Why I hate Arnold Clark so much........

[simon_16vpunto1]

Some of you may have noticed AC Fiat Dundee isnt my favourite place, so i'd like to take the time to explain why!!!

Before I start, i have nothing against the sales side of it!

Reason 1
My dads Stilo got re- called for summin to do with the tracking, and i had to pick the car up after school when it was ready. The boy at the service desk just handed the keys to me and let me go. When i got home however, my dad noticed both front tyres were worn down to the canvas :!: 3 points per dodgy wheel, so me being 17 could have lost my license straight away if i was stopped. Dad went hairy at the manager and got 2 brand new front tyres free

Reason 2
My mk1 Punto went to get the cylinder head done(at a cost of £600).
The car was away for a week and a half, and when i got it back, it was spuing oil everywhere. Turns out the mechanic had forgotten to put some plug in the engine :evil: So it was steam cleaned after we went mental again

Reason 3
Mk1 needed a new alternator and surprisingly Fiat were the cheapest place to get one, so got a quote of summin like £90 (The boy told me this was the fitted price). Got a call saying the car was ready- £150!!!
The mechanic who told me it was £90 came out and denied he said anything- Robbing Bastards

Reason 4
This ones a belter
Bought the 2b brand new with 4 miles on the clock, took it to work and noticed a scrape on the corner of the front bumper. Took it back and they agreed to fix it, booked it in and waited.
The day came and dropped the car off at 9am, getting told the car should be ready for 3pm. 4pm came and no word so i phoned up, to be told the guy couldnt touch it up cos it was raining. Booked it in for next week and they promised a valeting bay so the boy from paint pro could do it inside if it was raining.
Same again, car dropped off at 9am, phoned later and was told that he wasnt coming up to do one car. So my car was sitting up thereall dy for nothing again, plus it had inherited a dent and scratch on the drivers door :evil: I WENT ****ING MENTAL, and was promised that would be fixed as well.
Car goes in for the 3rd time, get a call saying it was ready and had full tank of fuel in it. I went up to see it and all they had done was got a touch up pen and coloured the scratch in (You cant do this with pearlescent paint). It was an eyesore and i hit the roof again. Luckily i had to go to work, and my dad took me before i knocked the guys head off. He came back and arranged for the door and bumper to be fully re-sprayed.
They wouldnt give me a courtesy car because of my age, so my salesman picked a nice brand new Panda Multijet off the forecourt, and insured it through AC insurance. he phoned to say the car was ready, went and picked up a Fully valeted Punto. They even had the cheek to put another bloody AC sticker on the back window!

Reason 4
Mums Seicento went for a service and came out with a scuff on the rear bumper where it was parked in a wall

Reason 5
Mums mk1 Punto (brand new) needed a new mirror, as some wee **** who was preparing the car had broken it. (a brand new car was delivered with a cracked drivers door mirror)

Reason 6
This is the one what gets to me the most!
The mk1, when it was getting the head done, I had one of them ambi-pur air freshners on the vents. When i got the car back, it was on upside down, and all the perfume was dripping out. :evil: :evil: I mean, how bloody thick could you get :?:

Reason 7
Thge stilo has been in 6 times to get the headlights sorted cos of condensation. Ended up getting a new light unit.

There are a few more wee things, but i dont want to bore you all.
Hope you all get an idea why i hate them so much :lol:

 

[FS Guest]

I know what you mean, i have only used AC Aberdeen once and still the spotty ginger assistant managed to get what i wanted wrong, waited about a week and a half for coupe turbo wheel nuts for my coupe wheels to go on the punto and abarth centres, when they turned up i took them home only to find he had ordered me Punto wheels nuts! joy! so took them back and then had to wait another week and a half for my coupe nuts!

 

[Papa P]

Why the FCUK do you still use them then?

I've had one bad expereince with AC down here...and learnt my lesson then. I actively warn people not to go there to either buy a car or to get their car serviced, even though one of my best mates works there.

Don't take any of your cars back there. Get them serviced elsewhere! And stop bloody buying cars from them! :lol:

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

as i said, buying cars is ok, but the cars were all new (Except the mk1) so had to go to Fiat cos the service plan thing was taken out when the cars were bought.

In my area, its only AC that do Fiat anyway
I have heard Reg Vardy dont give a flying **** either.

 

[imported_Mark]

:lol: I gotta agree, although I did get my car from Arnold Clarks however it was a family friend who works there and sourced mines for me (hence such the low mileage). But from what your saying I would deffo considering buying any future cars elsewhere, although there does appear to be a higher level of retardedness at the Dundee branch compared to the ones near me.

God they must really hate to see you walk through the doors, bet you have a nickname and everything :lol:

 

[FS Guest]

I know i dont trust any of the AC dealers, so much so that im prepared to drive to get my Puma serviced at another Ford garage

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

God they must really hate to see you walk through the doors, bet you have a nickname and everything :lol:

I really couldnt care less if they have a name for me.

At the end of the day i spent £7,288 on a brand new car, which i expected to be perfect, not to be half re-sprayed within a month.

