[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by calypso986?

I've been dealing with Blade Motor Group for over seven years now during which time I and my family have purchased over a dozen cars both VW's and Audi's and in all that time have always had exceptional service from both Sales and Service Teams.

My cars have always been on time and prepared to the highest standard, I have never had anything wrong on handover and nothing missed off or not completed at Service, warranty work has always been undertaken without me having to know or enquire about it. All in all, unlike, most of the comments here, I have to say there a pleasure to deal with. But then I make my own mind up instead of being a sheep.

Calypso, if you are a 'real customer' well fair play to you coming to defend the service you have had and sticking up for a dealer who have looked after you from for many years.

Not knowing the full details of the OP compaint but if it's as he says straight up and to the point I feel the following if you work for blade.

1. If you are a senior member of staff how can you have time to waste on this situation. You should have given the man his money back, asked him to think of you when he buys his next car and get back to the job of selling cars. When I go into a well run dealership they simply haven't got time for this crap in their working day.

2. If you are a junior member of staff do you really want to work for such a company? If they treat custiomers like this I really hope they treat their staff better? I for one could not work in such a petty environment and have better standards and better things to do with my working day.

Blade, be the bigger man, grow some balls and give this guy his money back and get back to your day job.

[mjh93sa]

... as others have said. It is interesting that someone with an interest in Land Rovers and VWs pops out of nowhere on a BMW forum to resurrect a thread that had been dead for more than 3 months (and so well off the front pages of the forum). All it does is re-open the debate and provide more negative publicity for the Blade group.

It has been some time since I set foot in any of the Blade group dealers (probably a couple of years), and will probably remain so. The last couple of times I've been in to Blade VW to look at the Golf for family members we were left to our own devices and not even acknowledged by the staff there. It's a shame really that P&H Motors (who used to have the site as the Vauxhall dealer) left as their customer service was so good that my Grandparents wouldn't go anywhere else. I am just relieved that they had to stop driving before they had to deal with the current incumbents.

As for the other dealers, I have only had dealings with the Audi dealership some time ago when getting rid of a Focus in favour of something a little more upmarket. The attitude of the staff was one of general disinterest and arrogance, that put me right off. More recently the feedback from colleagues running lease cars that were serviced at Blade were less than complimentary, but that tailed off as they all bailed in favour of other marques when the time came to change.

Also, I was recently doing the rounds of the local dealers again, looking at all options and spent some time talking with the finance bloke at one dealer (not where I bought in the end) who had actually spent some time working within the Blade group. When mentioning this tale he was both unsurprised and aghast at their behaviour. In his words they are a small group that has grown massively, but which has failed to grow the management side to ensure customer service.

[ordinarybloke]

I have no connection whatever with Blade but I do have over thirty years experience working in the retail motor industry in the UK in a number of car dealerships including Volkswagen and I can tell you with absolute certainty that in 99% of unresloved disputes it will be the customer who is in the wrong not the dealer particularly with a dispute over a deposit such as this.

The last thing a dealer wants is to have a thread like this damaging their reputation and if this guy Biscuits had a statutory or an ethical right to have his deposit back I have no doubt that is what would have happened. There is much more to this than we have been made aware of.

Biscuits and his cronies are simply indulging themselves in a cyber blackmail campaign and fair play to Blade for facing them down.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by ordinarybloke

I have no connection whatever with Blade but I do have over thirty years experience working in the retail motor industry in the UK in a number of car dealerships including Volkswagen and I can tell you with absolute certainty that in 99% of unresloved disputes it will be the customer who is in the wrong not the dealer particularly with a dispute over a deposit such as this.

The last thing a dealer wants is to have a thread like this damaging their reputation and if this guy Biscuits had a statutory or an ethical right to have his deposit back I have no doubt that is what would have happened. There is much more to this than we have been made aware of.

Biscuits and his cronies are simply indulging themselves in a cyber blackmail campaign and fair play to Blade for facing them down.

So you join the forum and your first post as a new member is in a thread that is over a year old is defending dealers and casting aspersions on a forum member.

Sorry I don't believe you have nothing to do with the dealer mentioned.

