty  application! Journeyman , you got it 100% correct , we are not all Arab investors in football clubs with money to burn. When your £50+ k investment turns out to be a lemon and the company turns their back on you it does hurt. I'll say no more...

I can't disagree with you, and if you remember some of my posts, I have had the occasional rant about their lack of care and attention to detail. They build very good vans, then spoil them for want of a bit more focus and a few final checks.

However, this thread is about problems with dealers, so I wouldn't want to slag off A/S too much on here. As Micky said earlier in the thread, "I don't have figures ,but do not believe that AS is any worse than other makes."

As for the dealers, I think Journeyman is spot on. "Most of the issues could be stopped by conducting proper high standard pre-delivery inspections". Ideally I would expect these to occur both before leaving the factory, and a final check by the dealer while he prepares a new van for sale.

I don't understand the logic. Surely it would cost less and enhance customer relations by an order of magnitude if these (usually) trivial problems were sorted out before the van was released to the new owner. One would assume that any dealer wishing to prosper would consider these two aspects above all others??

Dont wish to disagree either but the focus must surely be on the manufacturer to produce quality , properly screwed together goods and strive to deliver such goods to the retailer . Pride in the product and their personal  workmanship should dictate this. In my opinion the retailer is there primarily to retail the goods and hopefully catch any small imperfections that slip the net at PDI . 
        A/s design some well thought out vans but as with many other manufacturers fall down when it comes to execution of that design. As stated it is not a chocolate bar we are buying but a vehicle that probably costs more than many owners homes if they have stayed there a number of years!
         Where the dealer deserves your hefty boot is where they retail a second hand van with numerous problems and then are slow or shoddy in their resolving of issues or handling of repairs! Personally having bought 8 vehicles over the years ! I have been delighted by some service, relieved by others ,when problems occurred but were promptly resolved and disgusted by others who quite frankly should be in jail for their antics. Never bought from Marquis so personally have no experience good or bad but with any of the larger chains no doubt there will be variations in service  between branches. It is up to management to maintain the highest standard across the branches.As Journeyman put so well for most people this is probably the 2nd most expensive purchase they will make . We all deserve better.

kaspian wrote:Pride in the product and their personal  workmanship should dictate this.

You jest of course!! 

That's the biggest problem these days. I'm not saying we would naturally have been any better in my younger days, but we didn't live in the namby pamby, human rights, politically correct world of today.

If anyone on the production line had slacked badly on the job, they might have got a warning, more likely a literal boot up the ar$e, and if they didn't buckle down to it they were shown the door. No tribunals, appeals, stress counselling etc. . . . it was "On yer bike you idle git!"

After a period of fairly ruthless "conditioning", most young workers found themselves taking a pride in their work without the need for the size 10!!

Ah, halcyon days. My ambition then was to be earning a thousand a year by the time I was 30, and driving a Jag!

journeyman wrote:Very interesting reading. Something I will be understanding in more detail as I start to look for a new van in the next few months:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

This works. I know 2 people who have rejected BMW's and I can't see why a MH would be any different. The dealer buys the vehicle back at the original price.
It is just not widely known and I think most people would assume the rejection process is not feasible.

journeyman wrote:We should have this as a massive big banner across the site :-)

30-day right to reject

Under the Consumer Rights Act you have a legal right to reject goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, and get a full refund - as long as you do this quickly. 
This right is limited to 30 days from the date you buy your product. After 30 days, you will not be legally entitled to a full refund if your item develops a fault, although some sellers may offer you an extended refund period. 

I know someone who recently rejected a new BMW after 6 months, not 30 days, 6 months. He had complained about noises from the propshaft many times earlier though, but when it failed after 6 months he rejected it and the dealer repurchased for the original price.

Just saying, don't assume you can't reject because it's been 31 days.