There'™s a moral here. More on warranty'™s

[jimso]

Here's a thing. Infuriatingly, I have let the extended warranty lapse on my 2002 S. It was transferred to me a year ago from the previous owner. Unfortunately, I had the October transfer date in mind rather than the date in August when it ran out! Darn it! []

So, a call to Porsche Great Britain to ask what can be done? You won't be surprised to hear that I didn't get a great deal of sympathy! Interestingly, when I mentioned that I hadn't received a reminder, the guy immediately launched into a recital about them being regulated by the FSA and that they were under no obligation to send out a reminder.

Strewth! "˜Are you simply stating some sort of legal position or are you saying that you don't usually send out reminders?' I asked.
He simply repeated the same stuff and advised that I should talk to the OPC who did the pre warranty check to see if I could fix something with them.

Well, I know I'm on to a hiding to nothing by now and to be honest, I'm already warming to the idea that I'll be saving £900 for another year of cover. And I certainly shudder at the thought of spending an additional £220 for the obligatory pre warranty check - again!

Thing is, If Porsche GB won't issue a reminder who will? The OPC that did the pre warranty check certainly won't. Too much to be made out of rechecks!
So, the moral is clear. Keep an eye on your warranty renewal date. If you don't, no one else will.

 

[Guest]

Whicn OPC are you with?? I got a reminder from the Colchester Centre (nice chaps!!) and I am a new owner of a used car bought in July. They are normally very good on this sort of things as its in their interest to sell warranty! You should find out which group owns the dealer, or evcen Porsche UK main own your one!? Just paid the £900 and being in the trade its worth every penny whenthe $hit hits the fan!!

 

[Guest]

Sorry had a few glasses of wine!! Sorry for the typo's!

 

[jimso]

ORIGINAL: Heathcliffe

Sorry had a few glasses of wine!! Sorry for the typo's!

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. []

Thing is, the warranty check was done at Colchester. However, I've had just the one service. That was at the Tonbridge OPC. It is they that offered to provide the pre warranty check for £220. I'm not sure that I would get any joy out of talking to the guys at Colchester. They haven't seen the car since I've owned it.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: jimso


Here's a thing. Infuriatingly, I have let the extended warranty lapse on my 2002 S. It was transferred to me a year ago from the previous owner. Unfortunately, I had the October transfer date in mind rather than the date in August when it ran out! Darn it! []

So, a call to Porsche Great Britain to ask what can be done? You won't be surprised to hear that I didn't get a great deal of sympathy! Interestingly, when I mentioned that I hadn't received a reminder, the guy immediately launched into a recital about them being regulated by the FSA and that they were under no obligation to send out a reminder.

Strewth! "˜Are you simply stating some sort of legal position or are you saying that you don't usually send out reminders?' I asked.
He simply repeated the same stuff and advised that I should talk to the OPC who did the pre warranty check to see if I could fix something with them.

Well, I know I'm on to a hiding to nothing by now and to be honest, I'm already warming to the idea that I'll be saving £900 for another year of cover. And I certainly shudder at the thought of spending an additional £220 for the obligatory pre warranty check - again!

Thing is, If Porsche GB won't issue a reminder who will? The OPC that did the pre warranty check certainly won't. Too much to be made out of rechecks!
So, the moral is clear. Keep an eye on your warranty renewal date. If you don't, no one else will.

Why not save £1100 and not bother? [8D]

No amount of pre-warranty checking will tell you an engine or gearbox is going to fail which, at the end of the day, is the ball breaker.

 

[THX911]

If you happen to be in London next Saturday, 13th October then book yourself in for the free 111point check we have organised for Porsche Club GB members at Porsche West London. You can then take up the extended warranty if the car comes clean on the checks. I think we have still got a few places left, see this thread for booking details:
http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/m.asp?m=317966

I get reminders from the last OPC that I paid the warrany cover to...

All the best,

 

[jimso]

Thanks very much for the opportunity for the free check. The issue of the extended warranty is much discussed on the forum with sound arguments on both sides. However...
I have to say, I have come round to John's way of thinking. I'm going to go without and hope that I never have cause to wish I'd forked out the £1100. [8|]

 

[Rob Edwards]

Hi Jimso
I kow exactly how you feel - my 997S had it's warranty expire Oct 2006 so before this happened I had it in for a full service and inspection just to catch any problems under factory warranty. At the same time I asked for extended warranty to be arranged - needless to say, nothing happened so I had to chase, eventually going to the OPC to almost demand one! I also asked for this to be sent as a reminder in 11months time.
Of course, nothing has happened again this year! Luckily I had an annual service (yes i know they are every 24 months but I do like an annual service - the car, not me I hasten to add) which caught a few problems under warranty (air con pipes corroding) plus a few bits for recall/update. When I collected the car, I was told of a minor 'oil leak'. I pointed out good job I had extended warranty, and the chap was not even aware of this.[&:]
I then asked where I could arrange extended warranty for the next 12 months and was shown to an office. The chap in there wasn't very interested and when i asked why every year I have to pester the OPC for one, he said it was because 'we only make a tenner on the warranties, so it's hardly worth doing'. When I asked why a mailshot could not be done he told me 'that's a marketing thing and we don't have a marketing department'. He then told me that it was not up to them and that if folk wanted one they were the only choice locally, so folk would come to them. Talk about apathy! What ever happened to good customer service? Why not send the reminder out with special offers/servicing reminders/invites for new models etc etc?
I have taken out the extended warranty (which is apparently going to be mailed to me) as I do think it is a wise precaution, especially as we take the car to France a bit and the breakdown/recovery assistance is reassuring.
It's just so frustrating dealing with companies who don't or won't take customer care seriously!![]
Rant over now, I'll follow Heathcliffs superb example and relax with a nice glass of cab sauv![]
Rob