As a matter of interest what 3er do you drive?
Any pics?

[E902717]

Originally Posted by ordinarybloke

I have no connection whatever with Blade but I do have over thirty years experience working in the retail motor industry in the UK in a number of car dealerships including Volkswagen and I can tell you with absolute certainty that in 99% of unresloved disputes it will be the customer who is in the wrong not the dealer particularly with a dispute over a deposit such as this.

The last thing a dealer wants is to have a thread like this damaging their reputation and if this guy Biscuits had a statutory or an ethical right to have his deposit back I have no doubt that is what would have happened. There is much more to this than we have been made aware of.

Biscuits and his cronies are simply indulging themselves in a cyber blackmail campaign and fair play to Blade for facing them down.

Not another one

Think he has been reading the big motoring world thread and is following in the footsteps of the legendary 'bigsy'

Yea - what BMW do you drive?

[Steve A]

Hello my name is ordinarybloke and i am the VW dealer principle at....oh hang on i drive a 3 series.

WANKER do one.

[E902717]

Originally Posted by Steve A

Hello my name is ordinarybloke and i am the VW dealer principle at....oh hang on i drive a 3 series.

WANKER do one.

Steve mate that's pure class

[biscuits]

All ordinarybloke's post has done is remind me to get my solicitor and the OFT onto this. For over a year I've been too tied up in work and family matters to spend any time on this... but things are better, so I might just do this.

Ordinaryblokes post is somewhat alarming... he say's 99% of the time with this kind of matter the customer is in the wrong... well... that's rather damning don't you think? Maybe as a consumer we should avoid putting deposits on vehicles all together?!

This is a simple case of Blade Motor Group throwing their teddy out the pram as it was the dealer principles vehicle and he'd already ordered a replacement... that and taking advantage of the fact they are 230 miles away. The deposit was "subject to viewing the car", I didn't get to see the car, but they refused to refund the deposit.

I have all the correspondences between myself, my broker and the dealer... I've spent some time reading up on the OFT website and will get onto this next week.

Maybe with 30yrs experience, ordinarybloke could explain how they can justifiably act like this?
Maybe he can explain how they can ignore the distance selling rules?
Maybe he can contribute rather than just throw childish accusations into a discussion that is over a year old..!

[biscuits]

The dealer that has behaved so badly is BLADE MOTOR GROUP, their VW showroom in Gloucester, Blade Volkswagen. Their reluctance to refund a holding deposit is outrageous and totally against their own terms and conditions. For three months I have tried to get the deposit back but they have not returned calls or emails. Blade Motor Group, Blade Volkswagen, Blade VW based out of Blade, Priory Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2RQ, Tel: 01452 412000. Their group principle Mike Flanagan, Sales Manager Jonathan Cox and Salesman Dean Lucas are all avoiding speaking with me and my only contact is now with the principles PA Margaret Walters.

Personally I will not be buying any VW models until Blade Motor Group, Blade Volkswagen, Blade VW or any of their franchised showrooms selling Subaru, Alfa, Isuzu, Honda and Audi.

(my original post in case anyone hasn't read it)

[biscuits]

Oh I forgot one last thing...


LYING BASTS !

[Snooky]

Biscuits, have you never got your cash back?

I could not have left it that long! When I had an issue when I bought the wee fiesta that had more owners than advertised I got stright on to Consumer Direct and they were a great help.

To be fair to the dealership in question, when I contacted them with a copy of the advert and mentioned that I had spoken with Consumer Direct and had then notified both Trading Standards and my credit card company they just played ball.

It is outrageous the way you have been treated on this and I CANNOT believe that we have another BIGSY character coming on here!!

I dare say that we can raise the Blade Group position on Google very quickly if that is what they would like.....

[ordinarybloke]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

So you join the forum and your first post as a new member is in a thread that is over a year old is defending dealers and casting aspersions on a forum member.

Sorry I don't believe you have nothing to do with the dealer mentioned.

As a matter of interest what 3er do you drive?
Any pics?

I actually don't give a shxt what you think HC and I was not aware of casting any aspersions about anybody save to say that there will be another side to this story which you seem incapable of grasping.

