How long is acceptable for a dealer to reply by email? (1 Viewer)

irnbru

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Ok we are not buying new but is the phrase "The customer is your business" no longer applicable?

I have contacted several companies that are advertising USED vehicles on ebay/ autotrader and expressed an interest, adding we have a vehicle to trade in.. On sites where it reads " Trade ins welcome"

Out of 5 I have emailed only 1 has replied ( now 13 days later) no one else has replied. Makes me now think if that's the service then stuff them. What would you think?
 
Sep 3, 2013
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It's not just motorhome dealers. I find car dealers just the same.

There was a great thread on Pistonheads about this same thing and many members there are dealers. They've all said two things:

1. The lack of a reply is very poor.

2. Dealers generally prefer a call as it shows greater interest and they can have a conversation.

Like you, I do like to email as things are then in writing and can be referred back to. That's how and why I bought Udo.

Maybe if there's a motorhome you're interested in, give the dealer a chance and call. If they're amenable in the phone, explain the email thing to them. If they're any good, I'm sure you'll get a sympathetic and apologetic response. If not, walk away.
 

movan

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It isn't even just car/motorhome dealers.

I have sent about seven e-mails to Age UK and another seven to the local council (gov.uk) and have not had one reply. Since the matter was urgent re a vulnerable adult I would have expected more. The world has changed.:Sad:

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mike mcglynn

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poor service

It isn't even just car/motorhome dealers.

I have sent about seven e-mails to Age UK and another seven to the local council (gov.uk) and have not had one reply. Since the matter was urgent re a vulnerable adult I would have expected more. The world has changed.:Sad:

Hello Joy I have had much the same service except in the field of insurance, british gas,indian call centres re. charity donations in fact anything that can make a few bob for them :Angry: is this down to the way business is done these days are there no people in customer service as they have all been transferred to sales::Doh:
 

MHVirgins

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We find a lot of companies today are hopeless at replying to e-mails........it makes us wonder (in some cases) why bother having an e-mail address on a website:Doh:

If something needs answering quickly, we always find the best thing to do is lift the phone and speak to a real person.......the personal touch is usually the best way:thumb: I like to put people on the spot if they don't reply to an e-mail after a couple of days. Sometimes they'll say, "I've been so busy, I haven't got round to looking at my e-mails"! That tells me something, unless they've been away on holiday.......not an excuse in my book:Blush:

I always find I get better results by contacting someone by phone, get a name and deal with them from there on. I agree with others, it's not just MH dealers that are guilty of not getting back to you, it's a sign of the times, these bad practices would not have been allowed in business years ago.

Margaret
 
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pappajohn

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i think thats long enough.....now ring them.

Not to enquire about said motorhomes but to tell them you emailed on --/--/-- and as yet had no reply.
Tell them the phone call is to say if they cant be bothered to reply to an email what will their response be to warranty claims etc and because of the lack of attention on their part you have no faith in any aspect of their company and will be going elsewhere to spend your money.

Tell it like it is and they MAY learn by their mistakes....but i wont hold my breath. :Angry:.

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Chris

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You will get an instant reply from me.

I just leave my out of office assistant on:thumb:

Seriously though, anything more than 48 hours is pretty pathetic.
 

MikeD

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Email replies?

For me it depends on how or if they contacted you.

I suspect that if you are sending to a company general query email address, it goes into spam.

But if they welcome you to their business using email, then they should respond to you within 24 hours.

If they do not speak to another company. Someone out there wants to see a profit off your business.

But for me at the end of the day a email is so easy to respond to. Its just lazy and/or rude when businesses do not respond.
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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We normally reply to emails within a couple of hours providing we do actually receive them, emails can go astray or hang around in cyber space sometimes.

Also bear in mind that personal emails sent to specific people can arrive when they are on days off in a seven day a week business


Peter

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funflair

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I dont usually expect a reply, so if I do get one it is an unexpected surprise.

I find our European neighbours a lot better than us.

