A few weeks ago, my brother and I headed out to Norris VW as I was wanting to view, to test drive and, if all the boxes got ticked, to purchase a T-Roc. And thus began an excellent example of how NOT to treat your customers.

When we arrived, I told the salesman what I was wanting to buy (model, colour,etc) and about trading my car. We discussed the different models, availability and what he thought my car was worth. As it was a rainy day, my brother and I suggested we would back another day to test drive the car.

There were a only few concerns that day, mostly around lack of car knowledge and customer service, but this was only the beginning of my bad experience at this dealership.

I called a week later to arrange a test drive and locked in 3pm on the Saturday. Upon arrival, and I will say we were 14 minutes late, we saw the vehicle we had requested to test drive being driven out of the dealership. As we approached the office we were met by two sales people and was asked if they could help. I told them we had booked a test drive and asked how long the car would be out for. This question was somehow amusing to the sales people who turned to each other and grinned and told me the car would be back Monday. Quite taken aback I said sorry Monday? and was told the car had been lent out for the weekend to a couple who had purchased a new car.

The salesman we had originally spoken to was busy with other customers so we asked that Will be told we were there and then left assuming he would call to apologise and make another appointment. No call came.

I had driven from the other side of the city, they had my contact number, loaning the car would not have been a spontaneous decision, yet none of this mattered nor was considered from a customer service point of view.

I called on Monday to speak to Will who told me he was not informed we were there and he did not know the car was to be loaned out. If this was true, rather than it be an excuse, it simply added to our concerns about the professionalism of this dealership and the poor customer service we had already experienced.

Foolish it may seem, I agreed to Will putting together a changeover figure for the car I wanted to purchase with trading in my car. After being told a figure for my car at our first meeting, I was offered $1000 less with the usual “it’s not me, it’s the wholesaler”. So why tell me a price in the first place.

Again an example of the fact they have no idea what it takes to provide quality customer service. With other VW dealerships in Brisbane offering the same car, the points of difference between them is customer service and price. Norris VW failed customer service and then failed price.

My story does have a happy ending but it is thanks to another VW dealership. I finalised the purchase of a new T-Roc today, got a better trade price and have received outstanding customer service. So don’t waste your time going to Norris VW and go see Mt Gravatt VW. I highly recommend them.