My Experience with V.A.S (Volkswagen Audi Specialist) in Newquay, Cornwall.

[djwillb]

They have had my car for 2 days fitting cruise control. He has phoned me up countless times telling me whats not working, that he thinks the stalk is faulty, that the vag-com instructions are wrong, etc etc

To cut a long story short i get a call at 4pm today saying its suddenly started working so i go to get the car. I take it for a test to see if its working and it is, but there is a scraping noise when i turn the steering wheel coming from the steering column. When i tell him about this when i get back he tries to say he cant hear it, but eventually agrees he can hear it too and will look at it next week, but says im not taking the car until i pay for the job! I said to him why should i pay when u havent finished the job? At which point he pushes me out the way (im stood half in the car on the drivers side) and tries to take the keys out the ignition! After a bit of a struggle i get him off me and get the key out the ignition and put it in my pocket.

I told him if he wants to be agressive towards me i will call the police. He then says right fine i will fix it now then and asks for the keys. I really didnt know what to do at this point but as we were saying this his friend moves his van so as to block me in. I told him ok then fix it now but im not leaving you with the car (as god knows what he will do to it!). So i am now standing in the garage and he is turning the steering wheel and calls me over saying the noise has got a lot quieter now. I got in and couldnt hear it as much. At this point all i want is my car back i dont wanna risk this cowboy touching it for another minute. He says if i pay now and take the car and the noise comes back again then i can bring it in and he will fix it so i agree and pay the £200!!!!

He said its taken him 8 hours but he is only charging me for 4.5 hours. I said to him if he knew what he was doing it wouldnt take him 8 hours. Ive had to ask on this forum 3 times about problems that to be honest being an 'Audi Specialist' he should know!!! And not ring me asking to find out for him!! Audi said they could have done it in 2 hours and i so wish i would have let them. Im so annoyed and to top it all off on the way home i realised the steering wheel isnt even on straight

They have wound me up so much and are just so rude to me - even when i took it in in the first place! They didnt even acknowledge me when i walked in the garage. I was stood there for ages saying excuse me to them and they all just ignored me and my missus!!! Its so frustrating when they have your car and there is nothing you can do I was so close to hitting the bloke im just glad i got out of there with my car.

 

[Mpathe]

wow 2 days. awesome gti had my car for an hour and cost me £115 supplied and fitted.

 

[S3KO4]

loosers, and a waist of time.

 

[djwillb]

Really?! omg i feel even more ripped off!

 

[sportquattro]

I emailed them some time ago enquiring about cruise control fitting and cost, never got a reply, and after reading about your experiences I'm glad i didn't. They sound like a bunch of cowboys, have you thought of trying tradeing standards if they wont fix shoddy workmanship. I'll probably end up going to Awesome GTi up north next time I'm going that way.

 

[sportstractor]

oh my that is terrible. I would definately go down the trading standards route. Its nothing to be ashamed about because they put you in a impossible position, and no point laying into them because it doesnt get you very far, except a little bit of personal satisfaction.

If they are as bad as you say, report them to trading standards and no doubt they would have already recieved complaints. Sounds like professionals of ripping people off with the van trick.

although reporting to trading standards may possibly see them investigated, unless you would persue it (which it probably isnt worth doing) you wont see your £200 again.
Hard lesson learnt though! Im suspecious of most places I dont know

 

[Alex C]

Wow, sounds like a couple of crooks. There are a couple of guys with an Audi Volkswagen specialist unit down in Cambourne (Barncoose Industrial Estate), call themselves AVS. Just had my car in with them, they a really nice pair of genuine guys. They both used to work at Truro Audi in their servicing department. Dont know how close you are but you could try them next time

 

[Welly]

Dude, that would of been too much for me to take. If some bloke tried to push me out of the way and grab my keys he would of been getting a f**king beating I'm afraid to say. Fair play though, not doing it was a good choice as it would of caused you nothing but hassle at the end of the day.

What a total, complete and utter tosser. So, are all things sorted now?

Its good that you've shared you experience though, it warns other forum members about the cowboys that are out there.

 

[jojo]

Not trying to defend the said company in anyway, or make a judgement against yourself - djwillb - as I don't know you... but,

When i tell him about this when i get back he tries to say he cant hear it, but eventually agrees he can hear it too and will look at it next week, but says im not taking the car until i pay for the job! I said to him why should i pay when u havent finished the job?

I can't help thinking he was provoked into his actions, but they are an overreaction of course, and more than likely not justified for anyone in the same situation. As a trader, wether it's for £5 or £500(The higher the amount, the more of a reaction you will receive) NO ONE likes to do work and NOT get pad for it. Now I'm not saying you was going to do a runner and not return to get your car fixed/pay up when it's done. But you have to understand, he was never going to let you drive off without paying a penny towards his supposed 8 hours of work.

Just my thoughts on the situation.

 

[JS1500]

^^^But would it not be better practice to let him leave and if he fails to pay then get the police involved?
They must've had his registration and personal details?

Trying to grab the keys to MY car and prevent me from leaving with MY property would result in a punch in the face. If the car was worth £200 then that's fine, but £200 is a mere fraction of the value of the car, not to mention it's relied upon as transport.
Basically, threatening not to pay a £200 bill due to shoddy workmanship should not result in bully tactics and impounding of the car (which i'm guessing is illegal anyway).

 

[jojo]

^^^But would it not be better practice to let him leave and if he fails to pay then get the police involved?
They must've had his registration and personal details?