Nevertheless for the record I came across this thread by chance through a Google search of the name Mike Flanagan and the word Blade caught my eye. I have no connection whatever with Blade other than that I know of it's existence just like you do which is why I read the thread and could not believe the utter rubbish being written on here by people who seem to have little idea of what goes on in the real world.

As to cars, I own quite a number and it would only make you insanely jealous if I told you what my latest collector's item was.

You seem to presume that defending a car dealer is an inherently improper thing to do even though I would make a substantial bet that Blade are right on this and Mr Biscuit's account of the matter is grossly one sided. What do you have against car dealers by the way?

[willhollin]

Tell us what really happened then ordinarybloke?

[Palmnuts]

Everyone should give ordinarybloke an appropriate response....and thats no response. He'll go away soon enough.
We should all concentrate our efforts in ensuring Blade Motor Group are the ones who are focussed on in this thread.

Who really cares what a one-off poster thinks about this? If they have nothing better to do than take the time to register and post on a forum that they have no interest in, then thats unfortunate for them. It's unlikely that they're an employee....previous form of employees posting 'undercover' indicates the post written by ordinarybloke is written far too coherently for him to be one of them!

Biscuits - just do the right thing and deal with it legally. If the deal was all done over the phone then DSR's are all you need. Do it this way and you'll get your money back....don't waste your time rising to comments from people who neither know you or the situation. Oh...and keep this post updated when you can to ensure Blade Motor Group stays in focus!

[AlanQS]

Originally Posted by ordinarybloke

I have no connection whatever with Blade but I do have over thirty years experience working in the retail motor industry in the UK in a number of car dealerships including Volkswagen and I can tell you with absolute certainty that in 99% of unresloved disputes it will be the customer who is in the wrong not the dealer particularly with a dispute over a deposit such as this.

The last thing a dealer wants is to have a thread like this damaging their reputation and if this guy Biscuits had a statutory or an ethical right to have his deposit back I have no doubt that is what would have happened. There is much more to this than we have been made aware of.

Biscuits and his cronies are simply indulging themselves in a cyber blackmail campaign and fair play to Blade for facing them down.

You were not aware of casting any aspersions!

Well, your English comprehension needs a little work then.

Your comments would have been fair enough had you not so obviously cast aspersions - contrary to your claim, - and your idea that the customer is wrong 99% of the time is such an obvious exaggeration since in terms of disputes of any sort, one does not see 99% of one viewpoint being habitually wrong.

As has been half explained, in threads with disputes with dealers, we have had, on quite a few occasions, people joining the forum, with no particular interest in BMWs, no apparent reason to join (though you have given a perfectly reasonable explanation), putting blatantly fake cases for the defence, so to speak, therefore your post would have received, let us say, a certain level of scepticism.

As to cars, I own quite a number and it would only make you insanely jealous if I told you what my latest collector's item was.

People that wealthy don't have to blow about it.

[ordinarybloke]

Originally Posted by biscuits

All ordinarybloke's post has done is remind me to get my solicitor and the OFT onto this. For over a year I've been too tied up in work and family matters to spend any time on this... but things are better, so I might just do this.

Ordinaryblokes post is somewhat alarming... he say's 99% of the time with this kind of matter the customer is in the wrong... well... that's rather damning don't you think? Maybe as a consumer we should avoid putting deposits on vehicles all together?!

This is a simple case of Blade Motor Group throwing their teddy out the pram as it was the dealer principles vehicle and he'd already ordered a replacement... that and taking advantage of the fact they are 230 miles away. The deposit was "subject to viewing the car", I didn't get to see the car, but they refused to refund the deposit.

I have all the correspondences between myself, my broker and the dealer... I've spent some time reading up on the OFT website and will get onto this next week.

Maybe with 30yrs experience, ordinarybloke could explain how they can justifiably act like this?
Maybe he can explain how they can ignore the distance selling rules?
Maybe he can contribute rather than just throw childish accusations into a discussion that is over a year old..!

Hello Bis.

If you tell me the whole story even handedly I will tell you exactly what I would have done were I Blade which I am not and I will fully justify my position.

