Arnold Clark Sucks
READ HERE WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY
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when i went to pick up the car nothing had been done to attempt to fix the marks all over the car the sales man "Bob Mathison Dumbarton branch Scotland" told me to come back the following week and they would fix it. the following week i went back there was slight drizzle and he told me it could not be done dew to the weather. "nothing would get done if that was the case dew to British weather" so he told me to come back again so off i went frustrated and came back again the following week this time he washed the car and then said it would be to expensive to respray the car so he handed me touch up paint and was told to do it myself. so that was the final straw i phoned the department of fair trade to sort it out. they went down to speak with Arnold Clarks manager and i am now awaiting the out come. 12.6.2003
I was about to go to Arnolds at Jordanhill today to buy a Passat TDI. Glad I saw
your site. Verve here I come! I was going to do a similar thing about
B+Q....but that's another depressing story!
Good on you mate! 12.6.2003
I understand the frustration and futility that some of your contributors feel.
The question is why do they let it rest when a contract is not being honored.
Go to the OFFICE OF FAIR-TRADING and or CITIZENS ADVISE BUREAU and have them
give their support, believe me their participation at least helps make you feel
your not fighting a conglomerate giant alone, and in some cases can help get a
better outcome. People/Managers not are not so likely to try brow beating
someone if there is an official there.
Finally wouldn’t it be great if every trader had a suck site, right next to
his or her “Official One”. As long as the truth is published, and people are not
afraid to include their names (for verification purposes, not necessarily for
publication) you should not have to “hide-out” in CENTRAL EUROPE.
I wish you and your site Gods Speed. 13.6.2003
Arnold Clark is currently boasting of their successes as turnover reaches nearly
1 billion but they still had no qualms on exploiting my friends' younger sister
to work a 42 hour week for £7k per annum. Minimum wage Arnold? You definitely
suck. 13.6.2003
I had to telephone them to get the VRM for my insurance. The day I was meant to
be collecting the vehicle, I phoned to check everything was okay only to be told
I had been given the wrong VRM. I then had to call my insurance company again
to change the details (all calls at my expense). On collecting the car (my
first new car) I was told nothing about servicing procedures etc, and was told
they had no spare key, this would follow as soon as possible, as would the
handbook.
I had to phone (again at my expense) countless times before I received the spare
key and the handbook (in fact I was told the handbook had been posted twice
already, it only arrived when I told them I worked for the police and I would
have the non delivery looked into - surprise surprise it arrived at my home
address 2 days later).
I wrote 4 letters of complaint and received one unsatisfactory response.
I was leaving it there until now. The power steering has been "going" on my car
and I phoned asking about bringing it in under warranty - to be told that I
should have had it serviced in September (having bought it in July) and as I had
not it was now out of warranty.
PROMISES DELIVERED ------- DEFINITELY NOT
I am looking to change my car next year and will go anywhere BUT A.C.. 14.6.2003
I was looking for a “safe” car and bought a second hand 2000 V reg Renault
Megane Sports Coupe Alize 1.6 16v, with £500 off and 6 months road tax thrown
in. The car cost £9500 and wasn’t even a year old so I didn’t bother with the
extended warranty at £358. That was in March 2001. It went in for its service
in October and 6 weeks later it was lying in bits in the Clark’s garage in East
Lane. I took it in because it was shaking quite violently to be told that the
head gasket had gone and would need replaced but they would have to strip the
engine to make sure.
Got the dreaded phone call. Yes the head gasket had gone, even better news…it
was going to cost **£3800** for a WHOLE NEW ENGINE. We’re talking 6 weeks
before Christmas. Fortunately for me I had use of another car so I left mine
with them. And there it stayed for another 3 weeks until the service manager
called to say that they “had a plan”. They would phone Renault to see if they
could get it fixed under the manufacturer’s warranty from the previous owner… I
left them to it.
I did suggest they bring the car back to the house to be left in the drive but
I was asked to go and see the actual damage and how they couldn’t really put it
all back together. The engine block had rust inside and I could see where the
cylinder head had rubbed against it. I asked what could have caused this. Got
a couple of answers. Basically water in the engine. Could have been a deep
puddle or having the engine steam cleaned, but the damage had been caused over a
period of time, so it wasn’t my bad driving! Meanwhile I had applied for a bank
loan of £5000 to cover the costs, which over 5 years works out to be an extra
£10,000.
Then I got a big surprise. The service manager calls to say they had reached a
deal with Renault and they would pay 80% of the costs, all I would have to pay
was £800. Okay, fine, fix the car. Took them a couple of days but after a
total of 4 weeks I got my car back. I even got a call from Renault Customer
Services to see how happy I was with the service. Not. But the story doesn’t
end here.
A few weeks later the car was squeaking from underneath. Like in the old VW
advert. Took it back to Arnold Clarks. The gearbox housing had sheared (I was
told by a friend this happens when the engines are dropped in), that cost me £19
for the part, the rear wheels were cleared of stones at the same time and plus
labour the grand total was nearly £100, about three-quarters of the cost was
labour.
Next thing to go wrong was the rear wiper – it wouldn’t go off. The fuse and
two new front blades set me back £38 (my 10% discount card is starting to look a
bit worn). Everything went fine for a good few months. It went for its service
October 2002, just needed a new air filter pipe because there was a hole in it,
that was £70+ for the part and the power steering had a leak seemingly (I hadn’t
noticed anything on the drive). Oh and they managed to break the rear wiper
off. I had to pay for that to be repaired. They reason they gave was that
someone had glued it on, well it wasn’t me. I was kept waiting almost 2 hours
while they fitted the filter pipe and the wiper.
Something always happens a few weeks after a service, this year was no
different. I had just joined the RAC, when 3 weeks after the service the
starter motor blew. The car would need a new starter motor £400 or
reconditioned £160 and a new ignition barrel which was about £90. The car would
be off the road for a week for the parts to come in. I repeatedly asked for a
courtesy car, to be told they were all out, they didn’t do them and they only
had two and you could only get one if the car was in the body shop. Oh so if
the car was dented I could get a courtesy car but if it didn’t work at all you
got nothing? I had noticed a dent in the roof next to the aerial, not
noticeable but I knew it was there (it wasn’t there before the service). So I
thought, let’s get a quote to have the dent taken out and a scuff removed from
the bumper and in the process get myself a courtesy car. I was quoted £575, I
actually thought that was including the starter motor and ignition barrel!
. How naive can a person be? Needless to say I forked out £186 to hire a
Laguna for the week. The dent I got fixed for £129 by Dent Wizard, the scuff is
still there but I’ve been quoted £50 for it elsewhere.
Recently I went to Clark’s Vauxhall showroom at Phoenix Retail Park to have a
look at a bigger car. There was a 52 1.8 16v Astra Sri for £8888. Cheaper than
mine was to buy from East Lane, or so I thought. If I had got it I would have
ended up paying £15000 after 5 years @ £250 per month for 60 months, which is
what a brand new one costs. So morale of the story is don’t buy Renault and
especially not from Arnold Clark’s. 16.6.2003
