Skoda $1000 Fuel Card Not Honored

My Mum bought a brand new Skoda at the end of February from a Skoda dealership in Sydney, along with a friend of hers so they sold 2 cars at the same time and they got a good deal from buying 2.
The car was advertised and still is advertised with a $1000 fuel card which they said at the time may take 6 weeks which they didn't mind. Still all this time later and many phone calls from both parties and some others on their behalf they get told there's a problem with the supplier of the card or someone will call back later. Even after all this time, when they actually got to talk to someone on the phone they claimed they knew nothing about this card and delays with it.

Both my mum and her friend have been pretty patient but I think now its gotten to the stage of them thinking they may not get it.

What I wanted to know is has anyone had any problems with a skoda dealership or similar offers like this? I think the offer may actually be through Skoda Australia.

Its my belief even if an offer isn't advertised but was stated verbally at the time of purchase they have to come through with the offer or its against the law, although in this case it was advertised and still is.

My Mum didn't want to take it further unless she has to but does anyone know where they stand on a deal like this? I was under the impression they would win pretty easily if taken to fair trading or consumer affairs.

I would usually take a situation like this upon myself to deal with but have been busy these few months, usually can get an outcome pretty quickly with talking on the phone and my relentless calling when this type of thing happens but unfortunately haven't been available to do so.

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Comments

  • +4

    Have you tried contacting the Skoda head office?

    • +3

      +1 Probably the best people to speak to in this situation - 1800 607 540

  • Not yet, but will do. I feel I could have resolved it quicker as my parents are pretty non assertive when it comes to things like this!

  • +3

    Skoda On Facebook & Twitter?

  • +1
    • Im not 100% sure if it was the 2014 model but the white one looks like her car, will have to wait to speak with her to ask more questions.

    • In the OP it states "Still all this time later and many phone calls from both parties and some others on their behalf they get told there's a problem with the supplier of the card or someone will call back later. Even after all this time, when they actually got to talk to someone on the phone they claimed they knew nothing about this card and delays with it."

      But sure if you want to lay out best practice from the beginning for future reference: If You're Sure You're Entitled

      1 - Salesman who sold you the car - No love/Left the company

      2 - Assistant/Sales manager - No love/left company

      HINT: If you keep hitting landline voicemail; give your name to reception and ask them to call them on their mobile.

      3 - DP/PA - Tend to be very busy (read: unlikely you will speak to them/even PA when you ring in), leave a message with reception detailing your complaint and contact details and wait. Possibly fast track yourself by mentioning making a complaint to Brand Australia or ACCC (don't actually waste time contacting the ACCC yet, they will tell you to try to resolve it with the dealership first).

      3b - Short-Cut - Call Brand Customer Care and tell them your issue, they will call the dealership for you whilst you hold and get you someone to resolve your issue/take a message for someone to call you back to resolve your issue (in my experience when Brand Customer Care calls the dealership asking for the DP/Sales Manager they don't get dicked around).

      *Everything mentioned in the above guide is my own personal opinion.

  • Thanks for the suggestions, will do that. I think my parents my mums friend were just too patient to bother calling anyone but the dealership just yet and should have contacted the head office.

  • +5

    Hello drspy00,
    My Name is Derek, and I am the Manager of the Customer Support Team @ Skoda.

    I would like to apologise for the experience you have had trying to get your fuel cards after your Skoda purchase. There has been some administration issues between the dealerships and head office in regards to providing required information for the cards that have caused the delay, and I can guarantee that Skoda will provide them for you.

    Are you able to make contact with Skoda Customer Care either via phone 1800 607 540 (Don't worry - We love our customers and typically have a wait time of less than 30 seconds) or you can email your mums vehicle details to [email protected] with a description of the problem.

    We will need either the car rego, or the VIN number, and will then create a case and provide a reference number for you so we can then track this issue with the dealer and card supplier.

    If you ask the Customer Care Agent to provide me the case number, I will also get involved to ensure we minimise any further delays for your mum.

    Look forward to speaking with you soon :-)

    Derek
    Customer Support Manager
    Skoda Australia

    • Geez that's pretty rubbish (see most recent comment from drspy00), why don't you follow this up for drspy00?

  • Thanks for your help. Unfortunately there's been lots of sickness and other stuff going on so didn't get a chance to call anyone until now, the person on the phone was very helpful and called the dealership, unfortunately the dealership also tried their well known trick of hanging up the phone on her aswell! so she is reporting it to the head office apparently as they have said theres nothing they can do from the start when it clearly was up to them to fix the problem. I understand in this case its probably bad handling by the dealership from the start and not the fault of Skoda but will post updates of any outcome.

    Skoda so far has been very good to deal with, its just the dealership so wanted to reinforce that!

    • Which Skoda dealership is this so I can avoid them in the future.

      • +1

        Alto Skoda Artamon. Although We are finding Skoda head office to be just as unscrupulous unfortunately :( The Skoda support above was very optimistic but its all rubbish. They claimed they would call the next day its now been over a week, they said they have had a meeting and its in the mail now, unfortunately thats also rubbish. They are unable to help the woman who bought the same car with my Mum and she has given up. Its looking like it will be 2 cases at the department of fair trading, its been many months now and everyone is losing patience.

