Very easy to deal with

please see attachments for customers complaint letters

Dear Vehicle Complaints Team,I am writing to formally raise a complaint regarding the service I have received from Lookers Van Centre.I have previously worked in the motor trade for over 13 years, including time with Volkswagen, so I understand that issues can arise. However, the level of service I have experienced throughout this enquiry has been completely unacceptable and falls well below what I would expect from a national dealer group.From the outset, communication was extremely poor. Obtaining even the most basic information from the salesperson, Richard, was incredibly difficult. Responses regularly took six hours or more, and on several occasions I was left chasing for updates that should have been provided proactively.After days of trying to obtain information, I advised that if I had not received a response by 3:00pm on the Thursday, I would have no option but to walk away. Rather than responding within the timeframe given, I finally received a reply at approximately 3:30pm, persuading me to travel over an hour to view and test drive the vehicle that Saturday.Unfortunately, things deteriorated further.Upon arrival at the dealership, nobody acknowledged us. We were left standing in the showroom until my father eventually had to walk into the sales office and ask if anyone was available to assist us. Despite the appointment being arranged in advance, it appeared nobody was expecting us.Once we were eventually given the keys to inspect the vehicle, we requested a test drive. We were then informed there was no fuel in the vehicle whatsoever. Richard knew we were travelling over an hour specifically to test drive it, so I fail to understand why the vehicle had not been prepared.To make matters worse, as Keith moved the van, the front coil spring snapped, making the vehicle undriveable. Whilst I appreciate mechanical failures can happen unexpectedly, this meant an hour-long journey each way, fuel costs, and half a day of our time had been completely wasted because the vehicle had not been adequately prepared or inspected before our appointment.We were assured we would receive an update on the Monday regarding the repairs. That update never came.Following the failed test drive, communication continued to deteriorate. We repeatedly had to chase for updates, with little or no proactive contact from the dealership.During this time, I noticed that the advertised price of the vehicle had been reduced by £1,000, despite nobody contacting me to discuss the change or provide an update on the repair. Concerned by the complete lack of communication, my sister made her own enquiry with the dealership regarding the same vehicle. She was advised that the van could not currently be test driven because it was in the workshop having the wet belt replaced. There was no mention whatsoever of the snapped spring that had prevented our test drive.Shortly afterwards, at approximately 1:00pm, I telephoned the dealership and asked to speak with Dean, the Sales Manager. As he was unavailable, I requested a call back. Almost five hours later, shortly before the dealership closed, Dean returned my call. During that conversation, I explained the conflicting information we had been given. Dean then advised that, contrary to what my sister had been told only hours earlier, the vehicle had not actually been into the workshop yet. He stated that he would try to have it booked into the workshop the following day so that we could potentially test drive it on the Saturday and that he would contact me with an update.At 5:25pm on the Friday, Dean called again to advise that the vehicle had still not gone into the workshop and that he would update me the following week.No update ever came.The vehicle was subsequently removed from sale without any communication whatsoever. I then received a customer satisfaction survey, which I completed honestly, awarding one star and explaining the issues I had experienced throughout the process. Ironically, the next communication I received from Lookers was not an apology or an update, but an email informing me that the vehicle had been sold.At no point did anyone contact me to explain that the vehicle was no longer available, despite my continued interest and repeated attempts to obtain updates. This perfectly sums up the level of customer service I experienced throughout the entire process.What makes this even more disappointing is that I was a cash buyer with no part exchange. This should have been one of the simplest sales possible, yet the experience has been the worst customer service I have encountered in my 13 years working within the motor trade.I would appreciate the following:• A full investigation into how this enquiry was handled.• An explanation as to why communication throughout the process was so poor and inconsistent.• Confirmation of why the vehicle was ultimately sold without any communication to me, despite my active interest and repeated attempts to progress the purchase.• An explanation of what steps Lookers will take to ensure other customers do not experience the same level of service.I appreciate that vehicles develop faults and that unexpected situations occur. My complaint is not about the snapped spring. It is about the complete lack of communication, poor preparation, contradictory information from different members of staff, missed promises to call back, and the feeling that, once we had expressed interest, we were left to continually chase for the most basic updates.I trust this complaint will be investigated thoroughly, and I look forward to receiving your response.Yours faithfully,Gary Alderslade

