Information => Dealer Feedback => Topic started by: AlexK on February 26, 2010, 01:39:11 pm
Title: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: AlexK on February 26, 2010, 01:39:11 pm
Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne Bittern Close, Silverlink Retail Park, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE28 9ND Phone: 0844 561 8275
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Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: abarth500J on November 04, 2009, 07:42:37 pm
Hi,
I picked my A500 today from Richard Hardie's Fiat and would like to thank Gary and Iain, for a very pleasant and helpful service on my purchase of the Abarth 500.
Highly recommended.
Thank you
abarth500J
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: AllanMcDonald on November 05, 2009, 09:44:27 am
We got ours last week dealt with Gary :thumb: The car is briliant as was the service and deal. Allan
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: cb500t on December 02, 2009, 02:26:21 pm
Just got my AGP back after 1.5 days of work on it,new seat belt clips,front pads and shims,overcancelling indicator syndrome.rear suspension creak/squeek,delaminating side skirts,and a squeeking clutch pedal.....all attended too by Hardies,car was a bit filthy when it went in as the weekends weather stopped me from cleaning it,it came back washed,wheels cleaned and interior immaculate,as good as the day I collected it if not better......can not ask for more :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: gaston on December 11, 2009, 09:36:32 pm
I'm from Manchester and ordered mine from Richard Hardie in Newcastle, as my local dealership (Bauer & Millet) could not order one in to my spec until after January 2010 when VAT goes back up, but I was really glad in the end. I could not fault the service from Richard Hardie. Big shout out to Gary in particular who was very helpful and managed to chuck in a few freebies with my A500. They come highly recommended :thumb:
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: cb500t on July 13, 2010, 05:47:58 pm
Car just back from Hardies,new clocks and glove box catch,all carried out in an impressive manner,courtious as usual :thumb: (mind it took 2 attempts from Abarth to supply the correct parts and about 3 months to get them here ! ! )
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: winkie00 on July 29, 2010, 08:54:08 pm
Just want to say that the service guys at Richard Hardie Silverlink are brilliant. Had a load of problems with my grande punto, and because they were so nice I did not mind paying what it cost. I don't think the mechanics are as good as they should be, as they did'nt solve my problem until the 3rd booking, but the guys on the service desk are excellent!
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: gav prodigy on September 20, 2010, 11:46:52 am
I picked up my new A500 from Gary Andrews at Richard Hardie last week. I've never had such great service from a dealer before and he made the whole process very stress-free and smooth. Big up Gary at Richard Hardie! :thumb:
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Scorosso on February 21, 2011, 09:06:51 pm
Went into Richard Hardie before Christmas looking to buy an A500. The salesman was pleasant and helpful and pointed me in the direction of a car they had in stock which was virtually the spec I would have ordered anyway. He was on holiday from that evening and so he gave me the name of the salesman who would look after me if I decided to go ahead. I did decide to go ahead and the salesman I dealt with (who worked on the Fiat side) was brilliant - very helpful and knowledgeable. I arranged with him to pick the car up just before New Year, by which time the Abarth salesman would be back at work and do the handover. The day arrived and I have to say it wasn't the best experience I've had in picking up a new car. One of the alloys was kerbed, which I spotted within about 10 seconds and surely the salesman should have spotted this before putting the car on the forecourt. It was changed quickly enough but the actual handover was rushed and not very helpful. I felt as though it was a case of 'I've sold that car, no need to do anything else' ......but at least I had the car and it was well prepared other than the alloy.
Fast forward seven weeks and I noticed one of the front discs was rusty. On inspection it seemed that the face of the brake pad had stuck itself to the disc and so I called in to see the service department, who booked the car in to be looked at. I left the car with them on the appointed day and, picking it up later in the day, was told that one of the pads had indeed stuck itself to the disc and so they had replaced both front discs and pads. Very pleased with that - no arguments, excuses or waiting for parts.
