Joined
·
6,802 Posts
HI All,
We here so much about poor quality and customer service, here's a report from a vauxhall owner visiting the Lotus factory.
I lifted this from SELOC, a post by IMP.
Chris
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lotus Customer Care
I thought I'd post this to show that sometimes a company can go out of its way to help. (apologies if this has been posted before). From the Piston Heads site
"Not sure whether this should go here on in the Lotus forum, but I felt that it would be read by more people here and it's more a customer care post than specifically about Lotus.
I went to Hethel with the VX owners club for my first trackday on Saturday driving up in pouring rain from Portsmouth on Friday afternoon/evening, arriving at the Quality Inn around 9.30pm. After a bit of shuttling (the club was staying at two different hotels) my car, along with 2 or 3 others, ended up at the Travelodge and we all went back and had a few drinks at the Quality Inn.
Next morning at 7.30 I get a knock on the room door..."Have you got a red VX? One was broken into last night". Went down to find someone had cut a large hole in the soft top, ripped off the dash and stolen the radio. The night manageress had tried finding the owner when it had happened (3.15am) but hadn't found me. She'd called the police but they hadn't arrived. Thankfully, one of the other owners had gone down and done his best with a black bin-liner to keep out the rain. We called the police again and were told they would get someone round as soon as they could. The other owners eventually had to leave for the drivers briefing at Hethel. The police arrived at about 9.30am and took all the details. A nice guy but there wasn't much he could do. There was no CCTV at the hotel but he did check with the garage opposite and arranged to go back later when the manager was around to view their tape.
The manageress said she had phoned her husband and he was on his way out to help. When he arrived he kindly offered to take me down to Homebase where I bought some duck-tape in the hope that I could patch the roof enough to drive the 200 miles back home. After borrowing towels and an iron from the hotel I did my best to dry the soft top and patch it up. When I eventually got to Hethel around 10.30 the patching was already coming unstuck, the wind and rain had started lifting the tape even though I had limited my speed.
As we were at Lotus I asked the young lady from Lotus Sports & Performance (Annette) if there was anything she could do, maybe some way of patching the top or even if there was an old one lying around somewhere. She said that they could probably sell me one (at around £600 that I didn't have) but after some thought she said that she would phone the factory and see what could be done.
After a while she told me that she had spoken to the factory manager and that they were sorting something out. We drove around to the main production line and in through the roller door. As we got out, it was like a formula one pit stop, mechanics just descended on my car...off with the roof and the loose dash was taken away. Annette said they had found an Elise S2 roof that was a quality reject (a little glue had seeped somewhere it shouldn't) and after a little adjustment it was fitted to my VX. The dashboard was cleaned up, new sticky pads were added and it was fitted back in place. My car was driven through the leak test facility to check to make sure it fitted correctly. After a little adjustment to the windows it was all ok.
Luke (Productions Operations Manager) then took me on a guided tour of the factory, from "goods in" through to the finished cars. As we walked back towards my car I saw it had been moved to the final section of the production line...everyone had grabbed a cloth and they were washing and polishing it.
After feeling so low and wondering how I was going to get home, my day was transformed into an unforgettable experience. Thank you Lotus, I cannot imagine how customer care could be better. I can only hope that my garage will always contain a Lotus (albeit currently one with a Vauxhall badge).
I never did drive on the track, after what had happened I felt that I shouldn't push my luck too far. I did go out as a passenger (Thanks Ian) so at least I got to see what it was like...rain, standing water and a few tail-out moments
To Luke, Annette and the mechanics, thank you for going so far out of your way to help me, there will be Christmas drinks on their way to the Lotus factory."
Many thanks to all who helped and offered support. "
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Great post by IMP.
Chris
We here so much about poor quality and customer service, here's a report from a vauxhall owner visiting the Lotus factory.
I lifted this from SELOC, a post by IMP.
Chris
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lotus Customer Care
I thought I'd post this to show that sometimes a company can go out of its way to help. (apologies if this has been posted before). From the Piston Heads site
"Not sure whether this should go here on in the Lotus forum, but I felt that it would be read by more people here and it's more a customer care post than specifically about Lotus.
I went to Hethel with the VX owners club for my first trackday on Saturday driving up in pouring rain from Portsmouth on Friday afternoon/evening, arriving at the Quality Inn around 9.30pm. After a bit of shuttling (the club was staying at two different hotels) my car, along with 2 or 3 others, ended up at the Travelodge and we all went back and had a few drinks at the Quality Inn.
Next morning at 7.30 I get a knock on the room door..."Have you got a red VX? One was broken into last night". Went down to find someone had cut a large hole in the soft top, ripped off the dash and stolen the radio. The night manageress had tried finding the owner when it had happened (3.15am) but hadn't found me. She'd called the police but they hadn't arrived. Thankfully, one of the other owners had gone down and done his best with a black bin-liner to keep out the rain. We called the police again and were told they would get someone round as soon as they could. The other owners eventually had to leave for the drivers briefing at Hethel. The police arrived at about 9.30am and took all the details. A nice guy but there wasn't much he could do. There was no CCTV at the hotel but he did check with the garage opposite and arranged to go back later when the manager was around to view their tape.
The manageress said she had phoned her husband and he was on his way out to help. When he arrived he kindly offered to take me down to Homebase where I bought some duck-tape in the hope that I could patch the roof enough to drive the 200 miles back home. After borrowing towels and an iron from the hotel I did my best to dry the soft top and patch it up. When I eventually got to Hethel around 10.30 the patching was already coming unstuck, the wind and rain had started lifting the tape even though I had limited my speed.
As we were at Lotus I asked the young lady from Lotus Sports & Performance (Annette) if there was anything she could do, maybe some way of patching the top or even if there was an old one lying around somewhere. She said that they could probably sell me one (at around £600 that I didn't have) but after some thought she said that she would phone the factory and see what could be done.
After a while she told me that she had spoken to the factory manager and that they were sorting something out. We drove around to the main production line and in through the roller door. As we got out, it was like a formula one pit stop, mechanics just descended on my car...off with the roof and the loose dash was taken away. Annette said they had found an Elise S2 roof that was a quality reject (a little glue had seeped somewhere it shouldn't) and after a little adjustment it was fitted to my VX. The dashboard was cleaned up, new sticky pads were added and it was fitted back in place. My car was driven through the leak test facility to check to make sure it fitted correctly. After a little adjustment to the windows it was all ok.
Luke (Productions Operations Manager) then took me on a guided tour of the factory, from "goods in" through to the finished cars. As we walked back towards my car I saw it had been moved to the final section of the production line...everyone had grabbed a cloth and they were washing and polishing it.
After feeling so low and wondering how I was going to get home, my day was transformed into an unforgettable experience. Thank you Lotus, I cannot imagine how customer care could be better. I can only hope that my garage will always contain a Lotus (albeit currently one with a Vauxhall badge).
I never did drive on the track, after what had happened I felt that I shouldn't push my luck too far. I did go out as a passenger (Thanks Ian) so at least I got to see what it was like...rain, standing water and a few tail-out moments
To Luke, Annette and the mechanics, thank you for going so far out of your way to help me, there will be Christmas drinks on their way to the Lotus factory."
Many thanks to all who helped and offered support. "
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Great post by IMP.
Chris