In the unlikely event you are right I will tell you exactly how to get your deposit back.

Why did you not get to view the car when you placed a deposit on the express understanding that you would view the car?

Why did you not just take the matter up with the small claims court? I suspect because you are in the wrong and you know it.

As to the 99% thing you conveniently forget that I qualified the reference to unresolved disputes. Of course there are occasional customer / dealer disputes over various issues including deposits and dealers make mistakes and errors of judgement. If the customer is remotely likely to be in the right the dealer will almost certainly resolve the dispute to the customers satisfaction and in the customers favour. If the customer is indisputably in the wrong however that is quite another thing.

You are a very angry lot aren't you.

[E902717]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

You were not aware of casting any aspersions!

Well, your English comprehension needs a little work then.

Your comments would have been fair enough had you not so obviously cast aspersions - contrary to your claim, - and your idea that the customer is wrong 99% of the time is such an obvious exaggeration since in terms of disputes of any sort, one does not see 99% of one viewpoint being habitually wrong.

As has been half explained, in threads with disputes with dealers, we have had, on quite a few occasions, people joining the forum, with no particular interest in BMWs, no apparent reason to join (though you have given a perfectly reasonable explanation), putting blatantly fake cases for the defence, so to speak, therefore your post would have received, let us say, a certain level of scepticism.



People that wealthy don't have to blow about it.

Excellent Alan

[ordinarybloke]

Originally Posted by willhollin

Tell us what really happened then ordinarybloke?

Your post makes no sense Will

[ordinarybloke]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

You were not aware of casting any aspersions!

Well, your English comprehension needs a little work then.

Your comments would have been fair enough had you not so obviously cast aspersions - contrary to your claim, - and your idea that the customer is wrong 99% of the time is such an obvious exaggeration since in terms of disputes of any sort, one does not see 99% of one viewpoint being habitually wrong.

As has been half explained, in threads with disputes with dealers, we have had, on quite a few occasions, people joining the forum, with no particular interest in BMWs, no apparent reason to join (though you have given a perfectly reasonable explanation), putting blatantly fake cases for the defence, so to speak, therefore your post would have received, let us say, a certain level of scepticism.



People that wealthy don't have to blow about it.

Hi Al

Suggesting there is another side to this is not casting aspersions it is just plain common sense.

As I have just said to another of your little clique the 99% reference was to unresolved disputes or can't you read.

I didn't say I was wealthy just that I have some very nice cars. Modestly comfortable perhaps.

[E902717]

Originally Posted by ordinarybloke

I didn't say I was wealthy just that I have some very nice cars. Modestly comfortable perhaps.

Which are? Remember this is a car forum and we like to look at and talk about them.

[Steve A]

OB this is a warm fair forum with genuine people who will go out of their way to help another member.
When someone new joins to
A) defend a dealer that is behaving unfairly to a forum member
B) infer that said member is clearly wrong
You will be attacked as someone who has ties with said dealer.

I'm really glad you have a collectors piece. Go and polish it in the hole you crawled out of.

[AlanQS]

Originally Posted by ordinarybloke

Hi Al

Suggesting there is another side to this is not casting aspersions it is just plain common sense.

As I have just said to another of your little clique the 99% reference was to unresolved disputes or can't you read.

I didn't say I was wealthy just that I have some very nice cars. Modestly comfortable perhaps.

Naw. I'm not letting you away with that. A dispute, by definition, is unresolved at the time it is occurring. But let me save you a line and suggest that what you mean is that 99% of disputes which have not been resolved over a long period of time, and much correspondence, are the customer's fault... but then, that's right, you didn't say anything remotely like that.

And you are doing it again, referring to "my little clique" now and your first line conveniently ignores your comments that I quoted and put in bold, to illustrate that you had used negative terms to describe Biscuits, in fact this entire forum, since your targets are now Biscuits and his cronies and my little clique.

Sad, cliques are small groups by self appointed people and restricted as to membership by said small group whilst we are a forum with tens of thousands of members - including you, and with no restriction to entry.

But hey, don't let facts cloud a (to you), good one liner.