  • Have to say, at first the lady on the phone was very friendly and helpful at Skoda, but when she called back she made it seem like giving the $1000 gift card was a hard request, (it wasn't really a request, more a part of a deal that hasn't been fulfilled with 2 parties) I would be surprised if its an isolated case as the other party my mum purchased the car with is also furious and Im also going to do whatever I can to help her get what was part of the deal for her too.
    I feel with any company there's the possibility for things to go wrong, mistakes to be made, but this is clearly more than a mistake. But its all to do with how its handled afterwards. If they rectified it months ago it would have been no issue but its gone on too long and feel the voucher which wouldn't have cost them $1000 surely, would have been worth every cent as far as customer relations go, now at-least 2 car buyers are annoyed at how they've been treated, and their friends and family, (including me) that bit of money they might have saved by not coming through with the deal will more than likely cost the reputation more.
    I know ive had problems with Lenovo in the past which happen to make great products but consider them not worth dealing with due to their poor customer service, when a bad experience occurs its those that customers remember. If it can be rectified in a professional, prompt manner with apology, and/or something extra for the trouble, then the problem is usually forgotten and can be forgiven as a mistake like most companies can make.
    But this is getting pretty annoying.

    Its never good for a company to make a customer jump through hoops for something they stated was included, I was actually surprised it wasn't included the day they drove away with the cars.

    Its possible the card will arrive next week, but no-one has any faith in what Skoda or the dealership is saying as its been like this for months.

    Its also still advertised on their site http://www.skoda.com.au/special-offers/2015-drive-offer

  • Have you asked to speak to Derek, the Customer Support Manager who posted before (as he suggested) - I'd be interested to hear his response about this!

  • I will do some more calls on Monday. A bit of research online finds a complaint so its far from an isolated case.
    http://www.productreview.com.au/p/skoda.html

    Makes me wonder if this behaviour is legal. I could offer a product for sale and say it includes a free $10,000 fuel card. If it doesn't really include it it opens the doors to offering some wonderful things which could help a sale! Or maybe put at the bottom of the offer saying customers must jump through hoops to get the offer.

    • +1

      calling is helpful obviously if you get a principal manager to actually follow-up on your request, however you need at this point to put your request in writing so everything is documented.

  • well thats where if you went through VCAT or an ombudsman, they will ask you to show evidence of what steps you have taken to resolve it. You need to put your claim in writing to the dealership and then to the head office. After no written responses you would have a legitimate reason to escalate to the government support bodies.

  • +1

    Next step will be in writing. I guess it was lazy to not do this from the start. The last word we have had from head office was Monday last week who said the card was in the mail today, its now Thursday a week later so we know it was just a lie especially since im finding similar happening to other customers. Whatever the outcome, I will spread the word online about it like some others have already done. Its making me worry if something happens to the car its going to be very hard work with after sales service. They've handled it really badly at the dealership and Skoda head office.

    • I think the $1000 fuel voucher is for a demonstrator vehicle, if i could recall the fine print that was the catch when i bought it in May.
      I got a Fabia at the end of May this year with around 24kms on it which they considered as a demonstrator vehicle but it was sold as a brand new car to me, they honored the voucher and gave it to me in cash instead within a week but they never offered the 3 free servicing :/

      I would keep chasing it up, the only issue it that once the deal finishes they might completely turn around and say you are no longer eligible.

  • They claimed at the time it was included, I thought the same thing at the time. I am sure if it was not valid they would have said that from the start, not saying theres a delay but saying sorry it was not included and point to the fine print. It was stated at the time of purchase and also have it in writing. Since there's a few people online ive found, plus the woman who bought the car with my mum I know its a common issue, all believe they were entitled to it.

  • Its still going into another week now. I have taken over the situation as my Mum is tired of it. I called the head office in Australia and they have been polite and helpful but still no outcome. I did warn them last week that if it wasn't resolved this week its fair trading. Now have to take the steps to go to fair trading, there will be 2 others also filing cases.

  • Key points:

    1. Only available on new & demo MY14 models (cars built between 1/07/13 - 30/6/14) and SELECTED MY15 cars. The Model Year can be found by checking the build date on the plate on the drivers door frame.

    2. In the terms it states "Skoda Australia reserves the right to change or extend this offer."

    3. In the terms it also states "Fuel card will be provided separately by Caltex Australia Petroleum Pty Ltd." The fault may lay with Caltex, however that's no excuse for Skoda not being upfront with you about it all.

    As for others experiences with Skoda, we bought a MY15 Yeti in July and our service was excellent. The "offer" was 1.5% finance, 5yr warranty and 5yr roadside assist on any NEW MY15 cars built before 31/12/14. The car we wanted had apparently been logged and the warranty period started so wasn't eligible for the 5yr offers (only the standard 3yrs). The dealer provided the additional 2 years through a 3rd party service at no additional cost and actually lowered the price further for the trouble. They also said anytime anything needed topping up (aside from petrol), swing past and the guys would do it for free (oil, wiper fluids etc).

  • A card arrived in the post last week and it was activated, including that of the person who bought a car together with My Mum. Unfortunately it took so many phonecalls to Skoda head office who were less than up front. They couldnt explain the problem until I asked. What would have been nice is if they were honest with what went wrong sent a friendly letter of apology and everyone would have been more patient to wait, even though it was back in February! My Mum is skeptical that it will work as I read another post that they got their card and it didn't work so hopefully this one does!

    Im appreciative we got an outcome in the end, we were entitled to the deal, that wasn't in question, it was just how both Skoda and the dealership handled it which was a let down. Whoevers mistake it was, it just would have been nice if they acknowledged that.

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