Trying to grab the keys to MY car and prevent me from leaving with MY property would result in a punch in the face. If the car was worth £200 then that's fine, but £200 is a mere fraction of the value of the car, not to mention it's relied upon as transport.
Basically, threatening not to pay a £200 bill due to shoddy workmanship should not result in bully tactics and impounding of the car (which i'm guessing is illegal anyway).

Oh I don't disagree with you there, just that there's always 2 sides to a story, and when you only get one side of it, you tend to stand by the first version of it, and it's usually the one which is closer to you, eg. a fellow member within the same forum. I was just being open minded, and I'm sure whilst this was a bad experience for djwillb, there are many happy customers who have not come here to give a company the thumbs up.

Reputations take an age to build up, but with one moment of madness, it can turn it around overnight.... especially with the power of the internet chat and forums.

 

[JS1500]

Absolutely. I can definately see the trader's viewpoint in situations like this. It's just, with so much at stake (reputation) would you not just say "ok, take the car, we'll send you a bill for £200" and hire a debt collection agency if you don't see the money in reasonable time?

I find it very unreasonable for a garage to say you must pay 100% there and then or you're not getting your car back, especially in situations like the one above.
If you're not mechanically-minded it's easy to be ripped off by garages (not all garages ofcourse!) and the customer should be able to have the car checked over before paying the bill, again, especially if you're not convinced by the quality of the work or that everything listed on the bill has been done.
After all, the garage in question (an Audi specialist) took 2 days to retro-fit cruise control to an Audi.

 

[audi_ro]

djwillb, is this the place down from mcdonalds? on the hill? was going to take mine there for a remap.

 

[dantdi]

When i went down to Newquay with fews mates year ago. Noticed the Volkswagen Audi Specialist bit. Had chat with one of them about starting problems on my old a3.
Thought they sounded bit dodgy then.

 

[myVAG]

Hi,

i was just doing a google of the the AVS garage in Barncoose and found this thread. My cousin used them for something minor on her golf, had no probs. But reading this im obviously a tad concerned. I have a golf tdi (i appreciate this is an audi site , but was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent and not ridiculously expensive VAG specialist or in west cornwall? Just need a service and MOT for now.

Many thanks.

 

[voorhees]

maybe this thread has had its day,I'll give it a day or two to answer your query then it'll go.

 

[S3 Wannabe]

Try -in fact go to- RK Engineering at Goonbell St Agnes. The guys know their stuff -especially Simon who owns the business. Took my S3 there loads of times with no hassles and great prices.

As for the monkeys at Newquay, been there, witnessed it, and will never go back!

 

[s3dave]

Try and get your keys from an Audi main dealer without paying, no chance.....i agree with jo if you are self employed you would understand that you cant let people walk off, or drive off without paying...problem or not...it would be a free for all.
That said there are better ways to deal with things like this, that does not upset the customer, and grabbing keys is mental, he should have offered to put right the noise there and then, so basicaly he has got bad press for being a ****......

 

[Alex C]

Hi,

i was just doing a google of the the AVS garage in Barncoose and found this thread. My cousin used them for something minor on her golf, had no probs. But reading this im obviously a tad concerned. I have a golf tdi (i appreciate this is an audi site , but was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent and not ridiculously expensive VAG specialist or in west cornwall? Just need a service and MOT for now.

Many thanks.

Then you havent read this thread properly. This thread was started regarding the V.A.S garage in Newquay not the AVS garage in Redruth. I suggested that the OP use the AVS garage in at Barcoose (in Redruth) because of my good experience with them. This is the place i use and they are top notch. I always reccomend people to them as they have always done a good job on my cars, he is about to do all of my suspension at the end of this month, shocks, springs, ARBs, tie arms, bushes..... And yes he will do VAG. if you cant find them on the web its because they dont have a website, but they are based on the Barcoose industrial estate which is the same estate that Pirate FM is based, so google Pirate FM for an address

Do not be concerned about AVS

 

[JD09]

Straight on to Trading Standards. They are advertising work that they clearly can't carry out to the right standard. Report your findings, log these with Trading Standards and start the ball rolling.

When a garage MOT'd mine and missed leaking rear shocks, broken rear springs and knackered droplinks, I phoned VOSA. These Governing organisations are only to happy to help if you feel wronged. Get in touch;

Institute Contacts - Trading Standards Institute

 

[pete2820]

Try -in fact go to- RK Engineering at Goonbell St Agnes. The guys know their stuff -especially Simon who owns the business. Took my S3 there loads of times with no hassles and great prices.

As for the monkeys at Newquay, been there, witnessed it, and will never go back!

I was a loyal customer of theirs until I had some work done last year (2012).
I supplied new track rods, gaiters, clips and a rear exhaust as I could get them cheaper from Just Kampers.com.
Whilst changing my oil filter soon after, I noticed that the steering rack gaiters were wrung round like a rag and split all over! I do have photos!
When I contacted Simon and later received a phone call from him, he made me look like a liar as HE did not add that I had supplied the steering rack gaiters and clips on his invoice. He asked me to provide proof that I had purchased them prior to him fitting them (which I could BTW).
Instead, I had a local mechanic look at the gaiters and he pointed out that the only way they can be wrung out like that is if the mechanic adjusted the tracking and did not move the gaiters back by hand to stop them from twisting.
I told Simon what the mechanic had said and Simon came back with "The gaiters should slide on the trackrod by themselves"
With that I had heard enough.
I'm very disappointed with what has happened.
I Will be using AVS Garage in Barncoose from now on!