So, overall, the dealer experience has been a fairly good one and one which I hope will continue.
Chris.
P.S. It came to my attention when I took the car back for the brakes that there is a new Abarth salesman ;)
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Scorosso on February 28, 2011, 11:25:17 pm
Just had a closer look at the discs and they have only replaced one. Fair enough the car hasn't done many miles, but if I took a car in and asked to have one disc replaced and I was paying for it the answer would be "sorry, discs can only be replaced in pairs"
Not quite as happy :thumbd:
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: assetto tech on March 06, 2011, 11:26:50 am
Just had a closer look at the discs and they have only replaced one. Fair enough the car hasn't done many miles, but if I took a car in and asked to have one disc replaced and I was paying for it the answer would be "sorry, discs can only be replaced in pairs"
Not quite as happy :thumbd:
unfortunatley warranty would only allow us to fit one disc.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Scorosso on March 13, 2011, 07:02:26 pm
Just had a closer look at the discs and they have only replaced one. Fair enough the car hasn't done many miles, but if I took a car in and asked to have one disc replaced and I was paying for it the answer would be "sorry, discs can only be replaced in pairs"
Not quite as happy :thumbd:
unfortunatley warranty would only allow us to fit one disc.
When I picked the car up it was the receptionists first week and she didn't know what had been done so thanks for that feedback, I find it quite reassuring that there's someone from the dealership here on the forum.
Chris.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: scuderia sitar on March 19, 2011, 07:14:56 pm
Oil and filter change today. Estimated time of 45 minutes was spot on and I was charged the £96 I'd been quoted. Friendly staff, especially the receptionists and the chap with whom I discussed some warranty work. Parts are ordered to replace my engine esseesse sticker (peeling black paint), corrosion under the paint on the wiper arm mounting and corroded screws around the filler cap. No one seemed to know much about the Abarth merchandise and accessories when I asked about the scorpion filler cap. Sausage rolls, scones and pizza provided for breakfast :thumb: I bought a replacement key ring (£5.95) and a litre of Paraflu (£7) They also gave me what was left of the oil without me asking for it.
Good job....thanks if you're watching!
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: hot_fiat on March 19, 2011, 10:24:32 pm
I was there yesterday afternoon (12k oil change) and me bro yesterday morning (15k/1yr service). Bro got to borrow an APE for the morning (nice, fast, but lacking 'something'), while I just sat and played with the kids toys in the waiting area.
Mine was done in 20 mins, got the remainder of the oil and stamped the book even though it was hidden in the boot under a load of my junk.
Speak to Tom or Craig for parts - they're both very helpful. Craig is now used to me just turning up with lists of part numbers to feed the Cinq's voracious appetite.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Allansr on August 08, 2011, 07:34:52 pm
Im wondering if im just exceptionally unlucky or perhaps my expectations are simply unrealistic.
To avoid Arnold Clark i thought i would try Richard Hardie in Newcastle. The excellent reviews would easily compensate for the 8hr (round trip) drive. I live in rural Argyll some 2 hours from Glasgow.
So - booked my A500 in for its 18k first service (cost £340) and gave a list of issues to be looked at at the same time, these were non working windscreen washers, squealing rear brakes and excessive wind noise from the drivers door.
Just in case (and knowing Fiat dealers of old) and given the inconvenience of non working washers i phoned again to ask them to make sure they had all the parts to hand to fix the washers, as i didnt want a return journey. i advised i had checked the fuse and there was no noise from the motor and no sign of water escaping where it shouldnt.
So set of at 4.30 am with an air of optimism and handed the in to Hardies just after 9am on Saturday.
Came back at 12.30 to collect it.
They couldnt fix the washers because they hadnt got the pump which it required. I asked them if they could swap one from another car to help me out - Nope couldnt do it.
Was the break squeal fixed - nope it was a new one on them never come across that one before - they could replace a slightly rusty disk - might fix it.