Martin
 

camcondor

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A lot of businesses, charities, professionals, energy companies etc etc just seem not to be bothered to respond to emails at all. I recently emailed a number of mobile installers about the solar panel I would like help installing, most did not even acknowledge my email, ( I have now arranged with Mark from CLS on the forum to do the work)
I don't know why companies big or small bother to put email addresses on their adverts if they could not be bothered to reply.........

I have found that Twitter seems to get results, for some reason - as does Facebook - with a lot of companies, Parcelforce, Scottish Power, Aldi, Tesco, and a few others come to mind - if you post or tweet a request for info or a complaint it seems to get rapid attention compared to the ignored emails :Eeek:

Customer Service is not of much interest to most UK businesses unfortunately :Eeek:
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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i think thats long enough.....now ring them.

Not to enquire about said motorhomes but to tell them you emailed on --/--/-- and as yet had no reply.
Tell them the phone call is to say if they cant be bothered to reply to an email what will their response be to warranty claims etc and because of the lack of attention on their part you have no faith in any aspect of their company and will be going elsewhere to spend your money.

Tell it like it is and they MAY learn by their mistakes....but i wont hold my breath. :Angry:.

I just did, person on the phone seemed quite apologetic..though not quite sincere in my eyes.

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irnbru

irnbru

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We normally reply to emails within a couple of hours providing we do actually receive them, emails can go astray or hang around in cyber space sometimes.

Also bear in mind that personal emails sent to specific people can arrive when they are on days off in a seven day a week business


Peter

I had an automated reply so would leave me to assume they received my email.
 

teddybard

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In the middle of all this I sent an enquiry for a small item
to a main dealer.
two replies in 24 hours to two queries

THANKS to You Peter of

Johns Cross

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
Nov 18, 2011
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24 hrs then send one teling them to get stuffed and you gown sumwhar else
if it is a service issue I expect a answer with in a few hrs if I don't get answer I usually send the wife round:Eeek: that usually dose the trick :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

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JimboT

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I'm a newbie
When buying our van we sent 10 + email and got 5 reply's and one company phoned us the day we picked up our new van that must of been 2 weeks later.
I also found a lot of information missing on the web site.
Like length and width.
We bought our Van from Lazy days and I told the sales chap that the website was cr*p.
If he had not emailed us back I would not have traveled up and most likely bought another van.
Think one site south down motor homes or something like that had the best information and you had so many photos you knew what came with the vehicle.
I own a few shops with websites and you have to on it or you will loose sales.
Jim
 
Oct 7, 2013
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Customer service

Just contacted Continental Tyres, by e-mail asking for recommended tyre pressures, giving my axle weights.

Replied within a few hours, in English from Antwerp, giving me the specs. They made no money out of answering my query but gained a satisfied customer. Guess what tyres I will buy next time?
:thumb:
 

Landy lover

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I totally agree many companies are terrible at answering emails - However - some of the emails we receive are so poorly thought out they carry no information about the sender beyond the email address.

We get emails arrive such as 'do you deliver' then you have to ask - what- where to - when etc. we then wait sometimes for ever to get an answer to that email.

Any one sending an email should ensure it has all the facts so keep it simple keep it accurate so that the answer can be given easily it will generally get an immediate response is my findings.

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Feb 16, 2013
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Don't know why anyone bothers with sending emails when you can ring someone and get your answer right away, must admit I don't look at my emails very often, so could easily miss a reply even if they did:thumb:
 

capinpugwash

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Like most issues there is rarely one answer to this.

If one is unhappy with a commercial organisation then one can vote with ones feet and go elsewhere. Why patronise a company that does not reply.

I believe that some of the problem is the use by senders of their own hotmail, gmail etc addresses. With so much spam coming from hotmail etc modern filters just junk them or do not even download them to the receivers.

I use hotmail for general non important stuff, but a specific address with my name on it for important stuff.

I have always had a response to my named account, but not always with my hotmail address. Not too sure I would answer something from capinpugwash@blah blah for example.
 

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