Is Kia customer service always rubbish ?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:52 pm
I had my first taste of Kia customer service last week. My car was booked in for its 1st service (1 year, 10k) and I arrived at 08:30 on Saturday morning. I had informed them that I would wait for the car as the dealer is next to a retail park where I could lose myself for a couple of hours. Within 45 minutes the service dept called me. They said that the clutch fluid was low and that they would strongly advise me not to drive the car. Next, the bombshell. They didn't have any clutch/brake fluid in stock and it wouldn't be ready until Monday. I sarcastically told them that I would nip to Halfords and buy them a couple of bottles of the stuff, but to no avail. In the end, my wife had to drive over and rescue me. Come Monday, there was no phone call. I had to call them in the late afternoon only to be told that the fluid had not been delivered so I couldn't pick the car up. I told them what I thought of their customer service and asked what I was supposed to do for work ?
They called on Tuesday morning to say that the car was ready but as I was at work I wouldn't be able to pick it up till 7:30am on Wednesday morning. Turned up at 07:30 and was kept waiting for 10 minutes. Finally got the keys and went outside to find that the car was blocked in by another car. A further 10 minutes to find the keys for that one. Already late, I regretfully didn't check round the car and once parked up at work was dismayed to find a 3 inch scrape on the rear bumper, with traces of white paint embedded in it. The car had been washed at some point and the scrape would have happened after this as the white paint would have come off in the process of washing.
The next day I received an email from the garage asking for feedback. I told them exactly what had happened and expected at the very least a courtesy call from them. Five days later I've not heard a thing. I have to say that in 40 years of car ownership, this is the worst service I have ever received and when the Niro goes back next year it won't be replaced. Which is a pity because I have been pleased with the car overall. Having had Toyota, Honda & Lexus as my previous cars, perhaps I was expecting too much of Kia.
I can only assume that the dealer had overbooked their service dept for the Saturday/Monday and rather than tell the truth, they came up with a sorry tale about the lack of fluid. As though a main dealer would not have a bottle of clutch/brake fluid to hand ...... unless it was true and they are even more pathetic than I suspect.
And to rub salt in the wound, my wife took her Kuga to a Ford dealer for a service two days later and they couldn't have been more helpful and efficient. I'm not saying that my next car will be a Ford, but it certainly won't be a Kia.
They called on Tuesday morning to say that the car was ready but as I was at work I wouldn't be able to pick it up till 7:30am on Wednesday morning. Turned up at 07:30 and was kept waiting for 10 minutes. Finally got the keys and went outside to find that the car was blocked in by another car. A further 10 minutes to find the keys for that one. Already late, I regretfully didn't check round the car and once parked up at work was dismayed to find a 3 inch scrape on the rear bumper, with traces of white paint embedded in it. The car had been washed at some point and the scrape would have happened after this as the white paint would have come off in the process of washing.
The next day I received an email from the garage asking for feedback. I told them exactly what had happened and expected at the very least a courtesy call from them. Five days later I've not heard a thing. I have to say that in 40 years of car ownership, this is the worst service I have ever received and when the Niro goes back next year it won't be replaced. Which is a pity because I have been pleased with the car overall. Having had Toyota, Honda & Lexus as my previous cars, perhaps I was expecting too much of Kia.
I can only assume that the dealer had overbooked their service dept for the Saturday/Monday and rather than tell the truth, they came up with a sorry tale about the lack of fluid. As though a main dealer would not have a bottle of clutch/brake fluid to hand ...... unless it was true and they are even more pathetic than I suspect.
And to rub salt in the wound, my wife took her Kuga to a Ford dealer for a service two days later and they couldn't have been more helpful and efficient. I'm not saying that my next car will be a Ford, but it certainly won't be a Kia.