I am not happy for a number of reasons:
1. Last Monday I took the van into the Fiat garage in Worcester as booked to have an oil leak from the cam cover repaired under warranty. This had been diagnosed 10 days earlier on the Friday of the previous week. However because of Fiat's policy that garages can only order parts 5 days before they're needed (otherwise the parts cannot be returned if not needed), when I went in on Monday it was to be told that one part was still outstanding and wouldn't be in until Wednesday. I was not pleased, especially as I had camped out on the garage forecourt overnight so that the engine would be cold to work on first thing in the morning. :Angry: As a few parts had been ordered I suggested they go ahead with the work anyway as maybe the missing part would not be required and then I could be out of there. Lucky I did because once bits had been dismantled it turned out that the oil leak was coming from the head gasket and not the cam cover. So it was arranged that I would return the following Monday for the gasket to be replaced, stressing that this time the required part needed to be ordered in plenty of time.
2. Today I got a phone call from the garage service manager. It seems that the head gasket on my van could be any one of three - depending on the number of notches on it. One version was in stock so no problem, the other two weren't even available in this country. So guess what? - they wouldn't be in until Wednesday. Sense of deja vu here?
3. They will not know until they take the cylinder head off which of the three versions of gasket will actually be required. To me this seems bizarre. Could Fiat not have recorded against the chassis number which gasket they had used when building the engine? Who will give me odds on the in-stock gasket being the right one for my engine? Also I have now been told that the cylinder head will have to be sent away to be skimmed before a new gasket is put in place. This normally just takes 24 hours to turnaround so should be back on the Wednesday. Somehow I just don't feel terribly confident about given timescales anymore. :Sad: And this is in a van that's only just done 5,000 miles for f*** sake!
4. I have already booked a night in a B&B for Monday night. Now I have had to add in one for Tuesday night as well. B&Bs around Worcester are not cheap and I have had to track down ones that will take dogs. It's quite likely that I'll also have to book one for Wednesday night.
5. I asked the service manager for a contact number for Fiat customer service - the only one he has is the International Freephone 00800 number for customer service in Italy. I can't ring 00800 numbers from a BT phone box. I'm not ringing expensive international calls from my mobile. I find a 'Chat' option on the Fiat website - the person I get to chat to suggests I phone or e-mail instead. I find a 'Call Me Back Now' option on the same site - I fill in all my details and 2.5 hours later I'm still waiting for that phone call. :Angry: Only option left is to e-mail them - but I wanted to talk to an actual person! Today! I want to bend their ear and point out that their silly 5-day policy is not in the customer's interest. I want them to pay for my B&Bs. I want a year's free supply of tiramisu!
1. Last Monday I took the van into the Fiat garage in Worcester as booked to have an oil leak from the cam cover repaired under warranty. This had been diagnosed 10 days earlier on the Friday of the previous week. However because of Fiat's policy that garages can only order parts 5 days before they're needed (otherwise the parts cannot be returned if not needed), when I went in on Monday it was to be told that one part was still outstanding and wouldn't be in until Wednesday. I was not pleased, especially as I had camped out on the garage forecourt overnight so that the engine would be cold to work on first thing in the morning. :Angry: As a few parts had been ordered I suggested they go ahead with the work anyway as maybe the missing part would not be required and then I could be out of there. Lucky I did because once bits had been dismantled it turned out that the oil leak was coming from the head gasket and not the cam cover. So it was arranged that I would return the following Monday for the gasket to be replaced, stressing that this time the required part needed to be ordered in plenty of time.
2. Today I got a phone call from the garage service manager. It seems that the head gasket on my van could be any one of three - depending on the number of notches on it. One version was in stock so no problem, the other two weren't even available in this country. So guess what? - they wouldn't be in until Wednesday. Sense of deja vu here?
3. They will not know until they take the cylinder head off which of the three versions of gasket will actually be required. To me this seems bizarre. Could Fiat not have recorded against the chassis number which gasket they had used when building the engine? Who will give me odds on the in-stock gasket being the right one for my engine? Also I have now been told that the cylinder head will have to be sent away to be skimmed before a new gasket is put in place. This normally just takes 24 hours to turnaround so should be back on the Wednesday. Somehow I just don't feel terribly confident about given timescales anymore. :Sad: And this is in a van that's only just done 5,000 miles for f*** sake!
4. I have already booked a night in a B&B for Monday night. Now I have had to add in one for Tuesday night as well. B&Bs around Worcester are not cheap and I have had to track down ones that will take dogs. It's quite likely that I'll also have to book one for Wednesday night.
5. I asked the service manager for a contact number for Fiat customer service - the only one he has is the International Freephone 00800 number for customer service in Italy. I can't ring 00800 numbers from a BT phone box. I'm not ringing expensive international calls from my mobile. I find a 'Chat' option on the Fiat website - the person I get to chat to suggests I phone or e-mail instead. I find a 'Call Me Back Now' option on the same site - I fill in all my details and 2.5 hours later I'm still waiting for that phone call. :Angry: Only option left is to e-mail them - but I wanted to talk to an actual person! Today! I want to bend their ear and point out that their silly 5-day policy is not in the customer's interest. I want them to pay for my B&Bs. I want a year's free supply of tiramisu!