Wind noise fixed, nope it was to wet.
When can you bring the car back???
Having dealt with some really bad Alfa and Fiat Dealers in the past i had hoped that Abarth dealers had perhaps improved a bit. I thought they may have gone on the odd customer care course. Alas i was sadly disapointed.
As for my informed choice to spend some £70 on petrol and an overnight stay to give my business to Richard Hardie, it was clearly a big mistake.
Looks like i need a trip to Arnold Clark or alternatively give up on Abarth and get a secondhand ALFA 147GTA which i would entrust to the small brand of non franchise specialists who actually care about retaining valued customers.
I would apreciate some comments, am i being picky?
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: scuderia sitar on December 17, 2011, 07:07:49 pm
I reported a cracked seat handle surround back in the summer and RH said they would order a part and give me a call when it arrived. I didn't hear anything, but the cracked part was sort-of 'out of sight, out of mind', so I just let it lie and thought I'd mention it when I had my next oil change. A couple of weeks ago I booked in for the oil change and mentioned the cracked part again. My wife took the car in at 12:30 as arranged. They had said when I phoned that it would only take a couple of hours, so she expected it would be fine to pick my daughter up from school. When she arrived they told her it might take 2.5 hours, so I ended up having to arrange some childcare just in case. In the end, she just got away in time, so the original estimate was good. I arrived home from work, expecting a quite big bill for the replacement of the seat handle surround, but was very pleasantly surprised that I hadn't been charged at all, even though trim is not covered under the 3 year warranty. My wife had also been given a free winter care kit with screen wash, de-icer and a chamois sponge thingy. So, all in all, great service from RH. Thanks if you're looking.
Regarding the previous post, I think the garage should have given much better support, given that you had made a special journey to give them a chance to show they were a decent, caring dealer. Very poor.
I fixed my squeal by cleaning up the pads and making sure they could move freely. I had reported this squeal to RH ages ago, so you definitely weren't the first to tell them. The wind noise sounds like a poorly fitting door seal. I've not had any washer wipe problems so I can't comment on that one, but given the lengths you'd gone to to go to them, you'd think they could have taken one out of another Abarth to replace yours.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Woody79 on April 22, 2012, 05:15:55 pm
Hi all'
Just picked my A500 SS up yesterday and would like to say a big thank you to Stephen. Through out the whole process he was fantastic and I have too say the car is fantastic too, the koni dampers and Monza where the perfect choice and really add to the over package.
Thanks for everything.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: Scorosso on September 11, 2012, 07:49:29 pm
Sitting on the train, on the way home after selling (giving away) my car to a dealer.
I'd just like to thank Richard Hardie for their total indifference toward me as a customer since the minute I signed the order form for the car............never again!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: benn on September 11, 2013, 11:51:58 am
Excellent dealer, Craig the abarth salesman was very helpful from start to finish. Happily adjusted his prices once I had shopped around and got cheaper deals down the country but was happy to match them.
Kept us up to date with everything and nothing was too much trouble.
Would highly recommend this dealer, it was a pleasant sale from start to finish with no stress.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: chopperpk on January 16, 2015, 09:14:59 pm
Hi there rang Richard hardie up for a price for my first service for my abarth 500. Only got 1,200 miles..thay said £185.just for oil and filter
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: scuderia sitar on June 04, 2015, 06:03:32 pm
Timing belt done today and the car has come back (fairly!) clean inside and out (I have high standards!). All done in good time and at the price quoted. Thanks to Jeannie for calling me to let me know it was ready.
Title: Re: Richard Hardie, Newcastle upon Tyne
Post by: RichardHardie on June 15, 2015, 02:46:52 pm
Timing belt done today and the car has come back (fairly!) clean inside and out (I have high standards!). All done in good time and at the price quoted. Thanks to Jeannie for calling me to let me know it was ready.
Great to hear you are happy with our service, we are here to help. Hope you will use our services in the future.