Had some warranty work done there (boot button replacement and condensation on front headlight). Took photos of my car before I left it with them but unfortunately did not take photos of the courtesy car which they claimed had a kerbed alloy on its return, caused by me, which was cobblers and they charged me £90. Also, they charged me for 2 days use of the courtesy car (£20), when I queried this they said it was because I had had it for more than 24hrs. When I explained I was only 30 minutes over and had a return trip of 3 hours the smile-free, vacant receptionist still would not be moved. Only when I mentioned that I would give online feedback of their customer service to Abarth did they finally agree to waiving the second day charge. The whole thing left me poorer and angrier than is healthy but there was more to come....
They did not have the headlight in stock on my initial visit (despite telling them about the problem a long time in advance) and so a nice bloke called me a few weeks to say the light had finally arrived. We agreed a date and when I asked if I could wait while the work was done (had no intention of taking another courtesy car from them) left me on hold while he checked to make sure that this would be ok and confirmed that if I got there before 11am all would be fine....
I arrived at the arranged day/time to be told by Ms Smile-Free that my appoint was for the next day (Wednesday). I explained to Smile-Free that I would never arrange an appointment on a Wednesday as Tuesday is my free day. The Smile-Free continued in monotone to say that not only would I need to come back tomorrow but that I would need to leave the car with them and take another courtesy car. I explained my telephone conversation with Nice-Bloke and how he had specifically checked that this would be ok, saving me another 3 hours of my life, the planet, etc. Smile-Free droned that this was impossible and that such a sensible arrangement, clearly recalled in minute detail by a customer had to be a fiction. I was getting nowhere with Smile-Free, to be honest our relationship had been going south for quite a while so I gave her the customer service equivalent of the 'it's you not me' line and asked to speak to the manager.
The manager looked tired and emotional and after my explanation of the problem looked troubled. I was hopeful that troubled meant at least an apology, maybe a 'now your here we'll do our best to fit you in...' but this was a fantasy, about as likely as engaging in cordial, innuendo-ridden chat with Smile-Free. Instead Tired-Emotional simply stated the records of my booking showed I had booked it for a Wednesday and the only slots for a while you wait service were at 8.30am and 1pm and these were booked weeks in advance. T-E went on to explain to the moron customer that it was impossible that one of his staff would make an appointment outside of these hours. I explained my very clear recollection of the conversation I had had while booking the appointment but he chose not to apologize but to say that he had to believe his staff (i.e. I was lying).
I smiled and walked out.
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