The customer is always right- someone should tell them that :lol:

 

[FS Guest]

There is a brilliant little Fiat garage up by me they are a main fiat dealer but are a family run buisness instead of part of a franchise, and they have been great when ever i was there with my car, and also when i bought my Punto

 

[imported_lynz]

I know i dont trust any of the AC dealers, so much so that im prepared to drive to get my Puma serviced at another Ford garage

as long as it isnt like the one in Dundee :lol: in saying that i did buy my car from the Perth Ford dealer although AC had virtually the same car, purely on principal that i wasnt buying a car from AC or the Dundee Ford Dealer.

 

[FS Guest]

Never used the ford one in Aberdeen, but my next service i need my Cambelt changed and from what i have heard about every AC dealer im not going to use them, i think there is a family buisness ford dealer a wee bit out of Aberdeen so i think they will get my buisness instead!

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

There is a brilliant little Fiat garage up by me they are a main fiat dealer but are a family run buisness instead of part of a franchise, and they have been great when ever i was there with my car, and also when i bought my Punto

Funny you should say that cos i found out a couple of weeks ago there is a Fiat/ Alfa Romeo specialist in Dundee

01382 731479 is the number i got off the side of their punto. Cant remember the name of the place though

 

[timr69]

I think the whole AC Group have a problem.

My Punto HGT was in and out fairly regularly to the one in Kirkcaldy.

On 2 services they overfilled it a lot with oil.
The car required 4.2 litres with a filter change. Clearly they had just emptied a full 5 litre container in there.

I always found it had to go in 2 or 3 times to get stuff sorted.

After a while I tried the one in Dunfermline and it's much better.
I reckon there were 2 differences.
1) The Dunfermline site is an old shed and you can easily see into the workshop whereas Kirkcaldy is a glass 'n' steel affair.
2) The mechanics in Dunfermline tended to be older wheras the ones in Kdy looked like neds.

The one in Perth seems to be ok too. They actually phoned 4 or 5 times while the Stilo was in over Christmas/New Year to let me know how they were getting on (waiting for Fiat to deliver the correct bit they had ordered) and asking if I wanted a courtesy car.

It's not just Fiat either.
A mate's mum likes Hondas and Honda in Kdy is Arnold Clark.
She bought a 6 month old Civic Coupe in 2000. It needed the bumper touched up so they were gonna do it before she collected it. It took 3 visits to get it fixed properly.

LAst year she bought a brand new Civic Type R.
They had crashed it getting it off the transported but repaired and resprayed it and never told her.
My mate actually worked it out because of missing stickers and a few other things.
They rejected the car and got another one.

By all accounts Reg Vardy are a lot worse than AC.

 

[timr69]

Funny you should say that cos i found out a couple of weeks ago there is a Fiat/ Alfa Romeo specialist in Dundee

01382 731479 is the number i got off the side of their punto. Cant remember the name of the place though

CP Garage Services.

Used to be Claypots Garage but when the road got remodelled the council bought the garage site and he gave up selling cars. He's in the small industrial estate along from there near a police station.

The owner's called Euan Colbrun (spelling?) and he gives a discount to Alfa club owners.
If anyone goes to the Scottish Italian car day (usually at Craigtoun near St Andrews) he's one of the main organisers.

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

well done that man :smt023

 

[M21MFS]

Never used the ford one in Aberdeen, but my next service i need my Cambelt changed and from what i have heard about every AC dealer im not going to use them, i think there is a family buisness ford dealer a wee bit out of Aberdeen so i think they will get my buisness instead!

Clyne auto's, up in Peterhead. Supposed to be ok!

And yes simon, I think your moans are well warranted Take it thats the last car you'll get fae clarkies?

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

depends whether i get Grande Punto next, or a Focus

 

[M21MFS]

depends whether i get Grande Punto next, or a Focus ]

Either way might be looking at getting a car from an indy?

 

[timr69]

The best bet for buying a new car is to price it up on the internet and then go and speak to your dealer.
A lot of the internet retailers will have the car delivered to your local dealer anyway. I have a mate down south whose dad bought an Audi A3 turbo and it was actually sourced from Audi Dundee but then trucked down to their nearest dealer. It might've come through Broadspeed.

 

[FS Guest]

AC will transport any car for you free of charge (or so i heard whilst i was working there)

the reason they are so **** is they employ complete assholes in the garages who really couldnt give a ****. i mean most of the people in the valetting bay are just out of prison. the old man doesnt like to part with his cash either. the company is now being run by his midget son oh and another of his sons, who, quite frankly, looks like a ****ing retard lol. he came into my office one day and strated knocking on the wall with his ear to it. **** speant ages trying to decide wheather it was hollow or not to see if he could knock it down. would have been easier to tear down the building

 

[G1lly]

In my experiance ac dont treat theyre staff well enough pay penuts rhen force company "Benifits"/"privelages" on you that you dont want then the tax man takes money off you for that so called privelage.
what would you do
1. work fast and pay less attention to quality and more on quantity
so as to getyour bonus and try keep a higher rate of pay
Or
2. work slower pay lots of attention to peoples cars do all the litle subtle things that people normaly dont notice anyway and thanks you get is
no bonus then a lower rate of pay cos your not working quik enough and before you know it your on 6.50 an hour as a skilled tradesman
Would you give a f**k

Sorry bit of a rant there

Just dont like the ac way just want to make money and dont care