Friday News snippet
What do you do when your brand spanking new vehicle gives you trouble and you cannot get any joy from the manufacturer? Why… you take out a R22,000 half-page advert in the local newspaper and address it to… yep, the Managing Director of the company in question of course. Duh… ?? This is precisely what an irate Cape Town businessman did in an open letter on page 4 of yesterday’s Cape Times. In it, Andy Gray described in detail how the Range Rover he bought from Land Rover gave him problems from the day it was delivered until it finally broke down earlier this year outside Victoria West. The Range Rover TD6 is still under guarantee and despite repeated phone calls from Gray to the Dealer in Oudtshoorn (the nearest dealer), repairs on the vehicle was delayed due to authorization from Land Rover SA. Go figure! I salute the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this man! At last, someone who is willing to do more than just stand up to the powers that be and he does so in grand style. Andy Gray will be heard and listened to… even if it takes R22,000 to get it done! We all have at some time in the past called to complain or wrote and indignant litany of complaint about crap service we received. Mostly these attempts fall on deaf ears and I am convinced that corporations basically wear us down in the knowledge that if they ignore something long enough or get you to eventually chase you own tail, you would simply give up. Let this be a wake-up call to all those the companies out there who believe that merely answering up the phone, frustrating the consumers and filing his complaint away is what customer service is all about. Land Rover gracefully admitted that 'nothing in Gray's letter is untrue'... incredibly brave of them to do so... but I am afriad that the damage has already been done. Power to the man in the street!! (Read article – news24.co.za)