 

[channella]

Seems that this is erratic or is that sporadic - I got a reminder. Why would any business miss out on £900+ of revenue for £3 on a reminder!

 

[jimso]

Andrew

I think that it's likely that if there is a reminder, it comes from the OPC that did the 111 point check and initiated the warranty. There is clearly something of a gap in the sytem. I believe the previous owner had this done at Colchester. Although they will know about the car, they may not know about me being the current owner. OPC Tonbridge know about both me and the car as it was last serviced there. But as they didnt initiate the warranty... [8|]

I think it depends on the generosity of the OPC to be honest. As Rob has observed, they probably don't stand to make much out of it.

 

[BrianJ]

That's odd. I'm sure I get a nice letter every year from the guys in Colchester reminding me that my extended warranty is about to expire and would I like to renew. Or maybe I'm imagining it.

 

[jimso]

Mine would have gone to the previous owner Brian. [>:]

 

[Michael Downing]

ORIGINAL: Rob Edwards
The chap in there wasn't very interested and when i asked why every year I have to pester the OPC for one, he said it was because 'we only make a tenner on the warranties, so it's hardly worth doing'. When I asked why a mailshot could not be done he told me 'that's a marketing thing and we don't have a marketing department'. He then told me that it was not up to them and that if folk wanted one they were the only choice locally, so folk would come to them.

The thing is, he's probably quite right. The additional overheads for selling a financial product are bigger than they look, and OPCs are indeed thin on the ground so most people will not drive to the next one along (me being a notable exception!).

In any field, businesses that have an effective monopoly in a desirable product can afford to be a bit offhand with their customers. The problem is that this only works in the short terrm. An enterprise that can't be bothered to look after integral parts of their business that are not as profitable as the rest, or is happy to take advantage of a monopoly position while they have it, ought to make hay while the sun stays shining.

Because the sun never shines for ever. And when it stops, customers can display very long memories. I am the exception (above) because the two nearest OPCs to me have both been rude to me or to my family. As a result, I drive 70 miles to an OPC that has been consistently polite, efficient and helpful.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

They might not make much money actually selling the product, but I'm pretty sure they make money on any actual work done, as they charge the 3rd party insurers all the chargable hours and for the parts. So that's very short sighted of them to tell you that. Unless they work on a 'them and us principle', where the service guy's commission is not linked to warranty work brought in...so he has no interest in selling it or marketing it, whearas the workshop itself would probably quite like to see more warranty work come their way.

These people should also realise offering a warranty positively affects resale values..which is both t=o their benefit and their cutomer's benefit...so even if it was a loss leader they should offer it.. See how many Lambo owners are too scared to buy after the 2yr warranty expires and there is no extension available.....it must also affect Carrera GTs that u can't get warranties on either.

Very short sighted IMO.

 

[Rob Edwards]

Hi Michael

Very good point, and one that is being borne out by the OPC in question - they seem to losing staff fairly regularly and struggle to seem genuinely interested in customer service (with just one or two exceptions, mainly long-termers who are sadly not Porsche salesmen). Unfortunately, with over 6 other marques being sold from the same garage (BMW/Mercedes/Jaguar/Aston/Range-Rover/Audi plus others!) there seems little specialisation or rapport that is established.[]

Case in hand was when we picked up my wife's S4 Avant, I knew more about the car than the salesman did (and I'm not an Audi anorak, I can assure you!).[&:]

You are right about the monopoly bit - unfortunately when surrounded by water there is little practical choice.

I do feel sorry for some of the staff there who do try hard, but the overall effect is one of sliding standards and care, despite paying top notch prices.

I have often noted staff just standing idle, drinking coffee or messing about in the service area which seems to indicate a lack of strong leadership and direction. If they were my staff I would expect them to be engaged in some kind of work that either promoted the business or looked after customers in the showroom.

It just goes to show that OPC service is patchy, much like any other chain of businesses - are our expectations just unrealistic? Perhaps their sunshine is about to experience an eclipse![]

Glad to hear you have found an OPC who deserve your patronage and hard earned cash![]
Cheers
Rob

 

[Rob Edwards]

My sentiments precisely Rodney!
It's a shame they can't see that![]
Ho hum.
Rob