Erica Thomas-HowellsBrinley HouseGynol RoadCwmllynfellSwanseaSA9 2GX07702 78162424th April 2026Ms Karen PrinceLookers BlackburnTrident ParkTrident WayBlackburnBB1 3NUDear Ms Prince,Formal Complaint – Poor Service, Misrepresentation and Aftercare FailureVehicle: VW Polo – Registration PJ21 ZNNI am writing to formally complain about the standard of service, communication failures, and aftersales care I have received from Lookers Volkswagen Blackburn, in relation to the purchase of a VW Polo (registration PJ21 ZNN). The vehicle was delivered to me on 2nd April 2026.What should have been a joyful experience, purchasing my daughter’s first car for her 17th birthday, has instead been extremely stressful, deeply disappointing, and wholly unacceptable. I have provided the sales representative, Katie Trickett, with numerous opportunities to rectify the matters set out below, without success, and I therefore have no option but to raise my concerns directly with you.Conduct Regarding Delivery ChargesAn early indication of the service to follow occurred when Katie Trickett contacted me to advise that I had not paid a £25.00 petrol charge for delivery, despite the fact that I had paid £300.00 for delivery and had settled the full balance for the vehicle on Friday 20th March 2026.When I explained that I was unaware of any additional charge, Katie’s response was dismissive. She stated that “it was in the paperwork sent the previous day”. This was both inaccurate and unfair. The paperwork in question was not sent until Sunday 22nd March 2026, two days after full payment had already been made. At no point prior to payment had the £25.00 charge been mentioned or itemised. I could not reasonably have been expected to be aware of a charge that had not been communicated or invoiced at the time of payment.Katie’s attitude during this exchange set the tone for what followed.Missing Parcel Shelf – Repeated Unfulfilled AssurancesPrior to delivery, during the video tour of the vehicle, I noted that the rear parcel shelf was missing. I raised this matter on three separate occasions before delivery and received clear assurances from Katie Trickett that the shelf would be placed in the vehicle before it was delivered.Despite these assurances, the car arrived without the parcel shelf. In the weeks that followed, I contacted Katie on multiple occasions and received the following:● Repeated assurances that were not honoured.● A promise that the shelf would be posted the day after the Easter bank holiday, which was not fulfilled.● No response to my email of Friday 10th April 2026 chasing the matter.● On Friday 17th April 2026, I telephoned again and formally complained, requesting to speak to a manager. This request was refused. Katie subsequently telephoned me and apologised, stating she had simply forgotten to send the shelf, and assured me it would be posted that same day. As I had emailed on 10th April 2026 to advise the shelf had not arrived, she had a further reminder the week prior to this call.Katie Trickett assured me that the parcel shelf would be posted on 17th April 2026. As of today, 24th April 2026, I have still not received the parcel shelf.DVLA V5C Log Book – Ignored Instructions and Failure to Accept ResponsibilityThe most serious matter concerns the vehicle logbook (V5C).I made it explicitly clear on four separate telephone calls and confirmed in writing via email (a copy of which I enclose as evidence), that the vehicle was a gift for my daughter’s 17th birthday and that the logbook must be registered in her name. Katie confirmed this would be arranged.During a subsequent call, I raised further concerns about the ongoing issues. Katie’s response at that point was to suggest that in-store customers receive a better standard of service than those purchasing remotely. I found this remark particularly disappointing given that:● I paid the same price for the vehicle as any local customer.● I believe and was happy to pay above market value for this car, as a longstanding Volkswagen Sinclair customer expecting the standard of service associated with a Volkswagen main dealer.Following the disappointment of the parcel shelf not being received, when I subsequently queried again on 17th April 2026 if the logbook had been registered in my daughter’s name, Katie advised me that this was my responsibility to action when taxing the vehicle and that I had not ticked the correct box. I am aware that this is incorrect. The responsibility to register the new keeper’s details rests with the seller. This appeared to be a deliberate attempt to shift responsibility on to me as the customer, and I made clear to Katie that I had asked repeatedly for the car to be registered in my daughter’s name.When challenged, Katie attributed the error to “admin” rather than accepting personal responsibility and I queried why this message had not been passed onto your administration team, despite my regular requests.As anticipated, the logbook has now arrived in my name rather than my daughter’s. This matter remains unresolved.I am seriously concerned that a sales representative has provided misleading information to a customer in order to deflect from a clear service failure.Dent to driver’s door & scratches on car bootOn delivery of the car on 2nd April 2026, the delivery driver advised that there was a dent to the driver’s door and scratches on the boot - he noted it on the delivery note and I was grateful for his candour – unlike Katie Trickett who advised that the car was in perfect condition with no major issues. When I raised this with Katie on 17th April 2026 during the telephone conversation, she advised what did I expect for a used car. To answer this question, I would expect full disclosure of any dents or scratches and/or for this to be rectified prior to delivery.ImpactThe cumulative effect of these matters, including the dismissive attitude, unfulfilled assurances, unanswered correspondence, and basic administrative failures, has caused considerable stress and disappointment.My first car was a Volkswagen, and it was important to me that my daughter’s first car purchase was associated with the same sense of quality, reliability and trust that I have always associated with the brand. Instead, this experience has been a significant disappointment from start to finish, and I still have not received the parcel shelf after several weeks of pursuing the matter.What I Require to Resolve This ComplaintI expect the following to be addressed without further delay:● The rear parcel shelf to be supplied and delivered to my home address immediately.● The V5C logbook to be corrected and reissued in my daughter’s name, Olivia Thomas-Howells. As this is your error, I require that she is not recorded as an additional keeper, and that the number of previous owners is not affected.● Appropriate redress for the time I have spent attempting to resolve these matters, and for the distress caused by a series of avoidable failures.I request a written response within 14 days of the date of this letter. If these matters are not resolved promptly and satisfactorily, I will have no hesitation in escalating this complaint to the Motor Ombudsman.I am extremely disappointed that a business of Lookers’ standing, operating under the Volkswagen brand, has allowed such a standard of service to occur. I expect this complaint to be treated as a matter of urgency.Yours faithfully,Erica Thomas-Howells

