Arnold Clark Sucks
READ HERE WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY
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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. 17.6.2003
bought a fiat uno from wee creep ernie in allison st branch ,paid 3500 for it 8
months later he offered us 1200 for it on trade in. took our business elsewhere got
3000. 17.6.2003
a minibus to go from Glasgow to Accrington for the weekend. It was booked and
paid a deposit in advance, but oh! what a shock when I picked up the vehicle
from their Partick branch - it was pure shabby by the way and amongst the
defects were no first aid kit, faulty handbrake on light, doors unlockable, very
rough transmission, exterior dents and scratches. Unfortunately I had a group of
friends waiting to go, or I would have started a stushie there and then. I
contented myself with writing a complaint on the card they left in the minibus
and sending it to Mr Clark who of course never replied. 18.6.2003
AT FIRST I LOVED THE BRAND NEW FIAT PUNTO SPORTING I BOUGHT FROM
ARNOLD CLARK ON GORGIE ROAD IN EDINBURGH
, ESPECIALLY AS IT WAS MY FIRST EVER NEW CAR. IT ENDED UP BEING AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE FROM BEGINNING TO END.
A FEW OF THE PROBLEMS I HAD:
SIDE SKIRTS - WERE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT SHADE TO THE REST OF THE CAR
CLUTCH PROBLEMS
CAR SEATS - THE SEAMS OF EVERY SINGLE SEAT CAME AWAY OVER A PERIOD OF 10 MONTHS. THEY DID REPLACE THEM ONE BY ONE, AND ASSURED ME THEY HAD NEVER SEEN THIS KIND OF THING HAPPEN BEFORE – YEAH RIGHT!
BRAKE WARNING LIGHT - I TOOK THE CAR IN ON 3 OCCASIONS WHEN THE WARNING LIGHT KEPT COMING ON. VARIOUS REASONS WERE GIVEN AS TO WHY IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING, BUT THE BEST ONE I WAS TOLD WAS THAT IT WAS A RESULT OF TURNING ROUND CORNERS! EVENTUALLY THEY ADMITTED THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE CENTRAL COMPUTER. MANY OTHER VEHICLES HAD ALREADY BEEN RECALLED BECAUSE OF THE SAME PROBLEM AND THEY’D BEEN AWARE OF IT FOR SOME TIME.
PAINT WORK – AFTER A SMALL BUMP TO ONE OF THE FRONT SIDE PANELS, THE BODY SHOP TOOK IT IN FOR REPAIR. THE RESULT WAS AN EXTREMELY OBVIOUS COLOUR MISMATCH WHICH I TOLD THEM I WOULD NOT ACCEPT. OK, THE GOLD MIGHT HAVE BEEN A DIFFICULT COLOUR TO MATCH, BUT I HAD TO BATTLE WITH THEM FOR MONTHS AS THEY REPEATEDLY TRIED TO PASS OFF SHODDY WORK. I FINALLY THOUGHT I WAS GETTING SOMEWHERE WHEN THE CAR WAS IN FOR ITS FOURTH RE-SPRAY. HOWEVER, ON THE DAY I WENT TO COLLECT IT, I WAS HORRIFIED TO SEE A NEW GASH IN THE SIDE DOOR! IT HAD BEEN DAMAGED IN THE WORKSHOP! UNBELIEVABLE!!! EVENTUALLY THEY GOT THERE, AFTER RE-SPRAY NUMBER FIVE. BUT WHAT HAD BEGUN AS A SMALL REPAIR TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR, ENDED UP WITH THE ENTIRE SIDE, AND HALF OF BOTH THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE CAR BEING SPRAYED.
I GOT THE FEELING THAT ONCE I HAD PURCHASED THE CAR THEY REALLY WEREN’T THAT INTERESTED. THEY AVOIDED ME, CONTINUALLY LIED TO ME, AND TRIED TO PASS OFF POOR WORK. I ALSO THINK THEY TRIED TO PLAY ON THE FACT THAT I WAS FEMALE, WITH A MORE LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF CARS & MECHANICS.
I THINK THEY HOPED I’D JUST GO AWAY…EVENTUALLY I DID! I SOLD THE CAR AND I WONT EVER, EVER RETURN!!! 19.6.2003
After having the car serviced I was told that the cylinder head gasket was on it's way out and they couldn't get me in to the garage for another week, but it was fine to use until then even given the daily mileage I was doing (Fife - Stirling round trip). Needless to say, the thing blew within 3 days, halfway home. Then, despite being told Clark Care would drop my car back to the house, it got dumped at the Fiat garage in Falkirk because "there was only one driver in the area and they couldn't go out with their boundaries in case anyone else broke down".
Then they ferried the car to the Volvo garage in Stirling, where I was told they didn't have a courtesy car available (as I was promised through the insurance - I eventually got given a car that had been traded in as a part exchange but not yet prepared for sale). When they were repairing that, they then told me that it had a broken front strut too and it would cost me £120 because the warranty didn't cover breakage of the strut, only damage to it!!!!
And at the end of it all they tried to charge me to replace the oil and filter which they had changed at the service, because it filled with water when the gasket went!!!!!! And after a stand up argument with the stroppy cow in reception, the fat arrogant pr1ck of a service manager was called, who knew as much about customer service as I do about advanced quantum physics.
Let's show Arsenold Clark that it's the public who made him, but take advantage of them and you'll get jumped on from a great height. 20.6.2003
Brief details of the frustrating situation i find myself in -
My car was booked in for its 36000 mile service at Arnold Clark Bearsden, Glasgow branch back in March 2003 - for a tidy little sum of £248!!! Foolishly i agreed to let them go ahead at this price.
When i went to collect my car they told me it had failed its MOT!!! EH, WHAT!!?? The MOT's not due till August - in the meantime they decided to proceed with some of the work detailed in the failed MOT - it ended with them allowing me drive my car away with the front registration plate missing & part of one of the hub-caps missing, & they'd decided to swap over one of my tyres with the spare - all this bearing in mind they at no time had my authority to do so!!!
I have been writing to them since April looking for a refund of part of the cost of the service as at no time did they advise me that i could have had a cheaper 41 point service for approx £70 - which for me would have been sufficient as i am selling my car this year anyway. And also i still await an apology from them in relation to them carrying out work on my car without my authority!!!
Their customer service manager at their head office in Nithsdale Drive Glasgow, replied some time ago with a 'lovely' reply which more or less said 'tough'!!!!
I have since written to Arnold Clark direct & surprise surprise I still await a reply!! I can't believe they are getting away with providing such a crap service. I deal with customer complaints daily in my line of work ( I work for a Bank) & would get my arse kicked if i ever dreamed of treating complaints in this way!!!
Is there anyone out there who can help - surely the Monopolies Commission should be investigating Mr A Clark - everywhere you look in the West of Scotland - he is taking over garages at an alarming rate!!!20.6.2003