The service I received from Lookers was extremely disappointing from the moment I first enquired about the vehicle.Communication was poor throughout. On several occasions I was left waiting 6–7 hours for responses to simple text messages regarding arranging a viewing and test drive. In the end, I had to state that if I did not receive a response by a specific time, I would walk away from the purchase before Richard eventually came back to me.A test drive was then arranged for 10:30am on Saturday with Keith. After travelling over an hour to the dealership, no one appeared to know we were coming. We were not greeted on arrival and had to enter the sales office ourselves to make our presence known.The van itself had clearly not been prepared for a viewing. Whilst I could overlook the fact it needed cleaning, there was no fuel in the vehicle and, when the van was moved for the test drive, a suspension spring snapped. As a result, we were unable to test drive the vehicle at all, despite making a significant journey specifically for that purpose.We were assured that the issue would be investigated and repaired on the Monday, and that we would receive an update to arrange another test drive. Instead, on Monday we received a deposit request with no information whatsoever about the vehicle's condition. When we chased for an update, we were told the van had not yet been to the workshop and that nobody was even certain what was wrong with it. Naturally, we declined to place a deposit on a vehicle that had not been diagnosed or repaired.Almost three weeks later, we are still waiting for a clear update on whether the vehicle has been repaired and when we can test drive it.During this period, communication became increasingly confusing and contradictory. My sister contacted the dealership separately regarding the same vehicle, simply to check if they actually wanted to sell it. She received a call back within approximately 30 minutes and was informed that the van was currently in the workshop having the wet belt replaced. However, after waiting over five hours for a response to our enquiry, we were told something entirely different – that the vehicle had not yet gone into the workshop and that no work would be authorised until a deposit had been paid.These two statements cannot both be true. Either the vehicle was in the workshop having work carried out, or it was awaiting authorisation pending a deposit. The fact that conflicting information was provided to different prospective buyers raises serious concerns about the accuracy of the information being given and the overall management of the sales process.Adding further frustration, the vehicle price was subsequently reduced by £1,000 and the vehicle has now disappeared from your website altogether, yet we have still not received a straightforward update explaining what has happened. After nearly three weeks, we remain none the wiser than we were immediately following our failed test drive.The entire experience has been frustrating, poorly managed and lacking in even the most basic level of customer communication. Had someone simply kept us informed throughout the process, much of this could have been avoided. Instead, after travelling over an hour to view the vehicle, having our test drive cancelled due to a mechanical failure, and then spending weeks chasing updates, we have been left completely in the dark.I appreciate that issues can arise with used vehicles and repairs can take time. What is difficult to accept is the lack of communication, the contradictory information provided by different members of staff, and the apparent lack of preparation and organisation throughout the entire process. Unfortunately, this experience has left me with very little confidence in Lookers and I would be reluctant to consider purchasing a vehicle from the dealership in the future.

In spring of this year I collected my new transporter from teeside van centre and if I had known what a bad experience it would have been I would never have bothered. My name is Martin Beckett and the van registration number is now MA06BEC. The reg on delivery was NX26PLN and the plates on the van were NX26PLU meaning I was running around in a van with false plates on it meaning I could have fallen foul of the law for no fault of my own!!! I only picked this up when I put a private plate on it.I have asked Dean Shaw for the original plates, as I will need them if I ever let the van go (and I paid for them), and all has gone very quiet despite a reminder email which seems to have been ignored.Collecting the van was also a fiasco as despite having in the yard for two months I was told it needed panels fitting. I was also told a paint touch-up would be sent to my home address but nothing has been received.I feel that once the deal has been done there is zero after care and all correspondence is totally ignored.Regards,Martin Beckett

No longer looking have now got sorted with a new van as your agent never rang me back went somewhere elseSent from my iPad

Very well looked after by Keith, very impressed with his knowledge of the product and how he conducted himself.

Initial contact was quick, but when calling back and asking for a callback to discuss purchase options and pricing it didn't come, I ended up purchasing a vehicle from another location

I was waiting for finance deals coming over on a lease for a id buzz van, I did get vans available but nothing else, unless I missed something.

Good service and Richard the sales rep was very helpfulYou do need to update your opening times online though it said you were open on bank holiday monday when it was actual just the car part