initial slow response

My initial thoughts were positive. But after paying a £250 deposit and then changing my mind, I have found the service to be dissatisfactory. I have emailed the salesperson direct on two separate occasions as requested and as yet haven't even received a response let alone a refund. This is now moving into the 7th day since my first contact. Naturally the money went out of my account in minutes on the same day. I can see I am now going to have to chase up this refund or escalate it. Poor customer service.

We viewed the car but there was a dint in bonnet was told would be all done on pickup but on arrival it was not done so was told she would sort it out and get someone to come out she phoned me saying we could it to another lookers closer to us but only on Monday Wednesday Friday I advised we couldn’t we work so she got very aggressive saying well what do you want me to do .I said it wasn’t our fault it should’ve been done before we picked it up as that was what we were told the car hadn’t been valeted properly inside there were still splashes on the dash that were there when we viewed it .when we got home i noticed the parcel shelf was missing so spoke to her and she said someone must have taken it for another car and she would sort it out we haven’t heard anything about it now .We feel that we were rushed to go when collecting the car she rolled her eyes at us when we said could we look under the bonnet all she kept saying was well it’s not a new car but it is to us and it was a lot of money .So now we haven’t heard anything to get the dent sorted ourselves and had to buy a parcel shelf this is not what you expect when your spending this amount of money and also using a main dealership.so to say very disappointed is a understatement i think she totally forgot when we were booked in to collect the car that’s why nothing was done .

customer has motability vehicle, issue with the key and called today to book an appointment to be told 21st May or 5th June as customer requires courtesy vehicle and unhappy about the length of time he has to wait to get the vehicle in

We saw a car we liked that we were told had foggy rear camera that could easily be repaired under warranty. Paid the deposit and then discovered not covered by warranty and a large expensive repair job. Asked for refund as not repairable by them. Now fighting for refund of our deposit as sale not proceeding.

I can’t thank you guys enough, you have all especially Paul ( sales) have been truly amazing, Paul kept in touch all the time, he found my perfect car, it’s absolutely beautiful, thank you all so much especially Paul , regards Glenda Pilkington

Good knowledge

Having previously made a complaint -Ticket 86780455 - nothing has changed, today I received another unwanted text message.

customer is unhappy about the responsiveness and inability to provide answers to the questions he has posed regarding a vehicle he was interested in.see attachments for email chains provided by the customer